The last Future Lab of 2021 highlighted the necessity of effective communication, both with the public and within the university

“We try to be transparent and team-driven, governed by a cooperative style and participation. Our Future Labs are one of the best tools to keep this up.” With these words, Rector Prof. Ursula M. Staudinger opened the seventh Future Lab of 2021 on July 22 in the series titled “Globally linked and regionally embedded: How can we all shape TU Dresden into a top university for the 21^st century?” With reference to the topic of the day – communication at TU Dresden – the Rector stressed the importance of exchange both within the university and beyond. “With the rapid growth in media over the past 15 years, the way we communicate has evolved considerably,” she pointed out. “Luckily, we have a prosperous social media department. The bid for communicative awareness and visibility has also expanded. So, I am thrilled that the University Executive Board has unanimously recognized the necessity of a Chief Communication Officer for promoting our visibility. Marion Schmidt is a seasoned professional whose exceptional expertise meets our needs explicitly.”

The CCO followed up the Rector’s brief introduction by outlining her department’s objectives. “We will adopt targeted communication strategies to bolster the visibility of numerous areas of our university on a local and international level. We will develop a brand that fosters our values and we will position TU Dresden as a leading university that sets itself apart from the competition.” She expanded on our university’s activities in the area of communication over the last four years. These initiatives include the Alumnus of the Month, featured to strengthen alumni relations, as well as the successful launch of five new video formats, new YouTube channels and an Instagram account in a campaign to stay current with the most important digital formats of the day.

A central office was established in 2019 to boost cooperation with schools. The newly established Directorate 9 has also been working to set up more spaces for open participation, including with its latest project “getTUgether.” Following the introduction, the 168 attendees broke out into the different thematic groups.

The participants of the first thematic group, which was focused on brand development, responded positively to a new idea for branding. They also praised the sense of community that unites the members of TU Dresden across its sundry disciplines and activities, best summarized as the “Dresden Spirit.” However, there is room for improvement regarding the consolidation of values such as interdisciplinarity, internationality, open-mindedness, diversity and sustainability. The city of Dresden’s disadvantageous reputation poses another challenge that the university faces particularly with respect to our promotional efforts abroad. We need to discuss responsible ways of addressing the issue instead of just turning a blind eye to it.

Thematic group 2 contemplated potential approaches for increasing visibility. In addition to greater visibility within the city, the participants also expressed the desire for the University of Excellence to receive greater coverage in public service broadcasting. However, explaining TU Dresden’s Excellence status beyond Germany’s borders is more complex than it may seem. Accolades such as that of a Nobel laureate or notable collaborations tend to carry more weight. Bilingualism is crucial for intensifying appeal and ensuring that all feel welcome. This means making legal documents and administrative structures accessible in English. The international alumni network must also be mentioned with greater emphasis in job postings. And closer connections could be established by enlisting the DRESDEN-concept partners.

The science communication thematic group demonstrated that TUD’s centralized and decentralized communication structure intentionally divides up responsibilities, but as a side effect results in a lack of information exchange amongst the parties involved. The group determined the key factors for improvement in this area to be human resources and new positions for covering functions equitably. “We want to publicize a wide range of exciting topics, but neither researchers nor the few part-time employees who are engaged in PR work have the time,” said Dr. Denise Dörfel, Research Associate at the Chair of Differential and Personality Psychology. “This means that we merely communicate scientific findings,” she added. However, we need experts with the proficiency to edit this scientific work to make it suitable for a broad audience. This is where easy-to-understand formats in casual settings – such as the Dresden Science Night or the new events at the Botanical Garden – come into play, offering researchers the opportunity to explain their background knowledge and methods to the general public. A central contact would therefore be beneficial for researchers to obtain information about the work being conducted at TU Dresden as well as the professional development courses, methods for exchanging information, guidelines and areas of support available. And vice versa, they would also have an opportunity to express their own needs. This would open up access to science communication, providing the public with exciting new information in such a way that they can understand and apply it to everyday life. The group asserted that audiovisual material and interactive infographics would broaden interest in content, while stock photos and antiquated formats have the opposite effect. "Brevity is the soul of wit,” said Kathrin Brömmer, Head of the Unit Infrastructural Facility Management and Environmental Management Officer. “It is the job of a text’s heading to convey a lot of information in just a few words, and the first paragraph must contain a clear summary. People are thirsty for knowledge, but have increasingly less time to read lengthy articles.”

