This year's Young Scientists Award for Science Communication goes to medical ethicist Dr. Julia Diekämper and medical ethicist Dr. Robert Ranisch for ZukunftMensch, a joint project of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin and the University of Tübingen. The award recognizes courageous advocacy against conspiracy theories and for communication on the opportunities and risks of genome modification. It is part of the University of Tübingen's excellence strategy and promotes exchange between science and society.
Dr. Julia Diekämper, a cultural scientist, is currently involved in setting up the Science Campus for Nature and Society, which is being created as a collaborative project between the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin and other partners.
Diekämper was a research associate of the research network "GenomELECTION" from 2016 to 2019, before she joined the Volkswagen Foundation-funded project ZukunftMensch together with the University of Tübingen and led the Berlin subproject at the Museum für Naturkunde.
The award is intended to motivate scientists at the University of Tübingen to enter into an intensive dialogue with society about the methods and results of their research. The prize will be awarded on 2 July 2021, as part of the "Long Night of Science".