Research Comms

This week's episode comes right from the heart of Bloomsbury in London; from iconic Senate House, to be precise, where the UK's only dedicated humanities festival, the Being Human festival, is organised. The man in charge of putting on this public engagement extravaganza is Michael Eades and I caught up with him to chat about the health of the humanities and to hear his insights into what it's like to put on a global festival celebrating the latest research into the humanities. www.orinococomms.com Research Comms Blog  

This week the Research Comms podcast is becoming somewhat introspective with an episode all about...podcasts! I was lucky enough to joined by Emily Elias, presenter and producer of my favourite research podcast around at the moment, the Oxford Sparks Big Questions podcast, and we shot the breeze about topics such as why podcasts are so popular right now; how to communicate complex research in an accessible, engaging way; whether or not there's a secret magic ingredient to creating a successful podcast; and the importance of building a community to help grow your podcast. Emily gave me some really valuable podcast production insights, which will be hugely helpful to anybody who is looking to use podcasting as a way of communicating their research to a wide audience. www.orinococomms.com Research Comms Blog

My guest on Episode 1 is science communication expert, Sam Illingworth. Sam is a Senior Lecturer in Science Communication at Manchester Metropolitan University and he is also a prolific practitioner of digital science communication. Listen for Sam's top tips on how to avoid being overwhelmed when it comes to building an engaged community around your research, and a live rendition of one of his fantastic science poems 'A Piscine Problem' that addresses that age-old problem of people peeing in public swimming pools! www.orinococomms.com Research Comms Blog