The fourth thematic group maintained that TUD must uphold its role as a social mouthpiece for topics surrounding the city of Dresden. Formats developed specially by our university (e.g. thematic speed dating) would create a space for researchers and politicians to come together in conversation. This would enable science to engage in bidirectional communication and to proactively share information on current topics. Training the Schools in proper methods of contacting unfamiliar stakeholders and political experts is crucial for the success of such an exchange. The degree to which TU members can exploit their roles must be clarified. How and to what extent would TUD support them if they felt attacked or if the lines between scientific researcher and individual became blurred? The group suggested the creation of guidelines for critical discourse.

Thematic group 5 explored strategies for social media. According to the moderators, each university post reaches about 4000 to 6000 users, and with 70,200 subscribers, LinkedIn is the platform with the widest reach. Facebook is becoming increasingly irrelevant since school pupils and university students are continuously abandoning it in favor of newer platforms like Instagram and TikTok. With respect to degree program marketing, CTIO Prof. Ronald Tetzlaff stressed the urgency of setting our sights on Instagram and YouTube for reaching out to the next generation of prospective students. The thematic group thoroughly discussed the extent to which the social media team would have to align itself and its output with the style and layout of each platform in order to strike a balance between the integrity of the content posted and the way in which the target audience is typically used to viewing their content. It remains open for future discussion whether certain social networks simply are not suited to TU Dresden’s purposes, or if the university should turn to new means of communication. At the same time, Prof. Aliyar Javadi, Visiting Professor for Transport Processes at Interfaces and Project Coordinator at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), pointed out that “if scientists do not post on social media, it will be full of things other than science. The content has an impact on society.” Consequently, the participants mapped out an intensive, episode-based storytelling format pursuant to the potential benefits offered by presenting more facets of TU Dresden in an approachable and personal way. The Rector endorsed this proposal.

The thematic group on student marketing maintained that the study programs on offer should be kept up to date – meaning, for example, that degree programs should be renamed to make them more inviting to prospective and incoming students. We have the status of a full-spectrum university, but since this is hardly noticeable in the humanities and social sciences, we must work harder to cultivate this area. Saxony’s political environment poses a particular challenge at TUD locations off the main campus, resulting in the students there – most of whom come from abroad – having a negative experience. To highlight the positive aspects of our city and its environs, not least in response to this issue, we need more staff to meet the associated need for communication. At present, most of the marketing to promote the Dresden region is primarily the result of voluntary efforts.

Participants of thematic group 7 pointed out that every exchange among colleagues falls under the broad umbrella of internal communication, meaning that this undertaking cannot be confined to a singular position. Instead of thinking in terms of areas of responsibility, we should move in a more service-oriented direction in the interest of fostering various cultures of communication. Moreover, it should be the job of supervisors to set an example for a healthy work-life balance. The thematic group seconded the desire expressed in Future Lab 6 for a transparent and informative intranet.

All in all, the participants were generally satisfied with the ideas generated. Rector Staudinger concluded the session by explaining how these results could be applied in practice, stating, “In 2028, our university will celebrate its 200^th birthday, providing us with a target date for achieving heightened visibility. With our sights set on this juncture, we can develop a better understanding for what we are today. These preparations can help us to truly embody the Dresden Spirit together.” She closed by thanking the organizers and invited all TUD members and DRESDEN-concept partners to the concluding event of the 2021 Future Labs series on November 5, where the members of the Extended University Executive Board will present the results and project goals gathered this year.