FACT: Project makes science ‘stable’ for children

What do our descendants not like? That’s right, dusty, rigid knowledge transfer. And that is not “FÄKT”. Youth-friendly short videos with the two young presenters Miso and Julia discuss scientific topics – namely the topics that the children encounter in their daily lives. At the same time, local researchers are put in the spotlight.

“I think it is important to give the next generation an understandable insight into the world of research,” says scientist Andreas Bergthaler, on whose idea “FÄKT” is based: “What can research do and what can it not? What major discoveries are Austria’s top researchers making? And how does science influence our daily lives and the future?”

For example, the first science video introduces the children to the latter: Ivona Brandic, computer scientist at the Technical University of Vienna, presents her research into ‘power-consuming artificial intelligence’ such as ChatGPT and other software.

Hidden science in everyday life
“Many exciting research topics only become known to the general public through daily events, such as during the Corona pandemic,” says Brandic. But: “This means that many things remain hidden from the general public because they are difficult to convey.”

Their field, sustainable IT, does not sound particularly exciting at first glance: “But it is often about topics that young people in particular deal with on a daily basis” – such as the use of artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT.

Videos for school and social media
In concrete terms, “FÄKT” consists of two tracks: On the one hand, six to seven-minute scientific videos are filmed, which are now available on the educational channel “Edutube” for lessons in lower secondary education.

The topics discussed here not only come from the lives of our children, but are also closely linked to the curriculum. Suitable supplementary material for the lessons is also available on “Edutube”.

On the other hand, specially produced short clips featuring the topics of the videos are played on social media platforms – be it Tik Tok, YouTube or Instagram. The two hosts, Miso and Julia, cheekily guide you through the videos.

Lively, youth-friendly interaction
In addition, there are separate formats such as ‘Children ask scientists’ such as ‘Is the AI ​​smarter or you here?’. Interaction with users via the comment function is also possible; In addition, the questions asked there are picked up and answered in ‘Reaction’ videos.

Featured Researchers
The scientists featured in the videos had to submit their projects and were selected by a jury with representatives from a wide range of fields.

The first ten researchers come from all over Austria and from various institutions such as the University of Vienna, University of Graz, University of Salzburg, WU Vienna, TU Vienna or the Innsbruck ÖAW Institute for Interdisciplinary Mountain Research.

Who “FÄKT” actually is
By the way, the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) is behind “FÄKT”, which finances the program with money from the Fund for the Future of Austria (FZÖ).

“FÄKT opens a new chapter in science communication. Such a format does not exist in Austria so far,” said ÖAW chairman Heinz Faßmann. “We have consciously chosen to enter social media: we have to counter the many anti-scientific content there and want to reach young people where they are in terms of communication.”

And Science Minister Martin Polaschek says: ‘We live in a time when disinformation and fake news are spreading rapidly and even threaten the democratic foundations of our society.’ He is even more pleased that ‘together we will reach even more young people in the future and inspire “Science and research.”