SENSE ABOUT SCIENCE

Their core work

Sense About Science is a London-based NGO that works to make scientific evidence accessible, credible, and useful to public audiences, journalists, and policymakers. Their core mission is defending science from distortion — they challenge misinformation, advocate for evidence-based policy, and help researchers communicate their findings beyond the lab. In H2020, they contributed their established networks with media and civil society as a dissemination and outreach partner in nanoelectrochemistry (SENTINEL) and then as a substantive research participant in a major study on public trust in scientific expertise (PERITIA). Their value to research consortia lies not in conducting lab science but in bridging it to public understanding and policy uptake.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their earliest H2020 involvement (SENTINEL, 2019) placed them as a third-party dissemination contributor in a hard-science nanoelectrochemistry project — supporting outreach without being a core research partner. By 2020, PERITIA brought them in as a full participant and co-researcher on the social epistemology of trust, ethics, and policy, with their own funded role and intellectual contribution. The trajectory is clear: from peripheral communicator in natural science consortia toward substantive co-researcher in social science projects that study how publics engage with science itself.

They are moving from a supporting communication role toward recognized research partner status in social science projects dealing with evidence, trust, and misinformation — a direction highly relevant as research funders prioritize Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) and public engagement requirements.

How they like to work

Sense About Science has never led an H2020 project — they consistently join as partner or third party, contributing a specific non-research capability (public engagement, communication, policy outreach) that larger consortia need but rarely have in-house. With 30 unique partners across 16 countries from only 2 projects, they clearly slot into large, diverse consortia rather than small bilateral arrangements. Expect them to work well in multi-partner RIA projects where dissemination, public trust, and ethics are explicit workpackages.

Despite only two H2020 projects, they have connected with 30 consortium partners across 16 countries — a notably wide network for such a small footprint, which reflects the large consortium structures of both SENTINEL and PERITIA. Their network skews toward European academic institutions and social science research groups.

What sets them apart

Sense About Science occupies a rare niche: a credible, well-networked NGO with a public reputation for defending scientific evidence, which makes them a legitimizing partner for research consortia that need to demonstrate genuine societal engagement rather than box-ticking. Unlike university communication offices, they bring an independent public voice and real media reach. For any project touching misinformation, public health, environmental science communication, or science-policy trust, they add credibility that no academic partner can replicate.

Highlights from their portfolio

• PERITIA
  Their only directly funded H2020 role (EUR 112,602), this project on policy, expertise, and trust positioned them as a substantive co-researcher rather than a communication add-on, marking a step change in how they engage with European research funding.
• SENTINEL
  Their presence as a third party in a nanoelectrochemistry project illustrates how hard-science consortia recruit them specifically for public outreach credentials, independent of any scientific expertise in the research domain itself.