I’m working on an indie game that deals with Space Sciences. I’m nearby a well-known university for aerospace and space sciences and could use some guidance from people that know the subject well. The university’s faculty directory helped me find potential contacts but I’m not too sure on the proper etiquette for contacting them.
Do I just contact a few of them individually to their uni emails? Do I contact their provided phone numbers? Do I reach out to the Department Head and ask for their guidance? Is payment usually expected for an initial conversation like this?
When you say “university staff”, do you mean professors, or some other technical support staff?
If professors, then reaching out by email is probably a good way to start. They may get a lot of emails though, so your best chance to get a response might be timing the email right at the start of summer when they hopefully don’t have any ongoing classes.
In terms of payment - most professors would happily talk about their areas of study with interested people for a short time (for free). If you needed a significant time investment from them though, then you might start having issues.