I am thrilled to have contributed to 'Speech Communication'. Read the complete paper at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167639323000626#bib0028
Evidence in neuroscience shows us there are plenty of advantages from experiencing art. Whether you are engaging in the creative act itself or observing a piece of art, art has got the power to improve our brain function at different levels. When we observe art, the stimulation that art provides us with, helps our brain develop new neural pathways. When we create art, we connect with the creator within ourselves and we express our emotions in a way that words might not be able to do. Apart from raising our serotonin levels, art helps us sharpen our observational skills and our memory and therefore impacts on brain plasticity.
Art also helps us enter a reflective mental space that can enhance our understanding of ourselves and our connection to our external environment. It is therefore clear that art brings us pleasure and also encourages you see our world in completely new ways. In order to inspire others to become creative, I have presented below some art that I myself created throughout the years. Each picture is accompanied by some description that tells you a little bit about the painter whom I got inspired by to create each art piece.
This painting that I did was inspired by Claude Monet's Woman with a Parasol. Monet created the original in 1875 that now hangs in the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. Monet was a French Impressionist who was inspired by nature and did a lot of outdoor paintings. Woman with a Parasol presents Madame Monet and their son.
This is an original painting that I created and that was presented at the 'All Of Our Own Work' exhibition in 2014 by Brunel Arts. This is the first time I used oil to create a floral illustration. The difference in quality between the two flowers is noticeable: I painted the flower in the background by looking at the flowers before me, while the flower at the front was created when I didn't have the flowers with me.
This is another original, that I did which is supposed to depict a scene from Ancient Rome with all of its contrasts. It attempts to illustrate the ancient Romans' taste of aesthetics and architecture and reflect the values of their society. This particular art piece emphasises the importance of perspective where the centre of the picture is in the middle of the main building at the back.
This was my first go at illustrating the dynamic atmosphere that could be sensed when looking at the weather before the rain falls. It could therefore be construed as portraying the ethereal realm, giving it a dreamy feel.
I hope your brain enjoyed the presented art and it inspired you to pick up the painting brush or go and visit an art gallery and start engaging with art, no matter if you choose to do so as an artist or an observer.
It is well-known that engaging in regular high mental effort can help you to maintain good brain function in the long-run. What better way is there to get your brain excited than by engaging in the local community and giving back through volunteering? This is a good opportunity to go out of your comfort zone and develop your leadership and public speaking abilities further and to do so in a safe space. There are many public speaking organisations out there that can help you with the first steps in successfully engaging in speaking in public and improving your leadership.
I also recommend you to check out part 2 of the chat I had with the host on the Jesus Parada Show where I talk about my book "A Simple Guide to Public Speaking".
If you have got a presentation to prepare for next week and you would like to get a few pointers on how to go about improving your presentation delivery as a public speaker without joining a public speaking club, the book "A Simple Guide to Public Speaking" is perfect for you because it provides you with useful information in a succinct way that can help you to understand how you can explore the process of public speaking on your own and at your own pace.
Happy Peer Review Week! The first ever PRW podcast episode is live! It features an episode with PRW steering committee member Jigisha Patel on the All Things Scicomm podcast produced by CACTUS. For this episode, the host of this podcast, Nikesh Gosalia interviews Jigisha in a very interesting conversation about peer review, ethics, integrity, and peer review week. She talks about her career journey from being a medical doctor to a journal editor. She shares her observations on common research integrity dilemmas in publishing, from plagiarism to authorship disputes, and discusses an overview of industry efforts to overcome these problems and the possibility of using AI-based solutions. Jigisha also addresses the connection between research integrity and peer review, and how her role in the Peer Review Steering Committee has given her a more positive perspective of the peer review process. She talks about a challenge affecting the peer review process – peer review being used as a mere stamp of approval as the actual content of the reviews is sidelined. She touches on the ‘publish or perish’ culture that is pervasive in scientific research and the need to evolve current research culture into one that rewards research integrity.
Here are the links for you to tune in to and share the interview:
Jigisha Patel is an independent research integrity specialist and founder of Jigisha Patel Research Integrity Limited. After training as a medical doctor, she transitioned into the world of publishing with a special focus on research integrity, peer review, and medical research ethics. Jigisha is an elected member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Council. She can be contacted through her website or Twitter.
