Social media in science communication

Media professional and social media expert Armin Wolf (350,000 Twitter followers and 300,000 Facebook fans) took up the Austria Center Vienna’s invitation to show a group of leading Austrian researchers how to make the most of social media to position themselves, network with fellow professionals and share their research findings with a wider audience. 

Secret to successful social media content

“Content that is useful, entertaining and recommended by other people works particularly well,” Armin Wolf confirmed. “For researchers, publishing useful content is the most promising approach, but it certainly doesn’t hurt to provide a little entertainment from time to time.”

Information should be presented in such a way that it triggers a smile or laughter, as well as sharing knowledge. Ideally, contributors’ posts should be shared by other people, as recommendations are far more credible than advertising. The same principle applies here as with hotel reservations and other retail portals. 78% of users follow recommendations from people they know, and for users they do not know, the figure is still 60%. 

Interview with Christian Mutschlechner and Prof. Dr. Siegfried Kasper

Christian Mutschlechner shared his experiences of applying to host congresses: “We present the destination alongside the professors, we practice their presentations with them and keep them motivated for a second or third attempt.”

As a successful professor Prof. Siegfried Kasper has brought numerous congresses to Vienna. “As a doctor, working to bring a congress to your own country is something you do because it is an extremely important part of networking with international colleagues, nurturing the next generation and delivering a major leap forward for your own institute.“

Summer Lounge of the Ambassadors Club

Around 50 researchers, primarily from the world of medicine, accepted an invitation from Susanne Baumann-Söllner, Managing Director of the Austria Center Vienna, to attend the Ambassadors Club Summer Lounge, which featured a talk by Armin Wolf on the subject of social media in scientific communications.

Events like this are just one of the ways that the Austria Center Vienna team is supporting leading Austrian researchers when it comes to advertising and hosting large-scale international congresses in Vienna. “With exclusive talks and networking opportunities, our Ambassadors Club provides valuable support to the country’s academics, who have excellent contacts thanks to their seats on various international scientific committees and as such are very well placed to influence where the next major conferences will be held,” Baumann-Söllner explained. 

Austria Center Vienna Ambassadors Club

Congresses make a decisive contribution to the way that university research facilities are perceived on the international stage, and are major milestones in the careers of the professors behind them. The Austria Center Vienna uses the high-profile Ambassadors Programme to reach out to top Austrian scientists and researchers who can help influence which destinations are chosen for future events in the course of their involvement in international scientific associations. They receive tips on how to communicate the destination’s strengths and can take advantage of exclusive networking opportunities, with high-calibre speakers covering topics related to congress organisation.

“This is the Austria Center Vienna’s way of helping the Austrian scientific community to bring even more international congresses to the city,” Susanne Baumann-Söllner explained. 

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