Heather Barnes, CEO of Improv @ Work, leads a communications exercise with NITMB’s Summer Undergraduate Researchers
NSF-Simons National Institute for Theory and Mathematics in Biology’s summer undergraduate researchers are hard at work exploring the interface of mathematics and biological disciplines by contributing to NITMB Supported Research. Equally important as the lab experiences and networks the researchers have obtained is the ability to effectively communicate their work to a wide variety of audiences. In a survey conducted by Nature Portfolio, 97% of researchers claimed communication is a key skill for a successful research career. Without effective communication skills, researchers will struggle to share their work with potential collaborators, potential funding sources, and the general public. A Pew Research Center poll found the number of Americans who believe science is mostly positive for society fell 16 percentage points from 2019 – 2023. At a time when the public’s trust in science is rapidly depleting, it is more important than ever for young scientists to learn how to also share the importance of their work outside of academia.
Heather Barnes, CEO of Improv @ Work, leads a communications exercise
To prepare the NITMB summer undergraduate researchers to be effective communicators, the NSF-Simons NITMB partnered with Heather Barnes of Improv @ Work. Barnes has over 15 years of experience working with museums and aquariums, offering guidance for communicating scientific work to a wide variety of audiences. Heather Barnes and the NITMB developed a two-day workshop for the NITMB’s summer undergraduate researchers to explore best practices for science communication.
Miraal Haque, undergraduate student majoring in Cognitive Science at the University of California, Berkeley (Left), Sahana Senthilkumar, undergraduate student majoring in biomathematics and computer science at Rutgers University (Right)
The summer undergraduate researchers were given exercises to practice communication skills with different audiences and settings. During one exercise, the summer undergraduate researchers were grouped into pairs, with one researcher explaining their work and the other providing feedback. Initially the researchers were given ample time to explain their research, but with each subsequent exercise they were provided less time, until finally they were given only 30 seconds to summarize complicated research projects. Being able to summarize one’s research in a short time is vital, as there may be opportunities where researchers have limited time to explain the significance of their project to colleagues, collaborators, funding sources, or the general public.
Other exercises involved practicing explaining scientific work to different types of audiences. For one exercise, researchers were asked to practice explaining work to a potential funding source. Then, they were asked to tailor their explanations to an audience of journalists. Finally, the researchers practiced explaining their work to someone completely unaware of the scientific language frequently utilized by researchers.
Pratyush Rallapally, undergraduate student majoring in Biology and Statistics at the University of California, Santa Barbara
The summer undergraduate researchers were given multiple opportunities to practice lightning talks in front of their peers who provided feedback on ways to improve. A main focus of feedback given by Heather Barnes and other students was how researchers can reduce the density of scientific language in their presentations. Since many audiences will not include field experts, it was essential for the students to deconstruct their presentations to find new, more accessible language that describes complicated concepts. Many researchers utilized metaphors, stories, and other creative communication tactics to break down dense research into simple to understand language.
NITMB Summer Undergraduate Researchers participate in an active communication exercise
Beyond scientific communication, the summer undergraduate researchers were encouraged to learn how to be more effective communicators in general. Heather Barnes led the researchers in improvisation exercises designed to teach the students how to be more relaxed while communicating. Within each of these improvisational exercises there were also guidelines for how to effectively communicate any material, such as ensuring information is provided in a sensical order.
Ginny Ghang, undergraduate student majoring in computational and systems biology at the University of California, Los Angeles
Equipped with new tools for effective communication, the NITMB summer undergraduate researchers are preparing for the Summer Undergraduate Research Program Symposium on Friday, August 9th. This Symposium will offer the summer undergraduate researchers an opportunity to apply all they have learned from the scientific communication workshop as they share what they have accomplished this summer. Members of the wider NITMB community will attend the Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium to celebrate the hard work and accomplishments of the Institute’s inaugural Summer Undergraduate Research Program participants.