Interdisciplinarity, Teaching & Popularization: Keys to Research Success at Day 2 of AXA Pop Days 2014

The AXA Research Fund’s science communication event ends Friday with the grantees’ final presentations

Today at AXA Pop Days, participants learned the importance of a catchy opening to a presentation. Pre-presentation jitters were testament to these scientists taking the communication of their subject to heart. Coffee breaks in the schedule went unnoticed. Professor Emmanuel Fort provided a great example of science communication during an interactive master class. Will all of these efforts pay off when grantees of the AXA Research Fund present to the public on Friday? Folllow #AXApopdays to find out!

“Would you like to live in this beachfront paradise?”

“As a child, I was very ill with an infection that couldn’t be treated with antibiotics.”

“Sleep…it sounds so nice, right? Not with the tsetse fly around.”

Today at AXA Pop Days, participants learned the importance of a catchy opening to a presentation. The relevance of anticipating coastal storm surges, the problem of antibacterial resistance and the need for new treatments against sleeping sickness were, thus, introduced with attention-grabbing images and personal tales.

At each stage of today’s workshops, the young researchers taking part in this science popularization event were unable to tear themselves away from the task put before them, be it preparing to present their work in five minutes or creating a Tumblr page for their research. Coffee breaks in the schedule went unnoticed. Pre-presentation jitters, too, were testament to these scientists taking the communication of their subject to heart.

They got a brilliant example of science communication at the end of the day, in the form of an interactive master class with Professor Emmanuel Fort. A researcher in optics, the physicist holds the AXA-ESPCI Chair in biomedical imaging. He not only impressed the group with high-speed videos of dancing droplets, but also exchanged with them on the importance of interdisciplinary science, the value of teaching, and the pros and cons of research systems around the world.

Will all this coaching, preparation and inspiration pay off for the AXA Pop Days participants tomorrow? Starting at 11:30, the final challenge will begin: Eight participants will get five minutes to present their research to a business-minded audience, including AXA executives. The rest will summarize their research and its significance in one slide and one minute – no easy task! Tune in to the hashtag #AXApopdays to find out.


 

#AXApopdays Live-Tweet

Friday, June 20th

11:30am – 12:45pm

Your Research Explained to Executives