Scientists and citizens have been collaborating to study or discover various scientific phenomena ranging from measuring water levels, identifying plants to finding galaxies.
Citizen Science
A poster exhibition on participatory research
For science and academia, the inclusion of citizens in research offers great potential, particularly when set against the background of digitisation. Ways of collecting and processing data have changed radically in recent years. Mobile internet and powerful smartphones make it possible nowadays to gather and deliver relevant research data almost anywhere. Many citizen scientists find it highly motivating to be able to make a real contribution to current research and gain in-depth knowledge at the same time.
A total of 19 citizen science projects run by the University of Zurich (UZH) and other Swiss universities are the subject of this poster exhibition on participatory research. The projects are from varying disciplines, drawn on methods that involve citizens in their research. The five key areas include: language, cosmos, nature and landscape, mankind and health, history and digitisation. The exhibition is organised by UZH Graduate Campus and swissnex India and supported by Stiftung Mercator Schweiz. The exhibition features talks by UZH representatives and researchers who will give insights into their projects and UZH’s initiatives in Citizen Science.
Why India?
Citizen Science is an area of common interest for Indian and Swiss academia and science communicators. The exhibition provides an excellent opportunity to initiate a dialog between researchers and citizen science enthusiasts from the two countries.
Barbara Strobl
PhD Student / University of Zurich
Barbara Strobl has received her Bachelors degree in Environmental Systems Sciences from the University of Graz and successfully completed an international double Master’s degree in Vienna in the field of Natural Resources Management and Ecological Engineering. Currently, she is doing her PhD in Hydrology/Geography at UZH. She is a part of the project ‘CrowdWater’, a Citizen Science initiative that crowdsources hydrological data with the help of volunteers, in order to improve flood and drought forecasts.
Kevin Vega
PhD student / ETH Zurich
Kevin Vega received his Masters Degree in Biology (Ecology) from the University of Zurich. He is currently pursuing his PhD at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich (ETH Zurich). One of his projects titled ‘Where Seeds Fall’, is a Citizen Science initiative, looking at urban seed wind dispersal in cities and the potential effects of increased green cover, local biodiversity and wildflower sowing. During the exhibition, Kevin Vega will give insights on his project via Skype.
Rafael Küng
PhD Student / University of Zurich
Rafael Küng received his Bachelors in Physics and Masters in Computational Science from UZH. He is currently doing his PhD at the Physics Institute at UZH. He is investigating the dispersion of light around galaxies due to mass, a phenomenon known as gravitational lensing. Citizen scientists help him search thousands of photos for gravitational lenses and to create models of these lenses.
