Twenty years of the SISSA Master’s Degree in Science Communication. A case study

In 2013 the Master’s Degree in Science Communication of the International School of Advanced Studies of Trieste (Italy) celebrated its 20th birthday. Born in 1993 thanks to an open, dialectical collaboration between scientists and science journalists, this two years long programme offers a mixture of professional training and cultural empowerment not limited to the equipment of students with communication skills and a good understanding of basic scientific knowledge, it aims at empowering them to explore the countless connections that are incessantly developing between science, technology and society. Interdisciplinarity, a complete panorama of science communication areas (publishing, museums development, science writing, data journalism etc.) and close contacts with the Italian job market are the assets of the longest running Italian training in science communication. The paper presents the history and the challenges that the Master’s Degree of Trieste is now facing, and some result from the last survey on the opinions of former students on the programme’s effectiveness and their current occupation.