Collaboration, impact and media training event

I applied to attend an Open Central event named COLLABORATION, IMPACT AND MEDIA TRAINING at Senate House and was thrilled when I was allocated a place. I was less thrilled when I received the programme. The programme implied that the day would be mostly interactive with participants having to find partners to collaborate with and then form larger groups by marketing their ideas. This seemed quite a scary undertaking and I was nervous when I arrived at the event. However, the other participants, from a range of different universities, were all very friendly and warm. We soon got to know each other over the welcome coffee and I became less anxious. The first activity was to find a partner with whom we could develop a study idea. Initially there was a faint hint of desperation in the air as the chatting became more frantic but as most of the participants were social scientists it soon became apparent that we were all able to collaborate with the people sitting next to us. After spending some time expanding on our idea we then had to try and increase our group size from two to four. Although it sounded daunting it was in fact a really fun activity and a good insight as to how best to approach others when trying to build collaborative partnerships.

Following on from that we then had to complete different pathways to show the impact of our prospective study. This was a very informative exercise and I certainly considered lots of other pathways to impact that would not have occurred to me before. Lastly, we were shown how to create a podcast which was the chosen type of digital media because of the ease of which you can create a professional sounding product quickly and cheaply.  Podcasts are now becoming popular with lecturers who are able to record their sessions for students but, in addition, it was explained to us how podcasts can be put onto the internet to allow a much wider audience access to our work which is an important aspect when trying to increase impact by engaging the public with academic work. This activity was really enjoyable and we finished the afternoon by listening to each group’s podcast.  The ideas were wide ranging and fascinating, the podcasts humorous and lots of hilarity ensued. It was a great way to end a Friday afternoon.

I will remember this course as not only was it very informative and interesting but because it was a nice way to meet fellow PhD and Postdoc students from other institutions. Lunchtime was spent swapping experiences and ideas as well as admiring the unique interior of Senate House. Furthermore, this was one of the most fun courses that I have attended.

 Paula Booth