HEY YOU, LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT MY RESEARCH

Course description

Knowledge comes with an obligation. All scientists need to tell the world about their findings and research, but many do not like having to convey to the media because they feel that journalists turn their story in directions they do not come to terms with. The rules of communication, as we know them from the scientific world, are fundamentally different when communicating to the public through the media. This difference may give rise to misunderstandings and at worst conflicts. 

When scientists apply for national or international funding for doing research the requirements for disseminating the research to the public are well defined and clear. This does not change the fact that many researchers feel uncomfortable reaching out to journalists or are reluctant to respond to interview requests from journalists. 
This course will give the participants an understanding of how journalists work, how to collaborate with them when communicating the research. It will give the participants tools to sharpen the key message of the story when pitching it to a journalist, and help defining the target groups and media selection. 

Through exercises, plenary discussions, and individual homework, the participants will get hands on practice with different journalistic tools followed by feedback. 

 A student who has met the objectives of the course will be able to: 

1. Have insight into and understand the basic news criteria of the media, the inverted journalistic triangle, and the basic principles of journalistic writing 
2. Understand how journalists work and know how to collaborate with them on communicating your research. 
3. Identify relevant target groups and differentiate between different media when pitching the story about the research. 
4. Use basic and easy-to-use tools for how to communicate to an audience that reaches beyond the scientific peers. 
5. Demonstrate how to write a press release with the purpose of disseminating science and extend the public’s knowledge and benefits of scientific work. 

Lectures (face-to-face classroom tuition), plenary discussions, practical exercises, group work, mandatory homework, individual oral feedback of the homework in groups  

Course fee

The course is free of charge for PhD students enrolled in Universities that have joined the "Open market agreement"

For all other participants the course fee is:

DKK 3600

EURO 483,94