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 knowledge dissemination 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.

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 Bundeswehr 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.

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 Collections of Natural History (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.

Frank Horlbeck has been head of science communication at Helmholtz Munich since summer 2025. After completing his studies, the communications scientist and political scientist worked for many years as a journalist for daily newspapers, later also for magazines, and as a correspondent in France. He held teaching positions at LMU and Fresenius University of Applied Sciences. The graduate journalist then worked on developing reportage formats for various TV stations, including as an editorial director, and on establishing the first science magazine on RTL, future trend. Later, he took over as editor-in-chief for TV stations and platforms such as FOCUS Gesundheit. He then moved to the other side of the desk as a press spokesman in the business world, most recently at the European Institute of Innovation and Technology in the food sector.

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.

Monika Landgraf is Director of Corporate Communications at the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. Her responsibilities include science policy, Press strategic communications, corporate media, brand communications, trade fairs and corporate Events, communications management, the Fraunhofer Forum Berlin, and public engagement formats. A graduate journalist, she is the spokesperson for Fraunhofer President Prof. Holger Hanselka. Before joining Fraunhofer in May 2024, she worked at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), where she was most recently Chief Communication Officer responsible for internal and external communications. From 1992 to 2006, she was a radio consultant at the Bavarian State Office for New Media, and before that she was a freelancer at Bayerischer Rundfunk. In 2014, Monika Landgraf was named "Research Spokesperson of the Year."

The doctor of history heads the communications department at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Previously, she worked for various foundations promoting science and at the Bavarian State Library in Munich on a research project on digital lexicography. She studied modern and contemporary history and American studies at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München in St. Petersburg, Florida. Extensive research and archival stays took her to Washington, D.C., among other places.

Ann-Kathrin Lindemann is a consultant in the department Communications Management and Fraunhofer Forum Berlin at the headquarters of FFraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e. V. in Munich, where her responsibilities include communications controlling and quality assurance. Prior to this, the communications scientist, who holds a doctorate, 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, as well as internships at various media companies.

Beatrice Lugger is a science communication expert, science journalist and graduate chemist. Until the end of 2024, she was Managing Director of the National Institute for Science Communication, NaWik, which she helped to set up in 2012. For almost two decades, she worked for numerous German print and online media, including Süddeutsche Zeitung, FOCUS, Techonology Revies and WIRED. As a social media expert, Lugger set up the ScienceBlogs.de platform for blogging researchers and managed the social media presence of international events such as the Lindau Nobel Prize Meetings.

Beatrice Lugger has published various specialist articles on science communication topics and is active in various committees, including as a steering committee member of the BMFTR's #FactoryWisskomm.

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)

Veronika Ohliger has been responsible for public affairs and strategic relations at Helmholtz Munich since 2025. Veronika Ohliger earned her doctorate in political science from LMU Munich and was a visiting scholar at Columbia University in New York and the University of Amsterdam. She then Max Planck Society several years at the Max Planck Society , first as a science manager at the Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy and later as a consultant for science policy and strategy processes in the general administration of Max Planck Society. She also continues to teach as a lecturer at LMU.

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 Collections of Natural History (SNSB) since summer 2024.

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.

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.

Marc-Denis Weitze heads the Communication | Society organizational unit at the acatech office. His reflections on the relationship between science, the public and the media and on the question of what Germans think about technology (TechnikRadar) form the basis for the development and implementation of dialog events (face-to-face, online) with various target groups and cooperation partners. He also works as a private lecturer at the Technical University of Munich, regularly writes books on science communication topics and sometimes performs as a science cabaret artist. Previous positions: Studied chemistry (TUM, incl. doctorate) and philosophy (LMU), freelance work as a science journalist (FAZ, NZZ and others), research assistant at the Deutsches Museum, scientific director of the Tegernsee Science Days.

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.