Munich, 16 February 2016. Bestselling author Giulia Enders receives the first Helmut Fischer Prize for Science Communication of the Deutsches Museum.
She is young and smart, knows a ton and is very entertaining: Giulia Enders. By the age of 24, she had already written a bestseller (Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body's Most Underrated Organ). And anyone who has ever partaken in a science slam with her knows that she is a fabulous science communicator. That is why, on Tuesday, 16 February, this student of medicine was awarded the "Helmut Fischer Prize for Science Communication of the Deutsches Museum". The prize honors people who have made outstanding contributions to the communication of science, and that sums up Giulia Enders perfectly. "She conveys knowledge of a medical nature and does so with great humor – but without dumbing it down," says the General Director of the Deutsches Museum, Wolfgang M. Heckl. He delivered the honorific speech in the museum's Hall of Fame (Ehrensaal). "From Giulia Enders, one learns more in a 10-minute science slam than in some 90-minute expert lectures… and laughs while doing so. That's exactly how science communication should be," said Heckl. The award's benefactor could not agree more. He personally handed over the certificate, the €5000 prize money and the trophy: a large lightbulb that the Fischer company had plated on the inside with gold. The idea of science communication – and the corresponding prize – is one of Helmut Fischer's priorities. In his eyes, both the award winner and the foundation's cooperation partners are a real boon: "Enthusiasm for research and learning is something that potentially dwells within everyone. But teasing that out of us is what this year's award winner does best, and it's also what the Deutsches Museum stands for as an institution. And that’s exactly what the Foundation promotes."