Projects

SynCom projects focus on synthesis across centres within the Research Field Earth and Environment, and on stakeholder communication.

Funding works in a direct and targeted way: When a project needs financing for a workshop or parliamentary event, for instance, a specific budget is alloted to these events. Other than that, there is no financial support.

Whereas the goal of a third-party funded project is to create knowledge, SynCom projects aim to synthesize knowledge that has already been generated by the scientific community, and to transfer said knowledge to stakeholders and politicians.

The outreach of SynCom projects can have quite an impact as SynCom leads the way to organizing more professional transfer formats and networking events than regular scientific projects are able to deliver.

There is no specific quota.

All up there is room for three projects per season in order to be able to focus on and support them properly with the limited resources SynCom has at its disposal.

Yes, in addition to the requirements of “2 topics” and “2 centers”, other partners can join SynCom projects. In a SynCom project, participants have the opportunity to collaborate with a diverse range of scientists from various backgrounds and disciplines. This interdisciplinary approach fosters the creation of new, synthesized knowledge through the integration of different perspectives. SynCom projects also allow for the inclusion of partners from outside the scientific community.

They are quite open to new scientists, as long as any addition makes sense from a scientific and networking point of view.

The representatives at the centers, the so-called Anchor persons. They know which topics and prospective projects have societal relevance and fit in within the Program “Changing Earth”.

Each project has one or more leading scientists who guide a respective project from a scientific point of view.

SynCom is designed to take on the role of consultant to (federal) politics and the public. It further aims to enable the creation of networks and synergy effects, particularly for the scientific community within the Research Field Earth and Environment.

To avoid redundancy and maintain information flow about all ongoing communication, SynCom closely cooperates with the press departments of the centres.

SynComs’ unique science-policy network is a key feature, connecting participants with stakeholders and decision-makers. Depending on the activity, SynCom enables targeted engagement with specific stakeholders like parliament members and industry representatives. SynCom provides dedicated distraction-free spaces designed for productive interactions, for example for a snythesis workshop. In summary, SynCom offers a platform to expand professional networks and to enhance societal and scientific impact of one's own scientific findings to researchers from all career levels. Practically speaking, there are great opportunities to take part in events such as the parliamentary breakfast in the Bundestag in October 2023.

SynCom wants to implement as many projects as possible, and it wants to be able to deal with issues that are currently socially and politically relevant. In some cases this would not be possible if the project lasted for example three years.

Following its time as a SynCom project, any project can easily evolve into another kind of Helmholtz initiative or project.

It is important that outreach activities start at the beginning - or even before the onset of a project - and are maintained throughout a project. The exchange with stakeholders and politicians should be an ongoing process. We want to establish a culture of dialogue  and co-creation rather than traditional unidirectional communication.

There is a difference between "process understanding turned actionable knowledge", and "solutions which are expected from scientists" – thus it is important to address the right stakeholders for creating actionable knowledge on the one hand, and for creating solutions on the other.

Furthermore, politicians always welcome the opportunity to connect with science and to ask questions.

Yes, this has already been a substantial part of the current projects.

For some projects, an overview of ongoing Helmholtz projects on a specific topic has been created in order to identify networking opportunities, e.g. on the topic of and within the SynCom project “Cities and Climate Change".