“Auf die Plätze! Citizen Science in deiner Stadt“ (On your mark, get set, go! Citizen Science in your city) is a competition for citizen science projects in order to raise awareness around them and promote structural measures for citizen science activities on the ground. Local actors from academia and civil society as well as municipal administration and business, who want to explore local topics together with citizens, can participate. The aim is to make it possible to experience citizen science locally, and anchor it in a sustainable way. Contestants can submit their project ideas for citizen science projects, and five finalists develop their idea further into a concept with 5.000 euros each. In a second round three of the five finalists will receive 50.000 euros each to implement their local citizen science idea and actions. The competition “Auf die Plätze! Citizen Science in deiner Stadt” is implemented by Wissenschaft im Dialog and the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin in close collaboration with the Citizen Science plattform „Bürger schaffen Wissen”.
Everybody has what it takes to be a scientist! From measuring light pollution via a smartphone app to analyzing pollution on the beach or mapping invasive mosquitoes – these are just three examples of projects in Germany where citizens collaborate with science. Citizen science invites non-professionals to support and conduct scientific research by collecting and analyzing data and bringing in their own questions.
The online platform Bürger schaffen Wissen – Citizens Create Knowledge informs about citizen science, different projects and the opportunities to participate. The platform also connects current projects to each other and seeks to increase public awareness of Citizen science. Bürger schaffen Wissen is a joint project of Wissenschaft im Dialog and the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin. The platform is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research; additional funding is provided by the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft.
CS Track aims to extend our knowledge about citizen science by conducting a systematic large-scale investigation of citizen science activities in Europe and associated countries. Based on this research, the project will disseminate good practices and formulate knowledge-based policy recommendations to help maximize the benefit of citizen science for individual citizens, organizations, and society at large. As a project partner in CS Track, WiD provides expertise on citizen science initiatives in Germany and takes on various tasks in research, conceptualisation and qualitative analysis, as well as in the dissemination of results and findings. CS Track „Expanding our knowledge on Citizen Science through analytics and analysis“ is funded by the European Commission within the context of development programme Horizon 2020.
In DiPubHealth new formats for public health communication are developed, based on research about discourse dynamics on public health topics. It is crucial to adapt the communication of public health to the communication conditions and to communicate better and not only more. In a first step Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT) and Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen (RWTH) will jointly investigate the public discourse dynamics of selected public debates on public health issues. Therefore KIT and RWTH are developing a toolbox with evaluation grids, typologies and criteria catalogues that enable the analysis of discursive events. Wissenschaft im Dialog (WiD) supports the research by communicating it. Based on the research results WiD will develop and test formats for science communication. The project is financed by the Bayer Foundation.
The online competition “Fast Forward Science“ honours people who are not only passionate about science themselves, but can also inspire others. The contestants are passionate about research, innovative multimedia formats and communication. Whether you are a student, postdoc, vlogger or communicator, you can submit social media contributions on scientific topics. The aim is to convey current research - understandable, targeted and with an aha-experience. The online competition is worth a total of 23.000 euros. It has taken place since 2013 and is a joint project of Wissenschaft im Dialog and Stifterverband.
Forum Wissenschaftskommunikation is the largest conference for science communication in the German-speaking area. The conference is organised annually by Wissenschaft im Dialog (WiD), the joint organisation of the German science for science communication. Forum Wissenschaftskommunikation 2022 is planned as a physical event 4 – 6 October in Hannover. The thematic focus of Forum Wissenschaftskommunikation 2022 is "Shaping transformation – Science communication for a changing society".
We are happy that the Klaus Tschira Stiftung and Stifterverband join as sponsors and the Leibniz University Hannover and VolkswagenStiftung support Forum Wissenschaftskommunikation 2022 as local partners.
The Future of Science Communication Conference brings together researchers and practitioners of science communication. It is organised by Wissenschaft im Dialog and ALLEA (All European Academies). In 2021 the conference took place as an online event. The follow-up event took place in Brussels on 26 April 2022.
In 2017 Wissenschaft im Dialog published the results of its fourth annual survey on public attitudes towards science and research – the Wissenschaftsbarometer. By including questions on science in general (e.g. interest in science, trust in science, funding of science) as well as items on specific issues or technologies (e.g. fracking, cooperation between research institutes and industy) the Wissenschaftsbarometer offers the opportunity to collect up-to-date opinions on current issues and can be used for longitudinal comparisons in the long term.
By making the public’s opinion on science available Wissenschaft im Dialog provides the German science communication community with information about their target groups and seeks an evidence-based discussion between science, politics, industry and civil society. The Wissenschaftsbarometer is funded by the Philip Morris Stiftung and supported by the GESIS – Leibniz-Institut für Sozialforschung.
The Siggen circle was created on the initiative of the Bundesverbands Hochschulkommunikation and Wissenschaft im Dialog (an initiative of German science and research). In July 2013, the members of the Siggen Circle met for the first time for five days to discuss topics and trends as well as upcoming and necessary changes in science communication. The meeting was part of the programme “a week of time for…”, funded by the ZEIT publishing house and the Alfred Toepfer Foundation without assignment or mandate from these institutions. Since then meetings have been held annually. The Siggen Circle sees itself as a cross-institutional working group. Since its inception, the group’s membership has grown to 68 representatives from science PR, science and science journalism. The members take part in the think tank as individuals and not as representatives of their institutions. The Siggen Circle is not a closed group. In addition to those who have participated in previous meetings, new members join every year through a call for proposals.
The Transfer Unit brings together researchers and practitioners of science communication. The project aims at making the practitioners’ know-how and experiences visible and accessible to researchers to inform novel research questions. This transfer will spark insights and knowledge that are more in line with the practical work of science communicators. On the other hand, the Transfer Unit will compile and analyze research findings on science communication and make it available to the public in accessible and concise ressources. The Transfer Unit’s goal is to strengthen the bond between researchers and practitioners of science communication and to thus contribute to the professionalization of science communication.
Science communication is continually developing and changing. In addition to new tools and means of communication, there are also changing content requirements. The community is growing and becoming increasingly professional. The platform wissenschaftskommunikation.de was created to reflect on current trends and topics and to provide support for everyday work in science communication. We invite users to contribute by proposing new formats or getting involved as guest authors.
The website is a cooperation project of Science in Dialogue (Wissenschaft im Dialog), the National Institute of Science Communication (Nationales Institut für Wissenschaftskommunikation) and the institute for German studies of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Karlsruher Institut für Technologie). It is supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung) and the Klaus Tschira Foundation (Klaus Tschira Stiftung).
Wissenschaft kommunizieren is Wissenschaft im Dialog’s series of summer schools and workshops which provide training in science communication and communication skills. The multi-day events are targeted at graduate students and post-docs as well as junior scientists and professionals in science communication. By combining a range of lectures, workshops and training on methods and techniques of science communication, the participants increase their knowledge of science communication and have the opportunity to discuss current issues with experts from theory and practice.
