Research Training Group 2530
RTG2530Biota-mediated effects on Carbon cycling in Estuaries
New RTG Journal Club
16 May 2022, by RTG2530
Photo: UHH/RTG2530/Branoff
Since this year the Doctoral Researchers meet for the RTG Journal Club to get an insight into the current status of the individual research projects, to exchange ideas and to clarify questions regarding their projects.
What is the current status of the research projects? What data is currently available? And what will happen in the coming weeks? The Doctoral Researchers of the RTG exchange information on these and other questions in the RTG Journal Club. "The objective is for the students to present their ideas or preliminary findings and get feedback from their peers in a comfortable and non-judgmental atmosphere," says Dr. Benjamin Branoff, postdoctoral researcher in the RTG. "This is important, as many PhD students are doing this for the first time: they must conceptualize, design, and carry out a research project and for many it can be an anxious process worrying about anything that may have been forgotten or overlooked."
Sharing ideas with fellow journalists can help provide fresh impetus - for example, little tips and suggestions to try a method a little differently or tweak the experiment slightly. "In this way, the Journal Club is very beneficial as it allows the students, who can sometime be stuck in their own focused thoughts, a different perspective that they otherwise may not have had," Branoff said.
The club is designed on a voluntary basis and at every meeting two doctoral students present their current research in a free-form format within ten minutes - they can do this using a presentation, illustrations or research data. "This forces researchers to really think about how to effectively communicate their science, a step that we are notoriously bad at. This includes choosing the right words and phrases, as well as keeping audiences engaged, and keeping the presentation within a specified time limit. I noticed all of these points being practiced within the Journal Club, so it is reassuring to know the students are getting this practice."
