Communication Skills in science: the Research in 4 minutes competition. PhD seminar, DTIC-UPF

1. Communication skills in science
Research in 4 minutes
Aurelio Ruiz

2. Today
This is actually a compressed version of a 2-hour talk 
The slides will be available
It just provides some personal ideas, not a 10 tips to succeed! – Create a pitch
that you feel comfortable with, and is aligned with your work and personality

3. Communication
communicate
verb (SHARE INFORMATION) /kəˈmjuː.nɪ.keɪt/
B1 [I or T] to share information with others by speaking, writing, moving your
body, or using other signals:
B2 [I] to talk about your thoughts and feelings, and help other people to
understand them
marketing
noun [U] (JOB) /ˈmɑː.kɪ.tɪŋ/ /ˈmɑːr.kɪ.t̬ɪŋ/
B2 a job that involves encouraging people to buy a product or service:

4. Communication
500 – 700 words (3.000 – 4.200 characters)  TITLE + abstract
Time over a coffee break in a conference to establish contacts
First impression in competitive funds, job interviews, etc
Elevator pitch  So that the listener gets the message WE WANT him / her to
get, and becomes eager to hear the rest. NOT JUST A COMPRESSED VERSION

5. Communication

6. Communication
Elevator Pitches for Scientists: What, When, Where and How, Uyen Chun, August 2013,The
Postdoc Way

7. Research in 4 minutes: an excuse
Science, Career Advice
Your thesis, in 3 minutes (with Alex. Artaud, Grenoble)
http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previou
s_issues/articles/2015_06_11/caredit.a1500151
Cristina Galusca, DTIC-UPF
"The opportunity to sum up my ideas and my research in
four minutes struck me as being a really fun challenge“
http://www.upf.edu/enoticies/en/entrevistes/Galusca_Rin4.html#
.VfL8qpegVkU

8. Communication
The care and maintenance of your adviser
http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/2011/110127/full/nj7331-570a.html
A comment we often hear at our workshops is, “My adviser is lovely but
he/she is just so busy that we never get to talk about my thesis”. And our
response is, “Yes, your adviser is busy. All advisers are busy and will
continue to be busy.”
“This is my thesis. My name is written on the front of it. I need to become
the driver.” The sooner the candidate does this, the better.

11. What does Sarah Marley do?
3MT Finals 2014 Sarah Marley - "Say what? Coastal dolphins and noisy
environments"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=39&v=XznGGhyi59g

12. What does Sarah Marley do?
Personality
Establishes a conversation
You do not need to have results!

13. Idea #1: Know yourself
Idea #2: Have a clear objective
Idea #3: Know your audience
Idea #4: Prepare and practice

14. Idea #1: Know yourself
Professionally
Personally
Your project and
results

15. Idea #1: Know yourself
#1.1 What is special in ourselves (projects / results) with respect to equivalent
peers? (project / results - in each specific context)
Be informed
Test your
choices
Start early

16. Which is your motivation to communicate?
#1.2 Which is your motivation to do research?
Idea #1: Know yourself

17. #1.2 Which is your motivation to do research?
Idea #1: Know yourself
Academia
Industry
Policy Makers
Enterpreneurship
etc…

18. Which is your motivation to do research?
New knowledge which is not integrated in the research
community is irrelevant
• How you can be useful to others / Others can be useful for you?
• Why could they be interested in you / your results / your methods?
• Who are the direct and indirect beneficiaries of your research?
• What can you offer? / Who do you need to conduct your research?
• Other skills
• Infrastructures / Strategic providers
• Requirements / feedback
• Subjects for experiments
• Visibility
• Future employers!, etc...
• “Greater why”: get to know properly the wider area of knowledge (and who plays a
role)
Idea #1: Know yourself

19. #1.3 Why is research relevant?
#1.4 Why is your approach / work relevant to
it?
Idea #1: Know yourself

20. #1.1 What is special in ourselves (projects / results) with respect to equivalent
peers? (project / results - in each specific context)
#1.2 Which is your motivation to do research?
How• you can be useful to others / Others can be useful for you?
Why• could they be interested in you / your results / your methods?
Who• are the direct and indirect beneficiaries of your research?
What• can you offer? / Who do you need to conduct your research?
• Other skills
• Infrastructures / Strategic providers
• Requirements / feedback
• Subjects for experiments
• Visibility
• Future employers!, etc...
• “Greater why”: get to know properly the wider area of knowledge (and who plays a
role)
#1.3 Why is research in your topic relevant?
#1.4 Why is your approach / work relevant to it?
Idea #1: Know yourself

21. Rachel Pike
The science behind a climate headline
https://www.ted.com/talks/rachel_pike_the_science_behind_a_climate_
headline?language=en

