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A guide to science communication training for doctoral students

Nature Neuroscience (2024)Cite this article

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Effective science communication is necessary for engaging the public in scientific discourse and ensuring equitable access to knowledge. Training doctoral students in science communication will instill principles of accessibility, accountability, and adaptability in the next generation of scientific leaders, who are poised to expand science’s reach, generate public support for research funding, and counter misinformation. To this aim, we provide a guide for implementing formal science communication training for doctoral students.

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Fig. 1: The three As of effective science communicators.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank P. Croxson for her involvement as co-founder of the effective science communication course. We also thank the various teaching assistants over the years, who were actively involved in shaping the course: T. Fehr, C. Lardner, C. Guevara and M. O’Brien.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Christina Maher, Trevonn Gyles.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA

    Christina Maher, Trevonn Gyles, Eric J. Nestler & Daniela Schiller

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA

    Eric J. Nestler & Daniela Schiller

Authors
  1. Christina Maher
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  2. Trevonn Gyles
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  3. Eric J. Nestler
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  4. Daniela Schiller
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Correspondence to Daniela Schiller.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Maher, C., Gyles, T., Nestler, E.J. et al. A guide to science communication training for doctoral students. Nat Neurosci (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-024-01646-y

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