The research project page is designed for communication concering the goals, activities, and results of a research project, as well as showcasing contact persons, participants, funding, and partners. It can also be used to promote and recruit participants for scientific studies and to recruit master students and scientific staff.
Target audiences
Important target audiences for research project pages include:
- other researchers and research communities, nationally and internationally
- funders (Norwegian Research Council, EU and others)
- Master's students
- interest groups and potential participants in surveys and studies
Goals for the project page
The goals for a project page should be specific and linked to concrete actions that users can take on the project page. This includes
- contact for collaboration
- looking at publications
- downloading reports
- signing up for surveys/studies
- subscribing to newsletters or social media accounts to follow the project
- applying for available master projects/positions in the project
- reading about activities and progress in the project
Specific goals make it easier to evaluate and report on the effectiveness of communication on project pages: See suggestion for evaluating project pages using web statistics.
General advice for quality content
- Keep your target audiences in mind when creating content. What kind of information is most relevant to them? What peaks their interest? What terms and topics are they looking for?
- Use clear language. Understandable, easy-to-read, and well-crafted prose has a positive effect on all readers, including those familiar with the subject area.
- To signal credibility and build trust, avoid low-quality images and graphics and text in various colors.
For more detailed information on how you can create quality content for your project page, take a look at the general checklist for writing for the web.
Suggestions for distribution
Most project pages need to be actively distributed to get visits.
- Include the link to the project page in presentations, publications, e-mail signatures, and other types of digital communication.
- Include a link to the project page in media coverage and printed materials.
- Link to the project page in social media posts and/or newsletters.
- Ensure that the project page is linked from other pages on the UiO website when appropriate, such as research group pages, personal pages and research news.
Project pages and popular science
Communication to the general public – or non-experts – is also an important goal for many research projects.
Popular science formats on UiO's websites include research news, blogs, and podcasts. This content is often located and administered centrally at the institute or faculty website. It can be mentioned and linked to from project pages as documentation of outreach activities or media coverage.
For larger projects with dedicated resources to run a popular science blog or podcast, it may be an option to place these under the project page. The placement should be determined in consultation with your local web editor.