After studying biology in Frankfurt am Main, the zoologist was involved in major projects in Saudi Arabia and Yemen as a research assistant at the Senckenberg Research Institute and Nature Museum. It was during his studies that he discovered his interest and passion for imparting knowledge in museums. In 2003, he moved to the Museum Wiesbaden as Head of the Natural Science Collection and in 2006 took over the management of the Museum Mensch und Natur in Munich.

Martin Bimmer is a scientific advisor at the acatech office and coordinates the TechnikRadar project, a representative survey of Germans' attitudes to technology in general and on various key topics. This is followed up by the development and implementation of dialog events with different target groups and cooperation partners in Munich and Bavaria.

Previously, he completed his doctorate at the Technical University of Munich at the Chair of Microbiology and worked as a freelancer for the development team of BIOTOPIA - Naturkundemuseum Bayern.

The physicist and neurobiologist studied and completed his doctorate at the University of Tübingen and the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics. During his time as a postdoctoral researcher, he worked at Rockefeller University (USA) and the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt am Main. With his independent research group at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry and now as Director at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence, he and his team are researching the cellular basis of learning and memory.

Michael Brauns is the press spokesperson for university communications at the University of the Federal Armed Forces in Munich. The graduate in political and social sciences was a temporary officer in the German Armed Forces and was involved as a press officer in several international missions. Brauns acquired his editorial and communication skills at various PR agencies and in the local editorial department of a daily newspaper. Since early 2022, the Berlin native has also taken on the role of press spokesperson for Universität Bayern e.V.

Ingrid Breitenberger studied law and has held various positions at the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft since 2007, including as head of the "Funded Education Projects" business unit, the "Fraunhofer Academy" and as research coordinator for cross-institute projects. From April 2022 to August 2024, she was head of the department "Citizen Formats and Initiatives", since September 2024 she has been head of the staff unit Citizen Formats. Before joining the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, she worked in media consulting, product development and market research at an international publishing house.

With a doctorate in biology, he obtained a postgraduate diploma in Nature Film and Science Communication in 2005. From 2008 to 2014, he worked as a screenwriter, scientific advisor and researcher at Nautilusfilm GmbH. In the following years, he worked as a freelance author and director in the field of nature and science documentaries.

From 2016 to 2021, he was a research assistant at BIOTOPIA - Naturkundemuseum Bayern. After working at the Munich Science Communication Lab for two years, he moved to the communications department of the Bavarian State Natural History Collections (SNSB) at the beginning of 2024.

Bernhard Goodwin has a master's degree in communication science, computer science, and law as a minor subject at LMU. He earned his Ph.D. on the topic of science communication in forestry science at TUM. Since 2009, he has been a staff member at the Institute of Communication Science at LMU, and since 2010, he has been leading its executive office. Since 2021, he has also been serving as the Executive Director of the Munich Science Communication Lab (mscl.de), a collaborative initiative aimed at deepening knowledge about science communication.

Dr. Lorenz Kampschulte is Head of the Education Department at the Deutsches Museum in Munich. In addition to educational programs at the museum, his current research focuses on evaluation and visitor research as well as learning processes in informal educational settings. From 2012 to 2018, he conducted research at the IPN - Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education in Kiel, where he was also coordinator of the Leibniz Science Campus KiSOC. After completing his doctorate in nanosciences at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich, he moved to the Deutsches Museum in 2006 to set up the Center for New Technologies, which combines exhibitions and a dialog-oriented educational venue.

As Press Officer and Head of University Communications, Christina Kaufmann is responsible for communications at Munich University of Applied Sciences. In addition to strategic development, her tasks also include brand communication. Before joining the university, the cultural scientist was responsible for press and public relations for many art projects, including the Siemens Arts Program and the City of Munich.

As Director, Monika Landgraf is responsible for corporate communications at the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. Her areas of responsibility include science policy, press and strategic communication, corporate media, brand communication, trade fairs and corporate events, communication management and the Fraunhofer Forum Berlin as well as citizen formats. The journalism graduate is the spokesperson for Fraunhofer President Prof. Holger Hanselka. Before joining Fraunhofer in May 2024, she worked at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and was most recently responsible for KIT's internal and external communications as Chief Communication Officer. From 1992 to 2006, she was a radio officer at the Bavarian State Agency for New Media, and before that a freelancer at Bayerischer Rundfunk. In 2014, Monika Landgraf was honored as "Research Spokesperson of the Year".

