Scientific communication skills
Effective science communication focus on putting complex scientific concepts into simpler terms and language to helping researchers and students demonstrate the importance of their work to a wide range of stakeholders. These stakeholders may be other students, colleagues, investment managers and business executives, the public and the press. It is a very dynamic field that demand ongoing new skills due to continuous developments in scientific thinking and technology.
Language skills
When mastering any language, there are four language skills that need to be learnt for complete communication. These four language skills are related to each other in two ways, namely the direction of communication (in or out – refers to listening and speaking) and the method of communication (spoken or written – refers to reading and writing). These four skills are sometimes called the “macro-skills”, as opposed to the “micro-skills”, which are things like grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. In life, you’ll encounter many situations that require effective language skills. Building these skills will encourage you to pursue your goals with confidence.
Conflict management
Conflicts must be prevented at the right time in order to avoid tensions and other adverse effects. Conflict Management involves the steps undertaken to prevent conflict at the right time and also help to resolve it in an effective and smooth manner. It is the process of dealing with (perceived) incompatibilities or disagreements arising from, for example, diverging opinions, objectives, and needs. Since conflicts are a natural part of the academic and professional workplace, it is important that staff and students have some understanding of conflicts and how to resolve them. There are a number of common conflict management styles and effective ways to manage conflict in a skilful manner.
Social interaction
Social interaction skills are the skills we use everyday to interact and communicate with others. They include verbal and non-verbal communication, such as speech, gesture, facial expression, body language and personal appearance. It is commonly accepted that social skills can indeed be learnt, usually through practice and experience but also taught. In this way we have “accepted ways of behaviour” in social groups, which are different from professional groups or even academic groups. Also see the information on communication.
Group discussion skills
Group discussions are systematic and purposeful interactive oral processes and events where the exchange of ideas, thoughts and feelings take place in a systematic and structured way through oral communication. The exchange of ideas provides very important opportunities to assess candidates for advanced studies or participation in busines or scientific projects and managerial positions. Through this process selection committees aim to assess shortlisted candidates for specific required personality traits or skills, like: Reasoning ability, ability to think and act independently, leadership skills, communication skills, skill to work in a team, ability to take initiatives and have creativeness, flexibility and boldness, managerial qualities and whether candidates can generate results in a group.
Presentation skills
Presentation skills refer to all the qualities you need to deliver a specific message through creating and delivering a clear and effective presentation whether in a scientific group discussion, a committee meeting or a social gathering. Personal presentation skills also include your voice, body language and what you say. Your ability to think on your feet, say what you actually mean and get a point across are very important qualities. Although what you say during a presentation matters, colleagues, students and other listeners also value the ability to create supporting materials, such as slides, micro videos or any other visual or sensoric experiences that support your presentation.