How do you say 'technical communicator' or 'science translation' in French?

[Deborah Arnold]

Hi,

Can anyone help me with the French equivalents for the terms 'technical communicator' and 'science translation'?

We are working in the field of knowledge transfer (to business and policy makers) and so need to avoid terms such as 'vulgarisation' or 'médiation scientfique' which suggest that the target audience is the general public.

I particularly like Geoff Hart's definition of knowledge transfer as 'the communication of research results to an audience that can implement this knowledge', which would also seem to fit as a definition for 'science translation'. But what we really need now is a suitably accurate equivalent in French!

Thanks in advance.

[Violaine]

Hi,
I am not sure I understand the question.
What's wrong with "Spécialiste de la communication technique" et Traduction scientifique"?
Violaine

[Deborah Arnold]

Thanks Violaine!
'Spécialiste de la communication technique' is getting close, though 'technique' might exclude some areas of scientific research.

'Traduction scientifique' implies translation from one language to another (at least that's what I understand), whereas with 'science translation' we're talking about communicating scientific results for the purpose of creating value in socio-economic terms, hence the link to technology and knowledge transfer. Here, translation refers to reformulating the highly specialised language of research, but within a single language.

[Stuart Culshaw]

Deborah,

There's some interesting vocabulary and useful links on the Wikipedia (fr) entry for "Vulgarisation" (which I'm sure you've already seen): http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulgarisation

Seems that "vulgarisation" is probably a good fit for what you are describing, though I'm not sure there's a simple way to qualify the term based on your target audience. Perhaps something along the lines of "Vulgarisation de la recherche scientifique auprès de décideurs publics et privés" ???

On another note, we've known for years that, as a profession, we technical communicators have been in a dilemma as to what to call ourselves (whether in English or French!) but what we do all day long definitely corresponds to translating/transferring knowledge from subject matter experts into a form that can be digested by the target audience, whether that is in a technical, scientific or some other domain.

[Nolwenn]

"Communicateur technique"... does not sound very nice in French but this is efficient :).
If you are transfering knowledge, in writing, from expert to expert, I would suggest "rédaction scientifique".