Irina Pascu
Last year’s winner of the internship competition was Irina Pascu, who gives her account of her experience working as an intern with Siliconrepublic.com:
While an intern with Siliconrepublic.com, I felt honoured to be able to meet and learn from the best in the area.
From my first day in the office I was warmly welcomed by the team and felt part of it. I was asked about my expectations with them and this internship, and how I thought I could use my knowledge for what was to be ‘Science November’, ‘a dedicated science month with news, reports, interviews and videos covering a wide range of Irish science, research and innovation’ as Siliconrepublic.com described their microsite.
I was given the opportunity to think about and write articles that will present Ireland as not only the land of saints and scholars, but also as the land of science and scientific discoveries, such as Ireland reveals rich scientific history.
Also, as a parallel between past and present, I had the opportunity to write about the people that make science in Ireland today, in Science research in Ireland: the present and the future, and Research centres in Ireland and their people.
I was also encouraged to read as much as possible, science-related news, and to choose the most intriguing, novel subjects/ discoveries and write about them.
The idea was to ‘tell’ science-related stories using non-scientific language but still present the science core.
During my internship with Siliconrepublic.com, I got to understand and think about what people want to know when reading about science – what you think is important and what others think are important may differ greatly. The general public may not understand all the scientific data, but it will definitely understand and appreciate the effort of working in science.
I would definitely encourage anyone with a passion for writing to take part in the competition. Also, I take this opportunity to thank the Siliconrepublic.com team members for sharing their time and knowledge, and IRCSET, for funding my research and this internship.
