A training programme for early-stage researchers that focuses on developing personal science outreach portfolios

TL;DR

This paper presents a training program for early-stage researchers to develop science outreach skills and portfolios, emphasizing the importance of formal outreach training for effective science communication.

Contribution

It introduces a novel outreach training program for PhD students that enhances skills and professional benefits, with guidelines for future implementation across disciplines.

Findings

Participants improved their outreach skills.

Researchers gained awareness of outreach benefits.

The program's approach can be adapted to other fields.

Abstract

Development of outreach skills is critical for researchers when communicating their work to non-expert audiences. However, due to the lack of formal training, researchers are typically unaware of the benefits of outreach training and often under-prioritize outreach. We present a training programme conducted with an international network of PhD students in quantum physics, which focused on developing outreach skills and an understanding of the associated professional benefits by creating an outreach portfolio consisting of a range of implementable outreach products. We describe our approach, assess the impact, and provide a list of guidelines for designing similar programmes across scientific disciplines in the future.