How can I explain my research?

Talking about your research in plain English

Lab based research can often involve complex terms that people aren't familiar with. It’s therefore really important that you are able to describe, in plain English:

• What your research is looking at

• Why it is important

• What impact your research could have and what difference it could make

• What other research your work could lead to

• Why you want people to get involved and what difference people could make to your research

• Who you are looking for

• What you will be asking of them

You should be able to do this both verbally and in writing. See an example here.

There is more information about communicating about your research here.

You could also think about developing a glossary of terms if you plan to involve people for the duration of your project.

Explaining what lab based research is

Most people won’t be familiar with lab based research and what it is. So you may also need to explain a bit about the type of research you do. For example, if you’re doing research using animal models, you’ll need to explain what animal research is and what it entails.