Leaders in Science Communications through the Prism of the AKSON Communications Laboratory Award

Abstract

The article considers the AKSON Communications Laboratory award as a platform for discussions and exchange of experience between scientific communicators. An expert interview with the organizer enables the author to understand the principles that underlie the award, and an analysis of the list of award winners over the years of its existence helps to characterize the organizations that have declared themselves the most competitive participants in this field of activity. The article outlines the structure of the award and gives an impression about the degree of involvement in its competition of leading Russian universities along with research institutes and other scientific and educational organizations. This makes it possible to assess the state of the scientific communication industry in Russia and to identify the best results of the application of communication methods. In general, the establishment of the AKSON Communications Laboratory award played a huge role in the formation of the professional community of communicators. It can be argued that the award has become an important aspect of institutionalization, forming the framework of the profession of “scientific communicator”, the information field for this area, and a system of knowledge about projects and practices that can be considered exemplary for this area.