SCIENTISTS HAVE traditionally had a reputation for possessing the same ability to communicate with ordinary people as British royalty or visiting aliens.

They sometimes appear to speak a language of their own, one as far removed from the usual modes of human communication as bat frequencies and crickets' legs.

With this in mind, the departments of biochemistry and pharmacology in UCD have embarked on a development programme that includes the stimulation of a wider public awareness of the importance of scientific research, couched in terms which the ordinary punter has some hope of understanding.

The early fruits of this initiative, the first Merville Lay Seminars, will be seen next Monday at 2 p.m. in the O'Reilly Hall, UCD; admission is by invitation only.

"Traditionally, scientists have been trained to communicate effectively with fellow scientists - at conferences, in journal articles etc," according to professors Paul C Engel and Michael P Ryan, the heads, respectively, of the departments of biochemistry and pharmacology.

"It is becoming ever more apparent," they say, "that the bewildered taxpayer, whose life is profoundly influenced by the rapid pace of scientific discovery, has very little idea of how science is done, and scientists are not very good at explaining."

The problem is distilling complex scientific information into a form readily palatable to the lay person. To this end, the two departments have established the lay seminar competition, in order to give this aspect of communication prominence in their students' minds.

On Monday, eight senior postgraduate students, chosen after preliminary rounds, will give presentations on topics as diverse as Why the yellow in breakfast cereal is good for you to How cattle defend themselves against liver fluke.

"Exciting new findings with implications for diabetes, heart disease, kidney failure, cancer, hepatitis, organ transplantation," blares the UCD press release, in the manner of a sideshow barker, promising relevance and accessibility.

Three prizes, of £200, £100 and £50, sponsored by Guinness, will be presented to the three best speakers by the Minister for Commerce, Science and Technology, Pat Rabbitte.

The Merville lectures are only one part of a development plan by the departments, which includes the establishment of the Conway Institute of Biomolecular Research and the building of modern teaching and research laboratories.