Category: News

  • EUSJA webinar: Pere Estupinyà on the future of science journalism

    EUSJA webinar: Pere Estupinyà on the future of science journalism

    Register

    18:00 CET on 29 September

    Estupinyà writes for media outlets, takes part in radio and television programs, and combines these activities with talks on science, motivation, innovation, well-being, and sexuality. He also participates in science communication events, provides consulting and advisory services to companies, and contributes to educational initiatives whenever the opportunity arises.

    One distinctive aspect of his career is his extensive expertise in the field of sexuality, developed through his research, experiences, and the impact of his book S=EX2: The Science of Sex. Pere has become a leading voice in the Spanish-speaking world, giving talks, participating in seminars and workshops, providing personalized coaching, and appearing in the media to discuss the bio-psycho-sociology of sexuality in a rigorous and unconventional way.

    As a writer, he is the author of the popular science books The Brain Thief (El ladrón de cerebros), Rascar donde no pica (2012), S=EX2: The Science of Sex (S=EX2, la ciencia del sexo) (2013), and Comer cerezas con los ojos cerrados (2016), which have been translated into several languages and received excellent reviews.

    Join us at 18:00 CET on 29 September where Pere will discuss:

    • Science journalism in Spain
    • How science communication has changed in the last 10 years
    • Predictions for the future of science journalism

    Background

    Pere holds degrees in Chemistry and Biochemistry, a Master’s degree in Nutrition and Metabolism, and began a PhD in Genetics, which he left unfinished but promises to return to someday. A convinced self-taught learner, he also completed several specialized courses in communication and journalism. However, his transformative experience came in 2007–08, when he had the great honor of becoming the first Spaniard to receive a fellowship from the Knight Science Journalism Fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He spent 10 months immersed in the laboratories and classrooms of MIT and Harvard, learning more than at any other time in his life and undergoing a kind of gestation (or metamorphosis) from which his alter ego, “the brain thief,” would emerge.

    Professionally,he considers himself a writer, TV presenter, screenwriter or producer, speaker, business and international-organization consultant, entrepreneur, coach, or, within the field of science communication, depending on how critically he writes, either a science communicator or a journalist.

    He unexpectedly entered the audiovisual world in October 2001, when Eduard Punset recruited him for TVE’s REDES, where he worked as an editor until 2005. He later directed several projects in areas as diverse as education and business, but moved away from the cameras after relocating to the United States. His interest in television returned in 2014, when he presented a documentary for TV3 entitled Inversió de Futur, and the idea emerged of bringing The Brain Thief and S=EX2: The Science of Sex to the screen. In 2015, he produced 13 episodes of the series El Ladrón de Cerebros en Ecuador, and in 2016 came the major opportunity to develop El cazador de cerebros with production company Minifilms for TVE.

    While in the United States, Pere also worked in the communications department of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Washington, D.C. He served for five years as the MIT Knight Science Journalism Tracker, worked as a consultant for the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Organization of American States (OAS), and spent many years blogging, writing Scientific Notes from MIT (Apuntes científicos desde el MIT) for El País.

    Pere describes himself as “a brain thief who writes about science as an excuse to learn it,” and often finds it difficult to distinguish between profession and vocation. Yet despite frequently finding himself fantasizing about bosons, trilobites, or neural synapses, he is absolutely convinced that scientific knowledge is not an end in itself, but an extraordinarily powerful tool for building a better and more sustainable world, creating more efficient and innovative jobs and businesses, and leading healthier, wiser, and happier lives.

  • EUSJA webinar: ‘Brain thief’ Pere Estupinyà on the future of science journalism

    EUSJA webinar: ‘Brain thief’ Pere Estupinyà on the future of science journalism

    EUSJA webinar: Pere Estupinyà on the future of science journalism

    Estupinyà writes for media outlets, takes part in radio and television programs, and combines these activities with talks on science, motivation, innovation, well-being, and sexuality. He also participates in science communication events, provides consulting and advisory services to companies, and contributes to educational initiatives whenever the opportunity arises.

    One distinctive aspect of his career is his extensive expertise in the field of sexuality, developed through his research, experiences, and the impact of his book S=EX2: The Science of Sex. Pere has become a leading voice in the Spanish-speaking world, giving talks, participating in seminars and workshops, providing personalized coaching, and appearing in the media to discuss the bio-psycho-sociology of sexuality in a rigorous and unconventional way.

