Austrian Heinz-Oberhummer-Award has been presented for around a decade, jointly awarded by the Science Busters, Karl-Franzens-University of Graz, Technical University of Vienna, City of Vienna, Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection, Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research, ORF and Radio FM4. The latest recipient of the 20,000 euro prize is Eckart von Hirschhausen, a prominent science communicator. He will also receive a symbolic “glass of alpaca milk”.
The award jury praised von Hirschhausen for his “outstanding science communication” in the 10th year of the award’s existence. The jury statement reads: “One cannot do it better than Eckart von Hirschhausen.”
The nomination is seen as a conscious sign of appreciation, particularly in times when misinformation and disinformation spread rapidly. Von Hirschhausen has managed to “hold high the flag of reason, rationality and knowledge” through his years of public engagement.
Previous winners of the award include Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim in 2020 and the team of the “Coronavirus Update of NDR Info” with Christian Drosten in 2021.
In a recent appearance, von Hirschhausen presented his views on climate change and its consequences, as well as his own organization, “Healthy Earth – Healthy People”, which receives regular funding from Bill Gates. The amounts of funding received are as follows: 1,399,984 dollars in March 2021, 399,910 dollars in May 2022, 249,961 dollars in September 2023, 242,000 dollars in August 2024 and 50,000 dollars in September 2024.
The award’s namesake, Heinz Oberhummer, an Austrian physicist and co-founder of the Science Busters, was a fan of alpacas. As a tradition, each prize winner receives a glass of alpaca milk, in addition to the monetary award.