Scientific Communication

What is scientific communication?

Scientific communication encompasses all aspects of communicating scientific work. It takes place both within science and between science and the public. Today, many political decisions are made on the basis of scientific findings. Research communication clarifies, categorises and advises via various channels. If it is to reach as many people as possible, it must be comprehensible.

Why scientific communication?

In scientific communication, society and science engage in dialogue about current research issues. Effective research communication helps to arouse interest in research topics and disseminate scientific findings to society.

It is important that scientists themselves are actively involved in public communication. Digital formats in particular play a role here and are also a key skill for scientists. By presenting their research in an understandable and approachable way, they can contribute to a resilient democracy and reduce scepticism towards science. At the same time, they receive valuable impulses from outside that can open up new perspectives and enrich their own research.

Christian Spannagel also provides four good reasons for scientific communication in his YouTube video.

link to the video (in German only)

How does good scientific communication succeed?

A university's scientific communication usually follows a systematic and strategic approach. Researchers, on the other hand, can use their own personal communication to focus on specific topics, seek direct dialogue with the public and provide authentic insights into their work.

Successful research communication is characterised by the fact that it combines both approaches and thus contributes to making scientific topics more visible and understandable: while the university ensures reach, visibility and consistency, researchers provide authentic insights and direct dialogue with the public.

Tips for beginners are offered, for example, by the research communication platform and #Wisskomm with Jana a video series with practical implementation tips (in German only).

The university offers various formats to support you with research communication:

Offers from University Communications

University Communications also supports you in becoming visible as a researcher, for example:

We report on research results, new colleagues, third-party funding successes or major events in press releases and news.
We publish articles on research topics and current issues in our research blog "WortMelder".
We publish articles on research topics and current issues in our "WortMelder" podcast.
We present new publications/monographs.
We publish profiles of research and externally funded projects at the University of Erfurt.
We include you as a researcher in our pool of experts and put you in touch for interviews and expert enquiries.
We offer topics (essays) to the media.
We publish your research video on our YouTube channel.
We would be delighted if you present your research at our "Long Night of Sciences"!
We flank all of this via the University of Erfurt's central social media channels.

Just get in touch with us, we will be happy to advise you!

Contact University Communications

Academic Skills Training

The Academic Skills Programme at the University of Erfurt is aimed at all academics, i.e. employees, lecturers and scholarship holders, as well as those interested in pursuing a doctorate, doctoral candidates, postdoctoral researchers and professors. In addition to opportunities to acquire and develop interdisciplinary key competences, a mentoring programme for doctoral candidates, postdoctoral researchers, and tenure-track and career-track professors, and opportunities for career planning and development, there are also lunchtime talks on topics related to scientific communication, events on academic publishing, creative communication formats, workshops on appearing in front of microphones and cameras, and much more.

You can find more information on our website “Academic Skills Training”.

Best practice forums

The University of Erfurt organises best practice forums where academics at all career levels can exchange ideas and benefit from each other. The dates can be found in our events calendar. The Presidium's newsletter also provides regular information about such events.

The next Best Practice Forum is entitled "Advice, treatment, knowledge transfer – how science becomes socially effective" and will take place on 21 April in the "Weltbeziehungen" research building. >> further information

Support in the event of hostility and attacks on scientists

Anyone who speaks publicly about science and research runs the risk of experiencing hostility and attacks or receiving hate comments – especially when it comes to politicised topics. The good news is that there is support for those affected. In addition to organisations that are generally committed to combating hate speech, there are now also services that specialise specifically in supporting scientists – for example SciComm Support. It is a national contact point for attacks and unobjective conflicts in research communication and a joint institution of the Federal Association of University Communications and Wissenschaft im Dialog. SciComm Support is available daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on 0157 923 448 04 for free personal counselling. It also offers a guide that provides an overview of possible courses of action and strategies for dealing with (digital) violence and hate speech and answers the most important questions.

We have compiled further contact points and counselling services in cases of violence and/or discrimination on our website www.uni-erfurt.de/universitaet/beratung-service/notfaelle-und-beschwerden/hilfe-bei-diskriminierung-belaestigung-und-gewalt.

Scientific publishing also means becoming visible! Please note our affiliation guidelines for research-related publications.

link to the affiliation guidelines of the University of Erfurt (in German only)

Tips, tools and templates

"Communicating knowledge" – a guide from the "Young Academy"

Crisis situations such as the Covid-19 pandemic have shown just how important sound research communication is. Well-founded, up-to-date knowledge from various scientific disciplines is also necessary for social discussions on efficient measures to combat climate change or issues of social justice. To ensure that communication between science, society and the media is as successful as possible, the "Communicating knowledge" project group of the “Young Academy” project group has developed five guiding principles for research communication following discussions with numerous experts. The guidelines argue in favour of a clear separation of factual basis, level of knowledge and evaluation, advocate a realistic classification of extreme values in the debate and want to encourage communicators to trust the public with more complexity. In this way, public discourse can become more objective.

The “Young Academy” guide is available under the Creative Commons licence CC BY-ND 4.0 as a download available (in German only).

Short videos for contemporary research communication

An effective means of making scientific content accessible and counteracting misinformation, especially for a younger generation, are short video clips that scientists can present on their social media channels or websites, for example, to present their research results and scientific expertise. The Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) has created a guide to creating short videos on platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, which is aimed specifically at researchers who are enthusiastic about research communication and want to learn about storytelling, video editing and audience interaction techniques in order to place their topics in a contemporary way.

Here you can find the guide (in German only).

Visibility of women in science

As part of the “Professor:inSicht” project funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, an interdisciplinary team from Munich University of Applied Sciences analysed the visibility of women in science. Based on its research findings, the project team has developed the interactive platform "sichtbar.sein.selbst.gestalten" developed. Here, female scientists can find research-based information on how to shape their visibility in a personalised and authentic way. Based on the individual goals and time resources of the scientist, numerous recommendations for action are provided. The best-practice tips can be selected individually and downloaded in a clear handout. This offer helps female scientists to understand visibility, reduce concerns and develop strategies for creating visibility. The service was developed as part of the BMBF-funded meta project "Innovative Women in Focus" (meta-IFIF) which is supported by the Federal Association of University Communications.

Templates

In addition to our templates for posters and Power Point presentations in the corporate design of the University of Erfurt (login-protected area of the website), we also provide you with working aids for scientific presentations.