    As a writer, he is the author of the popular science books The Brain Thief (El ladrón de cerebros), Rascar donde no pica (2012), S=EX2: The Science of Sex (S=EX2, la ciencia del sexo) (2013), and Comer cerezas con los ojos cerrados (2016), which have been translated into several languages and received excellent reviews.

    Join us at 18:00 CET on 29 September where Pere will discuss:

    • Science journalism in Spain
    • How science communication has changed in the last 10 years
    • Predictions for the future of science journalism
    Register here

    Background

    Pere holds degrees in Chemistry and Biochemistry, a Master’s degree in Nutrition and Metabolism, and began a PhD in Genetics, which he left unfinished but promises to return to someday. A convinced self-taught learner, he also completed several specialized courses in communication and journalism. However, his transformative experience came in 2007–08, when he had the great honor of becoming the first Spaniard to receive a fellowship from the Knight Science Journalism Fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He spent 10 months immersed in the laboratories and classrooms of MIT and Harvard, learning more than at any other time in his life and undergoing a kind of gestation (or metamorphosis) from which his alter ego, “the brain thief,” would emerge.

    Professionally,he considers himself a writer, TV presenter, screenwriter or producer, speaker, business and international-organization consultant, entrepreneur, coach, or, within the field of science communication, depending on how critically he writes, either a science communicator or a journalist.

    He unexpectedly entered the audiovisual world in October 2001, when Eduard Punset recruited him for TVE’s REDES, where he worked as an editor until 2005. He later directed several projects in areas as diverse as education and business, but moved away from the cameras after relocating to the United States. His interest in television returned in 2014, when he presented a documentary for TV3 entitled Inversió de Futur, and the idea emerged of bringing The Brain Thief and S=EX2: The Science of Sex to the screen. In 2015, he produced 13 episodes of the series El Ladrón de Cerebros en Ecuador, and in 2016 came the major opportunity to develop El cazador de cerebros with production company Minifilms for TVE.

    While in the United States, Pere also worked in the communications department of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Washington, D.C. He served for five years as the MIT Knight Science Journalism Tracker, worked as a consultant for the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Organization of American States (OAS), and spent many years blogging, writing Scientific Notes from MIT (Apuntes científicos desde el MIT) for El País.

    Pere describes himself as “a brain thief who writes about science as an excuse to learn it,” and often finds it difficult to distinguish between profession and vocation. Yet despite frequently finding himself fantasizing about bosons, trilobites, or neural synapses, he is absolutely convinced that scientific knowledge is not an end in itself, but an extraordinarily powerful tool for building a better and more sustainable world, creating more efficient and innovative jobs and businesses, and leading healthier, wiser, and happier lives.

  • EUSJA study trip to ISTA

    EUSJA study trip to ISTA

    EUSJA is pleased to announce a new study trip to the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) on November 19-21, 2026. You can register your interest in attending below. 

    ISTA is an international research institute in natural and formal sciences and is located 20 km northwest of the Austrian capital of Vienna.

    ISTA has over 80 research groups in the fields of mathematics, computer science, physics, chemistry, neuroscience, biology, earth sciences and astrophysics. It was established in 2006 by the Federal Government of Austria and the Government of Lower Austria.

    Details

    • Register your interest in attending 
    • A member of any EUSJA member association is eligible to apply. We strongly encourage early-career journalists to apply.
    • The deadline to register your interest is Friday 31 July 2026
    • The EUSJA board will then evaluate all submissions and notify successful applicants by Friday 07 August
    • Places are limited to 15 people maximum
    • Although EUSJA cannot cover flights or trains to Vienna, we are organising hotels with a discounted rate
    • We can offer small travel grants for EUSJA members coming from low-income countries

    Draft agenda (TBC)

    • November 19 (Evening): People arrive, possible informal visit to local museum
    • November 20: Greetings and general introduction to ISTA, tour of ISTA labs and meeting researchers, complimentary lunch, tour of the VISTA science education centre, and informal dinner in Vienna
    • November 21 (Morning) People leave
  • Digital Sovereignty – Dream and Reality

    Digital Sovereignty – Dream and Reality

    Different definitions and strategies: Moderated by Carolina Hayder, Cloudera, Trend Micro, Zoho, Retarus, and Genesys presented their own unique perspectives on digital sovereignty. Photo: Peter Knoll

    “Digital sovereignty” is a concept currently in vogue in EU. But what exactly is it, how can it be achieved, and what measures need to be taken? TELI board member Peter Knoll attended an international panel discussion in search of answers.

