Photo: Jann Wilken/Körber-Stiftung
Communicating science: Prize winners‘ outreach
Since 2019, five percent of the prize money has been dedicated to science communication through outreach projects initiated and implemented by the laureates themselves. This has resulted in a wide range of formats – from school programmes to YouTube explainers and podcasts – that make cutting-edge research tangible and foster dialogue.
Erin Schuman (2024): Science up close – Junior Scholars Program
Using the outreach funds from her Körber Prize, Erin Schuman launched the “Max Planck Junior Scholars Program 2025.” The program offers motivated high school students from Frankfurt a direct insight into modern research. For three weeks, the participants work in the labs of leading institutions, including the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research and Goethe University Frankfurt.
During a one-week science boot camp and individual research internships, the students learn key methods in neuroscience, conduct their own experiments, and present their results at the end of the program to mentors and their families.
The initiative thus makes an important contribution to inspiring young people to pursue scientific careers and opening up pathways into research.
Learn more about the Max Planck Junior Scholars Program 2025:
Photos: Max Planck Institute for Brain Research 
Anthony Hyman (2022): Using “Science Sketches” to Make Complex Research Accessible
Using the outreach share of his Körber Prize, Anthony Hyman expanded the platform “Science Sketches”. His goal is to make the complex biological concepts underlying condensate behavior more accessible and engaging. Science Sketches translates his lab’s research into concise, visual stories – opening new perspectives on modern cell biology.
Clare Grey (2021): School Workshop “Build a Battery”
Clare Grey supports science education for primary school children in socially disadvantaged areas around Cambridge. Her outreach project centres on the “Build a Battery” workshop, where children aged seven to eleven create simple batteries using everyday materials such as coins, foil, and vinegar.
Wearing lab coats and safety goggles, the pupils explore the basics of electrochemical cells through hands-on experimentation. The session concludes with a conversation with scientists from Grey’s research group, offering personal insights into daily life in the lab. More than 500 children have participated in the workshops to date.
Photos: Grey Group 
Botond Roska (2019): Animated Video on Gene Therapy for Stargardt Disease
Through a series of videos, Botond Roska of the Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology Basel (IOB) aims to engage a broad audience with his institute’s research – the biological foundations of vision and the causes of eye diseases. The first video presents a recent breakthrough by his team: a promising gene therapy approach to treating Stargardt disease, a hereditary retinal disorder.
Bernhard Schölkopf (2019): Making AI Understandable – A Four-Part YouTube Series (available in german only)
“What is AI – and how do scientists actually study it?” This is the central question of a YouTube series by Bernhard Schölkopf, created in collaboration with science communicator Doktor Whatson. The series offers a broad audience accessible insights into key topics of AI research – from machine learning to societal challenges.
In 2022, the project received the Fast Forward Science Award in the Tandem category – a recognition for outstanding science communication at the intersection of research and digital media.