Communication and engagement opportunities

The Open University provides a great platform for getting your research out there, during and after you complete your research degree.

Communications

Our Communications team are interested in hearing from research students with preliminary research findings that are being presented or published in papers and as part of the overall thesis, and any final findings. They can create a news story about your findings and use it to promote your research via LinkedIn or News & articles | Research at The Open University. Contact G raduate School with expressions of interest.

We are particular interested in the following:

interesting research activity (the 'so what' factor - what's the aim/impact that will make people interested)
Research that lends itself to good content such as videos or visuals (e.g. research image of the month/year)
Research that links to the OSC themes - Sustainability, Tackling Inequality, Living Well (e.g. Where are all the butterflies? Possibly in your shed | The Open University or OU graduate launches revolutionary AI platform to map plastic pollution in the world’s oceans | The Open University)
Topics that do well on social media such as Healthcare, Green Infrastructure, Policy etc.
Inspirational story telling of research (people who overcame barriers or who are extremely passionate about a topic and are able to articulate this well for wider audiences).

OpenLearn

OpenLearn is the OU's award-winning free learning platform. There were 8.9 million unique visitors to the site last year (18/19), and OpenLearn has recently reached 70 million visitors in total since launch in 2006. Research students are invited to submit article ideas to the OpenLearn team; ideally these will tie in with OU learning material. For example, Stacy Phillips in EEE wrote this article about her fieldwork in Bhutan 'How to make a mountain' or Emily Breese in LHCS on 'Shift working - does it change how we think?'. Contact G raduate School with expressions of interest.

The Conversation

The Conversation is an independent source of news and views, sourced from the academic and research community and delivered direct to the public; the OU is a founding partner. The Conversation accepts 200-word pitches directly from research students as long as they have had a paper published; if you are pitching it would be good to let the G raduate School know so we can see where else we can promote your article!

Tips for pitching:

Their audience is non-specialist.
Remember that the focus is, 'Tell me what I want to know not what you want to tell me.'
Find the one overarching surprising fact/development in the content that you are pitching.
They like if you can combine your research with what is in the news but you don't have to.
Focus on how people will benefit from what you are telling them.
Be clear about your top line message and offer examples of why it is important now.
Pitches are 200 words; if it is accepted, you will be asked to write up an 800-word article.

The Conversation have produced some self-directed learning resources that cover:

The Conversation: Who we are and how we work with academics
How to write for The Conversation
How to pitch to The Conversation
Writing for Insights.

The Hoot

The Hoot is the Open University Students Association’s online magazine for OU Students. Student submissions are always welcomed by the editorial team. Self-promotion is prohibited under The Hoot’s guidelines, but you may write about your research in the context of an OU student success story to help inspire others. You can sign up to submit your own articles about your research and OU journey, or contact the magazine editor for more information and guidance.

WONKHE

WONKHE are 'the home of the UK higher education debate' and welcome pitches for stories from both established experts and new voices. Read more about writing for WONKHE.