    Five companies, five approaches that differ significantly in some respects: At an event in Munich hosted by a well-known PR agency, a panel featuring representatives from major international IT corporations highlighted key aspects of digital sovereignty—defined as the right to act free from external interference.

    Steffen Märkl, Director of Solutions Engineering (CEMEA) at Cloudera, was the first to speak. The US-based company specializes in big data, data management, and artificial intelligence (AI), integrating various open-source technologies in the process. “True sovereignty means maintaining absolute legal, operational, and technical control over the entire data and AI lifecycle,” said Märkl.

    This encompasses four areas: data sovereignty (e.g., control of data under local laws), technical sovereignty (avoiding vendor lock-in through open source, open standards, and interoperability), AI sovereignty (development on one’s own infrastructure, protection of proprietary data, etc.), and operational sovereignty. By the latter, Cloudera means that administration, maintenance, and support must be carried out exclusively by authorized local personnel within trusted jurisdictions.

    A four-pillar architecture

    According to Steffen Märkl, a sovereign architecture within the EU must therefore rest on four pillars:

    • the provider must have a local presence with staff in the EU
    • there must be a “cloud-anywhere” platform featuring an open, hybrid architecture with a secondary abstraction layer
    • and there must be unified governance
    • and cryptographic sovereignty to ensure data remains under the customer’s control.

    Autarky as a myth

    In contrast, Dirk Arendt—Director of Government, Public, and Healthcare (DACH region) at TrendAI—warned against demands for regional isolation. Trend Micro specializes in security software; TrendAI collaborates with the US-based AI developer Anthropic to advance AI-native workflows, automation, and risk mitigation, integrating Anthropic’s large language model (LLM), Claude.

    “Sovereignty means freedom of choice—not isolation,” said Arendt. He argued that complete technological self-sufficiency—isolating oneself from the global digital landscape—is “neither achievable nor desirable in an interconnected world.” The reality is not the “myth of autarky,” but rather self-determination. Freedom of choice exists among capable partners, and acting with self-determination is both possible and necessary.

    Independence through ownership structure

    Suvish Viswanathan, Regional Director DACH at Zoho, readily seized upon the topic of the Cloud Act to confidently position his company as an alternative to Microsoft Office. Zoho offers more than 60 products and 45 integrated applications.

    Diverse requirements: According to Zoho executive Suvish Viswanathan, true digital sovereignty entails more than just having a data center in the EU. Photo: Peter Knoll

    The India-based company is owner-managed, allowing it to operate with a long-term perspective—free from short-term investor influence—in line with its corporate motto: “People over profits.”

    Suvish Viswanathan noted: “Data processed by a company registered in the US is automatically subject to US law—including potential requests based on the Cloud Act.”

    Consequently, he argued, “it does not matter where the data center is located; the decisive factor is the legal jurisdiction, not the physical location.” Sovereignty arises where companies retain control over their data, processes, and technological decisions. A provider’s ownership structure, business model, and strategic independence can be just as relevant in this regard as technical or regulatory factors.

    A stark contrast: safety awareness vs. actual safety

    Nevertheless, only 47% felt “fully audit-ready.” “80 percent of decision-makers believe they have their email environment under control,” Oliver Paetz said, citing the study. Yet the reality is that roughly half use providers based outside Europe. The keys to sovereignty, he noted, are “observability and identity management”—far more than a European data center alone could offer.

    100% digital sovereignty requires control over four areas, emphasizes Retarus product manager Oliver Paetz. Photo: Peter Knoll

    In the final keynote address, Yasser Yoshua Wardasbi—Senior Manager for the European Sovereign Region (EMEA) at Genesys—spoke more about the lack of customer satisfaction with German public administration’s digital services than about the originally agreed core topic (though he did touch upon it). His thesis was that trust is fundamental to the political survival of democracy. The guiding question, he argued, is: “Will the digital service remain controllable and available—even in the face of extraterritorial pressure and geopolitical tensions?”

    In the ensuing—and at times heated—discussion, several IT journalists present emphasized the importance of having a genuine alternative to major US corporations. There was a consensus that the use of LLM-based AI is not sensible or appropriate in every area; often, simpler methods—such as standard machine learning—suffice, consuming less computing power and, consequently, less energy.

    All panelists agreed that monopolies pose a major threat to digital sovereignty, while acknowledging the significant hurdles—especially for international enterprises—involved in moving away from them.

