On February 9, 2016, I had the pleasure to host a panel discussion of the Austrian Association of Education and Science Journalists with Norbert Bischofberger and Josef Penninger at the Presseclub Concordia. This is how I presented the event to the club members:
16|02|12: Turning Vienna into a City of Science
Known to the world as a metropolis of music, Vienna’s scientific research does not receive the international recognition it deserves. Changing this would require a new mindset, Pavel Kabat (IIASA) and Thomas Henzinger (IST Austria) agree when I interviewed them on January 7, 2016, for the Ball Magazine 2016.
16|02|09: Vom Wiener Kreis zur Science City
Ein Auszug aus dem Ballmagazin 2016 des Wiener Balls der Wissenschaften am 30. Jänner 2016; zum kompletten Ballmagazin geht es hier entlang. In dem von mir initiierten Gespräch diskutierten am 14. Jänner 2016 der Wiener Bürgermeister Michael Häupl und der Wissenschaftshistoriker Friedrich Stadler die Kontakt- und die Reibungsflächen von Politik und Wissenschaft – und was sich aus dem Wiener Kreis der Zwischenkriegszeit für die Gegenwart lernen lässt. Schauplatz des Gesprächs war das Büro des Bürgermeisters im Wiener Rathaus.
16|01|07: Wissenschaftler des Jahres – Wolfgang Neubauer
Heute Vormittag habe ich in meiner Funktion als Vorsitzender des Klubs der Bildungs- und WissenschaftsjournalistInnen gemeinsam mit meinem Kollegen Christian Müller den Archäologen Wolfgang Neubauer als Wissenschaftler des Jahres 2015 präsentiert (siehe Bild/Foto: R. Ferrigato). Der Klub der Bildungs- und WissenschaftsjournalistInnen würdigte mit der Auszeichnung vor allem die Vermittlungsarbeit des Leiters des Ludwig Boltzmann-Instituts für Archäologische Prospektion und Virtuelle Archäologie. Bei der Präsentation im Presseclub Concordia habe ich Neubauer mit diesem Text vorgestellt: Weiterlesen
15|11|29: Krampus – the real thing
I was asked by Mackenzie Dawson from the New York Post about the Austrian „Krampus“, the occassion being a movie premiere on December 4 in the United States: „When members of a dysfunctional family gather for Christmas, they accidentally unleash the wrath of Krampus, an ancient demon from European folklore.“ (Google). I came up with this reminiscence of a trip to Eastern Tyrol. The initial German text written for the magazine Winterspaß – Land der Berge in 2005 can be found below. And this way, to the article in the New York Post. Weiterlesen
15|11|15: Other Christmas Carols 2015
Here is this year’s selection of Other Christmas Charols. Enjoy the samples. I do not own the rights to any of these songs. Go and buy them. Last years‘ lists can be found here.
15|11|03: Infectious Diseases as Metaphor
Viktor Orbán 1989: a master of metaphor in the making / YouTube screenshot
Invited speech at the panel on „Communication of Infectious Diseases“ given at the second European Conference of Science Journalists in Budapest on 3 November 2015 at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The conference was part of the World Science Forum held in Budapest from 4 to 7 November 2015, hosted by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in partnership with UNESCO, ICSU, AAAS, TWAS and EASAC. Weiterlesen
15|10|07: Jan Velterop on peer review
Jan and I with (in my case) an undeserved halo. Photo: M. Holl
Yesterday I had the honour to host Jan Velterop at IST Austria. Jan is a pioneer of the open access movement which he initiated with others in the late 1990s. In his talk at IST Austria Jan focussed on the value of peer review which, according to Jan, as practiced by the publishing industry today is a slow, expensive, unreliable, high variable, ineffective, arbitrary, anonymous process that undermines scientific skepticism, puts careerism before science, and is confirmation-biased. In order to make it more reliable and transparent and much cheaper to the scientific community, Jan proposed “peer review by endorsement”, arguing for a strict separation of the reviewing and publishing processes. While scientists should do the reviewing under their own names in the pre-publish phase using archives, the publishers should restrict themselves to the production phase, publishing scientific literature found worthwhile by the scientists. Weiterlesen
15|09|20: The Open University and I
Last Friday afternoon I, together with 410 other graduates, attended the graduation ceremony of the Open University in London. In the course of an inspiring and at times moving ceremony I received the degree of a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities First Class. This was an extraordinary and memorable event and I thank all my loved ones who supported me during my study and especially on Friday at the Barbican Centre. (For comic relief see images.) Weiterlesen
15|07|27: Summer Songs 2015
Some summer songs. As usual a random selection of inspiring and reflective tunes. Here are the samples. I do not own the rights to any of these songs. Go and buy the music. Lists from the past can be found here. Weiterlesen