Springer Nature Visiting Professorship

Photo: Philipp Rothe

Andreas F. Wilkes, Managing Director of the Veranstaltungsforum of the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, Beate Spiegel, Managing Director of the Klaus Tschira Foundation and Professor Bernhard Eitel, Rector of Heidelberg University (left to right) sign the contract for the Springer Nature Visiting Professorship.

The visiting professorship for scientific communication, established in the winter term 2018/2019, is a joint initiative of the Veranstaltungsforum of the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, the Klaus Tschira Foundation (KTS) and Ruperto Carola. With KTS funding, experts are invited to impart in a specialised programme what constitutes high-quality reporting on scientific work and findings. At the same time, they are encouraged to initiate a broad-based discussion on new forms of exchange between science and the public.

With the establishment of the professorship, the three partners hope to sharpen awareness of the growing importance of good scientific communication. The visiting professorship is intended to aid society in shaping the future through science in the face of increasingly complex research.

A champion of excellent scientific communication and quality journalism is usually appointed as a visiting professor each semester. Along with the furtherance these aims, young researchers are also trained to better communicate their research and findings to the public. The “Springer Nature Visiting Professorship” is located at the Marsilius Kolleg of Ruperto Carola, which serves as a bridge between the scientific cultures in Heidelberg.

First Springer Nature Visiting Professor: Sir Philip Campbell

Photo: Springer Nature

Sir Philip Campbell, long-time editor of the renowned journal “Nature”, now editor-in-chief of the Springer Nature publishing company