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.
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.
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.
