Communication in research applications

Which actors can benefit from research results or enable their future use in society? Who do you need to communicate with to make sure you can achieve your goals? These are your target groups.

These may include consumers, end consumers, practicians, associations, decision makers, advisors, students and researchers. Be clear and concise! Does your project involve school playgrounds? Show that you intend to reach out to the relevant decision makers (e.g., municipal education authorities and the Swedish Association of School Principals and Directors of Education) and demonstrate you will have an exchange with them.

Show which target groups you need to maintain an exchange with throughout the research process, and not just once they receive the results. There are stakeholders that can be beneficial to cooperate with for you and your project while the project is ongoing, so highlight them.

Give examples and explain terminology and Swedish names such as the Board of Agriculture, the Rural Economy and Agricultural Societies – the person reading your application may not be familiar with the system in Sweden, meaning you will need to explain why these are significant.

You will then need to think about what you want to achieve through communication with these target groups. Different target groups have different needs and will be involved in different ways.

• What does each target group need to know? What do you want to say to them – what are your messages?
• Do you want to create interest? Create knowledge transfer? Change attitudes? Or maybe contribute to someone doing something?

Describe the needs of the target group and show how you can effectively reach them. For example if you want farmers to cultivate their soil differently, you show that you can reach these target groups by participating in conferences or seminars where your target audiences may be in attendance, such as Borgeby Fältdagar and sharing your research with advisors and farmers at an industry conference.

Don’t forget to elaborate on any Swedish references for the benefit of international assessors so they can understand how you want to reach your target group.

Formas highlight three communication dimensions, information, customised messages and co-creation, which are worth keeping in mind when planning communication.

Your choice of media is determined by your communication aims and message strategies. Show you know where your target groups are and how you can reach them. Feel free to use evidence.

Where does your target group go for information? Creating websites or issuing press releases are becoming increasingly common ways of spreading information. Although maybe a meeting with an association, a personal call, or video conference would be more successful? Perhaps a film on YouTube or a thrilling post on LinkedIn? Discussions and interaction are always more efficient than one-way communication.

• How will you gain quality in your contacts with the target groups? Do you need a broad or a selective outreach? Is it important to be rapid? Or to be able to recall or change the information? Do you need to communicate in a certain space to reach your target group?
• List the networks you are involved in or would like to be part of. Mention the other projects you or your co-applicants are participating in and how they can collaborate with the project in the application to achieve a greater goal. Are you involved in something else, such as an EU project, collaborative centre, etc., where the projects can benefit from each other? Then include this information to demonstrate the relevance of your project from a wider perspective. Perhaps these will help you reach your target groups.

Now you know what and how you want to communicate to your target groups, but when within the project period should the communication take place?

• Does the project have any major milestones or planned activities? Prior to and in connection with these, communication activities may be relevant.
• Is the project dependent on communication in the form of dialogues or meetings? Don't forget to schedule these.
• Does something particular happen during the project period? Perhaps there are contexts in which you can benefit from associating with? For example at conferences, trade fairs or during holidays.
• What resources do you need in the form of skills and money to realise your communication? Is there time set aside for communication? Will you plan to manage the communication yourself or use a service? Are you planning to organise communication activities costing money and have you budgeted for these?