DrMhairi Stewart FRSE(she/her)

Team leader

Mhairi.Stewart@mfn.berlin+49 0 30 889 140 - 8475
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Department:
Public Science

I develop and manage research and practice at the Museum with a focus on the value and impact of public engagement on academia and society. I also lead the research and activities of the Berlin Hub for Science and Society, an emerging “think and do tank” embedded within the Excellence Cluster ImmunoPreCept.

I am part of the research areas and working groups:
Knowledge for Action

Project(s)

  • Third-Party Funded Project

    Einstein Centre for Early Disease Interception

    We advance ‘upstream engagement’, setting new standards in innovative teaching and education formats, science communication with patients and society

  • Third-Party Funded Project

    PEX Public Engagement Exchange

    Fellowship programme to foster leadership and innovation in public engagement (PE) among researchers and public engagement professionals based in Germany and South Africa

  • Third-Party Funded Project

    Berlin Hub for Science and Society

    Think and Do Tank dedicated to research and practice in the fields of Science Communication and Public Engagement

Further information

Awards and prizes

  • Finalist, Falling Walls Awards 2020 for “Cell Block Science”
  • Herald Higher Education Award for Partnership 2018 for “Cell Block Science”
  • Wellcome Trust Image Award 2017 awarded jointly with artist Sophie McKay Knight for artwork created in a project to support and celebrate women in science. An image was used on the cover of a Lancet special edition on Women in Medicine in February 2019.
  • ARMA Outstanding Collaboration Award 2016. Jointly awarded to all partners for the EXPLORATHON project celebrating European Researchers' Night; Royal Society of Edinburgh Medal for Innovation in Public Engagement 2015.

Memberships 

  • Elected member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Young Academy of Scotland, 2020. Member of the Research Committee and Public Engagement Committee. Reviewer for Leadership Scheme. Reviewer on RSE panels for research grants, engagement grants and Leadership Scheme.
  • Elected member of the RSE Young Academy of Scotland, 2018-2025
  • Advisory Board Member, Berlin Science Week.

Previous awards and projects

  • EU H2020 EXPLORATHON 2020 (co-applicant and evaluation partner)
  • EU H2020 EXPLORATHON 2018 (co-applicant and evaluation partner)
  • UKRI, 2018, extension to Strategic Expediting of Embedding Engagement with Research Award
  • UKRI, 2017, Strategic Expediting of Embedding Engagement with Research Award
  • Wellcome Trust Public Engagement Fund Award for Cell Block Science, 2017
  • Wellcome Trust People’s Award for Cell Block Science, 2016
  • EU H2020 EXPLORATHON 2016 (co-applicant)
  • AHRC Cultural Engagement Fellowships (co-applicant), 2015

Publications

Heron, P.J., Dalton, Kath, Shephard, G.E., Hutchins, S., Stewart, M., George, D., Reynolds, R., Sharif, A., Lewis, A., Williams, J.A. (2023). Student perspectives on creating a positive classroom dynamic: science education in prison. Research for All, 7(1). DOI: https://doi.org/10.14324/RFA.07.1.08Open Access

Shennan, V., Stewart, M. (2025). Fostering Transdisciplinary & Participatory Research and Public Engagement with Research: Exploratory Study on the Developmental Potential in Germany. (66) [Explorativer Studienbericht]. Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft e. V.. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.17397897Open Access

Bessert-Nettelbeck, M., Bischof, A., Sturm, U., Nagy, E., Schraudner, M., Backhaus, J., Bruckermann, T., Hecker, S., Henke, J., Köpferl, K., Kirschke, S., Liedtke, C., Mahr, F., Maibaum, A., Podann, A., Rössig, W., Schäfer, M., Schröder, C., Schrögel, P., Shennan, V., Steinhaus, N., Stewart, M., Van Den Bogaert, V., Voigt-Heucke, S. (2023). [Report]: Participation as a research approach in academia: a converging field. Research Ideas and Outcomes, 9, e105155. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/rio.9.e105155Open Access

Shennan, V., Stewart, M. (2025). Förderung von Transdisziplinärer & Partizipativer Forschung und Public Engagement: Explorationsstudie zu Entwicklungspotenzialen in Deutschland. [Explorativer Studienbericht]. Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft e. V.. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.17398553Open Access

Stewart, M.L. (2025). Far div ye bide?. Journal of Science Communication, 24(05). DOI: https://doi.org/10.22323/348120250825075724Open Access

Stewart, M.L. (2023). Science communication in Germany. A practice in transition. Journal of Science Communication, 22, R01. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22323/2.22010601Open Access