FACULTY OF BRAIN SCIENCES
Developing Communication Skills in
Postgraduate Research Students
Dr Julie Evans. Dr Steven Bloch, Dr Alex Standen
julie.evans@ucl.ac.uk, s.bloch@ucl.ac.uk, a.standen@ucl.ac.uk
CONTEXT
The ability to communicate a message to specialist and lay
audiences is a key development skill for students. High levels of
verbal and written communication are important attributes for
our graduates in relation to employability and further research.
The Faculty of Brain Sciences organised its first Postgraduate
Poster Symposium in 2012-13. Over 60 students participated
from across the Faculty. The
event offered a networking
opportunity for students in a
Faculty that is spread over a
large geographic area. Posters
reflected high levels of written
and
visual
communication.
However, judges commented
that a significant number of
students showed weaker verbal
communication
skills
when
explaining their research.
THE WINNING POSTERS
FEEDBACK
THE PROJECT
For 2013-14 we adapted the Symposium to include an
assessment of the students’ verbal communication skills. Fortyeight post-upgrade students participated, with each preparing a
poster and also delivering a 2-minute presentation without
visual aids to a panel of 2 judges and 9 of their peers. They
were asked to address the following questions: What is your
research question? Why is it important? What have you found
so far?
Guidance was given to students in advance. The posters were
judged according to scientific interest and visual impact; the
presentations were judged according to clarity, structure and
fluency. Marks from the presentation were added to poster
marks to give overall scores.
CHANGES FOR NEXT YEAR
Further to this feedback two decisions have already been
made to improve upon the event’s success for next year:
•All PGR students from across the Faculty will be invited to
present a poster, with two judging levels for pre- and postupgrade students.
•Each of the panels of judges (one per 10 students) will
decide on a winner; the overall winner will be decided from
these 5 highly commended individuals
THE RESULTS
All students performed exceptionally well and judges were
impressed by their ability to communicate their research
clearly and concisely. Only a couple had to be stopped at the
two minute limit, most kept exactly to time!
A winner and two runner up prizes were awarded to the
students who were judged most successful in presenting their
research to a non-specialist audience: all three were
noteworthy in their ability to articulate the impact and
relevance of their work. A further five students were highly
commended for their presentations and posters.
The Symposium was kindly sponsored by the UCL Graduate School (http://www.grad.ucl.ac.uk/) and the Faculty of Brain Sciences (www.ucl.ac.uk/brain-sciences).