If you are interested in participating in the Grounds for Science series, here is some guidance on the appropriate scope of your talk as well as logistical information.
You would be presenting your topic to a public audience. They are interested in STEM and are genuinely curious about the ongoing research at Berkeley, but they may not be scientifically literate at a technical level, or their expertise may lie in another field (i.e., if you are an immunologist, you probably are not intimately familiar with materials science, or if you are a nuclear engineer, you may not know much about neurology). As such, consider gearing your talk towards high school students. You do not need to defend your research, nor even focus on your specific research project – a conversation about your field would be just as appropriate.
Plan on a 15-20 minute talk without interruptions, which will typically end up being closer to 30 minutes with audience engagement. The audience is encouraged to interrupt and ask questions throughout to promote an informative discussion rather than a lecture. We love for our speakers to be amenable to sticking around for a few minutes after the talk(s) to engage more personally with audience members who have additional questions or want to have a friendly discussion.
If you are unsure about participating, we invite you to join us for one of our events to observe and see what it’s like. Don’t hesitate to contact us at groundsforscience@berkeley.edu with more questions!