Twice a year, participants can book a researcher for a visit, either on site or online, to learn about research topics or what it is like to work as a scientist. A dedicated booking platform allows users to search for researchers by subject, availability, target group, and location.
Public engagement is a core mission of universities, alongside education and research. Often referred to as the “third mission” or public outreach, it encompasses activities that bring knowledge and research closer to society. Borrow a Researcher is one such initiative, offering people who might not otherwise encounter research an opportunity to engage directly with scientists. Last year, participating researchers visited 98 school classes across Sweden, both digitally and in person, with highly positive feedback from students and teachers alike.
One of the participating researchers is Irma Mahmutovic Persson, who describes herself on the booking platform as follows:
“I work as a researcher at Lund University and love my job. Every day I explore exciting questions in the world of research, with the lungs in focus.”
Irma is a researcher at the medical faculty of Lund university. She is also working part time at the Lund University Bioimaging Centre (LBIC), a state-of-the-art research infrastructure dedicated to advanced imaging technologies. Over the past year, she has met with 15 school classes of different age groups, sharing insights into lung function, respiratory health and life as a researcher. Most of these visits took place online, enabling participation regardless of geographical distance.
“I really enjoy these visits and value the interaction with students,” Irma says. “They also help me understand which parts of my research are easy or difficult to explain. That feedback has been useful not only for teaching, but also when preparing conference presentations or writing research grant applications.”
Dialogue at the heart of the visit
the visit is digital or in person, interaction is central. Irma encourages spontaneous questions throughout the session and discussion often makes up half of the visit. For online meetings, she coordinates with teachers in advance to ensure that students can ask questions smoothly, either by approaching the screen or having the teacher relay their questions.
Younger students tend to ask questions eagerly. With older students, Irma uses visual prompts, such as an image of a person breathing in a natural environment, to initiate reflection. Simple, open-ended questions like “What do you see in this picture?” or “What happens if the air is polluted?” help start conversations. She also connects to everyday experiences, for example by asking whether students know someone with asthma.
Preparing the ground for curiosity
Ahead of each visit, Irma sends a short PDF with images for students to review. This preparation helps initiate discussions about lung function, research methods, and scientific careers. The balance between talking about the science itself and about life as a researcher is tailored to each class, whether they are studying biology, exploring career paths or simply curious about how research works.
Irma’s key message to students is simple: find what genuinely fascinates you.
“Think about what you enjoy the most and imagine getting paid to do that. That’s how it feels for me in my field. Choose something you find exciting.”
Teachers report that the visits can have a real impact. In one case, a student who previously wanted to become “just a doctor” decided instead to pursue a career as a researching doctor with the goal of finding a cure for asthma.
Through initiatives like Borrow a Researcher, researchers such as Irma help bridge the gap between academic science and society, inspiring the next generation while gaining fresh perspectives on how research is communicated beyond the laboratory.