Taking action on science communication

For PhD students, the ability to communicate their research beyond their field of expertise is a critical skill—particularly now.  

Since January 2025, the landscape for federal research funding has changed. With funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) in jeopardy, young scientists are deeply concerned about the impact on their careers. But rather than allowing themselves to be gripped by fear and anxiety, a group of Yale graduate students decided to take action. 

“In this moment, we need action-oriented people. We all care about research funding, but not all of us act on it. We are all affected by this. We want to work together to enact change,” said Stacy Uchendu, an MD/PhD student at Yale.  

Earlier this year, she and some classmates at the School of Medicine hosted a “call party” during which participants dialed up senators from Connecticut and their home districts to talk about what research cuts to universities would mean for the country. Most in the group had never done this before; they were surprised by the receptiveness of many Congressional staff to their message.   

Energized by the positive response, the group started meeting weekly for “advocacy hours,” developing a broader plan for responding to federal funding cuts. They trained themselves in the fundamentals of op-ed writing and learned best practices for creating infographics from an expert in the field.   

Over the last eight months, Uchendu has continued calling Congressional offices in her home state of Texas as well as Connecticut. Several members of her group have published op-eds in their hometown newspapers in California, Minnesota, and Virginia.  

“These agencies don’t just fund labs. They fund students. They support the pipeline of future scientists and doctors, from high school programs to college internships to early-career research,” wrote Samiksha Chopra, a Yale MD/PhD student from Calabasas, California, in a recent op-ed.  

“What’s being sold to the public as a cut to ‘indirect costs’ is a cut to people, progress, and potential,” she added.   

Connecting with the public

Elsewhere at Yale, another group of graduate students has been involved in similar efforts. In February, Alex Rich (pictured above, at right), a fifth-year PhD student in the Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, was attending the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting where she connected with a group of like-minded graduate students who “wanted to meet the political moment with action.”  

Aware of public opinion poll results that show trust in higher education is at an all-time low, they came up with the idea of writing op-eds to their hometown newspapers to explain the importance of scientific research.  

“I think we were all starting to realize that part of the reason we got in the situation we're currently in with these attacks on science is because scientists haven't communicated well about what we do. We’ve let ourselves be in the ivory tower and not as connected with people in our communities who pay the taxes that let us do the work we do so,” she explained.

Two national initiatives grew out of the effort: the McClintock Letters—named for Nobel Prize awarded geneticist Barbara McClintock—and the Scientist Network for Advancing Policy (SNAP). The McClintock Letters campaign, led by students from Cornell, aims to improve communication between scientists and the public, with the goal of rebuilding trust and addressing misinformation.

More than 600 early career scientists have signed up and over 200 op-eds have been published in outlets across 45 U.S. states.

“We’re really excited about this way of connecting with communities and sharing science,” said Rich.

In a recent letter to her hometown newspaper, the Pantagraph (Bloomington-Normal, Illinois), Rich described the impact of cuts to federal research and training grants, citing funding data and statistics from the region.  

“We don’t always understand the economic and societal impact of the projects for which we’re applying for funding. That's something that was very educational for me; for example, I learned that every dollar awarded by the NIH generates $2.56 of economic activity in the local economy in my home region,” Rich said.   

In August and early September, SNAP organized 55 congressional home office visits across 29 states, in both red and blue districts. The group also encouraged students to speak at town halls in their home communities while Congress was on recess. 

“I’ve learned that there’s an appetite among early-career scientists for advocacy and science communication engagement,” Rich said.

“There are a lot of people that still vote at home—I vote in Illinois and I’m planning to move back to Chicago eventually. We've found that that's the case for a lot of students. Even for those who aren’t voting in their home district, they are still a product of that community. And the science they do is a product of that community. You still have connections to different communities where you might not actually be a constituent. You can talk to your peers and your parents and ask them to call their representatives.” 

The impact of legislation 

The efforts are starting to make some headway. Graduate students in the newly formed STEM on the Hill organization spent their spring break last year meeting with representatives and staff in Washington, D.C. Their focus is primarily science policy and science literacy.  

Harsh Babla, a fifth-year PhD student in the Applied Physics program, has long been interested in science policy. In preparation for the group’s trip to D.C., he learned that the National Quantum Initiative is up for reauthorization in Congress. The initiative overlaps with his area of research, quantum computing. Babla knew that he could offer specialized insight and expertise to lawmakers, who were eager to understand more about the impact of the program.  

“We talked to the House Science Committee and the Senate Science Committee, who were drafting the reauthorization bill, which was probably the highlight of my trip,” he said. “We had a very productive meeting, and that conversation has kept going.” 

The group is planning to return to Capitol Hill again this spring.  

For Babla, being involved with the group also offers an opportunity to hone his communication skills. When explaining his research, he often frames it as “building LEGO blocks for a future quantum computer.”  

“My work is very early-stage research. We don’t have quantum computers yet and only vaguely know what the applications would be once we make them. One of the very clear use cases is drug development and discovering new materials. Right now, it’s hard to simulate chemical reactions—what a drug will do in your blood system or how it would interact with a virus. We need quantum computers to push past the limit of what current computers can simulate. But that’s very long-term, probably a 20-year goal. We’re still optimizing the LEGO bricks,” he explained. 

When talking with students, Yale Graduate School Dean Lynn Cooley emphasizes the importance of being able to translate research concepts into layman’s terms.  
 
“The true test of expertise in each field is not your ability to communicate with experts who understand your field, but rather to explain to those who have no idea what you’re doing why it’s important,” said Cooley in her remarks to incoming students during the Matriculation Ceremony in August.  

A geneticist, Cooley’s lab uses fruit flies to discover fundamental knowledge about how germ cells develop into eggs or sperm and how ribosomes produce proteins of the correct length.  

“In our age of limited attention spans and the desire for fast facts, you can prove to skeptics that critical thinking and meticulous research matter and can produce legitimate answers to challenging questions. You can use your education to think methodologically, develop cogent and persuasive arguments, and ultimately communicate your findings to society,” Cooley said.  

She hopes more students will get involved in efforts like the McClintock Letters.    

“Practice communicating your ideas to your faculty and mentors, but also to your friends and family. Write an op-ed for your hometown newspaper. Give a presentation about your work in a public library. I urge you to be proactive, get involved in efforts like this, and build your communication skills. This will be one of the most valuable skills you can hone while you are at Yale.”