Skip to main content
Titel Science Communication by Scientific Talent and Career Development

The Scientific Talent and Career Development Team invites all doctoral researchers and postdocs at Helmholtz Munich to join the SPOTLIGHT SCIENCE COMMUNICATION!  

The Doctoral Researcher Award has been launched in recognition of doctoral researchers outstanding scientific achievements and exceptional commitment in science.

The Doctoral Researcher Award is supported by the Helmholtz Munich Graduate School (HELENA), the Association of the Friends and Supporters of Helmholtz Munich (VdFF) and Stiftung AtemWeg. 

The award will be granted for two outstanding dissertations and are endowed with a certificate and € 2,500 each. For a successful application, please fill out the form below:

What is Science Communication? 

We understand Science Communication as activities to share information and raise awareness of science-related topics with audiences that may include scientists from similar or different fields of research, but also a general audience outside the scientific community.  

While more scientists are familiarized with the common modes and formats of “inreach” expert communication such as publications and scientific talks, outreach activities have usually not been taught and appreciated in an equivalent manner. Often, these activities were left to the interest and free-time activities of individual researchers. Luckily, outreach is now becoming ever more important, included in scientific projects and backed by funding opportunities. The variety of channels and their low-threshold access make it easy to be present and interact with a wide audience. 

As a communicator, scientists have the chance to help a broader audience understand scientific problems, exchange ideas, enable participation and transform a closed discussion among science stakeholders into a broader discourse. 

With this spotlight, we want to provide the training and inspiration to excite doctoral researcher and postdocs to actively engage in outreach activities. 

Join us for these events during the summer:

2.00-5.00 p.m. | online | open for external participants 

The Scientific Talent and Career Development Team invites all Helmholtz Munich post|doctoral researchers to join the workshop "Social Media for Researchers" by Jamie Gallagher.

Register for this course here.

Getting your work on social media may be easy - but making it popular is more challenging. This workshop takes you through the main social media channels and looks at how to create share-worthy content messages. Discover how to use social media to foster meaningful interactions and share your work with as many people as possible. From tweets to live streams this interactive session is packed with ideas of how to maximize your use of social media as a researcher. 

Jamie Gallagher. Jamie is an award-winning communicator and engagement professional with ten years’ experience in the delivery and evaluation of quality engagement projects. Working across dozens of institutions and subject areas he has helped improve the reach, profile and impact of research engagement in almost every discipline.

9.30 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. | online | only Helmholtz Munich members

Do you often wonder how to communicate effectively with different people in your daily life? Do you want to learn how to communicate your science to different audiences? Then join the workshop "An Introduction to Communicating Effectively with Different Audiences" by Matt Lane.

Register for this course here.

Part 1: The three essential principles of effective communication 

  1. Knowing your Purpose – i.e., Why are you communicating? 
  2. Knowing your Audience – i.e., What is important to them? 
  3. Adaptability – adapting your purpose for communicating with what is important to your audience to communicate effectively. 

Part 2: Examples of communicating effectively with different audiences 

You will explore examples of communicating effectively with different audiences through the area of Public Engagement, which itself is becoming increasingly part of large funding grants. The examples include newspaper comment pieces, and using social media effectively as a researcher, in the forms of blogging and Twitter to help the participant create a comprehensive approach to communicating their research effectively. 

Dr. Matt Lane. Matt is a highly-skilled, trainer and researcher developer. With 15 years’ experience of developing researchers - nine of these at the University of Cambridge -, Matt has helped over 8000 early career researchers develop the skills and mind-sets to become leaders in their field. He has guided research centres, universities and departments to create and deliver world-leading researcher development programmes and initiatives. He has most recently been working creatively with research institutions to visualise ‘Future Research Leaders’, developing the programmes which will provide, create and nurture the mindsets needed to be a Research Leader of the Future. Matt is also an Associate Facilitator, for the renowned Centre for Facilitation. 

