How do you make your research interesting? Choose the right perspective

Ultimately, we need others to move forward ourselves. For instance, because we are looking for collaborators, need funding for research, or want to make a good impression at a job interview. There are two ways to inspire others with your expertise. The first involves making your research very grand; the other makes it decidedly small. The broad perspective addresses how your expertise contributes to a better world, whilst the close-up highlights the role your research plays in everyday life.

I’ll give a few examples of both approaches, using the following text I received from a doctoral candidate:

We can produce alcohols from simple epoxides. Epoxides are cyclic ethers consisting of three atoms: two carbon atoms and one oxygen. They are a type of ring that can be opened on one side to produce ethanol. However, the chemical reaction required for this generates a great deal of waste and is expensive. That is why I am working on a catalytic reaction using titanocenes, a metal that is available in large quantities.

If a layperson reads this, they will probably think: ‘well, if you say so.’ The text is full of jargon: ethanol, epoxides, and cyclic ether. It is also unclear what is actually exciting about it. If we zoom out, however, it does become exciting.

Zooming out: How does your research contribute to a better world?

In my workshops, I use a simple exercise to find the bigger picture behind scientific research. You sketch out what you do and then answer the sceptical question ‘so what?’ Repeat that a few times. In this case, it goes like this:

‘By using a catalyst, the reaction becomes faster and more efficient.’

‘So what?’

‘That makes it cheaper and generates less waste.’

‘So what?’

‘This makes the production of alcohol more sustainable and contributes to a cleaner world, free from unnecessary pollution.’

If you zoom out far enough, you arrive at very grand themes: combating climate change, reducing illness, improving wellbeing, and so on. Which one fits your research? You might think it is self-evident. Yet it is remarkable how often even participants from similar fields only grasp the bigger picture during a workshop when it is stated in precisely those terms.

Zooming in: What does this have to do with me?

Another approach is to make your research thoroughly everyday. In this case, the story might begin with: ‘Alcohol isn’t only found in beer and wine. It’s also in shampoo, nasal sprays, and cleaning products. Alcohol is used for an enormous number of things — more than you’d think.’ Even better is when you then close with the bigger picture: ‘To ensure you can keep enjoying your shampoo and nasal spray without needlessly polluting the planet, I do my research.’

Let us apply both methods to a new example. ‘I conduct research into fly larvae that convert biological waste streams into animal feed.’

How does it change the world? There is less waste to be incinerated, because the larvae consume it. On top of that, the larvae simultaneously produce new nutrients, meaning fewer cultivated crops are needed to make animal feed. That also saves water and raw materials. In short: this method once again makes for a cleaner and more sustainable world. That is the bigger picture. And what is the everyday angle? From now on, you can look differently at those unsavoury maggots in your green waste bin — because they are, in fact, useful little waste-disposal workers.

It usually does not take all that much time to work this out, and it immediately leads to wonderfully engaged conversations. And who knows where that might lead.