Ecsite Collaborative Grants support the advancement of the science engagement field by funding cross-country collaborative actions in the Ecsite professional community that fill a gap in our field and leave a long-lasting legacy.
Applications are closed for the first edition of the Ecsite Collaborative Grants, a scheme introduced by the Ecsite Board. The first funded Actions will be taking place in 2020.
An overall budget of up to €20 000 will be distributed amongst one to three actions. For each funded action, an agreement will be signed between Ecsite and one Ecsite Full member taking on the leading role in the action.
A Selection Committee composed of Ecsite Board members will be choosing funded Actions each year and assessing their outcomes. The grant money will be transferred at the end of the Action, after assessment of a report.
Any group of science engagement professionals, working for at least five Ecsite members (with one Full member leading) and from at least three different countries can apply. Groups can involve other stakeholders if relevant.
Applications
The Selection Committee will decide based on three criteria: relevance to the science engagement community; width and depth of expected impacts; and robustness of project management.
Key dates for 2020 Ecsite Collaborative Grants:
2 September 2019: launch of the call for applications
12 November 2019: call for applications closes
Beginning of January 2020: all proposals are notified of the Committee’s decision, positive or negative.
I am the Managing Director of Universum® Bremen. Before that, I was the Managing Director of Wissenschaft im Dialog (2002-2011) and developed this initiative towards a center of competence for science communication in Germany. I was responsible for annual projects like MS Wissenschaft (exhibition ship) and Wissenschaftssommer (German national science week) and coordinated research activities on participation formats like student parliaments. I organised the Euroscience Open Forum (ESOF) 2006 and initiated the Forum Wissenschaftskommunikation (German conference on science communication). I am a Board member of MINTaktiv, the German network of science centers and technical museums, and was the President of Eusea in 2010-2011. I have been sitting on the Ecsite Board since 2014. I served as Vice-President in 2016-2017, was elected President in June 2017 and re-elected for a second two-year presidential mandate in June 2019.
The central theme throughout my career has been the education and empowerment of people to understand their natural and man-made environment and to act responsibly within it. As the director of focusTerra - the Earth & Science Discovery Center of ETH Zurich, I focus on the dissemination of natural scientific knowledge with a strong focus on their societal relevance to engage wide and diverse audiences, lay and expert people alike through exhibitions and a multitude of activities. Also during previous employment, which followed my training as natural scientist, I aimed at bridging the knowledge gap between science, society and decision makers through targeted communication. I have been working in the field of natural risk management and how good communication can prevent or mitigate adverse effects in case of an event.
For eight years I have been a member of the European Environment Agency’s (EEA) Scientific Committee, advising on communication and natural risks. I started a first Trustee’s mandate on the Ecsite Board in 2017, and was re-elected in 2019 and 2021. Since May 2021 I have been Vice-President of Ecsite.
I have spent my whole career working on quality science education, from being a STEM teacher trainer and author of a study book for student teachers, a presenter of science experiments in a television show, to creating memorable experiential learning experiences in a science museum. As the Deputy Director of NEMO Science Museum in Amsterdam, I was concerned with transforming the museum in a 21st century context, introducing a new STEM curriculum in the Netherlands and really involving citizens in scientific and technological developments. Since 1 April 2018, I am the Director of Rijksmuseum Boerhaave in Leiden, the Dutch National Museum of the History of Science and Medicine. It tells the stories of the major discoveries in the history of science in the Netherlands, the scientists behind them, and the impact of their discoveries on our lives today. I was elected on the Ecsite Board in June 2019 for a two-year Trustee’s mandate.
I am an experienced innovator and intrapreneur. My goal is to make innovation happen in organisations. I have a background in chemical engineering and before joining Technopolis in 2016 I worked in R&D an innovation in several technology fields (materials, pharmaceuticals, connectivity). Technopolis has been holding a Trustee’s position on the Ecsite Board since June 2017. I started representing our organisation on it early 2018, ans was re-elected from a second two-year mandate in June 2019.