WISSENSCHAFT IM DIALOG GGMBH

Their core work

Wissenschaft im Dialog (WiD) is Germany's leading organization for science communication and public engagement with research. They design and run programs that bring scientific knowledge to the general public — from student parliaments and debate formats to citizen science tracking platforms. Their core mission is bridging the gap between academic research and society, making them a go-to partner for EU projects that need genuine public outreach and responsible research and innovation (RRI) expertise rather than token dissemination activities.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

WiD's early H2020 work (2015–2017) centered on institutional public engagement — how universities and research organizations can embed societal dialogue into their governance and operations (NUCLEUS). By 2018–2023, their focus shifted toward data-driven approaches: measuring citizen science activities, analyzing public attitudes toward science, and producing evidence-based policy recommendations (CS-Track). This evolution shows a move from designing engagement processes to evaluating and scaling them through analytics.

WiD is moving from running science communication programs toward measuring their impact and feeding evidence into science policy — a valuable capability as funders increasingly demand proof of societal impact.

How they like to work

WiD operates mostly as a participant or third party in larger consortia rather than leading them — they coordinated only one small CSA project (EUSP, EUR 100K). With 47 unique partners across 19 countries from just 4 projects, they plug into large, diverse consortia where their science communication expertise complements technical research teams. This makes them an accessible, low-friction partner for projects needing a credible dissemination and public engagement lead.

Despite only 4 H2020 projects, WiD has built a broad European network of 47 partners across 19 countries — a reflection of the large consortium sizes typical of science-and-society projects. Their network spans universities, research institutes, and civil society organizations across most of the EU.

What sets them apart

WiD is not a university or research institute — it is a dedicated science communication organization, one of very few in Europe operating at national scale with a nonprofit mandate. This gives them credibility and practical expertise that academic partners rarely match when it comes to genuine public outreach. For any consortium needing a serious public engagement or citizen science work package lead in Germany, WiD is one of the most established choices available.

Highlights from their portfolio

• CS-Track
  Largest funding (EUR 191,875) and most ambitious scope — building a European-wide knowledge base and analytics platform for citizen science activities.
• EUSP
  WiD's only coordinator role — a Coordination and Support Action organizing a European Student Parliament for science debate, showing their ability to design and lead engagement formats.