Transcript Recommendations from different guides of the

3. Recommendations from different
guides of the Union European on
communicating EU funded research
Aurélie PANCERA
CIHEAM Bari
Contents
1. Communicating research - general aspects
2. Networking technologies: Euro-Mediterranean Agora
3. Recommendations from different guides of the Union
European on communicating EU funded research
4. The role of the NCPs in supporting research
communication
5. Practical exercises to assess your field activities and
brainstorm on your next activities
6. How to think of your "communication strategy"?
3. Recommendations from different guides
of the Union European on
communicating EU funded research
http://ec.europa.eu/research/science-society/science-communication/index_en.htm
Communication is more than just an additional
reporting burden.
Why?
How to demonstrate the ways in which research
is contributing to a European ‘Innovation
Union’ and account for public spending?
Challenge: to provide tangible proof that
collaborative research adds value.
To provide tangible proof that collaborative research adds value.
Example:
Showing how EU-Mediterranean collaboration has achieved more than would
have otherwise been possible, notably in achieving scientific excellence,
contributing to competitiveness and solving societal challenges;
Showing how this collaboration fits with the objectives of the international
cooperation strategy of DG Research and Innovation;
Showing how the outcomes are relevant to our everyday lives, by creating jobs,
introducing novel technologies, or making our lives more comfortable in other
ways;
Making better use of the results, by making sure they are taken up by decisionmakers to influence policy-making and by industry and the scientific community
to ensure follow-up.
Increasing the success rate of your proposal (provided
you have a good communication/dissemination plan)
Disseminating research results
Increasing visibility and science awareness
External
communication
helps …
Achieving successful integration with stakeholders
Promoting internal communication
Networking and marketing the consortium
Bridging the gap between scientists and the public
Making Euro-Mediterranean research more attractive
When
submitting and
negotiating a
proposal
What is
formally
required?
At the end of
the project
During the
project
What is
formally
required?
When
submitting
and
negotiating
a proposal
• Evaluation criteria are
specified in the Work
Programmes. Usually, an
assessment of expected
impact is part of the
evaluation, meaning that
points will be allocated to
impact resulting from
communication and
dissemination activities.
• During the negotiations, you
may be asked to further
improve your communication
activities.
What is
formally
required?
During
the
project:
• You will need to supply a link to
your website and declare
whether it is up to date. The link
will be published together with
general information on each
funded project on the
Commission’s website.
• The Commission is authorized to
publish information on the
project.
What is
formally
required?
At the end
of the
project
What is a good communication?
Good communication
Work and coordinate at Euro-Mediterranean level
Be ambitious… and modest
Focus on results and background, not just methodology
Work with communication and media professionals
Use existing relays and organizations
Try to make a difference: originality pays!
Media is not the end: diversify and reach out!
Remember Lasswell’s wwwww: Who (says) What (to) Whom (in) What Channel (with) What Effect
Define your messages, target and support!
No propaganda!
4. The role of the NCPs in supporting
research communication
Aurélie PANCERA
CHIEAM Bari
Communicating research: The role of the NCPs
Prepare the activity
Goals/objectives
The type of
discourse and
content
Determine
The most
appropriate
activities
The resources or
tools
Communicating research: The role of the NCPs
Prepare the activity
Scientific community
…
Political/institutional communities
Academic communities
Scientific community
The type of
discourse and
its content
Professional or Business communities
Communities of Citizens
…
Communicating research: The role of the NCPs
• Main characteristics of NCP’s systems:
– State’s responsability
– Coordination of the system:
centralized/decentralized
– EC Guidance on minimum standards
NCP system => INVESTMENT to provide an efficient
service to the research communities and SMEs
Communicating research: The role of the NCPs
• Main characteristics of NCP’s systems in the
Mediterranean countries:
– Nomination process?
Main challenge: how to be
efficient with the available
means you have?
• by direct designation
• Criteria (different from focal points)
– Voluntary basis  decentralized system
– EC support (through BILAT, INCONET, ERA-WIDE,
etc) in countries having S&T Agreement
Goals and objectives of the NCPs
(core functions)
Assisting,
advising
and training
Informing,
awareness
raising
Signposting
and
cooperation
Goals and
objectives
Circulate general and specific documentation on the Horizon
2020, including on conditions for participation, on possibilities
and conditions for submission of proposals, and on project
budgeting and reporting
Informing,
awareness
raising
Organise information and promotional activities – in liaison with
the Commission services when appropriate- e.g. infodays,
seminars, conferences, newsletters, web sites, fairs, etc.
Provide information as necessary on other European RTDprogrammes in the field of research and innovation such as
COSME, Eureka, COST, R&D related parts of Structural Funds,
and establish working links with the respective specialist support
services.
the innovation activities in Horizon 2020, including the objective of
enhanced participation of industry and SMEs.
funding opportunities offered through externalised measures, i.e.
Articles 185 and 187 initiatives, and EIT KICs, within the scope of
the NCP's mandate.
