How can LinkedIn be useful for your research career? And what’s the bare minimum of effort it takes to have a noticeable impact?
During the recent heatwave, Katharina Pertschy and Johanna Stadlbauer of the RCC tried out their new two-hour workshop: “LinkedIn for researchers: Finding your voice, audience, and having fun”.
It was intended for scholars who aim to be more visible on social media but are not quite convinced of the benefits or how to start. The RCC’s resident LinkedIn influencer Johanna Stadlbauer shared her personal motivation and goals for pursuing visibility on LinkedIn, steps she took that worked well, and the impact it had, both for her work with researchers and for her career as whole.
Since putting yourself and your work “out there” can sometimes feel daunting and overwhelming, RCC team member and expert in digital empowerment Katharina Pertschy guided the participants in structured reflections on feeling more confident, personal goals and mission, and peer-to-peer brainstorming on goals and possible topics.. There were 14 engaged participants, from PhD to postdoc, who went on the journey with us.
Some concerns that were raised by the researchers present:
- What to write about when you don’t have a paper published or a conference upcoming
- It is even worth the time investment, when you have so many other things that are necessary for career progression
- Understanding LinkedIn when every social media platform works differently
- Where else online can you find people to share work in progress and results with
- Can you provide value to readers without all-out-bragging
- How to safeguard your information while being visible to employers
Here are some links to helpful resources that we shared during the session:
- Via Digital (Ad Agency in Linz): Der perfekte LinkedIn Beitrag - Posting Tipps & Strategien für 2025: https://www.via-digital.at/blog/linkedin-posting-tipps
- RCC’s SciComm Resource website: https://postdoc.uni-graz.at/en/tips-and-tricks/communicate-my-research-results-and-engage-the-public/
- Support from Uni Graz 7th Faculty - Science communication training for researchers: https://sieben.uni-graz.at/en/for-scientists/
- Help in case of verbal assaults on social media: The Mayday-Button (https://www.nawik.de/wisskon-netzwerk/mayday-button/), https://scicomm-support.de/, https://www.oeaw.ac.at/oeaw/presse/science-care
- Holly Prescott: How to raise your profile on LinkedIn: https://phd-careers.co.uk/2024/04/08/where-the-magic-happens-how-to-raise-your-profile-on-linkedin-for-phds/
- European Commission: European Research Executive Agency, Communicating about your research project on social media, Publications Office of the European Union, 2025, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2848/9972719
- Mike Young: How to be kind on social media https://mikeyoungacademy.dk/how-to-be-kind-on-social-media-a-guide-for-scientists/
- Mike Young: Social Media for Research Impact | How Scholars Can Share Ideas, Build (can be ordered for the Uni Graz library via Ankaufsvorschlag)
- Chapters 29ff in "50 Essentials on Science Communication" (open source, besides social media, podcasts and videos to generate content for channels are covered): https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110763577-036/html
- Ask advice from experienced science communicators: WissKon network (free membership required to benefit of this support required to benefit of this support, https://www.nawik.de/wisskon-netzwerk/)
Our workshop programme has regular sessions on communicating about your research, and we’d be delighted to continue the conversation throughout the year.
Training und Weiterbildung - Research Careers Campus Graz
Report: Johanna Stadlbauer, 2.7.2026