Outreach and Public Engagement Training for Scientists and Researchers
Helping researchers share their work beyond the “ivory tower”, with the public, the media, and the wider world.
Why is science communication, outreach, and public engagement training needed? And why is it different to “normal” research communication?
Sharing research with non-expert audiences is increasingly expected of scientists and researchers. Funders expect proposals to talk about dissemination strategies, institutions want researchers to “stand up for science”, and the public increasingly has a legitimate interest in where research is heading. For many researchers, outreach can also be motivating: it’s an opportunity to connect their work to real-world impact and reach people who would never read a journal article.
But outreach to non-expert audiences requires a different set of skills from peer communication. There are different channels, different registers, different expectations. A researcher who presents brilliantly at a conference may find social media baffling, a journalist’s questions disorienting, or a podcast microphone unexpectedly intimidating.
Our outreach and engagement training helps researchers develop both the strategic thinking and the practical skills to share their work effectively — across channels, with confidence.
What effective science outreach actually requires
Most researchers approach outreach reactively — a tweet here, a press release there, a talk for a local school when asked. They slip into using jargon and making assumptions about knowledge, knowledge and language that they have spent years, sometimes decades, learning in their disciplinary areas.
The researchers who build genuine public presence do it differently: they start with a clear sense of purpose, understand their audiences, and choose channels deliberately. It’s this strategic foundation that builds real reach, and that differentiates it from activity that disappears without trace.
Our training starts there, with message, purpose, and audience, and builds outward into the practical skills each channel requires.
Outreach and engagement training: what we offer
We offer training in-person training across Europe in the form of our 1-2 day workshops, as well essential skills sessions that typically take 2 hours.
Explore these below, or get in touch for details →
Long-format workshops
These training courses are most effective when delivered in-person. Looking for blended-learning or online formats? Get in touch →
Getting Started with Science Communication
A full-day introduction to science communication and public engagement for researchers with little or no prior experience. Covers the strategic foundations — purpose, audience, channels, and resources — and ends with participants developing and pitching their own outreach format idea.
Podcasting for Research Reach
Planning, recording, and producing a research podcast — from concept and audience development to recording techniques and distribution. For researchers who want to build an ongoing presence or contribute to existing programmes.
Science and Research Blogging
A half- to one-day workshop focusing on writing for non-expert audiences: structure, voice, clarity, and platform strategy. We consider institutional. personal, and professional blogging channels during the session. Participant will work on their own research, or on an aspect of science or research that they are interested in in sharing, to apply skills. This session includes hands-on writing practice and peer feedback.
Building Your Research Website
For individual researchers interested in developing a web presence for their research group, as well as for researchers considering a personal website to raise their research profile. This one-day programme covers why a website is useful, how to design and manage a website using WordPress, and essential information around domains, hosting, where to find images, SEO (search engine optimisation) and how to use their website to support their positioning. Practical, hands-on, no coding required.
Media Training for Researchers
A half-, one- or two-day day interactive session to prepare researchers to work with journalists confidently. We cover the chalenges that journalists face and how ot work with them, as well as interviews, press releases, key messages, and handling difficult questions. Includes practice interviews with feedback.
Essential skills sessions: 2 hours, online
Focused, practical sessions for large groups online. Each session introduces one skill with time for guided exercises and peer feedback. Topics include:
- Message, Purpose and Impact for Outreach
- Social Media 101 for Researchers
- Podcasting Essentials
Also useful are our short sessions on presentiing to non-expert audiences, including:
- Elevator Pitches for Researchers
- 3MT® Preparation for Doctoral Candidates
- Flash Talks Foundations
On request, we also offer tools workshops that are useful for outreach activities, like how to use podcasting or image editing tools (Affinitiy Suite and Canva for working with images, ShotCut for video editing, Audacity for audio editing, and more.)
Request our skills session catalogue, or view all topics here →
Not sure where to start?
Get in touch and tell us what your researchers need. We’ll suggest the right approach.
Or browse all training topics to get an overview of the specific training and workshops we offer.
Who this training is for
PhD students and early-career researchers interested in outreach and engagement to share their own work. Research teams working on EU-funded projects with dissemination requirements. Institutions building systematic outreach capacity. Aspiring science communicators looking to learn more about outreach and public engagement.
I feel inspired to do more public outreach
Thank you for this incredible opportunity. This experience has made me so much more comfortable in explaining my research to people not academia. I knew about science communication before, but now I now why it’s important for me and others, and I have ideas about how to do it. I think that this has made me better at talking about my research in academia, too. Thank you!
—Stéphanie Cheid, Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)
Ready to discuss training for your researchers?
Tell us about your group and what you need. We’ll respond with ideas and costs.
Need something tailored to your needs?
We design custom programmes around the specific needs of your group, and we also offer immersive in-person formats for retreats and intensive programmes, including our:
- SciComm Impact Week culminating in a 3MT competition, and
- SciComm Foundations, which covers multiple communication skills relevant for outreach, which are consolidated in a final project.
Working on a larger dissemination strategy for an EU project or research consortium?
Our Strategic Support services help teams plan, structure, and execute their communication and engagement approach.
Curious? Let’s speak →
Why our skills training works
We focus on transferable skills, not rigid templates and “cookie cutter” approaches to skills development.
Your researchers learn practical techniques to use immediately, whether presenting at conferences, writing grant proposals, or engaging with policymakers and the public. Skills that serve them throughout their careers.
Our focus is on offering useful tools and approaches, so that training participants can try them out and choose the ones that help them communicate confidently, clearly, and authentically.