Trust your research, and we will trust you

In a time where alternative news is an everyday occurrence and where politicians disagree with science, it is necessary to keep believing in your research. Often a considerable time passes before results materialise, even though they require hard work and continuous rethinking. This is the ambiguous message behind the ‘Believe in science’ theme for the PhD Day 2018, explains Professor Bent Deleuran and PhD student Rasmus Pihl, who together constitute the chairmanship of the planning committee for this year’s PhD-day.

The theme has been particularly defined by the committee’s agreements with the PhD Day’s prominent key note speakers, as they have succeeded in bringing two of the biggest names to Aarhus in early 2018: Professor Charles Anthony Dinarello from the University of Colorado and Professor Joseph Alpert from the University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center. Both are considered to be among the world's leading researchers within the field of health research. Bent Deleuran thinks that Charles Dinarello in particular can teach the young researchers in Aarhus a few things when it comes to patience and trust.

Support means everything

"Charles Dinarello worked for years on the same project before he got a positive result. Most people would have stopped that project, but he was patient and, what’s more, he subsequently published hundreds of articles. In other words, he believed in his own research and his methods, even though he experienced many ups and downs along the way," says Bent Deleuran.

"As a PhD student, you can be in a kind of bubble and lose faith in your project leading anywhere. It is therefore very important to have the support of an experienced researcher who has been in that same position," says Rasmus Pihl.

He emphasises the need for support from the supervisor and the university as a whole. Not because PhD students are generally dependent on others, but because during a concentrated PhD degree programme it means everything to have the university backing your efforts.

"When that trust is there, it gives you the peace you need for in-depth study. It can also create space so someone does not overlook a ground-breaking observation that could be vital for the research," says Rasmus Pihl.

Focus on facts

The second part of the message – to trust science in a world of 'alternative facts' – more or less suggested itself once the planning began.

"The very phrase 'alternative facts' makes my blood run cold. It is essential that the knowledge we generate at the university and in research laboratories benefits society. If researchers do not – and this also applies to the PhD students – trust their own research, we risk our results are not utilised as intended. That is demotivating for the individual and a problem for society," says Bent Deleuran.

The PhD Day 2018 also harks back to the PhD Day 2017, which was entitled ‘Keep it simple’. Perhaps researchers are not good enough at communicating the benefits and value of their research, if politicians and others prefer 'alternative facts'. It therefore makes sense to remind the PhD students that they need to communicate their project so that their closest colleagues are not the only people who can understand it," says Rasmus Pihl, who is currently working on his own PhD project at the Department of Biomedicine.

"As researchers, we have an obligation to communicate our knowledge and with it the research that it is based on. We must therefore also trust that our research is good enough. Because it is,” says Rasmus Pihl.

Charles Dinarello: 

Professor Joseph Alpert

What is the PhD Day 2018?

• The annual PhD Day at Health is the PhD students’ opportunity to present their work and to network – also with international guests. The day is organised by an Organising Committee, which consists of members of academic staff at Health and members of the PhD Association.
• The PhD Day 2018 will take place on 26 January 2018. 
• First- and second-year PhD students present their research in poster sessions during the day. Third-year PhD students present their research orally during the event's oral sessions or when they participate in the day's poster sessions as co-chairs. In addition, research year students have an opportunity to submit an abstract and to take part in separate poster sessions.
• The Fogh-Nielsen Legacy research prize is awarded at the PhD Day.

Contact:

Professor Bent Deleurant
(+45) 5172 5158
Email:bd@biomed.au.dk

PhD student Rasmus Pihl
Email: pihl@biomed.au.dk>