August 21, 2014, by Tim Utton

Joining in The Conversation

University of Nottingham academics are among the leading contributors to The Conversation, a website launched last year to provide independent news and comment.

They have helped the site – which offers topical content written by academics – to reach a readership of 7.2 million per month.

More than 100 articles by Nottingham academics have now been published on The Conversation, reaching a huge potential audience. In July 2014, the University had more pieces published than almost any other institution, including:

• Professor Tim Heath and Yiming Shao: “Vertical farms offer a bright future for hungry cities”
• Dr Adam Swain: “MH17 was a victim of the new cold war’s first proxy conflict”
• Dr Nick Raine-Fenning: “Does fertility really ‘drop off a cliff’ at 35?”
• Dr Victoria Tischler – “What is happening to the mental health of young people caught up in Gaza conflict?”
• Professor Howard Stevenson: “Why exit of Gove and Willetts is unlikely to change the direction of Tory education policy”

And there is plenty of scope for more Nottingham colleagues to get involved. As The Conversation moves out of its first year pilot phase, its editors are keen to widen their pool of contributors into year two and beyond.

Even if you don’t want to submit an idea for an article just yet, there are other ways you can find out more:

• read the site and comment on articles posted. Contributions to the discussion are welcome
• create a profile on the site – this will make it easier when you submit an idea
• follow the Twitter feed at @ConversationUK and check out /conversationuk on Facebook
• Sign up to receive the daily email newsletter (on the homepage)

More than 70% of articles are republished by other sources, so it offers good opportunities for broader profile-raising. Republishing is encouraged, as long as articles are used in full, with acknowledgement of the author and originating website.

Articles were picked up in this way in July by a wide range of outlets including the Washington Post, Sydney Morning Herald, New Zealand Herald, IFL Science, New Statesman, Mashable.com, The Guardian and the Irish Independent.

The University is a founding partner of The Conversation.

Professor Saul Tendler, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research, is a member of its editorial board. He said: “Nottingham academics are among the biggest contributors to the site, and we look forward to building on this over the coming year. The Conversation has built a strong readership in its first year, and represents a new way for academic colleagues to reach a wide audience.”

For more information on The Conversation, including editorial team contacts, email Tim Utton or call the Communications team on (95) 15798.

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