Workshop for PhD researchers: Impact is Coming

1

Esther De Smet - workshop #PhDIntroday -

February 2017

*** Line-up of recruits for the Wall ***

Rank yourself according to the impact of your research on the realms of men

2


February 2017

3


February 2017

Your first lesson is to take pride in what you do as a scientist.

You have the power to change the world – even if it doesn’t seem that obvious to other

or even to you.

4


February 2017

But with this great power comes great responsibility.

So in your work try to be as open as possible.

Share your ideas, results and data with the scientific community – and convince others

to do so as well.

5


February 2017

Join me in spreading this new war cry!

*** discussion on how the participants are already encouraged to be open or what

actions they might take ***

6


February 2017

But it is not just about making a mark on science. Remember that there are other realms

out there that need exploring.

7


February 2017

Being the warden of Castle Knowledge is an honourable duty but what exactly is this

treasure you are sitting on or defending?

Knowledge is ideally ‘socially robust’ which means it does not solely serves your small

scientific family

but also all the other families outside the gates of your keep.

So get on your horse and explore other kingdoms, talking and listening to people on the

way, staying at strange inns, getting lost –

Always considering where you’re going and who you can help along the way.

8


February 2017

Start caring about the impact of your research.

Understand what science may mean to society.

But also why it should matter to be vocal about the importance/impact of science for

science itself and you.

9


February 2017

Open science is more than a new buzzword in academia.

It is also about allowing society into your world and venturing into society yourself.

Think about what you might do to make your research easily discoverable and accessible

to other audiences besides your peers.

Look at how other people outside the scientific and academic realm might influence

your work and your attitude.

What are the ways in which you can interact with them? How approachable are you?

How can you be at the service of society?

10


February 2017

Storytelling is all about using the trick of engaging narratives when communicating

about your research.

It is something you should really invest in.

It is our lesson 3.

11


February 2017

You must accept that science might not interest everyone. It even scares some people.

Also remember that details important to you may not resonate with other people – even

other researchers.

Is there anything in your research which may though?

When considering this question, be honest with yourself, and try to embody someone

else who hasn’t spent years toiling over your niche subject area.

Resist the temptation of covering too much of your research. Don’t get bogged down in

the details. Try to avoid unnecessary nuance.

So use age-old tricks of narrative.

May and Watts (2012) describe an eight-art story structure:

http://www.dailywritingtips.com/how-to-structure-a-story-the-eight-point-arc/

Maybe the 8-point arc is too heavy-handed for you?

Start with at least finding that central image that people can connect with.

Link: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2014/08/27/academic-

storytelling-risk-reduction/

12


February 2017

Rigorous researching and attention-grabbing storytelling are very different trades but

that does not mean that they are mutually exclusive.

By finding that point of connection in your research you’ll go a long way.


February 2017 13

Storytelling is essentially about touching the hearts and heads of your audience (in that

order!): making them laugh or cry, inviting them to join you on your journey, challenging

them to think.

It’s about making them care so be authentic.

It’s about making a lasting impression and letting your passion inspire them.

It’s about bringing in visuals to add strength and imagination to your tale.

In short: it’s about making an impact.

14


February 2017

https://youtu.be/2xCLCB51fBw

*** Exercise: what is your central image? What is your story? ***

15


February 2017

In Lesson number Four we come to terms with the fact that everyone needs help and

should surround themselves with worthy allies who bring added value to your science

engagement through their expertise. You are not in this alone.

16


February 2017

In engagement and communication as in research it is important to build up a sturdy

network.

You only have so much time and energy so investing it wisely is key.

Look for meaningful encounters – and not just the usual suspects.

Think: who can help you have a bigger impact?

As a PhD student it is important to have role models. Think who this might be for you.

17


February 2017

Identify partners in your quest starting within your own university:

*** show of hands – who knows about/uses these? ***

So make sure these people know about you, your expertise, and your engagement

preferences/talents


February 2017 18

OUTSIDE YOUR ORGANISATION

Also identify who else might benefit from your science engagement:

- from your research: general public and specific target groups

- from your communication about your research: (specific) media

Interesting exercise: identify the stakeholders of your research (both positive and

negative)


February 2017 19

But it is not enough to know the go-to people, the intermediaries.

It also helps to know where the essential information is and what small actions can

make a big difference. Some things you need to do yourself.