09.30 - 11.30 a.m. | online | only Helmholtz Munich members

We invite post|doctoral researchers at Helmholtz to join the workshop "Film Your Science" by Erik den Boer.

Register for this course here.  

This workshop is a brief course in making your own short film about your work and/or your research to use on social media channels. We will start with choosing the right format. Then we will practice filming, recording good sound, making camera movements, and using a proper composition. In the second workshop we will look into editing and practice with editing programs with your own material. 

Please have it at hand: A good smartphone is sufficient for filming. Any camera that can film is ok as well. A simple external microphone for your camera or smartphone is a big plus. Video-editing software is handy for the second workshop day, preferably Adobe Premiere or Adobe Rush (free). It is possible to participate without this software. 

Erik den Boer. Erik is Dutch documentary and TV-maker who worked for Dutch National Television for over 30 years as director, editor and cameraman. Since 10 years he is training mainly scientists to us video in presenting themselves.

4.00 - 5.30 p.m. | online | open for external participants

You would like to be more active in science communication, but are unsure where to start and what mistakes to avoid? As part of our spotlight on Science Communication, we have invited researchers affiliated with Helmholtz Munich and alumni who are or have been engaged in different outreach formats to talk about their activities. During this best practice session, you can learn more about different channels and formats from your peers as well as hands-on tips. Get inspired during this interactive session!  

Register for this course here.   

Confirmed Speakers:  

  • Vera Manelli. Vera is in the latest stages of her doctoral studies at Helmholtz Munich Pioneer Campus (Bonev Lab). She has been and is actively participating in a series of outreach projects including one with the Deutsches Museum last year and her Instagram account @verainresearch with over 4.680 followers.  

  • Leonardo Matta. Leonardo is a postdoc at the Helmholtz Institute for Diabetes and Cancer and the Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich (LMU). He is active both on Instagram (@leonardomatta_) where he shares insights into his research field with his more than 50.000 followers as well as on Twitter (@LeonardoMatta).

  • Heidi Seibold. Heidi is a former Helmholtz Munich group leader who now works as solopreneur in Open and Reproducible Research and as independent researcher. She has founded the podcasts >reboot academia and Open Science Stories as well as the YouTube channel @HeidiSeiboldResearch and publishes every week her newsletter on Reproducible Research and Open Science. 

  • Simone Weber and Nina Huber for Soapbox Science Munich. Soapbox Science Munich aims to get science and research out of the ivory tower by bringing women* scientists together at a public square to introduce themselves and their research, while passers-by can ask questions and discuss with them. Simone and the Helmholtz alumna Nina are two out of 16 women scientists who work on a voluntary basis to realize the yearly events - with the upcoming one at Odeonsplatz on July 1st, 2-5pm. 

  • Weiwei Xu. Weiwei is a former postdoc at the Helmholtz Institute of Diabetes and Regeneration Research. She now works at Tulane University School of Medicine. During her time at Helmholtz Munich, she started the Twitter Account @Sci_Comm_Ladies with her ex-intern and cartoonist, Chiara Obermüller, aiming to bring interesting biomedical topics and research to everyone in the form of cartoons. 

Hosts: Neele Meyer & Mirjam Lober, Scientific Talent and Career Development.

3.00 - 5.00 p.m. | on-site | only for Helmholtz Munich members

The Helmholtz Munich STEM-Tisch invites you to join them on July 4th at 3 pm to learn how to build your own personal website and showcase your skills and talents to the world! Please register here: Building your own personal website Tickets, Tue, Jul 4, 2023 at 3:00 PM | Eventbrite

Having a personal website which showcases your skills, expertise area, achievements, research or professional experience boosts your visibility on the world-wide-web and enhances your chances of getting your dream position, being invited for talks, joining grants, collaborations and societies. Women specifically are less likely to have personal webpages, and are therefore less likely to be searchable to receive such opportunities.

Join us as we team-up with Bastian Rieck, PI @AIDOS lab, to teach you how to create your own personal website step-by-step in just 2hrs!

