Leopoldina Collegium

Editors from all media outlets and departments who wish to familiarise themselves with academic topics and figures from the world of research are invited to join the programme. This provides an opportunity to initiate research projects, build networks within the research community and establish contacts with one another. The programme is also aimed at outstanding researchers. They can present their latest research findings, discuss their relevance and benefits, and at the same time deepen their understanding of media processes, perspectives and decision-making.

The Collegium is designed as a multi-day training programme and takes place at renowned research institutions, including the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven, the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research in Gatersleben, the Jülich Research Centre, and at the Leopoldina’s headquarters in Halle (Saale). The focus lies on topics in which research is currently generating fundamentally new insights – and about which the media are asking questions of relevance, application and consequences. To this end, the programme offers a range of formats such as Oxford-style debates, keynote impulses, research tours, discussion rounds and workshops.

The journalists’ collegium was launched in 2012 together with the Robert Bosch Stiftung under the title “Diving into Science”. It addressed topics such as personalised medicine, agriculture and big data. After this funding period, the programme was continued as the Leopoldina Journalists’ Collegium with support from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), focusing on genome editing, the future of work, artificial intelligence and the bioeconomy. In addition, since 2014 the Leopoldina has organised collegia that explore topics of the National Academy, including the energy transition, molecular biology, reproductive medicine and climate change. Since 2012, approximately 35 seminars have been held with around 500 journalists and around 370 scientists.