Science with Society

Often, academic knowledge is created in isolation from the society around it, without the direct involvement of the people who put it into actual social use. This can lead to a general scepticism towards science and academic knowledge, creating divisions and polarisation in society, as we saw during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the value of participatory research, where knowledge is co-created with the community, is becoming clearer, this divide makes it harder to reach out and connect with people. As a result, the research produced may not address the real needs of society. Marginalised and disadvantaged communities feel this most acutely, as their voices are often ignored in both research and society. Our project aims to break this vicious circle.

The project addresses this issue by promoting mutually beneficial and equal research partnerships between CEU and civil society organisations, by building on CEU's rich experience in the field of civic engagement and its commitment to one of the third missions of universities is to co-create knowledge together with communities and partners outside academia for the benefit of the society. The CEU Science for Society Hub first develops a relationship of trust, collecting ideas and challenges from civil society organisations, bringing them together with professors and students, and monitoring the whole process for the benefit of all parties involved. The partners benefit from the jointly developed knowledge or research product. CEU students gain valuable practical learning experience.

The project is organised by a unit called CEU Science for Society Hub, which is institutionalised at CEU under the External Relations Office. The Hub is run by one full-time and one half-time staff member, with occasional support from paid student interns and unpaid volunteers. Support such as event organisation and publicity is provided by the other units of the university on a request basis.

Relative to the vast amount of academic research and publications produced each year, the actual translation of research findings into policy and practice is limited. Part of the problem is that the users of research are often not involved in the conception, design and implementation of research. Our project is innovative in its implementation in that the pursuit of participatory and collaborative research leads to a higher likelihood of uptake and application of research findings. Compared to conventional research, the research process is not only carried out by academic researchers from the university, but also by social experts who have valuable practice-based knowledge.

The CEU Science with Society conference in November 2024 demonstrated the impact of innovation on public perception. Partner organisations were invited to present the collaborative project together with the students and their professors. An interactive poster presentation format (rather than a PowerPoint presentation) was used, with direct communication and interaction with visitors, with both the partner organisations and the students answering questions. While the format was perceived by some as unconventional, it was seen by the visitors as a welcome approach by the university in its efforts to co-create knowledge with civil society and to make knowledge accessible, relevant and more applicable.