Cum e percepută știința în România – Comunicare științifică

We brag about the golden Olympians in the fields of mathematics or physics; we multiply on Facebook all the news about a brilliant Romanian living in the West who invented something spectacular. But how important is science really for Romanians?

For our country, there are few studies that can be used to analyse the public perception of science. The most recent one was conducted one year after our country's entry into the European Union and measures the attitudes of the young public.

Thus, in Romania, young people's interest in science and technology news is above the European average of 69%, compared to the average of 67%.

Interesul tinerilor în ştiinţă şi tehnologie — Young people's interest in science and technology

As a relevant comparison, young Romanians are at the bottom of the European ranking in terms of interest in news in the news.

Among the favourite subjects of the young Romanian audience we mention:

Inventions and new technologies - 46%, well above the European average
IT technologies - 45%, well above the European average
Medical breakthroughs - above the European average
Environment - above the European average

Also above the European average is the general perception of science, measured as the proportion of respondents who agree with the statement "Science brings more benefits than harms. 37% of young Romanians strongly agree with this statement, 45% tend to agree, 10% tend to disagree and finally 6% strongly disagree with this information.

“Ştiinţa aduce mai multe beneficii decât probleme” — "Science brings more benefits than problems"

Another survey question identifies a certain paradox in the Romanian perception of science, but this can be considered a revealing paradox for its true image. Thus, while a large proportion of young Romanians agreed that science produces many benefits, when asked about the ability of science to make their lives healthier, easier and more comfortable, their answers are much more pessimistic and place Romania second to last in Europe.

Ştiinţa şi tehnologia ne fac viaţa mai sănătoasă, mai uşoară şi mai confortablă — Science and technology make our lives healthier, easier and more comfortable

The authors of the study do not start any discussion from this apparent disjunction in perception, but one of the explanations could be that the young public in Romania does not consider that the research practiced in their country has any connection with their personal lives.

On the contrary, when the wording of the question is changed to ask about the general, global impact of science, the response of young Romanians changes, their optimism again being much higher than the European average: