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Communicating about your research

Communicating about your research. Authoring a PhD and Developing as a Researcher: Getting Started Dr Gita Subrahmanyam Dr Kirsten Haack. Communication: the key to effective research. Research can only make a difference if people know about it and understand it

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Communicating about your research

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  1. Communicating about your research Authoring a PhD and Developing as a Researcher: Getting Started Dr Gita Subrahmanyam Dr Kirsten Haack

  2. Communication: the key to effective research • Research can only make a difference if people know about it and understand it • Effective communication helps you to better understand what you’re doing • You need to communicate: at seminars, conferences, job interviews, etc. • Communication is a critical professional skill in any walk of life

  3. Overview of workshop • Warm-up exercise: dinner party test • Writing effective research profiles • Presenting your research effectively • Personal websites for PhD students

  4. Warm up: the dinner party test • Find a partner at your table that you don’t already know • Take 1 minute (each) to introduce yourself and your research topic/area to your partner • Now introduce your partner and his/her research topic/area to the rest of the people at your table • Each person at your table should take a turn doing this

  5. Feedback: the dinner party test • Was what was said by your partner about your research an accurate description? • If you needed to correct him/her on certain aspects, then perhaps you need to work on your informal communication skills! • What else did you learn from this exercise?

  6. Short research profiles • Useful for communicating your research in emails (for networking), on your CV, or on the web • Effective research profiles are: • Concise • To the point/specific • Impactful • Avoid jargon • Writing an effective research summary or profile – handout

  7. Short research profiles: practical exercise • Take 10 minutes to write a brief (1-2 paragraphs = 150 words max) profile of your planned PhD research • Form a mini group with 2 other people at your table • In your mini group, read and feed back on each other’s profiles using the handout as a guide (approx 5 minutes on each profile)

  8. Effective oral communication • Take 10 minutes to prepare a 2 minute presentation on your research plans. • Make good use of the work you’ve done so far in the session, and the feedback you’ve been given. • Giant post-it notes and markers are available to create a visual aid (optional)

  9. Tips for creating your presentation • Introduce yourself, then present your big idea, big question or fascinating problem – something gripping which creates interest. • Don’t pack in too much information – in two minutes you can only really make one point. • Remember the audience – what do they really need to know? Cut extraneous details. • End high: emphasise your main point, your main ‘take-away’ message

  10. Presentations and feedback • Form a new group with everyone at your table. • Assign a timekeeper to ensure that each speaker keeps to the 2-minute limit (someone may need to timekeep the timekeeper!) • Each group member should present his/her research, while other group members make notes using the feedback sheet. • After everyone has spoken, feed back to each member of the group.

  11. Personal websites for PhD students 1 • Why have them? • Some departments offer students the opportunity to have a web presence on the departmental site: • Simple example • More fancy example • Advantages: easy to set up, low maintenance, seen as part of department • Disadvantages: constrained information and layout, not much space, may not be easy to update

  12. Personal websites for PhD students 2 • Alternatively (or additionally) you can create your own personal website • The School offers this facility to all students and staff • Setting up your own website is a powerful communication method, but it takes careful thought, planning and ongoing maintenance

  13. LSE resources for personal websites • To register for a personal website go to http://www2.lse.ac.uk/itservices/guides/OnlineGuides/personal-webspace-registration.aspx • Note that School provides space for ‘academic and related purposes’ • Guide to the technical aspects of creating a personal website at http://ittraining.lse.ac.uk/courseResources/FrontPage2003CreatingAPersonalWebsite.htm • Level of interest? Organise interactive training workshop

  14. Other resources for personal websites • www.academia.edu • social networking for academics • focus on research areas • university-based profile • free web templates (www.free-css.com/) • greater flexibility for design and content • should be linked from/to other website(s) example: http://personal.lse.ac.uk/CHWIEROT/

  15. Final thoughts • You should put your research profiles up on your departmental page – for example http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/DESTIN/whosWho/phdVargas.htm • Some departments allow you to include a link to your personal web page http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/media@lse/whosWho/PhDStudentsList.htm • Has this workshop fulfilled your aims and expectations? Please let us know – fill in an evaluation form

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