Australian National Centre For The Public Awareness of Science - History

History

CPAS was launched by Professor Richard Dawkins in 1996. It owes it origin to the establishment, twenty years earlier, of a modest science centre in a vacant primary school in Canberra. This burgeoning science centre eventually grew into Questacon – The National Science and Technology Centre. Questacon was the brainchild of Michael Gore, a senior lecturer in Physics at the Australian National University, who became its first director. An important part of its activities was outreach, supported from the beginning by sponsorship from Shell Australia.

Dr Gore approached Professor Chris Bryant, then Dean of Science at the Australian National University, with a proposal to set up a science circus to travel Australia, to be staffed by graduate science students enrolled in a course of science communication. Thus was born the Graduate Certificate in Science Communication that rapidly metamorphosed into a Graduate Diploma. This initiative proved extremely popular and it became clear that there was a hitherto undetected demand for such a course. Over the next few years, Masters and PhD courses were offered and science communication became a full-fledged graduate program.

By 1994, the demand was so great that the Faculty of Science at the Australian National University agreed to fund a Lectureship in Science Communication. This was the first in Australia and, possibly, the world. Dr Susan Stocklmayer was appointed to the position and immediately announced her intention of establishing a university centre for science communication. The Centre was established in 1996, with Professor Bryant as its first, interim, Director. Dr Stocklmayer took over the position in 1998, where she remains today.