Sticky Note Science: A Creative Way to Share Your Research

If there's one thing I can achieve through my posts, it's that you are aware of the many more ways to #ShareYourScience beyond journal articles or conference presentations. One unique way of doing this is the sticky note challenge, where you have to communicate your research topic using only one sticky note. Let's check out some examples I've found below the cut, and then I'll show you how I took my own thesis and made it a #PostItNotePhD.

The #PostItNotePhD is a way to engage people outside of your research, taking the "turn your thesis into an elevator pitch" challenge into a written/visual product. 

Example 1: Carolina Oquendo, a PhD student at the University of Southampton, who is studying cancer genomics. 

Found out #PostItNotePhD was a thing and decided to give it a go.@AcademicChatter@OpenAcademics #SMZL #CancerResearch #genomics pic.twitter.com/SlWpFiRPaE

— Carolina Jaramillo Oquendo (@Carolinaj215) April 22, 2020

I like Carolina's example because:

1. It uses visuals. They don't have to be fancy, or require art school techniques, but they are important to include for the reader. She pairs her words with the actions of what she does: searching for DNA like a detective, using a computer to analyze data.
2. It takes the reader through the steps of her logic. There's a disease, so I do X and Y, and the answers will tell me what areas other researchers or clinicians should focus on.
3. It includes her Twitter handle. If the image was ever taken off Twitter and shared on other platforms, you are still linked back to the author.

Example 2: Lauren Eades, a PhD student at the University of Leeds, who is studying how bone marrow is changed by peripheral artery disease (when the arteries are narrowed and reduce the blood flow to the arms and legs). 

Some Friday #SciComm fun! Here is my contribution to #postitnotephd. My @TheBHF funded research in the Cubbon group looks into how peripheral arterial disease changes the immune system. □ @RicCubbon @UoL_LICAMM pic.twitter.com/syf1oid6TM

— Lauren Eades (@LaurenAEades) May 15, 2020

Lauren's sticky note summary uses the same principles as Carolina's, but adds colour, shading, and a touch of playful cartooning to the structures to make it really pop. How can you not want to read this and learn more about her work?

It seems like a useful tool to both communicate your work to a broader audience, as well as make you consider how to best summarize your work for a wider audience. So, I decided to give it a shot! Check out the video below of a time lapse creating a sticky note synopsis of my PhD:

@brynphd

#timelapse of my postitnotephd! Learn more about this #knowledgetranslation tool in my blog. #research #gradschool

♬ Why Georgia - John Mayer

I reviewed my abstract and made notes of key words that could be easily visualized. In my case, the “search for identity” led me to think of travel imagery and exploring uncharted territories. It took a few rough sketches once I saw a photo on Pinterest of a woman backpacking and looking ahead to get the feeling I wanted to convey. In total, probably 1-1.5 hours of work.

Afterwards, I can say it’s a challenging, yet worthwhile, exercise to improve your scientific communication skills. your office. Learning how to condense years and pages of work into a 3x3 piece of paper makes you think purposefully about word choice and presentation of concepts. What do you include to communicate the main message, but without cramming too much?

Did you try the PostItNotePhD? Comment below and let me know if and how it helped you to summarize and share your science!