Difference between Communication and Dissemination

relevant for you and your research proposals.

Communication and dissemination aren’t the same thing — and treating them separately is what makes your research stand out.

Communication builds your credibility over time. It’s broad and ongoing — papers, conference talks, the general visibility you build just by doing good research and showing up in your field.

Dissemination works differently. It’s the deliberate, targeted transfer of your research to specific audiences who can use it — think podcasts, videos, webinars, press releases.

A special welcome to new joiners of this newsletter. 🤗
My name is Pranoti and I am the founder of The Science Talk.
My mission is to empower and enable scientists to share their stories in digital spaces with confidence and ease. 🧡

Done well, dissemination is what opens the door to new collaborations, gets you on recruiter’s radar, and helps you attract strong talent to your group.

Both matter, and both are worth planning for — they just run on different timelines, different skills, and often different people executing them.

Try this: Take one upcoming project or proposal.
Ask yourself: who’s my dissemination audience, and what’s the one channel that actually reaches them?

I’ve supported over 12 research proposals with total value well over  €32 million including Novo Nordisk Foundation, Klaus Tschira Foundation, Carlsberg Foundation, DFG, MSCA-PF, and ERC Synergy.

If you’d like help building dissemination into your next proposal, book a free 20-minute briefing call with me.

Cheers,
Pranoti Kshirsagar Founder, The Science Talk

PS: If, apart from my email, you also need help strengthen impact strategy, I think you’ll be happy about:

1. Impact strategy for research proposalswhere I work with principal investigators who want professional science communication that matches the ambition and budget of their grant proposal. More details are on my website.
2. ERC Starting Grant Resource Kit 47 official resources, organised in 11 sections including core webpages, ERC classes, compliance & AI guidance, and examples of winner grants - all in one pdf. Access ERC Starting Grant Kit.
3. ERC Consolidator Grant Resource Kit47 official resources, organised in 8 sections including core webpages, evaluation & panels, videos & webinars, results & examples, compliance & requirements, and examples of winner grants - all in one pdf. Access ERC Consolidator Grant Kit.
4. ERC Advanced Grant Resource Kit 44 official resources, organised in 8 sections including core webpages, eligibility extensions, official documents, compliance requirements, and examples of winner grants - all in one pdf. Access ERC Advanced Grant Kit.