UCL: UCL Find an Expert relaunched to connect journalists with academics
UCL has relaunched its database of academics who are happy to share their expertise with the media on a wide range of topics.
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The UCL Find an Expert database currently features over 900 world-leading experts from a diverse range of backgrounds who welcome inquiries from journalists on almost any subject.
As one of the world’s top ten leading universities, our academics are widely respected around the globe in their specialist fields, have a track record of quality research and are committed to communicating their work responsibly to the wider public.
Our academics regularly appear in the media and many have received specialist media training. Journalists who are looking for an expert to comment on a breaking news story or to be interviewed for an in-depth report can search the database by keyword or by name to find the right academic to provide their expert view and analysis.
Expert profiles include keywords describing their expertise as well as brief summaries of their research areas and media experience. Many academics have also included which languages they speak, so that international media outlets can conduct interviews in their own language.
The database enables journalists to contact experts directly, while UCL’s media relations team is also available 24/7 to support journalists and to help with urgent inquiries, as some experts have privately provided out-of-hours contact details to the media team.
The Find an Expert platform can also be used by policy professionals to find UCL experts for policy engagement purposes.
More UCL academics are now being encouraged to sign up to the database, so that people in and outside of the UCL community can find out who is available for media and public engagement opportunities.