Written by tan.tian on July 12, 2025
More than just a communications hub, MSCL plays a critical educational role in the German science landscape. Housed at LMU Munich and supported by the Volkswagen Stiftung, the lab’s mission centers on Planetary Health, using co-creative methods to connect researchers and the public. In this way, it bridges academia and society, while simultaneously modelling an interdisciplinary, educational approach to complex issues like climate, biodiversity, and public health. MSCL will host projects that allows the public to interact with them in some way, whilst raising awareness about a particular issue. For example, one project shared with us was how MSCL designed an escape room at the Deustche Museum, which was an attempt to get the public aware about the dangers of heatstroke and safety in hot weather.
The lab also advances capacity-building. While it doesn’t award degrees, MSCL indirectly shapes science communication education by training practitioners, offering frameworks, and collaborating with national networks like the Bavarian Science Communication Hub. These activities provide real-world scaffolding for learners, equipping them with tools to design, evaluate, and reflect on communication in a way that aligns with public needs and scientific integrity.
Crucially, MSCL helps raise the bar for evaluation in science communication. Its 2024 symposium on evaluation wasn’t just about metrics, it explored how communication can be planned, tested, and improved in line with educational and behavioral goals. This reveals a shift: science communication isn’t just storytelling or outreach, it’s a strategy to educate.
And yet, a question lingers: Does this emphasis on rigorous, research-informed formats risk limiting scalability or accessibility, especially when we look at informal or grassroots educational settings?
Ultimately, MSCL exemplifies how science communication can, and arguably should, be treated as a research-driven educational tool, and rather than a mere publicity exercise. Through its commitment to evaluation, co-creation, and academic standards, the lab doesn’t just communicate science, it also educates the public, empowers practitioners, and redefines what meaningful engagement in science looks like in the German context.
German Science Education: A Critical Reflection
UncategorizedIn the past weeks, I had the opportunity to visit the Munich Science Communication Lab (MSCL) The academic visit offered a compelling case study of how research-based evaluation transforms science communication into an educational practice within Germany. Unlike many initiatives that treat evaluation as an end-stage task, MSCL embeds it across the entire process, treating formative, process, and summative evaluation as core elements for evaluating, rather than optional extras. Their approach, inspired by scientific standards, ensures that formats are not only engaging but also targeted, testable, and impactful. Similar to a SMART goal.More than just a communications hub, MSCL plays a critical educational role in the German science landscape. Housed at LMU Munich and supported by the Volkswagen Stiftung, the lab’s mission centers on Planetary Health, using co-creative methods to connect researchers and the public. In this way, it bridges academia and society, while simultaneously modelling an interdisciplinary, educational approach to complex issues like climate, biodiversity, and public health. MSCL will host projects that allows the public to interact with them in some way, whilst raising awareness about a particular issue. For example, one project shared with us was how MSCL designed an escape room at the Deustche Museum, which was an attempt to get the public aware about the dangers of heatstroke and safety in hot weather.
The lab also advances capacity-building. While it doesn’t award degrees, MSCL indirectly shapes science communication education by training practitioners, offering frameworks, and collaborating with national networks like the Bavarian Science Communication Hub. These activities provide real-world scaffolding for learners, equipping them with tools to design, evaluate, and reflect on communication in a way that aligns with public needs and scientific integrity.
Crucially, MSCL helps raise the bar for evaluation in science communication. Its 2024 symposium on evaluation wasn’t just about metrics, it explored how communication can be planned, tested, and improved in line with educational and behavioral goals. This reveals a shift: science communication isn’t just storytelling or outreach, it’s a strategy to educate.
And yet, a question lingers: Does this emphasis on rigorous, research-informed formats risk limiting scalability or accessibility, especially when we look at informal or grassroots educational settings?
Ultimately, MSCL exemplifies how science communication can, and arguably should, be treated as a research-driven educational tool, and rather than a mere publicity exercise. Through its commitment to evaluation, co-creation, and academic standards, the lab doesn’t just communicate science, it also educates the public, empowers practitioners, and redefines what meaningful engagement in science looks like in the German context.
Leave a Reply