Do you know what your audience knows?

Essential questions when devising an impact plan—from a professor of science communication

It is a truism that the value of research can only be realised with communication and translation of results into real-world settings. Nonetheless, doing this effectively continues to be a challenge for researchers the world over.

At a workshop held this summer for the EU’s Scientific Advice Mechanism, David Budtz Pedersen, professor of science communication and science advice at Aalborg University in Denmark, tried to demystify and simplify things for scientists grappling with how best to communicate their research.