  • Marc Abrahams on why the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony is moving to Europe

    Marc Abrahams on why the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony is moving to Europe

    Picture: Auke-Florian Hiemstra

    The Ig Nobel Prizes honour achievements so surprising that they make people laugh, then think. The prizes are intended to celebrate the unusual, honour the imaginative — and spur people’s interest in science, medicine, and technology.
    But after more than three decades of calling Cambridge, Massachusetts its home, the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony is relocating to Europe.

    EUSJA invited Marc Abrahams, founder and editor of the Annals of Improbable Research and emcee of the awards to discuss the decision to move. He was joined by Kees Moeliker, who runs the journal’s European bureau and is a biologist who holds one of the most unforgettable prizes ever handed out.

    A Move Born of Necessity

    The decision to move the ceremony wasn’t made lightly. For nearly thirty years, the annual September event took place at Harvard University, having previously been held at MIT since its inception in 1991. But circumstances have shifted.

    “The situation in the United States is much worse than you probably see in the news,” Abrahams explained. He noted that last September, four of ten prize winners decided it wasn’t safe to travel to the US. With most potential winners expressing similar concerns, organisers realised they could no longer hold the ceremony in America.

    “We simply cannot do it in the US now,” he said. Instead, the Ig Nobels will now be held in Zurich, Switzerland. There are plans to alternate every two years between Switzerland and other European nations.

    Why Zurich?

    Abrahams credited strong support from local institutions in Switzerland. Within roughly two months of initial discussions, they had the necessary arrangements in place. “The speed of the response… was incredible,” he said. “It was much quicker than we expected.”

    Moeliker, whose role has expanded since winning his own prize, echoed the sentiment. As European Bureau Chief for Improbable Research, he’s been instrumental in the transition. He described the effort as “a giant engineering project,” but one that’s proven joyful, with new international relationships forming throughout the process.

    The Famous Duck That Started It All

    Moeliker’s own award remains one of the ceremony’s legendary moments. In 2003, he received the Ig Nobel Prize in Biology for documenting homosexual necrophilia in Mallard ducks—a discovery made while working as curator at the Natural History Museum in Rotterdam. The dead duck had apparently been crushed into a glass building extension, and a live male duck proceeded to mount it for seventy-five minutes.

    The observation eventually led to a formal paper—and ultimately, an Ig Nobel. Since then, he’s remained deeply involved, helping establish Improbable Research’s European bureau around 2004-2005. His experience reflects the ceremony’s broader appeal: scientists generally receive the awards with good humour. “In my twenty-five years, I’ve never had any people who started shouting at me or close the phone immediately,” Abrahams added.

    What’s Changing, What’s Staying

    Despite the transatlantic move, organisers aim to preserve the ceremony’s character. Paper aeroplane throwing will likely continue, along with the tradition of making science accessible and amusing. One beloved feature of an eight-year-old child who walks across stage to tell long-winded speakers “please stop, I’m bored” won’t return this year. Finding such children reliably has become complicated, so a replacement mechanism will be used instead.

    Tickets for the inaugural Zurich event sold out in under a week, suggesting appetite for the event remains strong despite the venue change. Webcasts will also remain available, continuing a practice established in 1995.

    Science, Satire, and Curiosity

    At its core, the Ig Nobel Prize celebrates research that first makes people laugh, then makes them think. “If we choose well, the thing itself is so interesting that anybody will want to themselves go out and find more,” Abrahams said. The ceremony highlights work often overlooked or dismissed—yet frequently reveals deeper scientific questions beneath the surface humour.

    With approximately 9,000 nominations arriving annually, the selection process involves lengthy debates over wording, translation resilience, and ensuring each citation captures the essence of the work clearly. Moeliker noted how his own duck study, once downloaded just three times, now attracts thousands of views following his award—demonstrating the prize’s power to drive public engagement with scientific inquiry.

    Looking Ahead

    While the future remains uncertain regarding whether the ceremony will ever return to the US, current plans keep it firmly in Europe for the foreseeable future. Odd-numbered years will rotate to different European countries, though exact destinations beyond Switzerland haven’t been finalised. Many cities have already expressed interest.

    For now, attention turns to September’s event in Zurich—where curious minds from around the world will gather to celebrate science that dares to be strange.

    For press release updates and ticket information for watching parties, contact organisers directly through the official Ig Nobel Prize website.