To achieve the goals of PWS and confront challenges facing research communications and science literacy OSU needs an ambitious plan for sharing the stories of our impact—what it is, why it matters, and how it impacts the world. The OSU Story Lab is an enterprise-level research storytelling infrastructure designed to elevate OSU research, advance its educational mission, and reinvigorate public confidence in our ability to do both at the highest levels.

The OSU Story Lab provides professional storytelling services for all areas of academic research, with a special focus on science communication and Broader Impacts support. We partner with researchers at OSU and beyond, including nonprofits and government agencies, to craft compelling stories about consequential research on vital topics. In the process, we are training the next generation of storytellers, offering a range of experiential learning opportunities for students to work on real projects tackling real issues. Like any other laboratory, we test, evaluate, and experiment with our subject matter. By integrating communications research into our design, we ensure innovation in narrative techniques and rigorous examination of their impact. These four components—content creation, content distribution, education and training, and communications research—define our mission.