Why Science Communication Starts with Students

Photo provided by Roar News

With misinformation spreading through the rise of fake news and pseudoscience, the public is often left confused about science and research. This makes it even more important for scientists to share their work with the public in an accessible way, so we can learn directly from the source.

Now, when I refer to scientists, this should also include future scientists or those studying the sciences. And it starts early.

As students, we are constantly writing reports and essays, but I think we should be practising our ability to write for lay audiences just as much.

I’m Suvi, a BSc Psychology student at King’s College London, coming to the end of my degree. Terrifying, I must admit. I’m lucky to have been able to edit and write for Inspire the Mind, which gave me the chance to brush up on my communication skills. I only wish I’d known of Roar News earlier in my degree as a student.

Here at King’s College London (KCL), we have our own student-run newspaper called ‘Roar News’.

Founded in 1973 and formerly known as Casey L, the newspaper offers students the opportunity to write about news, culture, science, sports, and commentary.

To gain better insight into the publication, I interviewed former Roar News Science and Research writer and editor, Jana Bazeed. As part of the ITM × Roar collaboration, Roar News also published an interview with Inspire the Mind's co-founder, Melisa Kose.

What is Roar News?

It’s a student-run newspaper where students can report on any topics relevant to the student body. This entails anything happening on or off campus and essentially, whatever is relevant to students.

Importantly, it is entirely led by students, with the editorial team and writers being students only.

What Was Your Personal Journey to Joining Roar?

It started in high school.

I ended up doing a physics and philosophy degree in a roundabout way because I knew I liked to write and read, and loved philosophy and maths.

After deciding on the degree, I looked at the extracurricular life of the universities, which has always been very important for me, and since writing is something I have always been passionate about, this drew me to Roar News at King’s.

So technically, I’ve been involved in Roar News since my very first day at King’s.

Why is Practising Communication Important?

Following university, it’s normal to completely jump ship and try something new, like marketing or finance. Communication is a skill that you’re going to always need, whether it’s writing emails, presentations, articles, or grant proposals.

To do so, you must learn to present your information in an accessible manner, learning to adapt to whatever audience you’re talking to.

This is a skill that needs practice because it doesn’t come immediately for everyone. I mean that certainly wasn’t the case for me.

It can be scary to pitch your first idea or write your first article, but there is no better way to get started than to just start. It’s not going to get you on a list for a Pulitzer, but it is a start.

Why Should Students Write?

A lot of Science, Technology, Economics, and Mathematics (STEM) students have this false idea that “Oh, I do STEM, so I don’t write” - when this is not the case.

Writing is a good practice for students to learn how to communicate their work to a general audience because, frankly, in some cases, your science is only as good as how you communicate it.

Doing so at university provides you with the opportunity to develop your skills in a low-pressure environment. This meant I was given plenty of flexibility and freedom in covering whatever topics I wanted to.

Additionally, writing gave me many opportunities to network and attend events for free, so it’s a lot of fun.

You’ll have to write at some point in your career, so why not in an accessible, supportive, and low-pressure environment?

Being a writer and editor at Roar gave me an excuse to go and talk to the staff. I’d call them up for an interview, and you’d be surprised how many scientists got back to me.

If you ever feel nervous about approaching scientists for an interview or a quote, I will say that scientists truly do love talking about their work.

For many, their research is their life’s work, and they are often very eager to share their work. The hard part can be trying to translate this for a general audience, but that’s where editors come in.

Photo by freepik 

Why is Science Communication Important?

Considering all the exciting research at King’s, you’ll often see that the science departments aren’t exactly well-connected to the wider student body.

People simply aren’t talking about the research, either because they don’t really understand it or frankly weren’t informed about it happening. This created a need for us at Roar to communicate the research happening at King’s in an accessible and digestible manner.

We want our peers to hear about what their departments are doing, and make sure these stories aren’t going unreported.

Even if the research doesn’t seem of interest to us now, it will be relevant to us in the future.

Aside from students, we want the public to be informed about what is happening in the world of science, especially since a lot of research is publicly funded.

For example, during the pandemic, many people were scared because they were being fed all this misinformation and couldn’t understand what was going on.

This time highlighted the importance of making science and research more accessible and understandable for the public. Ideally, this would help reduce the apprehension around trusting scientists and science.

What Are The Popular Topics Students Like to Write About?

Since I’m a physicist, my background is very much rooted in physics. But like many other students, we’re also writing on healthcare, biology and AI.

AI is an especially popular topic; I mean, it’s everywhere, even Vogue. It’s all anyone is talking about.

With AI, it’s difficult because there are many upsides and downsides, but it’s not something we fully understand yet.

This causes a lot of fearmongering, which makes it appealing to write about. It’s very relevant to us as students because you can see that it’s completely changing our education experience, and for many students, this is like three or four years of our lives.

How Can Academic Institutions Make Research More Accessible to Students?

I don’t blame students for not reaching out first, because it isn't always obvious that this is something we should be doing.

So, while we want to encourage students to start, universities should help support this. This can look like hosting more workshops in collaboration with student magazines or societies to encourage students to write.

It could also involve creating more opportunities for students to learn about the research going on within their departments.

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Speaking to Jana was a great opportunity to reflect on why science communication and writing are so important to practice.

It may seem like something that isn’t meant for us as students or researchers, but getting into science communication matters because it’s the bridge between complex research and the people affected by it.

We want science to feel less like an exclusive club and more like a shared field, open to anyone willing to learn.