First JMU Communicator Award goes to the Würzburg "Science Pub"
12/16/2025With the JMU Communicator Award, the University of Würzburg honours initiatives that communicate research in a way that is relevant to everyday life. This year, the award goes to a team that brought science into a Würzburg bar for an evening.
For the first time, the University of Würzburg has awarded its new JMU Communicator Prize for particularly successful science communication. Eight projects realised this year were up for selection - a jury of communication experts from Bayerischer Rundfunk and the University decided on the award.
The prize is endowed with 2,000 euros and will be awarded annually in future. Its aim is to visualise projects that take research out of academic contexts and communicate it to a broad public. "It is important to us to promote formats that reach people in their everyday lives and make science accessible without barriers," says Dr Esther Knemeyer, press officer and initiator of the award. "There are already many great science communication initiatives at the University of Würzburg - with our new Communicator Award, we want to honour them and put them even more in the spotlight."
An evening for those thirsty for knowledge
The award was given to a format that fully fulfils this requirement: the Würzburg "Science Pub" of the SciCom Café - an initiative of young researchers who are involved in science communication. The project: in mid-July 2025, scientists from various disciplines gave insights into their work, answered questions and engaged in dialogue with guests in the relaxed atmosphere of Würzburg's Moritz Bar. The team had designed interactive stations and a science bingo especially for the evening, thus ensuring low-threshold access and entertaining dialogue on scientific topics.
"The Science Pub shows how research can be communicated in a way that is understandable and close to the everyday lives of a broad audience," says the jury statement. "It creates a space in which researchers and guests can exchange ideas at eye level and is an example of how research can be made accessible in an effective way and how its social benefits can be made visible." Nevertheless, the decision was not an easy one. The other projects submitted also pursued convincing approaches and showed the diversity of science communication at the University of Würzburg.
