Research Unit Science Communication

Research Interests:

Digital science communication • Climate change and the media • Trust between science and its publics

Information

The research profile is presented through three main research areas:

Digital Science Communication: Science communication is in a constant state of change; a process that appears to be accelerating due to communication technologies and digitalization. At the same time, communication paradigms are shifting toward public engagement approaches. As a result, far-reaching effects can be observed in the communication of crises, risks, and science, as well as among the actors involved, providing ample impetus for scholarly engagement in communication studies.

Climate Change and the Media: Climate change, a central topic in risk and crisis communication, has been part of various media discourses since the 1980s, but only recently has it moved more prominently from a niche issue onto the public agenda. The way climate change is framed influences audiences’ perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors. However, this research field is characterized by a high degree of heterogeneity, which allows for the identification and investigation of existing research gaps.

Trust Between Science and its Publics: For some time now, scientists have perceived a decline in trust in social elites such as science. Surveys, however, indicate that science continues to enjoy (very) high levels of public trust. This discrepancy may be due to the limited complexity of survey instruments, as well as to the heterogeneity of digital communication, its content, and individual patterns of reception. Our research seeks to describe and examine these dynamics both theoretically and empirically.

Research Projects

The project examines the trust relationship between science and digitized publics through panel surveys, qualitative interviews, content analyses, and experiments to uncover dynamic changes and provide explanatory approaches.

Furhter information on the project TrusDi.

Duration: 10/2021 - 03/2025

Leadership: Prof. Dr. Lars Guenther, Prof. Dr. Monika Taddicken (TU Braunschweig)

Financial support: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)

In the context of mediated public trust in science, the project examines the perception and relevance of trust cues (i.e., trust-relevant information about scientists) in media content. For this, online focus groups were conducted.

Further information about the project ReTruCue.

Duration: 06/2023 - 09/2024

Leadership: Prof. Dr. Lars Guenther, Justin T. Schröder

External Partners: Univeristät Hamburg

The project investigates practices of churnalism at the nexus of science PR and science journalism, as well as their causal and solution-oriented attributions of responsibility, using a mixed-methods approach combining interviews and various content analysis procedures.

Further information on the project CoPaDiSC.

Duration: 11/2023 - 11/2026

Leadership: Prof. Dr. Lars Guenther

Financial Sponsoring: Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF)

Using methodological triangulation, the DFG-funded project TruSDi II investigates the trust relationship between science and its publics in general, as well as more specifically in research on climate change and artificial intelligence.

Further information about the project Mediated Public Trust in Science.

Duration: 01/2022 - 02/2026

Leadership: Justin T. Schröder

Using methodological triangulation, the DFG-funded project TruSDi II investigates the trust relationship between science and its publics in general, as well as more specifically in research on climate change and artificial intelligence.

Furhter information about the project TruSDi II.

Duration: 10/2025 - 09/2028

Renewal: Follow-up project toTruSDi I (10/2021 - 03/2025)

Leadership: Prof. Dr. Lars Guenther, Prof. Dr. Monika Taddicken, Dr. Anne Reif

External Partners: TU Braunschweig, Universität Hamburg, Universität Bielefeld

Financial Support: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)