Margriet van der Heijden: "Science communication is now too often a cacophony of sound"

August 25, 2022

Professor of science communication explains in our podcast Sound of Science why society and science should engage in more dialogue.

[Translate to English:] Margriet van der Heijden (foto: Iris Rijsman)

Science communication is still too much about sending, observes Margriet van der Heijden, science journalist and professor of science communication at TU/e. She sees a lot of cries for attention, while science and society could strengthen each other with more dialogue. In the latest episode of our podcast Sound of Science she talks to presenter Lieven Scheire about effective science communication, their shared passion for physics and why people (don't) trust science.

Margriet van der Heijden has a background in particle physics and science journalism. After obtaining her PhD on quarks at the CERN particle accelerator in Geneva, she wrote for NRC on mathematics, physics and astronomy for many years.

The children's page she set up at the back of the science section was a popular page at the paper. Last year her double biography Denken is verrukkelijk (‘Thinking is delightful’), about physicists Paul Ehrenfest and Tatiana Afanassheva landed on the shortlist for the Libris History Prize. Later this year her book Ongekend ('Unrecognized') will be published, about female scientists who were overlooked.

Listen to the podcast

Van der Heijden has actually only just started as the first professor of science communication at TU Eindhoven, in the department of Applied Physics. A chair she fills with physicist Ivo van Vulpen at Leiden University on the initiative of the Dutch Physical Society NNV.

In the latest episode of our science podcast Sound of Science, you'll hear all about the ideas and questions Van der Heijden wants to explore. You can listen to the interview below. Or go to your favorite podcast platform and search for 'Sound of Science'. Subscribe to the channel to be automatically notified of new episodes!

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