How to see Ghosts, think like a Molecule and communicate Science

Speaker: Russell Hodge, MDC

Every stage of a researcher's career is built on foundations of writing and other forms of communication, yet this topic is rarely taken seriously in European schools and universities. Students who don't master the basic skills will struggle with
every paper, crucial applications for jobs and funding, and routine requirements of their jobs. And the ability to clearly and effectively communicate science is somehow connected to the quality of a scientist's thinking and research. Why should that be true? And what are the implications? A few years ago, I began a very systematic study of the problems scientists have when communicating with each other and with non-specialists. What I discovered has been tremendously useful. Not only does it provide clear strategies to write more clearly and powerfully and give better talks, but it has important implications for research. I think that we have profoundly misunderstood the relationship between science and communication. In this talk I'll use examples to outline a new model of that relationship. I'll show how the process of writing and giving a talk provides tools that can profoundly change the way you think about your work – a route toward both better communication and better science.