• Question: who do you give your researches/results to?

    Asked by sufmed to Eva, Philip, Paddy, Michael, Chris on 16 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Philip Denniff

      Philip Denniff answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      The work at I am doing at the moment on dried blood spots, a method of taking blood samples from sick babies without having to stick a needle in them, is being published in the scientific literature. Before it is published it is peer reviewed, that effectively means that other scientists look at it and give it a mark. If they find something that is wrong they will point it out and I have to correct it. This is a way of cutting down the number of errors and improving the quality of the information. When it is published it is available for anybody to read. What I hope is that if other scientist need to take blood samples from babies they will use my method as it is less stressful for the baby.

    • Photo: Paddy Brock

      Paddy Brock answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      A good and important question, especially when you’re working on applied science. I aim to publish my results in academic journals, so other scientists can read them and comment on them and do related work. But I also try to pass on my results to the people involved in day-to-day interactions with the sea lions, and the Galapagos National Park, which is responsible for their welfare and conservation. I often meet with the Park wardens to discuss my results. We also do public events in San Cristobal to pass on scientific information about the sea lions to the local community. It’s especially important to talk to the fishermen, as they sometimes kill sea lions because they think the sea lions eat the fish they are trying to catch. In fact, research has shown that the sea lions eat completely different fish to the ones the fishermen are trying to catch. So, we show the fishermen the evidence in an objective scientific format and hope they decide for themselves that they’re not in competition with the sea lions, and don’t need to kill them in order to protect their livelihoods.

    • Photo: Chris Jordan

      Chris Jordan answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      A work as part of a couple of teams. We all work on different bits and finally who ever’s leading brings everything together and writes a paper to go in a journal. Maybe they even get a prize (usually that’s the professor)
      For academics, papers are very important and it’s one way our work gets passed on so other people can agree (or disagree) with our ideas and then develop other ideas from them.
      but I like the work that I do better … I know it’s important and I get my name on the paper, but I don’t have the hassle of writing it.

    • Photo: Eva Bachmair

      Eva Bachmair answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      In the short term, the results go to my supervisor. In the long term, they might become published so other people can read about it or if you found something really exiting there is the possibility to patent your findings.

    • Photo: Michael Wharmby

      Michael Wharmby answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      Nice question.
      Most of the time scientists work gets published in academic journals which universities and industry pay subscriptions to access for their employees. Scientists will also report their work at academic conferences as a poster or as a talk. This is how results get out to the scientific community.

      Non-scientists find out about scientific results either through the newspapers, though this is quite rare, but more commonly through science festivals like the ones I’ve linked to below. Cheltenham is the biggest one in the UK. Scientists go to these events and give open talks about science in general or about specific bits of their research and there are also lots of displays and interactive things to do. IF there’s one in your area, you should check it out – they’re usually really interesting and a nice way to spend an afternoon or more!

      Dundee: http://www.dundeesciencefestival.org/
      Edinburgh: http://www.sciencefestival.co.uk
      Cambridge: http://comms.group.cam.ac.uk/sciencefestival
      Cheltenham: http://www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/science

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