Science communication for roboticists

This webpage outlines the details and agenda of this introductory course run by Robohub.org/AIhub.org and IEEE Spectrum. The session will be held in-person at IROS 2024 and will be broadcast virtually.

Would you like to learn how to communicate your robotics research to a general audience?

When?

Tuesday 15 October 2024
13:00 – 14:00 (GST) Talk: Science communication for roboticists – introductory training
14:00 – 15:00 (GST) Open drop-in session for one-on-one support

Where?

Meeting room 15, ADNEC, Abu Dhabi.

Presenters

Lucy Smith (AIhub.org and Robohub.org)
Evan Ackerman (IEEE Spectrum)
Laura Bridgeman (IEEE Spectrum)

About the session

Science communication is essential. It helps demystify robotics for a broad range of people including policy makers, business leaders, and the public. As a researcher, mastering this skill can not only enhance your communication abilities but also expand your network and increase the visibility and impact of your work.

In this brief tutorial, leading science communicators in robotics and AI will teach you how to clearly and concisely explain your research to non-specialists. You’ll learn how to avoid hype, how to find suitable images and videos to illustrate your work, and where to start with social media. We’ll end with insight from mainstream media on how get your story out to a wider audience.

Agenda

Part 1: – Lucy Smith: How to communicate your work to a broader audience

• The importance of science communication.
• Finding your story.
• How to produce a short summary of your research: we will take a step-by-step, guided approach to show you how to build a structured outline of your research story. This outline of the key points of a research story could be used to communicate work on a social media platform, such as Twitter.
• How to expand your outline to write a complete post: the next step is to expand the structured outline to form a complete post. We’ll give guidance, with worked examples, on how to do this.
• How to find and use suitable images.
• How to avoid hype when communicating your research.

Part 2: – Evan Ackerman: Working with media

• Who am I and what is IEEE Spectrum?
• Why bother talking to media anyway?
• What media is good at
• What media is bad at
• How media works
• How to pitch media a story
• How to pitch a story when you don’t have a charismatic megarobot
• How to work with your press office

Part 3: – Laura Bridgeman: How to make videos about your robots

• The value of video
• Make it funny
• How to use video even if you don’t have a robot (stitches, reactions)
• Trending sounds

Contact

If you would like to find out more, contact Lucy Smith at aihuborg[at]gmail.com.

Virtual access

This course will be available to watch online via a livestream. Register here.

Training videos

The Robohub and AIhub teams have put together a series of bite-sized videos. These can be watched as a supplement to this session.
Why science communication matters
Different ways to do science communication
How to approach the media: An interview with Evan Ackerman (Senior Editor at IEEE Spectrum)
10 tips on: How to turn your research into a blog post
10 tips on: How to avoid hype when communicating your research