“Journalist in Residence”: Michele Catanzaro at HITS

The Barcelona-based science journalist Michele Catanzaro begins his stay at the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS) as “Journalist in Residence.” This program offers science journalist a longer stay at the institute which conducts data-driven research in areas ranging from astrophysics to cell biology. Candidates from 22 countries applied for the program that had been announced internationally for the first time.

On August 15, the Barcelona-based science journalist Michele Catanzaro began his stay as third and first international “Journalist in Residence” at the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS). Last year, the program had been announced internationally for the first time. A jury consisting of science journalists and scientists from universities, Max Planck Institutes and HITS selected Catanzaro from 36 candidates from 22 countries and 5 continents.

Catanzaro studied Physics in Rome and subsequently received his doctorate from the Technical University of Barcelona. Since 2000, he has been working as a freelance science journalist for media in Italy, Spain, Mexico and Great Britain, like Nature, The Guardian, Physics World, and El Periódico. His main topics of interest are in the areas of science, medicine and technology. Not only does he write articles about these topics in four languages, he also produces short documentaries and writes scripts for television. In addition, he is the co-author of the book “Networks: A very short Introduction,” which was published in English and Spanish . For his work, he received the “King of Spain International Journalism Prize” in 2013, as well as the “BBVA InnovaData” Award for a project in data journalism. Michele Catanzaro wants to use his stay to interact with the scientists at HITS and deepen his knowledge about the increasing amount of data in science.

Since 2012, the “Journalist in Residence” program offers experienced journalists with a focus on science journalism the opportunity to spend a three-month to six-month paid stay at HITS. In this time, journalists can accompany research groups and their publications, implement their own projects and participate in internal colloquia and seminars of HITS researchers.
The renowned German science journalist Volker Stollorz was the first “Journalist in Residence” at HITS in 2012. Stollorz works for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, a weekly high-profile national newspaper in Germany, among others. In 2013, the German freelance TV journalist Pia Grzesiak made intensive use of her stay to look behind the “mountains of data” at HITS.

The HITS was founded in 2010 as a research institute of the non-profit Klaus Tschira Foundation (KTS). At HITS, around 100 scientists from 22 countries work in now ten research groups in areas where large amounts of data are produced and processed – from astrophysics to cell biology. One of the institute’s aims is to make the public more aware of the importance of computer-based, data-driven science, especially in natural sciences.

Press contact:
Dr. Peter Saueressig
Head of Communications
Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS)
Phone: +49-6221-533245
Peter.saueressig@h-its.org
www.h-its.org
Twitter: @HITStudies