Decoding the Northern Lights - public lecture
Aims
Lancaster University’s Public Lecture Series aims to engage the local public with cutting-edge research. It gives researchers a chance to present research of public interest and begin a dialogue.
Overview
Dr Maria Walach, Research Fellow in Physics delivered a public lecture on Decoding the Northern Lights as part of the 2023 series of public lectures. She explains:
'I applied to give a public lecture because I am passionate about bringing my research to a wider audience. As a physicist, my work is not always directly influenced by public discourse but nevertheless, I enjoy engaging wide audiences in my research topic. It gives me the opportunity to think about my work from a different perspective which shapes how I then communicate my research to other scientists.
In 2022, I won the Award Lecture Prize from the British Science Association for Mathematics and Physical Sciences. Through this, I had a prewritten lecture about my research, aimed at engaging the general public. As I was presenting this work around the country, I thought it would be nice to also present it in Lancaster.
At the time, I wasn’t sure if the Lecture Series would allow for early-career researchers to take part as previous speakers have often been very senior, but there is no reason why early-career researchers can’t take part or give a good talk. For me it provided an opportunity to develop my lecturing skills further.'
Results and Outcomes
Tab Content: For Partners and Engagement
The lecture was sold out and despite it being a hot sunny day, the room was full. Audience members seemed engaged and asked many interesting questions afterwards. Several people came up to me later and provided positive feedback, including one person who said
“I don’t usually get science talks because my background is in the arts but I really enjoyed your talk and understood much more than I usually do in these lectures”.
Other comments included “your talk was really relatable”, and “you should be on YouTube”.
For me, it was helpful to hear what kind of questions the audience asked: This always highlights things that weren’t clear in the talk for me or which parts piqued the audiences interests and helps me improve my slides in the future.
Tab Content: For Academics
Tailor your slides and know your audience: My audience was primarily interested adults, but of mixed backgrounds. This means you cannot make any assumptions about understanding of the subject so avoid jargon at all costs. Put lots of pictures on your slides and remember that some of them might not automatically see the value in your work, so think about your pitching angle.
Even if you have an hour scheduled, you don’t always have to fill that time: I find that most people have a shorter attention span than academics and students who are well-versed in sitting in conferences/lectures all day. This also leaves ample time for questions and dialogue, which I think is a fun aspect of the lecture series: A dialogue at the end allows you to understand your audience’s point of view and get feedback on how much they understood.
If you’re worried about how to organise a public lecture, and the time commitment – don’t be. The Stakeholder Relations Team arrange all the logistics and promotion meaning all you have to do is share your research and enjoy the engagement with the general public.
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