Lines of Research

Scientific Culture and Society 

This line of research explores the cultural and social dimensions of science, technology, health, and the environment with the goal of arriving at a critical, analytical understanding of the relationships between social spheres and the historical processes by which science is produced, consolidated, and disseminated in our contemporary world. Areas of focus include: the social construction of scientific knowledge; governance and public policy; the history of science communication; controversies in science; risk communication; science as part of artistic and cultural expression; citizen science; public engagement in science; gender studies; and images and representations of science and technology. 

Ongoing research projects: 

- The Development of Rapid Assessment Procedures to Assess Risk Perception at Work

- The History of Science Communication in Brazil

- Museums, the Environment, and Science Communication

- Representations of the Scientist on Brazilian Television and in the Imagination of Adolescents

Education, Communication, and Mediation

This line of research examines the interface between the fields of education and science communication, technology, health, and the environment and their mediation between scientific knowledge and society. The goal is to analyze the specific ways in which education and science communication practices emerge and are organized in the various  socio-historical media, spaces, and contexts where these processes unfold. It includes studies focused on: practices in the production and appropriation of this knowledge; inter-institutional initiatives that address the relationship between non-formal and formal education; the languages that make up and signify these spaces and media; and human mediation. 

Ongoing research projects: 

- Gamification: Meanings, Limitations, and Applications in Education

- Interactivity in New Technologies Applied to Science Communication

- Museums as Interactive, Educational Cultural Spaces and Instruments of Social Inclusion

- A Look at the Teaching of Astronomy in Brazil

Public/Audience Studies

This line of research investigates the publics, or audiences, targeted by educational and science communication activities in such spaces as museums, exhibitions, television, print media, the internet, social networks, radio, and art. A number of fields are encompassed here, including communication, museology, education, sociology, anthropology, and psychology. Using multi- and interdisciplinary approaches, this line of research relies on quantitative, qualitative, and quantitative/qualitative methodologies. Specific interests are: the public perception of science; risk perception; cultural and reception studies; and visitor studies. 

Ongoing research projects: 

- Getting to Know the Public at Science Communication Spaces

- Non-formal Education and Science Museums: A Study of the Impact of Science Exhibitions

- Brazilians’ Perceptions of Science

- The Profile and Opinions of the Public that Visits the Mobile Science Unit: Life and Health for All

- The Museum of Life’s Potential Public: An Exploratory Study of the Public Perception of Science Museums and Centers