What you get from working with a university research centre, beyond the deliverables

Ton (a fictional character) is a project manager at an agency. He has a three-month budget and needs two campaign videos and an evaluation report. He calls a university research centre with his list of deliverables, but the first question he gets back is: "Who do you want to do something differently, and how will you know they have?"

That question can sound slow, but it is what a university research centre offers that a typical media producer does not. This article draws on research and past work to show where the difference lies.

What matters most happens before the first deliverable

A study by Assoc. Prof. Dr Smith Boonchutima and colleagues (published in 2022) proposed the ENGAGE-A3 model for HIV risk communication with migrant workers and asked ten experts to rate each step. Earning trust and gamification scored highest at 4.45 out of 5, followed by getting local help at 4.36. Evaluation scored lowest, at 4.18.

The ordering says two things. First, what the experts valued most happens before any material exists. Second, even among experts, evaluation was the lowest-rated step, which matches what we often see in practice: evaluation is left to the end and gets the smallest share of the budget.

Universities can play many roles; choose one clearly

A book chapter by Asst. Prof. Dr Teerada Chongkolrattanaporn (published in 2024) on the role of Thai universities in environmental communication sets out six roles: educator, knowledge creator, societal problem-solver, innovator, connector and agent of change. It places PR evaluation at four levels, from outputs to final impact. It is a conceptual chapter and the proposals are the author's, but it gives agencies a framework for agreeing with a research centre which role a project needs.

In the centre's own work these roles show up differently depending on the brief: training more than 10,000 health workers nationwide in the Care D Plus project, a workshop on communication for sustainable development with the International Labour Organization, and a mixed-methods satisfaction survey for the National Innovation Agency.

A good research centre also tells you what did not work

An evaluation of the Pint of Science festival in Bangkok (published in 2019, data collected in 2018), co-authored by Dr Phyu Hnin Hlaing, is a good example of candid reporting. Attendees gave it a high overall score of 35 out of 40, yet the same study says the format had not reached anyone outside the circle of people already interested in science. The Thai-language night drew the fewest registrations, just 13 of 267 across six days. Knowing that is worth more to organisers than a high satisfaction score.

How to start working with a research centre and get the most from it

1. 1

   Bring a question, not a list of deliverables

   Explain who you want to change what, and what you already know about that group. The right deliverables follow from the answer.

2. 2

   Budget for evaluation from day one

   Agree indicators before work begins, covering both reach and what people actually do, and accept in advance that the results may not be what you hoped.

3. 3

   Give the audience a seat in the project

   Time spent earning trust and bringing local people in is not a delay; it is the step experts rated highest.

4. 4

   Agree how results will be shared

   Discuss early how findings will be published, so the project's lessons reach other organisations working on the same issue.

Reading this evidence with care

The ENGAGE-A3 model was rated by ten experts and does not measure health outcomes in the field. The chapter on universities' roles is one author's overview, not a systematic review. The Pint of Science study collected data in 2018 from 125 attendees, and knowledge gained was self-assessed after the event, not tested.

Deliverables end in three months; the lessons last longer

A university research centre can produce deliverables, but what is harder to find elsewhere is a clearly framed question, evidence to design from and honest evaluation. Organisations that take those three things away will run their next project better, even without us.

If your organisation is looking for a partner in research and communication, the Center of Excellence in Communication Innovation at Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Communication Arts would be glad to talk and share what we have learned.