She holds a doctorate in history and is head of the Communications Department at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities. She previously worked at various foundations for the promotion of science and at the Bavarian State Library in Munich in a research project on digital lexicography. She studied Modern and Contemporary History and American Studies at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich and in St. Petersburg, Florida. Major research and archive stays have taken her to Washington D.C., among other places.

Ann-Kathrin Lindemann is a consultant in the Communications Management and Fraunhofer Forum Berlin department at the headquarters of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V. in Munich, where she works in the areas of communications controlling and quality assurance, among others. Prior to this, she worked at the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment in the Risk Communication Department, where she researched the impact and evaluation of risk and health communication. Her education includes an MA in Science Journalism from City, University of London and internships at various media companies.

Ulrich Meyer is press spokesman for the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and Head of Media Relations. The political scientist began his 20-year journalistic career in radio and was most recently a member of the editorial team of the news agency ddp/AP. He then moved into political communication as spokesman for the then Lord Mayor of Munich, Christian Ude, before working for several years as a communicator in the Bavarian State Parliament. Since 2020, he has been responsible for media relations at TUM and, together with his team, is responsible for communicating research results and university policy issues to the interested public.

(Photo: TUM / Astrid Eckert)

The communications graduate with an M.A. in North American Studies spent six years in Berlin providing strategic advice to federal ministries, including the Federal Ministry for the Environment. After moving to Munich, the winner of the Politics Award communicated for pharmaceutical companies and then set up stakeholder processes in the infrastructure sector. Her focus is on the development and implementation of strategies and the communication of complex scientific topics.

She has been Head of Communications at the Bavarian State Natural History Collections (SNSB) since summer 2024.

Ulrike Rehwagen has headed the office of AHA - The Science Communication Hub based at the BAdW since January 2024. The business graduate and Ph.D. in art history headed the BIOTOPIA - Naturkundemuseum Bayern development team from 2016 to 2024 and previously worked as a scientific advisor to the former President of the Technical University of Munich, as a scientific advisor to the Director General of the Dresden State Art Collections and as commercial director of the Kunstverein München. She studied in Freiburg i. Br., Munich, Madison Wisconsin (USA) and Bologna (Italy). Ulrike Rehwagen has been a lecturer at the TUM School of Social Sciences and Technology for over ten years. The Munich native has extensive experience in science management, science communication, and a vast network in the museum, media, and science sectors. She has also served as a jury member for the funding award of the City of Munich.

Jeanne Rubner is Vice President Global Communications and Public Engagement at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). The science journalist began her career at the Süddeutsche Zeitung, where she was most recently a senior editor in foreign policy. From 2012, she was head of the Knowledge and Education News department at Bayerischer Rundfunk. Jeanne Rubner is a physicist and holds a doctorate in artificial intelligence from TUM, where she is also an honorary professor at the School of Social Sciences and Technology. She is the author of several books on brain research and politics and has been awarded the Universitas Prize for Science Journalism by the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer Foundation and the Medal for Scientific Journalism by the German Physical Society.

Since 2021, the biology graduate with an MBA has headed the Communications & Strategic Relations (COMS) department at Helmholtz Munich, the largest biomedical research center in Germany with 2,500 employees from over 88 nations. She has built up the COMS department at Helmholtz Munich into a powerful department with 25 employees and enormously improved the visibility of the brand across all channels. Previously, she was a member of the management team for the major scientific publishers John Wiley and Elsevier, as well as for the FAZ Institute. For FAZ-Verlag, she launched the FAZ health focus and developed it into a leading platform. As an independent consultant, she supported numerous clients in strategy and communication.

During her biology studies in Tübingen, the ecologist discovered her passion for the biodiversity of the tropics with stays in Brazil and Madagascar, and went to Panama for her doctoral thesis. She then worked for a nature conservation organization and increasingly found her way into science communication via Hellabrunn Zoo, ARD Alpha and ultimately since 2007 at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen, now the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence.

Antje Thamm joined Helmholtz Munich in 2024 as Project Manager for Strategic Collaborations in Anna Seidinger's team. The biology graduate earned her doctorate in Canada and, after several years of research in the USA, gained valuable experience at a pharmaceutical communications agency. As Senior Account Manager, she was responsible for market launches in Germany for international clients for several years and developed successful marketing strategies. She combines biological expertise and marketing with many years of experience in managing international projects and teams.

Petra Wiese is a social and cultural manager and has been responsible for the conception and organization of events, conferences and congresses of the Executive Board at Munich University of Applied Sciences since 2019. She heads the "Science Dialogue" project.