Lung-Yu Liang

We always want people to understand us. Nonetheless, effective and efficient communication is not always easy, because it involves bidirectional/multidirectional understanding among people you do not know, and who do not know you.

Science is difficult; even a well-trained scientist can hardly understand other fields of sciences if too many complicated concepts are involved. As a result, “Science Communication” has put itself a very tricky position because it is a combination of two tough things. Dr Jenny is ambitious, because she has attempted to teach her students/the general public how to do a good job in science communication.

She has been clearly dissecting what science communication is and how to conquer it through her two science communication subjects at the postgraduate level. I deliberately chose both of them during my Master of Biomedical Science at University of Melbourne. In addition to my laboratory work, enjoying Jenny’s subjects was the most invaluable and rewarding time I spent at University of Melbourne. Trained by Dr Jenny, I have been benefited throughout my role in demonstration to second-year students in practical classes; my thesis writing; scientific presentations of my research; my PhD admission interview, etc. More fundamentally, I have become a guy who clearly understands what I want to convey, who I am speaking/writing to and how to communicate properly.

I will start my PhD study at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) this June. During my PhD study, I will be focused on understanding how a unique type of protein regulates cell development, and how deregulation of these proteins can cause diseases such as cancers. Currently, I am a research assistant at WEHI. An important part of my job is to liaise people from different laboratories with diverse expertise. The science communication skills I learnt from Dr Jenny enables me to avoid jargon when I am discussing this research with people with different backgrounds.

Fantastic communication skills will be your best friend in your future career. If you are doing science, welcome to the world of Science Communication!