The Visualising Research Initiative brings together postgraduate design students and researchers from around the University to develop visual interpretations to help communicate research in an exciting, visual way.
Visualisation for research impact
For research to have practical applications in the real world, an ability to translate and communicate research is a key element. Researchers should seek ways to make their outcomes and findings accessible to a wide audience in the community or industry. One way of doing this is to employ visual elements. As part of this project the designer and researcher work together in a co-creation process to find innovative visual solutions for communicating complex research.
Examples of visualisation methods developed so far include:
- comic illustrations
- conference posters
- 3D models
“The visualising research initiative is rapidly evolving beyond its initial scope of helping researchers from across ECU to uncover new, visual ways of presenting their research findings. Now researchers and design students are partnering to develop ways to frame research questions, and even looking beyond visuals towards better understanding the research audience. From the design point of view, the opportunity for the students to work with real clients, who aren’t the typical start-up company assumed to be the standard design client, has been invaluable.” Dr Stuart Medley, Unit Coordinator, School of Communications and Arts
For more information on becoming involved in the visualising research project, either as a researcher or designer, contact Sharon Smart in the Graduate Research School.