In the world of science, about Măgurele Science Park you hear better and better things. From a distance, it looks like a concentration of vision, science, marketing and public strategy. I heard the executive director of the Măgăurele Science Park Association, Mădălin Ioniță, say that "we need to learn how to make the research or technology service offer attractive and how to present it" and I wanted to find out how he proposes to do this. I had just given the presentation Researchers also have a "bubble" of their own. How and why they communicate outside itso I decided to ask him more about the role of communication and marketing in research.
A bit of context: the Măgurele Science Park will be a complex science park near Bucharest. Currently, Măgurele Science Park is an association, with the following founding members Ilfov County Council, Măgurele Town Hall and Horia Hulubei National Research and Development Institute for Physics and Nuclear Engineering. The aim of the association is to stimulate the regional economy and increase economic competitiveness through technology transfer and innovation. One of the projects is the development of this Science and Technology Park in Măgurele, Ilfov county. It will include a technology transfer centre, an innovation centre, a museum of the future and a recreational centre. In 2018, the following became associate members Polytechnic University of Bucharest and University of Bucharest.
Physically, the science park is expected to open in about three years in Măgurele, a location that has become known more recently thanks to ELI-NP project. However, there are nine research institutes operating there in the fields of nuclear physics and engineering, lasers, plasma and radiation, space sciences; materials physics; earth physics; optoelectronics. (List of institutions here).
By the time the park opens, the Association is already at work: it is carrying out activities aimed at creating a spirit of collaboration between academia and research, business and public authorities. And at the heart of these efforts are communication: "We don't think we will get the results we want if we don't succeed in creating the climate of trust between the one who can provide innovation and the one who should put it into practice for the needs of the market. We will do this through communication, through meetings, so that the triangle of researchers, business and public authorities works perfectly", explained Mădălin Ioniță. [After the interview on 12 December has already taken place such a meeting].
A key target audience of the initiative is researchers whose results can be exploited and commercialised, but who need support in promotion. "We spoke to many CEOs and scientists who recognised gaps in the way research institutes present their research and technology services. I would like to see how we can together make this promotion component more effective."
To this end, the Măgurele Science Park Association has adopted a number of best practices, including the organisation of innovation cafés, a programme for young entrepreneurs and a wider event - the Forum for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
In addition, the Association aims to organise a series of training courses for researchers, from topics such as project management to intellectual property rights management, and I was pleased to learn that there will also be courses in marketing. Based on my experience at own science communication workshops that I have advocated for researchers can say is one of the biggest unmet needs in academia. The ability to "translate" research into the understanding of people who do not come from the same field is something that can be mastered with relative ease, but with specialized training in science and practice. It's just important to have openness.
"Openness" was also the key word the Executive Director used when we asked him what he would like to see from the research area. In addition, there would need to be "as many initiatives, even parallel, but with a common goal, a climate of encouraging entrepreneurship and university support in generating jobs, creating startups, generating spin-offs."
More about Măgurele Science Park can be found on association website.
The full speech about Măgurele Science Park at the National Conference of the Education for Science Community can be seen here (from min. 22)
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