Twenty years ago, Café Scientifique was born, borrowing from the French tradition of café philosophiques, where challenging ideas are discussed in the informal setting of a cafe or bar. That it’s still going is testament to just how much public interest academic work can have if it’s presented in an accessible way.



When I started Café Scientifique with Duncan Dallas, a science television producer, we wanted to create evenings which were a bit like going to the theatre or a comedy gig, truly making science part of popular culture. But we also wanted to get people to ask challenging questions of all these scientists, medics and engineers, democratising the world of research.

How researchers can help the world face up to its 'wicked' problems Read more

The concept is simple: put a speaker at the front of a bar or cafe and let them chat for 30 minutes – make sure you ban them from using PowerPoint or giving an academic lecture. A short break follows – to refresh drinks or think of a question – and then debate continues for an hour or more afterwards. Minimal cost, maximal enjoyment, and some education along the way.



The idea had legs. In 2000, I used the concept as a flagship public engagement activity for our new policy, ethics and life sciences research institute in Newcastle. We joined forces with philosophers, political activists and cultural types, and now there’s a regular Café Culture event, still meeting monthly. In Norwich, the University of East Anglia has joined forces with the National Centre for Writing to create Dragon Hall Debates, bringing together a panel of three speakers on a theme, always including a writer.

Elsewhere, the Wellcome Trust has been funding public engagement for several decades – and the British Academy recently held its first summer showcase. Two of the exhibits combined perspectives from science, engineering and the humanities: one investigating disability design and prosthetics, and one exploring how medieval chronicles can uncover new information about space.

All of these free events are great showcases for academics of every kind: they get the chance to break out of their ivory towers and bring their research to an interested audience of members of the public.

To understand our post-Brexit and Trump world, we need academic inquiry Read more

It’s so heartening to know there’s such a craving to hear from experts. But it’s not surprising, when you think of the popularity of Radio 4’s In Our Time and other ideas-driven programmes.

It seems to me that academics have a responsibility to share their scholarship. Not all find it easy to talk in lay terms, but most can, and I’ve found that even Nobel prize winners and members of the Royal Society are gratified to find that there is so much general interest in their work.

But organising these events isn’t always as effortless as it looks. It takes time – and a regular, monthly slot – to build an audience. It’s also crucial to find a good chair who can keep the tone light and accessible, stop the bores droning on, and encourage the shyer members of the audience to ask their own questions. Speakers need to be able to tell stories, share mysteries, and remember that facts are irresistible – as QI regularly demonstrates on the TV.

To academics I’d say, just get out there and share your passion, however obscure it might seem.

Tom Shakespeare is professor of disability research at Norwich Medical School and a fellow of the British Academy.

Join Guardian Universities for more comment, analysis and job opportunities, direct to your inbox. Follow us on Twitter @gdnuniversities. And if you have an idea for a story, please read our guidelines and email your pitch to us at universities@theguardian.com



Looking for a higher education job? Or perhaps you need to recruit university staff? Take a look at Guardian Jobs, the higher education specialist