Training younger researchers to disseminate their findings:
"Keep it simple!"
"A lot of academics communicate their research findings in a way that is far too complicated," says Professor Are Magnus Bruaset, Assistant Director of the Simula School of Research and Innovation.
The Simula School of Research and Innovation (SSRI) is responsible for running the educational activities of Simula Research Laboratory, a centre for advanced research within the field of informatics based in Oslo. In cooperation with trade and industry the institution has for the first time organised a national-level course in dissemination techniques.
"Keep it simple!", says Professor Are Magnus Bruaset. (Photo: Siw Ellen Jacobsen)
"The systematic teaching of dissemination techniques has not been sufficiently developed in doctoral degree programmes in Norway. Therefore many students do not learn how to communicate the results of their research in a clear and comprehensible way, which is extremely important if the research is to have value and be of benefit to society," says Bruaset.
Dissemination training since 2003
Simula has offered a course in dissemination techniques to its own doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows since 2003. SSRI was established in 2007 and in March this year it opened its doors to doctoral students at other scientific and technological educational institutions in Norway. Interest in the course was high, with over 230 students applying for the 68 available places.
Melissa Marshall from Pennsylvania State University in full swing giving useful tips on improving research communication. (Photo: Siw Ellen Jacobsen)
Since the beginning of 2003 Michael Alley, Associate Professor of Engineering Communication at Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) in the USA has been responsible for the course content. Alley is an internationally-renowned expert in effective communication of scientific and technological information. This year's course participants received in-depth training in how to improve their research communication from Alley and his colleague Melissa Marshall, Lecturer in Communication Arts and Sciences, Penn State.
Improving communication skills
"When we spend two to three years researching a topic we have to be able to communicate our findings to people outside our immediate academic circle. Otherwise the whole thing is pointless," states Christer Honoré Ersland, a doctoral student at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim. He and the other course participants learned a lot of vital techniques for presenting their research in writing or in the form of lectures.
Pauline Isaksson and fellow course participant Christer Honor� Ersland. (Photo: Siw Ellen Jacobsen)
"All PhD students should be offered a course like this one," asserts Pauline Isaksson, a doctoral student at Rikshospitalet University Hospital in Oslo. She signed up for the course because she wanted to be able to present her research to the international research community in a professional way. Isaksson emphasises the importance of international network-building and views good research dissemination as a key element in making the results of her research known.
"The course provided me with constructive feedback on how I present my material, and tips for improving my communication skills and better engaging my audience. I am used to giving presentations for my own colleagues. Here I have learned to talk to a wider audience of scientists. It has been extremely useful," she says.
Losing audience attention
According to Professor Bruaset the need for increased knowledge about research communication applies to the entire research community not just to natural science researchers.
(Photo: Shutterstock)
"A high percentage of those who give scientific presentations and lectures find that they quickly lose their audience. We want to encourage the next generation of researchers to be more aware of how they present their material and to teach them how they can retain audience attention. People are visually-oriented beings and to achieve effective communication this needs to be exploited. One common mistake among academics is that they communicate too much information about too many complicated things all at once," says Bruaset.
The Simula SchoolSimula School of Research and Innovation AS (SSRI) is the research school of Simula Research Laboratory (Simula). Simula is a research centre that carries out strategic basic research, educates students in the field of informatics in collaboration with the Department of Informatics at the University of Oslo and promotes the application of its research. SSRI runs a course in research dissemination for its own doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows, which is now open to doctoral students from other scientific and technological educational institutions in Norway. Simula Research LaboratorySimula is a limited company whose largest shareholder is the Norwegian Government. It receives basic funding of NOK 49 million per year through the Research Council. Of this, NOK 29 million is allocated by the Ministry of Education and Research, NOK 10 million by the Ministry of Trade and Industry and NOK 10 million by the Ministry of Transport and Communications. Among the shareholders of Simula Research Laboratory or its subsidiaries are the SINTEF Research Group, Norwegian Computing Center, StatoilHydro and Telenor. SSRI receives NOK 5 million per year in earmarked funding from the Ministry of Education and Research through the Research Council. |
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This article was originally published in Norwegian in Forskning magazine no. 2/09. Read more articles in English from this issue. Electronic versions of the articles from all issues of the magazine (in Norwegian): Visit the Forskning magazine website. |
- Published:
- 26.05.2009
- Last updated:
- 08.06.2009
