Certificate Program Science Communication and Media Competence

(compulsory, 2 days with 4 hours per day)

The basic course provides the foundation for the more specialized practical courses of the certificate program. In addition to an introduction to core aspects of science communication, participants receive an initial overview of the areas that can be explored in greater depth in the further course of the program.

The next workshop "Introduction to Science Communication" will take place on April 25th and 26th 2024 as well as on July 25th and 26th 2024 from 09:00 - 13:00.

This workshop is only open for participants of the certificate program. 

Specialized practical courses give you the opportunity to gain practical experience in specific fields of science communication. In this way, you can expand and test your own communication skills in a targeted and individual manner. The courses are offered on a recurring basis and can be taken flexibly. The specific dates for the first courses will be announced as part of the basic course.

The expert inputs of the Sharing Knowledge Talks provide further impulses and opportunities to network and deepen your knowledge in the dynamic field of science communication. 

For current dates, please check our event page.

Researchers are increasingly involved in the dialog and building of trust between science and society. For a long time, communicating scientific findings to the public was considered the task of journalism, but now, thanks to profound changes in the media and the development of new, innovative formats, there are more and more opportunities for scientists to communicate their own research directly (and increasingly within a global perspective).

In addition, modern science communication is no longer understood in the sense of merely conveying information: The aim is to establish an active dialog with society.

Crucial to all of this is the development of communicative competence in the sense of a flexible strategic judgment that can be applied to specific situations, enabling scientists to adapt their communication in a target-specific and addressee-oriented manner. This is the basis to find optimal communication solutions in a wide variety of contexts – and only in this way will sustainable communication and development be possible: Purely technical media training and simplistic "how-tos" are not enough here; a competence-based approach is central to tackling the complexity and dynamics of modern science communication in the long term.

Against this background, it is more important than ever for researches today

• to become familiar with theoretical strategies and possibilities of personal as well as institutional science communication and to gain a sound communicative judgment,
• to create their own science communication channels (or to be able to successfully contribute to the channels already used in their institutions)
• to establish a network of contacts and multipliers, both within and outside of the scientific community
• to contribute to a broader social discourse on science

Furthermore, active science communication in the sense of a personal as well as institutional commitment to a dialogue with society has become a prerequisite for recruitment and research funding in numerous contexts.