All Things SciComm is a weekly podcast brought to you by ScienceTalks. You can follow them at:
Please feel free to get involved in Peer Review Week 2022 and share the news. You will find more details on how to get involved at https://peerreviewweek.wordpress.com/get-involved/. Participating organisations can indicate their list of activities on the site and follow hashtags #PeerReviewWeek22 #ResearchIntegrity
I have always been interested in how academics can effectively engage with the media and policymakers and I’m familiar with public engagement approaches from attending a workshop at the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement.
So, I was I excited to be selected to participate in Sense about Science’s ‘Standing up for Science’ workshop.
The workshop opened up new possibilities for me to communicate my research effectively to journalists and policymakers.
The workshop opened with an interactive panel with Professor Hannah Cloke from the University of Reading; Lawrence McGinty, former Medical Editor at ITV News; and James Clarke, Head of Communications at Rothamsted Research.
We discussed why researchers should take responsibility for how evidence is used in society, helping us understand that our work doesn’t end with publication, but continues with clearly relaying the meaning and impact of our research to the public.
To do this, you can talk to your press office before your paper comes out, get in contact with local journalists and engage your audience in your science.
When talking to journalists, agree on the content that is to be published. This reduces the chances of being misrepresented or misquoted in the piece.
Overall, the message is simple: talk to everyone about what you do and be sure to adjust your language accordingly for you to create an effective partnership with the public and the media through your research.
Another highlight was a lively discussion with George Freeman MP; Lauren Milden, Policy Adviser at the Centre for Science and Policy; and Dr Jo Hale from University College London.
They shared with us how we can create impact by providing our research and expertise to Parliament.
We can, for example, give evidence to Select Committees, get in touch with the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST), and All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs).
By being visible, we can support MPs to scrutinise government policy, look into urgent problems and make better decisions.
This can seem quite daunting, but it became clear that we can all tap into already existing extensive policy networks to get involved in the policymaking process.
Whether that’s by looking into the policy connections or the policy offices that professional societies such as the British Psychological Society has, or within our own organisations.
We all have expertise that we can contribute to policy debates. Sense about Science’s guide on Getting Your Research Into Parliament is a great place to start for practical tips.
As a scientist you can contribute to public and policy discussions to see positive developments both in your research area and outside of your research field.
It is your responsibility as a researcher to speak out and start having conversations with people, make new contacts and make connections.
‘Public Engagement: a practical guide’is Sense about Science’s free guide for researchers on how to effectively engage with the public and communicate research findings.
Public engagement is a two-way interaction, listening and communication between the public and researchers is key and often leads to mutual benefits.
First, to effectively engage, we need to understand the status of the public discussion: what are people saying about our research topic, what are the misconceptions?
This can involve looking at the media, policy discussions, blogs, public statements and forums to see where people are engaging with your research topic.
Use this scoping to identify and involve the individuals and groups who show most public interest in your topic. This will really help you influence the public conversation and support you in sharing your research findings.
Next, plan how to best communicate your research. You could choose websites, guides, graphics or videos. Be sure you choose the format that is relevant for people to access your content.
Once you’ve settled on the communication and have prepared some materials, you can hold user-testing workshops and one-on-one sessions.
These can be invaluable in understanding the aspects of your communication that need refining, and help you evaluate what the most and least clear things are in the way your research is presented.
Co-creating your research resources and tools with users in this way will ensure the information is presented in the clearest way possible.
Finally, by now you will have met people and groups who will have given you suggestions about your communication, so don’t forget to share it with them and ask them to help spread the word.
You can also promote resources in the media and at events, as well as online through blogs and social media.
The ‘Standing up for Science’ workshop highlighted our responsibility as early career researchers to engage with the public, media and policymakers at all levels and contribute our research and expertise to public debates and policy discussions.
This can start with a simple step such as approaching your local newspaper or a science journalist about your research, writing a blog for a learned societies magazine, or contacting your local politicians and policy advisors for you to provide them with evidence they can use in their policy discussions.
I encourage you all to get involved and start making good use of your expertise, be it related to research or not, so that we, as early career researchers, can positively shape future society.
To find out more about ‘Sense about Science’ and for more tips and advice on standing up for science, visit https://senseaboutscience.org/what-we-are-doing/voys/
Join the Voice of Young Science network to make sure you don’t miss out on opportunities to stand up for science.
I am deeply humbled to have been asked to contribute to the #IamBrunel series where career stories of Brunel PhD alumni are communicated t...
