Navigating differences between Dissemination, Communication, and Exploitation in Horizon Europe
Learn here how to integrate them into your proposal in a meaningful way.
Published on 19/09/2024 by Marlene Kopf
Dissemination, communication, and exploitation activities are crucial to the success of Horizon Europe projects. While these three concepts are linked, they serve different purposes and involve different strategies and methods. Understanding these differences is essential for researchers and project managers to maximize the impact of their work and be able to demonstrate this plausibly in their proposal. But what is what?
Dissemination
Dissemination refers to the public disclosure of the results of a Horizon Europe project. It involves making the knowledge generated by the project available to stakeholders, such as the scientific community, industry, policymakers, and the general public. The primary goal of dissemination is to ensure that the project’s findings reach the intended audiences who can benefit from them and apply them in various contexts.
Examples:
- Publications: Publishing articles in peer-reviewed journals, conference proceedings, and books.
- Presentations: Presenting results at scientific conferences, workshops, and seminars.
- Repositories: Depositing research data and publications in open access repositories to ensure broad accessibility.
- Reports: Producing and distributing technical and progress reports to stakeholders.
Dissemination typically employs academic and professional channels, including scientific journals, conferences, open access platforms, and institutional repositories. Effective dissemination strategies also include online tools and platforms, social media, and project-specific websites to reach wider audiences.
Exploitation
Exploitation involves the use of project results to create social, economic, or environmental benefits. This can include the development of new products, services, standards, or policies based on the research outcomes.
The main objective of exploitation is to ensure that the knowledge and innovations generated by the project are used to achieve tangible impacts.
Examples:
- Commercialization: Developing business plans, securing patents, and bringing new products or services to market.
- Policy influence: Informing and influencing policy and regulatory frameworks.
- Standards development: Contributing to the development of new industry standards or protocols.
- Follow-up research: Initiating further research projects or collaborations based on the findings.
Exploitation strategies often involve partnerships with industry, technology transfer offices, and innovation agencies. They may include licensing agreements, spin-offs, and start-ups, as well as collaborations with regulatory bodies and standardization organizations.
If you don’t want to exploit your research results yourself, you can e.g. consider collaborating with industry partners to commercialize the technology you developed in a project, secure patents, and develop a market-ready product.
You might also work with standardization bodies to establish new performance standards for the field you worked on in the project.
Communication
Communication in Horizon Europe refers to the process of informing and engaging with stakeholders and the general public about the project, its activities, and its outcomes. The aim is to raise awareness, promote the project’s objectives, and highlight its societal relevance and impact.
Examples:
- Media outreach: Issuing press releases, engaging with journalists, and securing media coverage.
- Public engagement: Organizing public events, workshops, and exhibitions.
- Digital presence: Developing and maintaining a project website, using social media, and producing digital content like videos and infographics.
- Educational outreach: Creating educational materials and engaging with schools and universities.
Communication strategies leverage a variety of tools and platforms to reach different audiences, including traditional media (newspapers, television, radio), digital media (websites, social media), and direct engagement activities (public talks, webinars).
How the MIC can help with dissemination, communication and exploitation in your project
We use our reach via our website, one of the most visited microfluidics websites in the world, to publish non-confidential news about our projects, project meetings, conferences and successes of the joint projects we are involved in. We also disseminate relevant information on our social media channels to reach a wide audience.
Thanks to our experience in science communication from 50+ European projects and SEO (Search Engine Optimization), our contribution to D&E&C in the field related to our activities in microfluidics is appreciated in numerous projects. With our developments, e.g. new instruments resulting from our projects, we aim to bring new innovative products to market and provide real added value for all future users.
Integration of D&E&C in a project proposal
While dissemination, communication, and exploitation have distinct objectives and target audiences, they are complementary and often overlap. Effective project management in Horizon Europe involves integrating these activities to maximize the project’s impact.
- Dissemination focuses on sharing scientific knowledge and ensuring it reaches relevant stakeholders.
- Exploitation aims at transforming research outcomes into practical applications and societal benefits.
- Communication seeks to inform and engage a broad audience, highlighting the project’s significance and fostering public understanding.
Integration of these activities ensures that project results are not only shared within the academic community but also translated into real-world applications and communicated effectively to the public and other stakeholders.
All of this should be plausibly presented in the proposal, as the European Commission wants the funded projects to have a real impact on the lives of EU citizens. Planning a dedicated work package for this part of the project has proven to be a good idea.
How Horizon Europe projects benefit from systematic D&E&C
In Horizon Europe, dissemination, communication, and exploitation are crucial components of a project’s life cycle. Understanding their differences and interrelationships enables project coordinators and partners to develop and implement strategies that maximize the impact of their research and innovation activities.
Through effective dissemination and exploitation of results and communication with different audiences, Horizon Europe projects can achieve their objectives of increasing knowledge, fostering innovation, and addressing societal challenges.
If you want more information on dissemination, communication, and exploitation in Horizon Europe projects, you can find it on the European Commission’s pages (e.g., here and here) or refer to your National Contact Point.