AWARENESS CAMPAIGN
Tasks undertaken
Target audiences
o Public at large regardless of age and scientific background;
o School children, parents and teachers, local community groups and young people from groups traditionally underrepresented in higher education;
o Undergraduate third level students and parents;
Messages conveyed
o Researchers are amongst us;
o Research is fascinating and integral part of our daily lives;
o TCD and RSCI researchers work to improve quality of life a variety of research (human brain, computer technology, nanomaterials…);
o Innovation is a key to research and future employment;
o Research is a job creator;
o There is a wealth of career opportunities for young people in research institutions in Ireland;
Main communication tools to rely on
Off line
o Conception, realisation and display of promotional material (flyers, posters);
o Publication of articles in written press;
o Airing of interviews, programmes, announcements, advertising on radio and TV;
o Sending of promotional pack to school teachers ;
o Direct mailing to teachers interested in taking part in the activities;
o Direct marketing “researchers on the street” (one week prior to the event)
On line
o Revamping, constant updating and maintenance of project website;
o Setting up of a blog “A life of a researcher” published on a weekly basis (at least during the 2 months prior to the event);
o Revamping of social networks profiles (Facebook, Twitter), updating and regular posting;
o Links with other institutional and popular websites;
Promotional material
o Brochures, programmes, teachers’ packs, maps posters,;
o Banners, ads, websites, links to relevant EU websites and social networks;
o Promotional give away (T-shirts, pens, bags, maps, stickers, balloons);
o Mention of "This European Researchers' Night project is funded by the European Commission under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions" on all promotional material displayed;
o Promotional gadgets (displayed through the European corner notably), complying with the general guidelines available at
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/communication/services/visual_identity/index.en.htm(opens in new window) Overview of the results
o Conception, realisation and display of promotional material: broxhrues, posters , maps, pens, titemtables…
o Public advertising in Dublin city (billboards, digital screens at train and bus stations);
o Country flags lining the square, decoration of each bulding of participating organisations (balloons, uplighters);
o Sending of direct invitations to local schools and communities;
o Publication of press releasesand media invites;
o Publication of 3 articles in the national newspaper, the Irish Times ;
o Airing of promotional spots on TV stations, amongst which one national;
o Airing of radio features , interviews of coordinator, orgnaisers and attendees;
o Organisation of pre-events:
o PhD slam (August 2015);
o Public discussion on on the huge potential of big data in medicine (23 September 2015);
o Revamping, constant updating and maintenance of project website, namely
http://discoverresearchdublin.com/(opens in new window);
o 17.624 hits on project website;
o Revamping, constant updating and maintenance fo social network profiles Facebook, Twitter;
o 1.480 likes on Facebook, 1.003 followers on Twitter, 45.800 impressions of tweets, 3.346 vists of the Twitter profile;
o Online promotion included banners, ads, websites, videos social media networks (eg College Awareness Week, Trinity Access Program, TCD Alumni, Silicon Republic,Campus Engage, Irish Cancer Society, Age Action Ireland);
o About 5.000.000 people made aware about the Researchers'night and its objectives
ACTIVITIES DURING THE NIGHT
Tasks undertaken
Locations and venues
Dublin: TCD main campus Dublin 2(Trinity Science Gallery, Trinity biomedical Sciences Institute, Trinity Long Room Hub, Trinity Front Square, Trinity college Institute for Neurosciences, TCD Library, TCD Global Room), ‘European House (Dawson st, Dublin 2), Innovation Academy (Foster Place, Dublin 2)and several Dublin pubs taking part in “Biodiversity in our lives”
Main types of activities planned
Hands-on experiments, exhibitions, film screenings, informal pub talks, guided lab torus, demos, interactive games, competitions, public lectures and quizzes.
Overview of the results
o Offered the activities as described in the Annex I part B to the grant Agreement, namely:
o 71 Events held across 18 venues;
o Main themes dealt with: Human, Tech, World and Society;
o Type of activities offered: tours, demonstrations, debates, hands-on experiments, science shows, workshops, kids programmes, guided visits, games, musical performances, treasure trails…
o Active involvement of 75 researchers in the implementation of the activities, amongst which: 19 having benefitted from Marie Curie schemes; 2 having benefitted from another EU support (FP 7, HORIZON 2020);
o About 7.350 visitors having taken part in the activires offered.
IMPACT ASSESSMENT
Tasks undertaken
Description of the current situation
o Relaying on available European data, such as Eurobarometer as well as data provide by European counterparts (based on cooperation agreements);
o Previous impact assessment exercise in the framework of 2013 DISCOVER RESEARCH action;
o Data from Irish government and other national bodies (Science Foundation Ireland, Higher Education Authority, Economic and Social Research Institute);
o On line survey and paper survey to be conducted prior to the event;
Tools
o On line survey available through website and distributed to networks (notably undergraduate students)(3-5 questions);
o Paper survey displayed to local schools through TCD open days office;
o Follow up survey after the event;
o Face to face interviews (Vox Pop from the street, random of pedestrian passing by);
o Feedback forms /surveys for attendees (common questionnaire with other European cities applying for ERN in 2014/2015);
o Small number of focus groups (2 with 4-5 participants);
o Social networks feedback;
o Feedback from researchers involved;
Indicators and parameters to be applied
o Qualitative: public perception of researchers and their work: associations with the word “researcher”, characteristics of actual and desired researchers, interest expressed in science and research, enthusiasm for research careers, typology of attendees, will to attend similar future events…;
o Quantitative: number of hits on website, unique visitors, page views, pages per visit, average visit duration, geographical distribution, number of friends/followers on social networks, attendees, completed blogs and visits, number of press articles, number of promotional items displayed;
Selection of the sample
o Method: random selection;
o Absolute figures: 300 completed surveys, 500 surveys during the night, 20 Vox Pop interviews, 20 afterwards, 50 completed feedback forms from participating researchers (participation rewarded)