20


February 2017

We are halfway through our quest to attain the Iron Throne. We have learnt a lot about

our own attitude and skills but it is now time to delve deeper into the tools that are at

our deposal.

Lesson 5 reminds us of the fact that when it comes to those tools it pays off to evolve

and step into the future.

So get with the times and don’t become a White Walker. Start with discovering your

online identity and then caring about it and aim at becoming a ‘networked scholar’.

Interesting resource: Goodier and Czerniewicz, http://openuct.uct.ac.za/sites/default/files/Online%20Visibility%20Guidelines.pdf

21


February 2017

Writing for Research (March 2014) https://medium.com/advice-and-help-in-

authoring-a-phd-or-non-fiction/are-you-an-academic-hermit-6d7ae5a0f16a

*** Quiz about digital behaviour ***

- How many people looking for info online? 70%

- How many scholars without online contact details: 35%

- How many scientific papers are published each year? 1.8 million – this doubles every

nine years!

- How many researchers think they should probably do more to promote their research

online? 78%

- If researchers do use online media to make professional info publicly available, how

many put data sets online? 15% (published) 7% (unpublished)

(Both online survey Piirus September 2014)

- How much of Ghent Uni Biblio is open access? 30%

- What is the world’s largest non-scholarly referrer of DOIs? Wikipedia

- How many new Wikipedia articles per minute? 6

- How many researchers on Twitter (Priem 2012): 1/40

22


February 2017

*** Quiz: academic social media networks and digital tools ***

23


February 2017

“Scientists have been harnessing the power of social media to fundamentally speed up

the pace at which they are developing and sharing knowledge, both

within scientific communities and with the general public (Bik and Goldstein, Ogden

2013). There is a growing diversity of “social ecosystems” that support the

scientific and scholarly use of social media (Bar-Ilan et al. 2012). For example, scientists

are using collaborative project spaces (Wikipedia, Google Docs,

figshare, GitHub), blogs and microblogs (Research Blogging, Twitter), online content

communities (YouTube, Mendeley, CiteULike, Zotero), and professional

networking sites (Facebook, Academia.edu, LinkedIn, ResearchGate) to develop new

ideas and collaborations that culminate in concrete scientific outputs.” (Darling 2011)


February 2017 24

“Central to your attitude as a networked scholar is your identity, and in this case we

focus on your online identity - defined as ‘the extent to which others can identify you

online as a scholar’. This is why it is critical to become aware of your online presence

and to shape and maintain this presence.”

So that is lesson six.


February 2017 25

digital footprint is your active contribution to and interaction with the online world

digital shadow is content about you posted and uploaded by others, as well as

automatically generated and collated content

You should try and maximise the former and watch the latter, especially as it is difficult

to control. The best way to drown out content about yourself that you may not like is to

upload content of your choice.

*** Google yourself ***

It is also useful to do specific Google searches. You could start with Google Images,

Google Videos, Google Books and Google Discussions. You might even set up some

Google Alerts.


February 2017 26

Assessing and improving your online presence

Let these questions guide you along.

Tip: make sure you use the platforms that your university has on offer. They often got

better SEO than individual initiatives.

Number 1: keep your academic repository up to date and use this as your starting point.

Also remember the world outside academia: it might pay off to create a LinkedIn profile

in which you link to your repository.

*** discuss with your neighbour ***


February 2017 27

Okay, now you seem ready to really unleash the dragons of social media

28


February 2017

There are many online tools available for disseminating your research and/or for

interacting about science. The important thing is choosing the right tool for your specific

goal. And then making it your own and giving it a natural place in your work and life so it

does not feel like a chore.

http://www.andymiah.net/2012/12/30/the-a-to-z-of-social-media-for-academics/

(starting in left-hand corner below)

Website: not just profile page but also group pages with news items, dedicated project

websites etc.

LinkedIn: profile that helps you to connect outside academia

Visual platforms: Flickr, Instagram (second largest socmed platform!)

