By: Zakiya Qualls
Whether you plan to branch into one of the alternative career paths iJOBS prepares you for or stay in the traditional academic environment, one thing is certain: the ability to communicate your science and skillset with others is the first step to success. Graduating Ph.D. students, while experts at the bench and possessing a vast amount scientific knowledge, are not necessarily trained to communicate this knowledge effectively with other academics, industry professionals, and laymen. As a result, some of the most talented minds are unable to advance their career as planned because they cannot engage and successfully translate how their background is an asset to target audiences. In recent years, biomedical graduate schools across the country have realized this problem and there has been a surge in the number of programs aiming to morph students from ‘just scientists’ to scientists who are capable of excelling in any environment. At Rutgers we continue to lead the way. Many of our career trajectories have been completely redefined through groundbreaking programs like iJOBS and extracurriculars offered by the Alliance for Career Advancement (ACA). But, did you know the Graduate School also offers credit courses that can give you that extra bit of confidence needed to 
take your career to the next level. Dr. Nicholas M. Ponzio, Professor and Master Educator at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, recognizes the problem many students have communicating science and hopes to address it in his new course appropriately named Communicating Science. This course will be offered in the spring semester of 2017. Read on to learn more about what Dr. Ponzio has to say on this opportunity.
Dr. Ponzio, please tell us a little bit about your background and how the concept for the new science communications course came about?
I am an immunologist doing basic research in cancer immunology, stem-cell immunology, and autism. I’ve been a professor at NJMS for many years teaching graduate, medical, and dental students various topics related to immunology. I wanted to do something different and move away from direct hands-on bench research. Though I still wished to collaborate with colleagues on research projects of mutual interest, I chose to forego being PI of my own lab so I could focus on medical and graduate education. I thought about what I could do that would be helpful for our students and I decided that there were two things I could choose from. The first thing was leadership. I don’t think we give our graduating students enough opportunities to show leadership or teach them how to be leaders. The other is how to communicate what they do. I chose to focus on communication because I thought it would be most meaningful to students to teach them how to communicate what they do in a more effective way. So, I applied for a sabbatical leave in 2013 that wasn’t approved until late in the summer of 2015! I spent a lot of time during my sabbatical as a Visiting Professor at Stony Brook University’s Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science. So that’s how the concept came about. I came off of sabbatical in February (of 2016) and an opportunity arose from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund to submit a grant. They liked my idea to pattern a course on what was done at the Alan Alda Center*, and mine was one of only seven proposals funded in the country. My colleagues and I will spend the fall semester planning the course and will offer it for the first time in the spring semester of 2017.
* Alan Alda is most widely known for his roles as Capatin Hawkeye Pierce in the television series M*A*S*H and Arnold Vinck in the show The West Wing. He became interested in science as a boy because he was fascinated by how people could figure things out with such a minor amount of detail and make accurate approximations of nature. Astonished by this he made it is mission to bridge the gap between scientists and the public. He believes curiosity is essential to human nature and is how we not only survive, but thrive as a species.
Who is the class most geared to? Are there any prerequisites for a student wishing to take the course?
No prerequisites, but because of the nature of the grant this course is aimed at senior Ph.D. students who are near graduation and can benefit most from learning how to better communicate their science. We are choosing students from their third year and beyond because they most likely will have the materials (e.g. abstract, PowerPoint presentation, or manuscript) we can to use as a baseline to measure improvement in their communication skills.
What topics will be covered?
Classroom instruction in our course will teach students how to speak clearly and vividly about their work and why it matters. Improvisational theater techniques will complement the classroom instruction. The goal of improv is not to turn our students into actors, but to free them to talk about their work more spontaneously and directly, to pay dynamic attention to their listeners and to connect personally with their audience.
Will there be any interaction between professionals from varying backgrounds and students who take this class? Will any career advancement opportunities be offered to the students?
Faculty from both GSBS in Newark and Piscataway are involved, including Dr. Janet Alder from Piscataway. There are also people from the Mason Gross School of the Arts because a large part of what the Alan Alda method involves is improvisation. We have several people from industry because our industry colleagues will give us guidance as to what they look for in potential employees as it relates to their communication skills. I also invited someone from the Rutgers School of Communication and Information and another person from the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences both located in New Brunswick. As for career advancement, that’s really up to students. If there are opportunities for internships, the course will help their chances in being considered and students can certainly network with the industry professionals they meet during the course.
Will the course be offered on both campuses? If not, can students on the other campus take the course if they wish?
Because the faculty is localized primarily in Piscataway and New Brunswick, logistically it would be better to offer the course there. If students from the Newark Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences have an interest and are willing to travel to Piscataway, they are more than welcome to apply.
Where do you see the course in the future? Will the course be expanded?
The course will hopefully dovetail with iJOBS in many ways and eventually be expanded into a more comprehensive science communications program. One of the requirements for the grant was to explain how we would sustain the course and if we have any visions of expanding it. I certainly do, and would like to pattern it after what they have been doing at Stony Brook University and a few other universities around the country.
What is the ultimate goal of the course? Why is it important for scientists to learn to appropriately communicate science?
No matter what field you enter, be it a post-doc, employment with a biotech or interacting with non-science professionals, you should be able to communicate what you are doing in an understandable and professional manner. A person from any background should be able to understand what you do, as well as its significance. Most importantly, you have to learn to take cues from your audience and adjust accordingly. It is also important that scientists speak up and speak out. Scientists are highly valuable to the public, politicians, and by policy makers. If they just work in the lab and don’t communicate the significance of what they do to diverse audiences, then they are not helping science. For example, scientists should be speaking out on controversial topics such as climate change and vaccination. People who are not scientists don’t have the benefit of knowledge that we have to make the most informed decisions.
Do you have any advice for students who wish to transition from academia to industry/other career paths?
I think the iJOBS program is a very good way for students to learn what other career opportunities are out there. Actually, another course (The Business of Science: Drug Development - From Molecules to Medicine) that I offer is also designed to give students the opportunity to learn what those other options are. It is a course in drug discovery and involves various professionals from the pharmaceutical industry. Each session is considered one phase of the drug development process and we bring in an expert in that particular phase who teaches them about medicinal chemistry, pre-clinical toxicology, clinical trials, etc. It gives students the opportunity to learn if this is a career option for them, exposure to an expert in the field, and the chance to ask questions. This course has been available for 12 years and I recommend that students really take advantage of both courses.
Well, there you have it. I would like to thank Dr. Ponzio for taking the time to inform us on this exciting new course and other opportunities available within the GSBS. Readers, we must all realize our strengths and weakness and take the appropriate actions to show ourselves in the best light. This course looks like an enjoyable way to do just that. Let us all have a productive and successful semester preparing for the future!