The course has many practical excercises.
Photo: Hans Karlsson
"It feels great that this course will be given for our PhD students! These days, it a subject that is talked about a lot. It is a democratic issue and also our responsibility to communicate the research that is going on at the university to society in a good way. Therefore, it is important that researchers get the tools early in their careers on how to communicate to different target groups", says Susanne Vikström, Faculty Programme Director.
It all began with Martin Rosvall, senior lecturer at the Department of Physics, giving a popular scientific presentation on the KBC yearly conference about critical thinking and myth debunking. Keith Larson, researcher at the Department of Ecology, Environmental Sciences, was there and listened to his lecture and he contacted Martin afterwards. Keith has a lot of experience of communicating science to the public. He has also developed a course in scientific communication at Lund University and was considering doing so also at Umeå University.
"We met and decided quickly that Umeå University needs a similar course – and that it would give us new experiences to coordinate such a thing," says Martin Rosvall, who is now co-responsible of the course together with Keith Larson.
"I contacted Susanne Vikström and we presented our idea for the Committee for PhD studies. The committee liked the concept and we now look forward to holding the course in October", he continues.
During the course, the doctoral students learn to identify target groups, distill relevant information and communicate their research findings efficiently using different techniques and approaches.
In order to maximize the learning of the course, reading of course literature is required before the course starts. The intensive week that follows consists of both practical and creative work, such as developing your elevator talk, social media content or producing a video to communicate one's own research.
The focus is also on discussions about valuation of and approach to science. Examples of questions are: What is the purpose of scientific communication? How is science perceived and appreciated? What challenges exists for scientific communication in relation to different target groups?
About the PhD student course:
For who? PhD students at the Faculty of Science and Technology
Credits? 3 credits
When: October 2018