Citizen science – bridging the gap between scientists and amateurs

Abstract

The European Union has been facing common issues such as early school leaving and lifelong learning for years. They are main targets that remain on the EU agenda and all good practice examples are welcome. Citizen science is one of the approaches that seems to have great potential to draw a wide group of people to science in a popular way. People can easily become a part of a scientific team and contribute to research that could hardly be carried out by one small team. Many citizen science researchers deal with issues that are attractive for people because of their usefulness or application (gathering ticks, taking photographs of surroundings) and/or because of the accessibility of the data (typical for biological issues). This aspect also supports bridging the gap between citizens-amateurs and scientists-professionals, as well as lifelong learning. Chemistry is a natural science subject that is rarely performed in citizen science, and little research is devoted to the educational aspect of citizen science projects. Therefore, we present here a brief overview of an increasing scientific design that is widely used in natural science, although rarely in chemistry. Citizen science seems to be a potentially useful tool for improving chemistry education.

The potential of citizen science to transform science: Lessons for a sustainable future

“…in academia, and (unconscious) biases at the hiring stage (Swartz et al, 2019). Also, approaches to equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) & Janoušková, 2019). Initiatives where there is a strong degree of co-creation in the study, not only increase the legibility of science and scientific practice to those involved, they also can increase skills and interest in science in the citizen scientists involved (Skarlatidou et al, 2019).…”

“…Participation in a citizen science project could potentially have a positive effect on participation in science. Though comprehensive longitudinal studies of the effect of engaging in citizen science on the likelihood of pursuing a professional scientific career are scarce, engagement with informal science has been shown to have a positive effect on scientific career motivations in young people (Urválková & Janoušková, 2019). Initiatives where there is a strong degree of co‐creation in the study, not only increase the legibility of science and scientific practice to those involved, they also can increase skills and interest in science in the citizen scientists involved (Skarlatidou et al., 2019).…”

Digital Citizen Science for Responding to COVID-19 Crisis: Experiences from Iran

“…Citizen science is a scientific practice performed, in whole or in part, by volunteers from the general public [3]. The citizen science movement aims to connect people to science and bridge the gap between the public and scientists [4]. It empowers the general public to make a direct contribution to scientific research [5].…”