Informing,
awareness
raising
the interdisciplinary nature of Horizon 2020, especially with regard
to the societal challenges
the objectives to increase the participation of women in the
Horizon 2020, and of strengthening the link between science and
civil society.
the activities of the JRC, the in-house science service of the
Commission, to relevant national stakeholders from the scientific
community, industry and public authorities.
Assist researchers and organisations, in particular new actors and
SMEs, with a view to increasing their participation in Horizon 2020.
Assisting,
advising
and
training
Assist in partner search activities notably by using internet based
tools, co-operation networks, European Enterprise Network
partnership services for SMES etc.
Advise participants, in particular smaller organisations and SMEs, on
the setting up of appropriate management and legal structures in
projects with large budgets and/or numerous participants.
Explain the scope and the modalities of funding schemes to be used
in Horizon 2020.
Organise courses and training sessions on Horizon 2020 for
intermediaries and information multipliers to ensure high quality of
advice.
Assisting,
advising
and
training
Where necessary, organise courses and training seminars for
specific target groups (SMEs, universities, business organisations,
women in science etc.) or on specific topics (legal aspects,
modalities for participation, research and innovation areas
covered by several specific challenges and programmes, financial
rules etc.).
Signpost to national funding services and programmes
and to ERA Net Projects
Signposting
and
cooperation
Signpost to other business support network services
those potential participants who require assistance, for
example on general EU matters or matters relating to
internal market, technology transfer, intellectual
property rights (IPR) or regional development typically
dealt with by these networks (e.g. EEN, EIB, Structural
Funds, YourEurope, Solvit etc)
• Build on your past experience
• Be pragmatic according to your available means
• Use collective intelligence to manage time
4. Practical exercice:
communicating on H2020
•
•
•
•
•
•
To who?
What?
What for?
How?
When?
Where?
Goals/objective: Inform and raise awareness
– -> how to raise interest? Performance versus
inclusion; time management
•
•
•
•
•
For what?
Who?
How?
What?
When?
– Indicators?:
•
•
•
•
Number of visits/revisits on the website;
Number of questions by email/phone received;
Number of talents identified
Number of persons sensibilized
Goal: Assist and advise
– « Support »  provide services!!
–
–
–
–
–
–
For what?
Who?
How?
What?
When?
Indicators:
– Number of persons trained;
– number of applications to H2020;
– number of successful applications;
Winning a bid is just at the tip!
----------------• Grant writing
• Grant budgeting
----------------• Pitching to become a partner in consortia
• Selecting best-fit financial instruments (FP7? Interreg? LLP? COST?
Others?) and a suitable call (KBBE, ENV, OCEANS etc)
----------------• Policy Context, Networking with best-in-class peers, participating in
Technology Platforms, sitting on expert panels, engaging with
National Contact Points & EC counterparts, analysing call
opportunities
Searching complementary partners
There is no rule….
•
Identification of successful coordinators in Cordis
•
Identify and connect with people who can help you (NCP, EEN, etc http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/get-support_en.html)
•
Make you know and be recommended
•
Prepare and exchange partner search format
•
Register in the relevant databases
•
Build on the basis of previous collaborations and/or scientific congress.
¿Quelle est mon idée?
• What is the STRATEGY of my organisation?
• To which extent MY research topic fits with H2020?
• What are the FUNDING opportunities?
• Is it a REALISTIC for me?
• What do I have to OFFER to a European project?
How to prepare your pitch?
Topic relevance
Direct geographic
Relevance
(Mediterranean)
Indirect geographic
relevance (ENP,
Africa, S&T
Agreement)
International
cooperation
connotation (no
geographic focus)
Thematic relevance
You are
part of a
puzzle!!!
To negotiate your
participation, you
have to be very
clear on:
YOU
- What you are expecting
from this participation in
spite of the investment it
can represent;
- What you have to offer
Goal: signpost and cooperate
• Make alliance and contribute to make the offer/demand
match
– For what?
– Who?
– How?
– What?
– When?
– Indicators:
Communicating research: 3. The role of the NCPs
Prepare the activity
What
Goals/objectives
To whom
For what
The type of
discourse and
its content
6. How to plan your communication
strategy?
Aurélie Pancera
A
• Ensure good management
B
• Define your goals and objectives
C
• Pick your audience
D
• Choose your message
E
• Use the right medium and means
F
• Evaluate your efforts
A. Ensure good management
1. Have resources been allocated (time and money)?
•Does your proposal include a work package on communication?
•Will there be a separate dissemination and communication strategy and
timeline right from the beginning?
•Does the communication element of the project involve all consortium
partners (and their respective staff, including researchers)?
•Is there awareness that communication is a continuous process, not a onetime effort when the project ends?
•Are you ready for the unexpected? Have you thought about how to respond
effectively to such things as publication in high-ranking journals or a sudden
new event related to the project’s theme?
