Science communication as a career path
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Presentation for Ghent University PostdocCommunity 23 May 2019
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Science communication as a career path
- 6. 6
- 9. Show your passion Power of being personal Right & well- told story Be a leader Community of support Five key points of being a good communicator, Nancy Baron (2010)
- 10. 10 With a public defined, academics must determine how to appropriately engage with that particular community before people listen. (Andrew Hoffman)
- 12. In the end, the challenge is to gain the trust and respect of those with whom you are trying to engage. (Fisk & Dupree) Within your own organisation For your research Outside your organisation For your communication
- 16. 16
- 17. ENRICH – Add an extra dimension to your current job, build up your network and skills, enjoy PE DISCOVER - More than science communication: public engagement, outreach, knowledge mobilisation activities LEARN - By training, by looking for mentor/rolemodel, by simply doing, by asking your public(s) SHARE – Collaborate, allow people in, join my crusade and convince others, be creative, open up science LEAD - Flanders is lagging behind – we need to set up platforms and initiatives, we need to create the careers
- 18. You can think of research as one of your many useful skills, one that may come in handy in whatever job you have, but not necessarily your primary skill, and certainly not your primary identity. You are welcome to think instead of yourself as a teacher, or an analyst, or a problem solver, or a communicator, or as a community builder. These are all fine. You can think of yourself as a marketer or salesperson, or as a writer or editor, or as an artist or thinker. Don’t let the fact that you have a PhD limit the way you see yourself. Jennifer Polk
- 19. 19 @ResearchUGent THANK YOU FOR LISTENING! And thank you, Bill Watterson, for the cartoons Esther De Smet Research Department May 2019
Editor's Notes
- I have been known to give presentations referencing Game of Thrones. They are pretty cool, I have to admit. However, because my Play subscription ended somewhere halfway episode five of the final season, you’ll have to make do with Calvin and Hobbes. You see, I don’t want any spoilers casually popping up. That doesn’t mean to say that I cannot incorporate spoilers into my talk… Fontmeme Bite bullet (handwriting)
- So let me start with these spoilers: 1. Investing in scicomm and outreach within academia is hard 2. Finding a job in scicomm is even harder
- Does that mean you might as well give up now? Of course not. This talk might not provide everyone with a scicomm job after their postdoc, But it might provide some insights and tips.
- If you came to this talk expecting that I will hand you all the answers – a sure plan for a glorious scicomm career You are in for a rough ride. Get ready to do some collective soul searching.
- Find the intersection between why you ended up in research/science and what are your personal passions/talents?
- Being good at science communication is often about bringing together the things that have led you to research And your more creative endeavours or talents
- Next think about some of the benefits of your research career What might give you the edge over other applicants? How can you turn some of the doom and gloom of academia into your strengths? Top tip: if you do use these compentencies to brag about your awesomeness – make it authentic!
- Obviously the main thing about science communication is communicating. Roughly speaking we can identify to main elements: storytelling on the one hand, networking on the other hand.
- An important thing to remember is of course that communication is not about you. It is about the recipient of your message. That takes a special kind of empathy and the super skill called listening.
- To increase the impact of your message investing in some storytelling skills might be a good idea. Using narrative techniques and imagery to connect with your audience. But that’s a whole other workshop!
- The other part is connecting in other ways with the stakeholders of research – and not just those benefiting. And the stakeholders of your communication efforts. This is also a pathway to possible jobs outside academia.
- The main thing is of course actually doing it. Trying things out. Learning from failures. Seeing others do it and being inspired by them. Some take this even further and as true enterpreneurs they set up scicomm businesses, creating a whole scicomm ecosystem. A smaller step which might help you bring together networking & communicating, is twitter. Which is also a great place to stumble upon those job opportunities.
- This might mean being the first in your group to go on a adventure and take the road less travelled. But don’t forget that there have gone many before you and that there are already a lot of existing platforms and initiatives. Deserve a mention: de Krook, GUM However, finding your own voice is important.
- Once you get stuck in, be critical and assess your activities and efforts. Does what you do have an impact? Are you engaging with the right audiences? Are you using the right tools? Are you learning new things, are you progressing, are you having fun?
- What we are doing here today is not unique – many of us are trying to grapply with the same question. Just earlier this month Nature Career Briefs dedicated another post to working in scicomm. Here were their suggestions. Some of them make sense, others don’t really cut it in Flanders.
- So here is how I like to bring it all together for you.
- I leave you with this final quote. I hope you have enjoyed my short contribution. Keep up the good work and please don’t be a stranger – you know where to find me.