Pinterest (big in US!) - http://www.researchtoaction.org/2012/07/whats-all-the-interest-

in-pinterest-how-can-it-be-used-for-academic-research-communication/

examples: https://www.pinterest.com/smithsonianscie/ and

http://readwrite.com/2013/09/25/best-instagram-accounts-for-science-geeks

In between visual and blog: Tumblr (bijv. http://medresearch.tumblr.com/ and

http://oupacademic.tumblr.com/ but also http://wheninacademia.tumblr.com/ and

29


February 2017

http://wheninacademicresearch.tumblr.com/ and http://allmalepanels.tumblr.com/)

Reddit Science and Quora

Online Commenting

Opinion pieces for all kinds of media

SlideShare

Wikipedia: huge audience, use your expertise to improve the world’s largest source of

knowledge

as a means to open up science: https://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2014/10/using-wikipedia-

to-open-up-science/

Data visualisation

Infographics: http://blogs.biomedcentral.com/bmcblog/2014/08/11/the-power-of-

pictures-how-we-can-use-images-to-promote-and-communicate-science/ > the

importance of visuals (academic poster becomes infographic)

Bijv. http://www.studiolakmoes.nl/projecten-database/zo-deelt-de-ambulancezorg-een-

jaarverslag-vol-cijfers

Twitter

Facebook: http://indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/facebook-science-pages/

Online book reviews including popular books based on science:

http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/category/disciplines/media-studies/

Blog: separate, group, guest

Ted talk (maybe start locally with TedX) – Scientists Popularizing Science: characteristics

and impact of TED Talk Presenters (PLOSONE April 2013): “Presenters are predominantly

male and non-academics. Although TED popularizes research it may not promote the

work of scientists within the academic community.”

Podcasts

Youtube - Vimeo

https://www.youtube.com/user/jmccorma1234/videos

Explanimation: e.g. Crash Course Biology

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3EED4C1D684D3ADF > Choose your audience /

Deliver in style / Stay focused / Get to the point / Be part of the community / Give the

audience an anchor / Be a person not a company


February 2017 29

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk2izv-c_ts

30


February 2017

For the sake of full disclosure we must also look at the challenges and pitfalls all this

online presence and engagement activities bring with them.

How do you mitigate these so that you don’t lose yourself in the game?

31


February 2017

There are solutions for some of these – or at least ways of coping with these issues.

TIME: choosing, integrating it

PLAGIARISM: tweeting or blogging ideas and new analyses can provide a ‘time stamp’

for ideas that are yours, establish ownership of particular topics

COPYRIGHT: look into creative commons, if you’re uncomfortable or unsure – don’t, use

pre-prints

WRONG: set the record straight, be witty about it, know when to stop

It is a nuanced story.

Not everyone is a fan or naturally gifted or even at ease when participating in science

engagement and/or social media.

There might even be criticism of peers or mentors.

Institutional rewards and incentives are lacking.

Not everyone’s research is applied or sexy.

There is also a worry that we might be evolving towards more of the same: Academic

attention economy (cf. Kardashian Index)

*** Why are not doing it? Why are you doing it? ***

32


February 2017

Now maybe you would like some scientific proof that it is all worth it?

With the rise of online outreach by academics we also saw a rise in articles and papers

about social media (eg. By 2014 2000 articles and 3000 conferences papers about

Twitter)

Twitter Predicts Citation Rates of Ecological Research (Peoples 2016)

“Twitter activity was not driven by journal impact factor; the ‘highest-impact’ journals

were not necessarily the most discussed online.”


February 2017 33

ALTMETRICS > An umbrella term for spectrum of social media-based metrics:

often proposed as alternative to citation-based indicators

And as a tool to measure the impact of science outside academia

“Most studies show that, although citations and the new metrics are to some extent

positively correlated, these correlations are very weak.”

Quote from a recent and very interesting article by scientometricians concluding that at

the most, social media metrics may function as complements to other types of

indicators and metrics. Some more findings from this same article


February 2017 34

Also, questions are raised about a certain bias. A bias in topics: do social media only pay

attention to the sex, drugs and rock and roll of science? A bias in broadcasters: social

sciences and humanities are the most often found on social media platforms.

Or is a matter of shouting the loudest?

“Just like a taller, more powerful radio tower will boost a signal so it can be heard at a

greater distance; it makes sense that more people will read a paper if the writer is active

on social media. Of course, because we wrote it, we think it’s great that our paper has

proved so popular, but we have to ask: in the future, will the highest quality papers be

read most? Or will it be only those papers backed up by the loudest voices?” - Academic

blogging is part of a complex online academic attention economy, leading to

unprecedented readership, I. Mewburn and P. Thomson for LSE Impact blog (Dec 2013)

Let’s wrap this discussion up with the four words scientists love to hear: more research

is needed!


