MSc Science Communication - Wits University

Overview

The MSc programme is based at Origins Centre and acts as a platform for broader interdisciplinary collaboration, advancing the museum within the field of science communication. The Origins Centre provides opportunities for art science collaborations, and encourages experimentation with technologies that challenge and reshape traditional museum practices.

This one-year intensive programme aims to produce science communicators who have the theoretical and methodological groundwork for communicating ethically and effectively alongside science. Students are prepared with the necessary intellectual and creative tools from across disciplines to enable them to design and implement robust communication strategies.

It will cover the following areas:

Interdisciplinary approach: Readies students for a world of practice where different disciplines converge with multiple lifeways and knowledge systems.
Tools: Engage tools drawn from the arts to address communication where it gets stuck and learn how to communicate the necessary complexity between science and society clearly and well.
Story responsibly: The southern positioning of this programme provides analysis on the production of narratives and what it means to critically reflect on science scepticism and ethically act toward science communication's role in society.
Sit alongside scientific research projects: Promote ways for doing science communication alongside scientific research projects all the way from start to finish, understanding escalations toward decision makers/policy, and shifting the discipline away from being treated as a promotional afterthought.
Engages multiple knowledge benefits:

Of theoretically informed, emergent and ethical communication strategies that work with plurality at multiple scales.
For reflecting on, evaluating and explaining communication strategies for data at science and society intersections.
Of producing research that engages narratives, the imaginary and communication.
For analysing inter-connections, values and knowledge creation systems.

The curriculum for this degree operates from the Origins Centre at Wits and is located in a dynamic interdisciplinary setting where experts from the humanities and sciences instruct the courses.

Curriculum

Foundational courses:

Master of Science in the Field of Science Communication (30 credits):
This core course introduces students from diverse disciplinary backgrounds to contemporary science communication. Through guest lectures, masterclasses, and engagement with key practitioners and projects, students are encouraged to reimagine science communication as an ethical, interdisciplinary practice. Hosted at the Origins Centre Museum, the course is anchored in deliberated histories of human evolution, power, and plural knowledge, with a focus on Southern ethics. Students will explore ways of working across science, the arts, and the social sciences to address misinformation, confront issues of power, and develop methods for building trust in science while ensuring its accountability in contexts shaped by epistemic violence. Drawing on the earth sciences, situated knowledge, and the arts, the course examines how the past lives on in the present, and how deep time can illuminate urgent contemporary challenges. A key outcome is the ability to translate complex evidence into accessible, public-facing communication informed by the Relational Turn.

Research Report: Science Communication (90 credits):
This mandatory research project spans the full duration of the programme. Students will select a supervisor and design an independent research project, with opportunities to undertake their work in partnership with the Origins Centre Museum. The project emphasises mobilising research in practical contexts, equipping students to contribute meaningfully to the field of science communication.

Elective courses:

Students enrolled in the MSc in Science Communication are required to select two compulsory core courses. Additional optional courses must then be chosen to ensure a total of 180 credits is completed in order to meet the requirements of the programme.

Please note: It is the responsibility of each student to manage their individual course schedule and ensure that selected modules do not conflict. Course times are subject to change due to university scheduling processes and academic workload considerations.

Entry Requirements

Honours Degree or equivalent international degree; or a relevant portfolio demonstrating adequate experience as a communicator and a motivation letter.

University Application Process

Applications are handled centrally by the Student Enrolment Centre (SEnC). Once your application is complete in terms of requested documentation, your application will be referred to the relevant School for assessment. Click here to see an overview of the Wits applications process. Refer to Wits Postgraduate Online Applications Guide for detailed guidelines.
Please apply online. Upload your supporting documents at the time of application, or via the Self Service Portal.
Applicants can monitor the progress of their applications via the Self Service Portal.
Selections for programmes that have a limited intake but attract a large number of applications may only finalise the application at the end of the application cycle.

Please note that the Entry Requirements are a guide. Meeting these requirements does not guarantee a place. Final selection is made subject to the availability of places, academic results and other entry requirements where applicable.

International students, please check this section.

For more information, contact the Student Call Centre +27 (0)11 717 1888, or log a query at www.wits.ac.za/askwits.

University Fees and Funding

Click here to see the current average tuition fees. The Fees site also provides information about the payment of fees and closing dates for fees payments. Once you have applied you will be able to access the fees estimator on the student self-service portal.

For information about postgraduate funding opportunities, including the postgraduate merit award, click here. The University's Postgraduate Funding portal is a database of scholarships, bursaries and other funding opportunities available to Wits postgraduate students. Please also check your School website for bursary opportunities. NRF bursaries: The National Research Foundation (NRF) offers a wide range of opportunities in terms of bursaries and fellowships to students pursuing postgraduate studies. External bursaries portal: The Bursaries South Africa website provides a comprehensive list of bursaries in South Africa.