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The Otto Mønsted Foundation supports the publication of a podcast where some of the country’s best researchers talk about their work and professional fascination.
What is it that makes a scientist’s eyes light up? How can you stand in a toy shop at the age of 8 and be so fascinated that as an adult you end up as one of the world’s leading researchers in robots and artificial intelligence? This is one of the stories you can listen to in 10 podcasts so far titled TECHfolk.
In TECHfolk, listeners can get inside the heads of passionate DTU researchers and hear their personal stories about what they work with and their fascination with their field.
The topics in the 30-minute podcasts are drawn from researchers at DTU’s 18 departments and range from food safety to space technology. In the three podcasts already available, you can listen to research into snake venom, cryptology and the future of energy, among other things.
Break down the STEM walls
TECHfolk is a communication project that aims to increase knowledge about STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) and inspire lifelong learning. The 10 podcasts are developed by the continuing education centre Learn for Life at DTU and funded by the Otto Mønsted Foundation. The long-term goal is to publish 10-12 new podcasts a year, aimed at anyone with a healthy curiosity.
Just meeting the director of Learn for Life, Karina Rothoff Brix, the brainchild behind the podcast series, is inspiring because she is bursting with energy and ideas. Naturally, she has a clear goal with the release.
“For others who don’t work at DTU on a daily basis, it may seem like a dusty place, and when we talk about STEM subjects and you don’t come from a STEM world yourself, you may not know exactly what it is. If we want more diversity in STEM subjects, it’s about breaking down the walls and presenting the passion that exists among the people who work in these fields. We want to give an insight into the people who wake up every morning and constantly try something new and for whom learning and testing is what they live for.”
In this way, she hopes that the podcast series awakens the desire that you can always learn something new, while spreading the message that undergraduate and postgraduate education can take us places we might not have initially imagined.
“At the Otto Mønsted Foundation, we are delighted to have the opportunity to support a podcast series that opens up the researchers’ world of excitement, innovation, focus, hard work, mistakes, failures, courage and enthusiasm as they talk about their work in a way that we all understand,” says CEO Nina Movin
The selection among rock stars
The TECHfolk podcasts were recorded from March to September 2020 and the researchers were carefully selected based on their ability to communicate knowledge, joy and commitment to their work to a wider audience, says Karina Rothoff Brix.
“And it’s always a challenge to get researchers to come forward and talk, even if they are really passionate about their field.
“Many researchers are not very happy to talk about themselves. Even though others might think they’re rock stars, and maybe they’re on the American magazine “Forbes 30 under 30″ list and have taken out many patents. You often have to drag things out of them, even though they’re working on big life-changing things,” says Karina Rothoff Brix.
TECHfolk can be downloaded where you normally download your podcasts or you can go here: https://learnforlife.dtu.dk/Podcast/TECHfolk