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Career Paths in Communications

Science Communications, Specialist Journalism, Marketing and Public Relations, Scientific Documentation, Technical Writing/Editing, Global Networks, Digitalization

• Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Possible Tasks

  - In science communications, you make complex scientific issues understandable to non-specialist (lay) audiences. Essentially, you are a translator between science and society.
  - As a journalist or technical writer, you write or produce articles for newspapers, magazines, radio, TV, or digital media.
  - You can also be employed as an editor for a scientific publishing house.
  - In the industrial sector, you can be employed in the fields of PR, marketing, or corporate communications.
  - You can also work for a professional association and go into political consulting. Here you inform lay politicians about current scientific facts (e.g. regarding climate change, genetic engineering, etc.) and mediate between science and politics.

• Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Industries and Occupations

  - Public sector administration
  - Higher education
  - Research institutes
  - Publishing houses
  - Associations
  - Political parties
  - Newspapers, radio, TV, digital media

• Inhalt ausklappen Inhalt einklappen Job Boards and Professional Associations

  • Stellenangebote WiLa Arbeitsmarkt
  • Pro-Physik
  • Science Jobs
  • wpk - Die Wissenschaftsjournalisten
  • Helmholtz Gemeinschaft
  • Fraunhofer Gesellschaft
  • Max Planck Gesellschaft
  • Jobbörse Gesellschaft Public Relations Agenturen
  • Horizont Jobs - Karriereportal für Marketing, Werbung und Medien
  • Stellenmarkt Kress der Mediendienst
  • Jobbörse Newsroom
  • Jobbörse PR Journal
  • W&V - Stellenmarkt für die Werbe- und Kommunikationsbranche
  • Stellenmarkt Börsenblatt
  • Radioszene das Insidermagazin für Radiomacher - Jobs
  • Deutscher Fachjournalisten Verband
  • Freischreiber Berufsverband freier Journalistinnen und Journalisten

This is explicitly not about the technical side of communications, where physics naturally makes an incredibly important contribution. Rather, it is about a subject and its culture, which actively encourages and instructs its students to communicate. If you want to be good at physics, you have to learn to be good at communicating: formulating your thoughts, documenting your approach, presenting your results, and, through mutual exchange, finding out if your insights really are new.

Despite the old clichés, the modern job market certainly believes that physics graduates are good communicators. Those who want to be successful in the field of professional communications can acquire the necessary “tools of the trade” through internships or trainee programs. And those keen on keeping up with the latest techniques and most innovative channels in the field of communications will find their efforts rewarded on the labor market.