Modeling interdisciplinary science communication competence (WiKoKo)

Effective science communication is becoming increasingly important not only within science, but also as external communication with society, industry and politics as part of the so-called third mission of scientific institutions. Science communication should strengthen society's scientific literacy and informed trust in science. However, scientists have so far received little systematic training in how to communicate their research competently. One reason for this is that so far there is little in-depth knowledge about which sub-competences make up science communication competences (WiKoKo) and how these sub-competences relate to each other.

In the first step of the WiKoKo project, those sub-competences are to be identified by means of a literature and curriculum analysis and a Delphi study. The drafted model will then be empirically tested for its internal structure and validity by means of experimental training studies and empirical-correlative studies to determine the extent to which it is suitable for describing science communication competences. At the end of the project, in addition to an empirically tested competence structure model of science communication, test and questionnaire instruments will be available to measure the sub-competencies included and to evaluate training to promote them. The project will thus make both a contribution to basic research on science communication and an application-oriented contribution to measuring the science communication competencies of scientists.