Nutritional Research Competence Clusters: Evaluation of Communications

On behalf of the German Nutrition Society, House of Research evaluated the communications of the nutritional research competence clusters made up of a network of universities, research institutes and industry stakeholders funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). These form regional groups that cooperate across disciplines on various issues in the field of human nutrition. The four clusters comprise:

• NutriAct in the Berlin/Brandenburg area, which investigates nutrition strategies for the 50+ generation to support healthy and vital aging.
• nutriCARD in Halle, Jena and Leipzig, focusing on the prevention of cardiovascular diseases through nutrition.
• Diet-Body-Brain in Bonn, researching the connection between nutrition and neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia.
• enable in Freising, which focuses on nutrition strategies for different age groups and the development of healthier convenience products.

Part of the evaluation consisted in performing an ex-post material analysis of the public communication measures of the four competence clusters. This included an examination of the activities on social media, taking into account interactions and engagement. Another focus lay on the analysis of themes and emphases of the various types of publications. Expert interviews with professionals from the fields of science, politics, business and media were also conducted. The results were triangulated and delivered in the form of a summary report.