22. “I’d like to talk to you today about the scale of the scientific effort that
goes into making the headlines you see in the paper”
Rachel Pike
The science behind a climate headline
https://www.ted.com/talks/rachel_pike_the_science_behind_a_climate_headline
?language=en

23. Idea #2: Have a clear objective
Collaboration Competition

24. Objective of that specific talk
Establish- a collaboration
Get- the research grant
Win- the Rin4min competition
Achieve something from any effort
Idea #2: Have a clear objective

25. A 3D printer for molecules, Lee Cronin
Print your own medicine
http://www.ted.com/talks/lee_cronin_pri
nt_your_own_medicine?language=en

26. Idea #3: Know your audience
• Specialists: require detail
• Non-specialists: require interpretation
•Different contexts have different norms / language

27. Audience
How can you help non-specialist?
• Questions which guide
• Establish comparison points:
• Direct: “1 Terabyte is equivalent to” ; relative “10% increase in”
• Analogies (compare with something known to the audience)
• Images
• Reduce Jargon (words, ways of talking)

28. Audience
How to deal with heterogenous audiences?
• Focus on the non-specialist (adjust)
#3.1 Select information: what should the audience remember after your talk
• After a specialised part, be sure the general audience can “get back” to
your talk
English Communication for Scientists, Nature
http://www.nature.com/scitable/ebooks/english-communication-for-scientists-
14053993/118519448#bookContentViewAreaDivID

29. Prof. X, a world-renowned scientist in your field of expertise, approaches you during a
break in a conference, and expresses her interest in your work.
She explains that she has just been chosen to lead the scientific committee of a
foundation. This foundation will be giving 1MEUR to a highly promising junior scientist.
She asks you to meet on the next break for a quick chat with Prof. Y – a big name in a
related area of research. (“We just have 5 minutes during the break, go to the point”).

30. Talk nerdy to me, Melissa Marschall
https://www.ted.com/talks/melissa_marshall_talk_ner
dy_to_me?language=en

31. Idea #4: Prepare and practice
Plan
Be informed
Test your choices
Start early

32. Keep your CV continuously updated
Have automatic ways to compile relevant information (such as total
citations, article most cited, who cites you, etc) – Google Scholar,
Researchgate
Have a short bio ready. Keywords, highlights, selected publications.
Make it useful! Keep for instance a personal web updated, increasing your
visibility

33. Oral Communication
Difference with written communication? Stronger “dominance” over
the audience
• You set the rythm
• Can have some level of interaction / media / free use of (body) language
 Select information: which is your main message? (#3.1)
 People can ask you later for more details

34. Try to express your project around a clear, simple idea / Image
http://ip4ec.upf.edu/
The objective of this project is to develop image processing algorithms
for cinema that allow people watching a movie on a screen to see the
same details and colors as people at the shooting location can.
Compile pictures which could be useful

35. Compile ideas from others which you find of interest: a cliché in your field
may be new to non-specialists

36. Structure
The problem, why it matters, potential solutions, the benefits of
fixing it ---- Your specific work ---- why it matters / is relevant

37. Structure
Start with an attention – getter  Focus the audience’s attention
on one issue
Close with a take-home message (ideally linked to your attention
getter)
Story
Personal Well-known story Curious fact
Your Brain on Fiction http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/opinion/sunday/the-
neuroscience-of-your-brain-on-fiction.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Image

38. Examples
Cristina Galusca, Center for Brain and Cogntion
Department of Information and Communication Technologies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0Xv2scou1s

39. More examples
Science pitch (stem cells) https://www.cirm.ca.gov/our-
progress/stem-cell-videos?&&field_voc_video_event_tid[0]=746
3 minute thesis http://threeminutethesis.org/
TED in 3 minutes https://www.ted.com/playlists/81/ted_in_3_minutes

40. #1.1 What is special in ourselves with respect to equivalent peers? (in
each specific context)
#1.2 Which is your motivation to do research?
• How you can be useful to others / Others can be useful for you?
• Why could they be interested in you / your results / your methods?
• Who are the direct and indirect beneficiaries of your research?
• What can you offer? / Who do you need to conduct your research?
• Other skills
• Infrastructures / Strategic providers
• Requirements / feedback
• Subjects for experiments
• Visibility
• Future employers!, etc...
• “Greater why”: get to know properly the wider area of knowledge (and
who plays a role)
#1.3 Why is research in your topic relevant?
#1.4 Why is your approach / work relevant to it?
#2 Have an objective
#3.1 Select information: what should the audience remember after your
talk. Is there a simple message you may give?
 Is there a story, metaphore, etc

41. Thank you
Department of Information and Communication Technologies
Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona
http://www.upf.edu/dtic/
@dtic_upf