idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
idw - Informationsdienst
Wissenschaft
In the battle for attention, the complexity of our world is often simplified or reduced. How can we still manage to convey a reliable and at the same time differentiated picture of our complex reality? This question is the focus of the current Nature Marsilius Visiting Professorship for Science Communication, which Leonid A. Klimov is taking up in the 2026 summer semester. The science editor will offer several workshops at Ruperto Carola and give a public lecture on “The Joy of Complexity”. This visiting professor program – a joint initiative of Holtzbrinck Berlin, Klaus Tschira Foundation and Heidelberg University – is aimed specifically at young researchers.
Press Release
Heidelberg, 21 April 2026
How to tell complex stories in an engaging way
Leonid A. Klimov takes up Nature Marsilius Visiting Professorship for Science Communication at Heidelberg University
In the battle for attention, the complexity of our world is often simplified or reduced. How can we still manage to convey a reliable and at the same time differentiated picture of our complex reality? This question is the focus of the current Nature Marsilius Visiting Professorship for Science Communication, which Leonid A. Klimov is taking up in the 2026 summer semester. The science editor will offer several workshops at Ruperto Carola and give a public lecture on “The Joy of Complexity”. This visiting professor program – a joint initiative of Holtzbrinck Berlin, Klaus Tschira Foundation and Heidelberg University – is designed to support young researchers, in particular, in communicating their academic work to the general public and contributing to societal dialogue about the significance and responsibility of science.
“Complexity has a bad reputation: complex matters are difficult to grasp and their solutions are not obvious,” says Leonid A. Klimov. This is not just about populism with its simple narratives or deliberate disinformation. Rather, much would seem to indicate that the established mechanisms of knowledge transfer alone are no longer able to convey the complexity of our world. For that reason, the Nature Marsilius Visiting Professor calls for new approaches to media work at the interface of science and journalism. In his lecture “The Joy of Complexity. Why We Need to (Radically) Rethink Science Communication”, Leonid A. Klimov will explain how communicating science-related topics can be more than “informing the public appropriately about scientific findings”. The event is taking place on 16 June 2026.
His course and workshop program in the context of the current Nature Marsilius Visiting Professorship for Science Communication will start with an introductory seminar on the narratology of science-based texts. From the research to the story, participants will learn how to translate abstract scientific results into a compelling story. In other workshops, Leonid A. Klimov will demonstrate textual strategies for rendering even lengthy scientific content readable, intriguing and structured; he will give students, doctoral candidates and postdocs tips and tricks on how to move away from academic jargon. Under the heading “To Whom it May Concern”, he will likewise deal with the question of how science communication can be tailored not only to the “general public” but also to specific target groups.
Leonid A. Klimov is a journalist, editor and producer focusing on innovative media formats. He graduated in cultural and literary studies in Saint Petersburg, where he also earned his doctorate. He went on to complete a master’s program in cultural and media management at the Hamburg University of Music and Drama. Since 2015, he has worked as an editor for the online magazine dekoder.org. There he leads long-term cooperation projects at the interface of academia and journalism. In addition, he has been a fellow at the Hamburg Media School and MediaLab Bayern, and has taught science communication at universities in Berlin, Basel and St. Gallen. In 2024, he was nominated for the Grimme Online Award for his elaborate scroll documentary “The War and its Victims”, which he created with support from Heidelberg University historians.
The Nature Marsilius Visiting Professorship for Science Communication is a joint initiative of Holtzbrinck Berlin, the Klaus Tschira Foundation and Heidelberg University. In the context of the professorship, notable experts are invited to the university to hold their own courses at the Marsilius Kolleg on what makes for quality reporting about scientific work and research findings. At the same time, the visiting professors are expected to spark a broad-based discussion about new forms of exchange between academia and the public. Recent holders of the visiting professorship were Kai Kupferschmidt, Verena Mischitz and Vanessa Vu.
Contact:
Communications and Marketing
Press Office
Phone +49 6221 54-2311
presse@rektorat.uni-heidelberg.de
https://www.uni-heidelberg.de/en/transfer/communication/nature-marsilius-visitin...
Merkmale dieser Pressemitteilung:
Journalisten, Studierende, Wissenschaftler
fachunabhängig
überregional
Buntes aus der Wissenschaft, wissenschaftliche Weiterbildung
Englisch
Sie können Suchbegriffe mit und, oder und / oder nicht verknüpfen, z. B. Philo nicht logie.
Verknüpfungen können Sie mit Klammern voneinander trennen, z. B. (Philo nicht logie) oder (Psycho und logie).
Zusammenhängende Worte werden als Wortgruppe gesucht, wenn Sie sie in Anführungsstriche setzen, z. B. „Bundesrepublik Deutschland“.
Die Erweiterte Suche können Sie auch nutzen, ohne Suchbegriffe einzugeben. Sie orientiert sich dann an den Kriterien, die Sie ausgewählt haben (z. B. nach dem Land oder dem Sachgebiet).
Haben Sie in einer Kategorie kein Kriterium ausgewählt, wird die gesamte Kategorie durchsucht (z.B. alle Sachgebiete oder alle Länder).