When: 4th July 2023, 3pm-5pm

Where: HDC building, Room 041 (TBC)

This workshop is targeted at women but open to all. Everyone, regardless of gender and career stage, is welcome.

Further information on workshop requirements and catering will be announced shortly. Stay tuned!

9.00 - 11.30 a.m. | on-site | only Helmholtz Munich members

This workshop is an initiative of Young Entrepreneurs in Science (YES) in cooperation with the Helmholtz Munich Career Center. 

Register for this course here.

During this Pitch Training, you will … 

  • get to know the key factors of a successful pitch. 
  • develop your own pitch with a convincing storyline. 
  • practice your presentation skills in front of an audience. 
  • receive individual feedback to improve your pitch. 
  • receive a professional estimation of the potential of your research for business application or third-party funding. 

You will become familiar and confident to pitch your research in a capturing and convincing way and thus will benefit for all kinds of future presentations, research discussions and interview processes. Furthermore, you will gain clarity regarding the potential use and development of your research in the context of business application or the pursuit of an academic path. 

Meike Rottermann. Meike is a PhD & Postdoc Career Expert, having supported >500 PhD’s and Postdocs in their career development. Meike draws her methodological competence from her education as a certified transition coach and a career path consultant. She also is a certified Myers-Briggs Personality Coach. Meike is a career coach and trainer at the Helmholtz Munich Career Center, and, as a freelancer, also supports PostDocs at Planck Academy.

Dr. Nicola Bauer. Nicola is a career coach and trainer for postdocs and doctoral researchers at the Helmholtz Munich Career Center and highly experienced in professional reorientation. After a PhD in stemcell biology, she spent several years in pharmaceutical business consulting followed by second studies in Psychology. She is trained as systemic counselor and certified as a YES-Trainer and a Myers-Briggs Personality Coach. Next to her employment at Helmholtz Munich, Nicola works self-employed as walk & talk coach and trainer for people in change processes.

3.30-5.00 p.m. | online | only Helmholtz Munich members

Are you a doctoral or postdoctoral researcher at Helmholtz Munich who is currently in the making of a video or media product to present yourself, your research, or a research related topic to a broader public? Or are you playing with the idea of engaging in the field of science communication and would appreciate some tips and feedback? Then join our consulting hours! Mirjam is happy to help, either by herself or by connecting you with further experts! 

Book your time slot here.

During the 30 minutes time slots, we will figure out how we can help you with your science communication project.

Let's talk about how to… 

… start or finish your SciComm project,
… cut and edit your film project,
… publish and communicate your finished SciComm project,
... and more!

Mirjam Lober. Mirjam is a science|communication enthusiast, who has gained expertise in the field of media based on her bachelor’s degree in media and cultural sciences as well as various media projects she’s realized since then. Her approach was always learning by doing. With that she developed an “eye” for all kinds of media products: from designing posters and flyers to producing edutaining short films and setting up blogs with exciting content. She has experience with Adobe InDesign, Adobe Premiere, Canva, Adobe Photoshop, DaVinci Resolve, Typo3 and WordPress. 

9.00 a.m. - 5.00 p.m. | on-site | only Helmholtz Munich members

Join the workshop "Public Speaking Training" by Mel Kelly.

Register for this course here.

In this unique course, you will learn how to communicate ideas in an efficient and entertaining manner. You get to build your confidence, overcome public speaking anxiety and understand how you can use your body language and vocal control to make presentations and speeches appealing for any audience.  

Mel Kelly. Mel has a very hands-on approach, so that you get to implement their ideas and techniques right away. And by the end of this course, you will have built up your confidence to connect to your audience and share your thoughts, research and stories with them in an impactful way. 

For any questions or comments please get in touch with:

Portrait Mirjam Lober

Mirjam Lober

Scientific Training

Neele Meyer

Dr. Neele Meyer

Postdoc Center