{"id":60296,"date":"2020-11-24T09:11:03","date_gmt":"2020-11-24T08:11:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/univet.hu\/?p=60296"},"modified":"2020-11-24T09:11:03","modified_gmt":"2020-11-24T08:11:03","slug":"viktoria-verebelyi-there-are-two-types-of-biologists-one-who-uses-the-pipette-and-the-other-who-wears-boots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/univet.hu\/en\/2020\/11\/viktoria-verebelyi-there-are-two-types-of-biologists-one-who-uses-the-pipette-and-the-other-who-wears-boots\/","title":{"rendered":"Vikt\u00f3ria Vereb\u00e9lyi: there are two types of biologists, one who uses the pipette and the other who wears boots"},"content":{"rendered":"
Vikt\u00f3ria Vereb\u00e9lyi has just received her master’s degree in biology from the University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest. In our interview, we talked about the special award she received at SCIndiator’s science communication competition. The essence of this mentoring program is to help young researchers to become confident speakers, to present their research topic in an understandable and fun way that brings the audience closer to science. Almost no one can stand without questions when it comes to the subjects of Vikt\u00f3ria\u2019s topic: the frogs.<\/p>
\u00a0<\/strong>Your introduction on the SCIndicator webpage says that you combine pipette and boots, what does it mean?<\/strong><\/p> One of my teachers here at the university said that there are two types of biologists, one who uses the pipette and the other who wears boots. I\u2019m glad that I can combine these two, we practice both ways in our research. In the spring, we put on our boots and go out to the field to collect animals or their eggs. Most of my research requires pipette, we work with different contaminants, measure their concentration. In my introduction, I wanted to hint that we work in the field and the lab as well, these complement each other.<\/p> Tell me about the SCIndicator competition, why did you apply for it? The goal of this event is to help researchers to improve their communication so they can better pass on their scientific work to people.<\/strong><\/p> Sadly, there are still a lot of misconceptions about toads, I try to clear up: they don\u2019t cause warts if you touch them, or that they are not causing harm in the garden ponds, they are very useful animals.<\/p> What exactly did the competition consist of? As far as I know, mentors joined you to help you master communication techniques.<\/strong><\/p> At first, there was an audition, based on that the mentors chose who they wanted to work with. They provided useful advice which details should we highlight in our research topic to make it easier to digest. Luckily, my mentor adjusted the techniques to my personality, he didn\u2019t want me to force things that is not me. We practised certain things, for example, look at the audience while speaking, talk loud and confident, don\u2019t forget to smile etc. Besides, we got lessons in marketing, communication, psychology, and the Association of Women in Science was also involved, Dr Katalin Bal\u00e1zsi president of the association hold a presentation about scientific career, these were very useful.<\/p> Could you apply the newly learned techniques? What did you feel during your performance in the finals?<\/strong><\/p> The plan was to present our research to a big audience, but due to the virus, only the jury, the 12 finalists and the mentors could attend, and it was streamed online. Anyway, in the final, I felt like I could apply what I had learned, but obviously, I was nervous. When I started my presentation I was confident, as I was promoting the topic which is important to me. I thought if some people noticed our research, it was worth it. At the end of my performance, there was a small mistake, my slides got mixed up. You have to learn to react to these sudden situations, I still have to improve my improvisation skills.<\/p> <\/a><\/strong>That’s right, it’s also called a science communication competition, participants from any field of science can sign up and attend. The goal of this is to find effective ways to explain our research to the public, who are less familiar with our field, in an understandable and enjoyable style. There is a great need for such educational lectures, which would raise the public awareness that researchers are looking for answers to important questions. I have always considered it important to try to break down the wall between researchers and people. I think scientific results should be available to everyone which requires scientific communication because even if all scientific publications are available, people will hardly understand scientific articles.<\/p>