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The way we do, share, and communicate science is changing. Science has never been more relevant to daily life, yet so often misunderstood, distrusted, or even ignored. Meanwhile, swissnex San Francisco has identified a number of critical new trends in science communication and public engagement: immersive, two way, visual, data-driven, decentralized, actionable, interdisciplinary, story-rich, fun, and live. It’s our task at swissnex to ensure that Switzerland benefits and makes use of these trends in pursuit of the public understanding of science. This is particularly important in a country where people have to vote on highly complex scientific issues in a direct democracy.
The Pier 17 Science Studio was a fellowship supporting emerging talents in science communication and public engagement to develop new ideas, practices, and models aimed at building open dialogues around science, society, and the global challenges facing us today. Fellows traveling from Switzerland spent up to three months working within swissnex San Francisco’s creative hub at Pier 17. They p roduced projects that are novel and interdisciplinary in nature, which both challenge and inform audiences. The program o ffered them access to financial aid, visibility, and an extensive network of mentors and partners from the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. We contributed to sparking a new generation of science advocates working to drive public dialogue and promote new ways of thinking about science.

Dedicated to Swiss-based participants, the Pier 17 Science Studio focused on cross-disciplinary, collaborative approaches that took advantage of the Bay Area’s ecosystem of science organizations, but also its technology, creative, artistic industries. Fellows had access to technical expertise to build a wireframe, or a tinkering studio to build a robot. They could meet with artists-in-residence at Autodesk’s Pier 9 to discuss how design and art connect with technology and science. Scientists at UC Berkeley, journalists at Wired, designers at IDEO, developers at Google, and exhibit builders at the Exploratorium c ould help them develop their ideas. And at Pier 17, fellows could test their project with live audiences in our exhibition and event spaces, as well as discuss it with the various technologists, academics, entrepreneurs, and creatives sharing our offices. The focus of the program was to foster exchange and innovation for the next step in science communication.

September 2016: Project announcement at the Grand Opening of Switzerland at Pier 17.
February 2017 – February 2018: First part of the fellowship program (Tanja Coray, Rahel Meier, Nadya Suvorova) and related science communication activities.
February 2018 – October 2019: Second part of the fellowship program (second visit of Nadya Suvorova, Marie Griesmar, Urs Hafner, Serafina Calarco, Johann Roduit, Chloé Carrière) and related science communication activities.
November 2019 and beyond: project closing and spin-off activities of Pier 17 Science Studio, including the continuation of the swissnex San Francisco’s SciComm Studio event series, science communication activities of its Digital Campus program, the Optimus Agora Prize of the Swiss National Science Foundation, and more.
More information

Articles related to Pier 17 Science Studio
How digitalisation could reinvent poetry, SNSF, 23.4.2019
Science and Arts in San Francisco, NCCR TransCure
3 Science communication trends from the US west coast, ETHZürich, 18.9.2017
Podcast episodes Science with a #SwissTouch
Podcast Beneath the Sea
Podcast To the Moon and Beyond