A. Ensure good management
2. Are professional communicators involved?
•
•
Have resources been allocated to professional assistance with the
drafting of press releases, graphic design, maintenance of the
website and other communication tasks? Larger institutions
usually have an in-house capacity for this.
Have you considered taking any training in the field of
communication or including a communication expert in your
team?
A. Ensure good management
3. Is continuity ensured?
•
•
Are there any arrangements to ensure that information will not
be lost once the project comes to an end?
Does the project provide for any feedback loops back to the
European Commission that can help with amplifying the
message, for example by notifying an event, or before
publishing a press release?
B. Define your goals and objectives
1. Are there any goals and objectives?
• Have the final and intermediate communication aims of the
project been specified, what impact is intended, what
reaction or change is expected from the target audience?
• For example:
– Receiving feedback or engaging in dialogue
– Influencing the attitudes of decision-makers
– Having people make a decision or take action
– Ensuring that the project outcomes will be taken into
production
B. Define your goals and objectives
2. Are your goals and objectives neither too ambitious
nor too weak?
• Is there a deadline by which the goals should be
achieved, taking into account different stages of the
research and possible intermediary outcomes?
• Are the objectives specific and measurable, rather
than vague? Does the project envisage ways of
measuring its communication efforts and impact?
B. Define your goals and objectives
• Example:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Evidence of debates in the media
Evidence of new funders for your area
Evidence of transference of research into practice (patents, prototypes, licenses)
Number and turnover of new products, practices or procedures developed, based on
your research outcomes
Number of articles in the press
Number of people asking for feedback or more information
Number of references in scientific publications
Participation in project events and seminars
Speaker evaluations from conferences
presentations
Survey of end-users
Trends in website visits
C. Pick your audience
1. Is your audience well defined?
•Is each target audience a relatively homogenous group of
people (not: ‘the public at large’ or ‘all stakeholders’)?
Can the indicated audiences be further specified?
•For example: from ‘the general public’ to ‘female
citizens commuting by train to work in one of the EU-10
countries’ or from ‘decision-makers’ to
‘Europarliamentarians involved in the design of the new
transport policy 2013’.
C. Pick your audience
2. Does it include all relevant target groups?
•Can your audience help you reach your objectives?
– Who has an interest in your research?
– Who can contribute to your work?
– Who would be interested in learning about the project’s findings?
– Who could or will be affected directly by the outcomes of the research?
– Who are not directly involved, but could have influence elsewhere?
•Does the project aim to address both a direct audience and intermediaries to
reach more people?
•What about the possibility of audiences at local, regional, national and
European level?
•Is the audience external (not restricted to consortium partners)?
D. Choose your message
1. Is it news?
•Why do we need to know? What will change? What solutions are you
offering? What makes the issue urgent? What are the consequences if no
action is taken?
•Have you tried to stir your audience’s imagination and emotions?
•How does your work relate to everyday life? Does it link to any broader
societal issue? Rather than focusing only on the provision of factual
information, is your project research positioned within a broader socioeconomic and policy context, so that it will be easier to explain the results
and their relevance to policymakers and citizens?
D. Choose your message
2. Are you connecting to what your audience wants
to know?
•See through your audience’s eyes:
– What do they already know about the topic?
– What do they think about it?
– Do they need information and/or persuasion?
– Have you tested your message?
•Are you considering a FAQ on potentially controversial or sensitive issues?
3. Are you connecting to your own communication
objectives?
E. Use the right medium and means
1. Do they reach the audience?
• Are you working at the right level (local, regional,
national)?
• Are you using dissemination partners and multipliers?
• Dissemination partners can help amplify and multiply a
message. Rather than aiming to build an audience from
scratch, the project should indicate which partners to use
and how.
E. Use the right medium and means
2. Do they go beyond the obvious?
• If input or contributions are needed, are there
mechanisms in place to make communication
interactive so as to obtain responses?
• Are you taking into account the different ways
to communicate?
F. Evaluate your efforts
• Go back to your goals and objectives. Have they
been reached? What lessons have you learned?
European Commission: Guide to
communication and media relations
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Establishing target audiences and selecting the appropriate media;
Defining key messages;
Preparing and supplying information to the press;
Building good relationships with journalists;
Evaluating results;
Maximising the exposure of news stories and press articles.
Tapping useful Commission resources
http://ec.europa.eu/research/conferences/2004/cer2004/pdf/rtd_2004_guide_success_communication.pdf
•
http://ec.europa.eu/research/science-society/science-communication/index_en.htm
Conclusions?
Though each project is different, the communication plan will
generally include the following steps:
1. Form a communication and dissemination team who identify
potential beneficiaries (audiences) and anticipate their questions
2. Create a promotional flyer
3. Produce a detailed identity brochure
4. Develop an attractive project website
Conclusions?
5. Seek out dialogue with stakeholders
6. Engage the media
7. Write policy briefs
8. Arrange briefing sessions and dialogue panels
9. Organize a final conference
10. Produce a final publishable summary report
www.medspring.eu
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