03 October 2014

Every scientific introduction ever

“Hi, I’m [name], working in [lab] at [institution].

“I’m a [disciplinary title] in [research field] focusing on [topic]. In particular, I’m [looking at / interested in] [topic] using [species or system name] as a model.”

Then, describe your research in a way that sounds almost exactly like you memorized it from a journal abstract, starting with a bland generalization (“Beetles are a speciose group,” “Sauropod dinosaurs were the largest land animals,” “Climate change will create conservation challenges”) before drilling down to your specific question after about 1-3 minutes.

Once you start listening, it is surprising how consistent this pattern is.

4 comments:

Mike Taylor said...

"Sauropod dinosaurs were the largest land animals"

Arrgh! You got me! guity as charged!

LabJunke said...

How do you typically introduce yourself?

S. Ramanujan said...

"I am an invertebrate neuroethologist at The University of Texas-Pan American."

You're not setting a very good example.

Anonymous said...

You introduction should depend on the audience. For the academic dealing with the "normal people" for example. I'm an instructor at X Military School. I teach weird things to people who wear green all day.