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Effort * Engagement = Successful Crowdfunding – the R2 and R3 data
Ages ago, we posted the summary stats about R2 and R3 of #SciFund. But what about those big-arse surveys that we administered during R1? Did they tell the same story of engagement leading to crowdfunding? Or, was all of that just a fluke – an artefact – a total piece of melarky? Wel, tldr; not [...]
Design tips for a killer presentation
Yesterday I provided some motivation for why you should make a great presentation. Now that you are amped up, you should be ready to get to work. But what if you don’t know exactly what to do to separate your presentation from the rest? Well don’t worry, I got you covered. Today I’m going to [...]
The importance of presenting your message
As a scientist, more than likely, you’ve given at least one presentation about your research and you’ve seen you’re fair share of presentations as well. Unfortunately, many of those presentations were full of slides that looked like this: Many scientists easily lose sight of their message, or fail to realize that their message is hidden [...]
Podcasting as a tool for science outreach
Podcasting is my (Kelly Weinersmith’s) favorite way to do outreach. While blogging can feel like work after a long day of writing grants or manuscripts, podcasting always feels like my favorite past time (i.e., chatting about science with interesting people!). I also tend to over think my writing, which meant blog posts would take days [...]
Outreach Training Class: Week 4
Welcome to week 4 of the SciFund Challenge outreach training class for scientists! Last week we focused on delivering our message through blogging. This week we’re going to jump right into the deep end and have you deliver your message in person. We are going to use a very specific format called an Ignite talk. [...]
Comics as a tool for science outreach
There are nearly endless ways in which scientists can engage in outreach. In a series of blog posts we will explore a handful of outreach outlets, and share stories from people who use these outreach tools. First up, COMICS!
Outreach Training Class: Week 3
Welcome to week 3 of the SciFund Challenge outreach training class for scientists! Last week we focused on crafting our message. This week we’ll develop skills to deliver that message through blogging. This week’s exercise has five parts: A) take a look at a few science blogs, B) write a blog post, C) comment on [...]
Post your message box! #SciFund
The message box isn’t typically something you’d share with the public, but in the interest of education I thought I’d share mine so everyone can see what the goal of the message box is. My message box revolves around open notebook science and here is the final form: But it didn’t start there. I’ve been [...]
#SciFund in PhD Comics (featuring Jai!)
Today’s PhD Comics covers how the SciQuester and general crumminess of the science funding climate is affecting young scientists. In particular, it has a brief discussion of crowdfunding, and a great video interview with our own Jai Ranganathan. I personally love Jorge Cham’s portrayl of Jai (shown above). Nice work! What are you waiting for? [...]
Outreach Training Class Week 1: Hangout Review
The first week of the first ever Scifund Outreach Course (Scifund Outreach 101) is now complete. Week 1 was mostly set up and getting familiar with the environment, as we requested students sign up for Twitter, Google+, Wikispaces (Scifund Wiki), and Google Groups, and then start playing around. We also asked students to sign up [...]