February 2017 35

http://markcarrigan.net/2015/10/26/my-tips-on-social-media-for-academics-in-the-times-higher/

Although it is a big investment and there are some definite challenges,

there are great benefits to integrating social media into your research – not

just as a way to communicate but also as a means to become a better

scholar. Social media offers you the means to interact directly with a

broader audience – often without ‘corporate interference’.

Although it can be great fun and many of the social media look flighty (eg.

half-life of a tweet is 18 minutes) it should not be taken lightly but

approached in a strategic and professional manner.

It’s all about finding the right balance:

- Not overthinking it but using it to your advantage

- Getting into the spirit of sharing and interacting while keeping focus in

your own research and not losing yourself in procrastination

- Giving it a natural place in your time management and approaching it so

you feel comfortable with it

36


February 2017

37


February 2017

Twitter is a microblogging and social media platform that allows users to send short

messages of up to 140 characters (including spaces).

You ‘follow’ other Twitter users, which means that you subscribe to their updates and

can see their messages or ‘tweets’ in your feed.

Other Twitter users can also follow your messages, which means that you now have

‘followers’ and that your tweets are transmitted instantly to them.


February 2017 38

Twitter is an easy but worthwhile tool to start engaging about your research.

These are some of the benefits:

- Connect with peers and building a scholarly network. Quote: “It’s allowed me to open

up new communities for discussions and increase the interdisciplinarity of my research.”

(A network boost by M. Baker. Nature, 12 Feb 2015) > “virtual department of

professional connections beyond your institution”

- Sharing and finding resources (think ‘open science’)

- Generating and refining ideas

- Honing writing skills: try building up a lucid argument in 140 characters!

- Reputation management (part of larger strategy in managing your digital

footprint/shadow)

- Dissemination of your research. Don’t just tweet your new scientific articles but try to

capture the attention of more people by making the content accessible.

- Public engagement and creating involvement: why not look for participants this way?

- And remember, there’s a lot of journalists and media outlets on there too…

Jobs & prof. development:

- “Following institutions, companies and individuals on Twitter can offer clues about

workplace culture and ongoing projects in a way that static website do not.”

- “Junior researchers are creating identities that don’t have to be routed through the

principal investigator.” (A network boost by M. Baker. Nature, 12 Feb 2015)

39


February 2017

It is a great tool for conferences:

- Back-channel: capture content & provide feedback, share questions and resources

- Connecting and networking

- Virtual participation

There is of course a big social element to it (especially for ECRs):

- Break isolation

- Look over the fence

- Find fellow victims

- Real-life scholar

- Sheer fun of it


February 2017 39


February 2017 40


February 2017 41

A) Initial tweet by Dr John Bruno, offering a new, unpublished finding for comment on

Twitter

B) A reply from a non-scientist, asking for non-technical explanation

C) A reply from scientist Grantly Galland, who has relevant data to contribute to the

project. The scientists strike a new collaboration.


February 2017 42


February 2017 43


February 2017 44


February 2017 45


February 2017 46


February 2017 47


February 2017 48

*** Exercise ***

#sharemythesis: competition by British Library

LOL my thesis: tumblr

49


February 2017


February 2017 50

If you have been paying attention to all the previous lessons and are willing to put them

to work, you’re ready finally claim your prize.

51


February 2017

ACADEMIC PRESTIGE

Better understanding the impact of your research and describing it leads to more

succesful grant proposals.

Promoting your publications and work, increases the chance of people seeing them and

citing them.

Or connecting their research with yours.

NETWORKING

Reaching out might offer professional perspectives outside academia.

Broadly communicating about your research creates opportunities for partnerships (and

thus funding) to might have remained hidden.

REAL IMPACT

Sharing your research leads to more multidisciplinarity and more efficient innovation.

Collaboration and coproduction brings real solutions to small and grand challenges.

Putting your scientific passion on stage increases your standing as a public intellectual

and establishes you as an academic expert.

From my idealistic view, it simplies makes you a better researcher but it also makes sure

that the general public and the powers that be keep supporting science and providing

funding.

52


February 2017

53


February 2017

Workshop for PhD researchers: Impact is Coming

Career

Transcript of Workshop for PhD researchers: Impact is Coming