10. 10
With a public defined, academics must determine how to appropriately engage with that
particular community before people listen.
(Andrew Hoffman)
11.
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
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.