Promoting Research Digitally

Pamela Agar, Head of Digital and Creative Media

Imperial College London

@pamelaagar

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What’s in it for academics?

• Increase general awareness of the field of research (sometimes dramatically)

• Inspire people

• Shape research/spark new ideas as: • you seek to explain the research and its wider purpose to the general public• the research attracts comments/feedback from different perspectives

• Make science accessible for people with non-scientific backgrounds

• Attract funding and academic/industry collaboration opportunities

• Boost your career

• Fulfil requirements of research grants

• REF impact requirements – culture change within universities recognises value of public engagement

What’s in it for your institution?

• Enhance institutional reputation

• Increase funding

• Attract academics, students and donors

• Shape policy/put pressure on decision makers

• Grow support and goodwill

Techniques and ideas

Pamela Agar, Head of Digital and Creative Media

Imperial College London

@pamelaagar

4

Research homepage

Demonstrating impact

Theme based / transparency

Research news

Interacting with news stories

“The comments function has really helped Press team and the researchers to interact directly with our readers – e.g. sometimes someone will query some of the detail and the researcher can respond directly and clarify things – so adding an extra layer of information that wouldn’t be appropriate in the story itself, or we can put patients in touch with researchers when they want to volunteer to take part in a trial or they want some advice about their condition.“ 

- Natasha Martineau, Head of Research Communications

Influence

Blogging

Benefits• Significant percentage of papers published in academic journals never cited –

readership for individual blog pots can outstrip that of an average journal article (Jane Tinkler LSE)

• Academics can talk directly to audiences• Report benefits of networking and collaborating, finding new audiences and

opportunities, disseminating research more widely, and building one’s reputation

Examples• http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/ • http://www.ox.ac.uk/news/science-blog • http://wwwf.imperial.ac.uk/blog/wilkeslandiodpexpedition/ • http://occamstypewriter.org/scurry/ • http://www.theguardian.com/science/series/science-blog-network

Using video and audio

Benefits• Enables audiences to visualise how the research is actually conducted• Can explain a complex concept in a more understandable way• Can make a dry subject seem more engaging• Show academic life – lectures / in the lab

Examples• Online lectures – iTunes U / YouTube• Animation - http://wwwf.imperial.ac.uk/imedia/content/view/4306/how-to-catch-flu/

or http://www.developmentprogress.org/video/reducing-povertydeveloping-sustainably-trade-offs-food-water-and-energy

• Research news• Lab Live – BHF https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-YPw6ds330

• Podcasting

Social media

Benefits

• Social media helps academic research reach more people (including policymakers and media)

• Better, faster and free – reduces “silo-ing” of knowledge

• Great for breaking news

Example

https://twitter.com/imperialspark

Impact

Infographics / data visualisation

Benefits

• Communicate information clearly and effectively through graphical means”

• Show relationships in data, - differences, comparisons, trends

• Can help you bring out the story

• Show transparency

• Allow people to explore

An Imperial example

http://www.resourcesfutures.org

gov.uk interactive dashboards

Interactive reports – long form digital output

Benefits

• Smart way to communicate a lot of information/effective way of telling a longer research story

• Enables the user to interact and really discover the story

• More engaging as reader/viewer can choose what interests them

Examples• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/2014/newsspec_9035/index.html• http://www.brookings.edu/research/essays/2014/saving-horatio-alger • http://prezi.com/nlt-hdr4jvgb/a-history-of-housing-1918-2012/• http://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2014/apr/bangladesh-shirt-

on-your-back • http://www.dementialab.org/

Resources

http://wonkcomms.net/

http://www.amrc.org.uk/blog/science-communication-awards-what-makes-a-winning-entry

Infographic tools

• www.flaticon.com

• www.canva.com

• Infogr.am

• prezi

Over to you…

p.agar@imperial.ac.uk

@pamelaagar

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