Scientific communication workshop - challenges and experiences

Organised by Dr László Orbán and Dr Szabolcs Nagy, 270 young researchers from 24 universities and research institutes registered for the three-day, online, English-language course "Advanced Communication in Science". The lessons and experiences of the course were discussed in a workshop at the Pannon CommunityHub. The presentations of the workshop, organised by the Centre for Multidisciplinary Research and Excellence, were followed by an informal discussion.

The participants of the workshop were welcomed by Dr. Mihály Pósfai, Director of the Centre for Multidisciplinary Research and Excellence at the University of Pannonia. He said that the aim of the workshop was to discuss the difficulties that PhD students and invited guests face in research. He spoke about the importance of non-specialist skills, which are largely missing from doctoral training, but are much needed, as without them doctoral students cannot become independent researchers.

-"For many, it is not self-evident that the work does not end with the research, its results must be shared with the public," said Dr. Szabolcs Nagy, professor of the Department of Animal Breeding Engineering at MATE, who reported on the experiences in Keszthely. He also explained that the online course included self-management, time management and the importance of "me-time" in scientific work.

Dr. Ákos Horváth, Head of the Department of Fish Farming at MATE, said that the experience of teaching scientific communication in Gödöllő should also include teaching what a scientific hypothesis means and how to ensure that the text is easy to read - he stressed the importance of typography.

Dr Ildikó Szeverényi, a research associate at the Department of Applied Fish Biology at MATE, was herself mentored and later helped students from different cultures on their academic careers. She also talked about her experience in this field, saying that she has learned a lot from them, with students from all 5 continents.

"We expect students to know how to write a publication, but this also needs to be learned and taught. Sometimes someone is a very good researcher, but they don't communicate their results well or don't want to," said Dr. László Orbán, scientific advisor of the Department of Applied Fish Biology at MATE, who also said that in the last online course he found that students don't like to ask questions in person, preferring to use the chat function for this purpose. He added that he could not yet talk about the future because, although there is a demand for it, it is very difficult to organise such a course.

- We should take every opportunity to learn from each other - concluded Dr. Mihály Pósfai, and then continued the discussion in an informal round table discussion.

Videos of the event:

Young researchers - mentoring workshop 23. 05. 2024 - part 1

Young researchers - mentoring workshop 23. 05. 2024 - part 2