Lek’s scientists receive the Prometheus in Science Award for Communication Excellency and the title Star of the Slovenian Science Festival

This year, The Slovenian Scientific Foundation presented 13 Prometheus in Science Awards for Communication Excellency to individuals or groups demonstrating significant achievements in communicating science with various audiences. Prometheus in Science Award is the highest and the only prize presented to researchers, artists, teachers and journalists, who use their work to communicate science with various audiences and place special emphasis on promoting science in general public. The Prometheus in Science Award for lifetime achievements was given to the longtime journalist of the daily Delo Dragica Bošnjak, who devoted most of her journalistic career to writing about the achievements of Slovenian researchers and innovations in science, especially in the field of medicine.

For Lek’s associates, this is already the second Prometheus in Science Award received. In 2016, they received the award for their strategic and successful communication of the Regional BioCamp 2015 (link). This award reflects the company’s devotion to development and scientific advancement in relation to broader public and builds meaningful connections between academics and industry. 

So far, Vesna Stergar, PhD, and Dušan Teslić, PhD, have received several national and international awards. The Prometheus in Science Award demonstrates their paramount contribution to communicating science to the wider audience. The researchers have distinguished themselves by creating innovative work environment, developing and maintaining continuous long-term cooperation with different partners, and co-creating the work program. Both researchers spend a lot of time and energy to cooperate with faculties and institutes to strengthen the bonds between industry and science. “To be successful in science, we must work together towards an environment that encourages creativity and innovative thinking. We are aware of the fact that it is important for the wider audience to recognize the meaning of science in our lives and to bring science closer to them – in an understandable way. By doing so, we also create new talents and ambassadors, who will define our future success. This award proves that we are on the right track. We will continue to communicate the development of science and innovation as our core value and create new connections with general public,” said Vesna Stergar, PhD, and Dušan Teslić, PhD, upon receiving the award. 

Every year, the Slovenian Science Foundation chooses also the most interesting and innovative communicator of science at the Slovenian Science Festival, which has been organized since 1994. The star of the Slovenian Science Festival for 2018 is Zlatko Pflaum, PhD, who prepared a workshop with his colleague Janko Ignjatović, where they presented innovation as a way of thinking, working and creating. The presentation took place in the form of a workshop with several thought experiments. With their help, the participants understood better what they should focus on when turning innovation theory into practice.