A New Odyssey for Public Engagement
Last week, the Centre for Global Science and Epistemic Justice (GSEJ) hosted ‘A New Odyssey for Public Engagement‘ at the British Academy. This small, invitation-only event brought together leading thinkers, science diplomacy experts, and scientists from four continents to explore how the O.D.E.SS.I. framework — Open, Deliberative, Enabling, Sensible and Sensitive, Innovative — can guide global practices of public dialogue on … Continue reading
Mirror Life
I was delighted to attend the Paris Conference on Risks from Mirror Life, held 12–13 June 2025 at the iconic Institut Pasteur. This event—featuring a public symposium and expert workshops—was the first in a global series to explore the potential benefits and profound risks of mirror biology, where biomolecules are inverted in handedness relative to natural life. … Continue reading
Covid-19 media engagement
Shortly after China lock-downed Wuhan, I was contacted by Apoorva Mandavilli for a piece originally intended for the New York Time. That piece was cancelled due to the fast progressing of events. Fortunately Apoorva saved part of our conversation in this opinion piece in the Undark Magazine on if China can prevent the next epidemic. The fragmented … Continue reading
Dec 2019 – ENGAGE 2019
You may find it odd, but one of my favourite annual conferences in the UK is the Engage series hosted by the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE). Although the conference seems to be mainly for public engagement professionals, I always find it extremely informative and insightful for anyone who is interested in Science and … Continue reading
Oct 2019 – World Conference on Scientific Literacy
Delighted to give a presentation at the World Conference on Scientific Literacy in Beijing this October at the invitation of China’s Research Institute for Science Popularisation. Hosting these international events may be the best way to speed up the creation of a more transparent and engaging research culture in China. At the end of the … Continue reading
British Council Grant
I’m delighted that our bid for the British Council’s Newton Fund has been successful. Collaborating with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, we are to host a 3-day interdisciplinary workshop brings together and empowers a new generation of bioscientists and social scientists from both China and the UK to critically and creatively examine what effective public … Continue reading
Berlin, Berlin!
I’m so thrilled to have visited Berlin TWICE this autumn. The first trip was in late September. Thanks to Prof. Yasemin Soysal’s invitation, I attended the ‘Cultural Mobilities and their Transnational Entanglements in East Asia’ workshop and shared my findings on how transnational influences shaped grassroots and government’s understanding on ‘Modernity’ in different ways. Given the fact … Continue reading
Joy Zhang 