As the nation's primary supporter for research in the physical sciences, the DOE Office of Science (SC) has an unparalleled opportunity - and responsibility - to generate awareness, understanding, and support for scientific discovery and basic energy research. SC's Office of Communications and Public Affairs (CPA, designated SC-47) is charged with providing strategic counsel and tactical support for:
- Message iteration and refinement: We articulate and disseminate enterprise-level messages about basic research for use by SC and DOE leadership and stakeholders.
- Content identification and generation: We systematically identify opportunities to develop new content and share existing content about SC's research portfolio.
- Media placement and amplification: We help media outlets understand and report SC-sponsored basic research.
- Public engagement and participation: We identify SC's key publics and understand their information-seeking behaviors in order to keep them informed about our work.
- Environmental scanning: We regularly monitor media, legislative, and stakeholder communications to advise senior office and agency officials about emerging news and public affairs issues and concerns.
The SC Office of Communications and Public Affairs is pleased to distribute the official approved Communications Plan for the Office of Science. The landscape of public communication about science and technology is in a state of considerable flux, driven by changes in the way we do science, the technologies available for reaching audiences who care about discovery science, and by the information-seeking and information-using behaviors of the audiences themselves. This strategic plan is designed to align the Office of Communication and Public Affairs (SC-47) and the Office of Science with this changed landscape, and to position the office well to take advantage of emerging trends in science communication.
