As scientists, we want to make discoveries that benefit society and people. To make a societal difference, we need our research findings to become or influence governmental law and policy. Therefore, we need to reach policy makers. However, translating research findings into meaningful and understandable context for policymakers is challenging. Furthermore, the language they use and their motivations are vastly different from what we in science are used to. So how do scientists communicate scientific advice to politicians? And is influencing politics even on the scientific radar?

Listen as postdocs within the field of diabetes and an expert discuss the challenges and solutions within this topic.

SCOPI Board: The Science Communication for health Policy Implementation (SCOPI) Board is the solution proposed by the challenge group to create an accessible, transparent and open communication platform to connect scientists and policy makers. In the podcast episode, the group provides the details of the board composition and responsibilities.

Episode info

Postdocs

• Linn Gillberg, Postdoc, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

• Christopher Lewis, Postdoc, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Expert

• Hans Jørn Kolmos, Professor and Chair of Clinical Microbiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Southern Denmark; has served on the Danish National Antibiotic Council at Ministry of Health

Host

• Gretchen Repasky, Communications Director, Nordic EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine and University of Helsinki

The postdocs represent the challenge group of

• Fannie Lajeunesse-Trempe, Postdoc, Laval University, Canada

• Jori Aalders, Postdoc, Steno Diabetes Center Odense, Denmark

• Marina Agueda, PhD Student, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

• Omar Silverman, Postdoc, Steno Diabetes Center Aarhus, Denmark

Publisher

Danish Diabetes Academy

Producer

Kontekst & Lyd

Resource list

• Communicating science to policymakers: six strategies for success
  https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02372-3

• Science policy for scientists: A simple task for great effect
  https://www.pnas.org/content/117/35/20977

• How do I brief policymakers on science-related issues?
  https://www.scidev.net/global/practical-guides/how-do-i-brief-policymakers-on-science-related-iss/

• Why Science Communication, and Does It Work? A Taxonomy of Science Communication Aims and a Survey of the Empirical Evidence
  https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2019.00055/full

• For science communication to be effective it should be evidence based
  https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2020/05/27/for-science-communication-to-be-effective-it-should-be-evidence-based/