My Mission
I want to use my scientific background and my skills in writing and organizing to make science and its societal impact understandable because a sustainable, fair, and democratic society needs to both embrace science and critique its ramifications.
Science writing should tell captivating stories about science, its complexity, history, and impact, as well as shine a light on the humans behind it.
My Mission
I want to use my scientific background and my skills in writing and organizing to make science and its societal impact understandable because a sustainable, fair, and democratic society needs to both embrace science and critique its ramifications.
Science writing should tell captivating stories about science, its complexity, history, and impact, as well as shine a light on the humans behind it.
What I do
I cover both fundamental and applied sciences, the fascinating personal stories behind the research, and how science affects and is affected by society and the environment.
I write about physics, quantum mechanics, complex systems and network science, biology and ecology, chemistry, and science and technology studies. I create journalistic articles, reportage articles, magazine stories, podcasts, press releases, dossiers, and other institutional communication texts.
My Work
Podcast
Together with Francesca Grandolfo from KurzschlussRedaktion, I am writing, moderating, and producing the science podcast “Was wir wissen” for the scilog Magazine of the Austrian Science Fund FWF. Each season tackles a grand question of science—the first one asks what we know about being human. In each of the six episodes, we take a different scientific perspective and bring the listeners along as we explore the fundamental research around our topic. The podcast is in German.
Journalistic Writing
Institutional Writing
About me
I started out with the dream of becoming a researcher in quantum physics. However, during my studies, I realized that I would like to get to know many different branches of the natural and social sciences and the humanities that all deal with important and fascinating topics.
After a Master’s degree in physics with a focus on quantum information and a short stint in the field of science and technology studies, I first turned to event management in a scientific context and then to science writing and science journalism, and most recently to podcasting. In this profession, I now work on topics in all fields of research to share my passion and fascination for them.
CV
| 2012–2018 | BSc and MSc in Physics | University of Vienna |
| 2018–2019 | Studies in Science and Technology Studies | University of Vienna |
| 2019–2020 | Event Manager | Institute of Science and Technology Austria |
| 2020–2022 | Science Writer | Institute of Science and Technology Austria |
| Apr–Jun 2023 | Senior Science Writer | Institute of Science and Technology Austria |
| since 2023 | Science Writer and Journalist | Freelancer |
| Sep–Oct 2024 | Journalistic Internship | Der Standard, Science Department |
| since 2025 | Podcast Producer | Freelancer for scilog Magazine, Austrian Science Fund FWF |
Contact
Contact me if you want to connect or want to work with me!
Email: work@thomaszauner.eu
Bluesky: thomaszauner.bsky.social
LinkedIn: Thomas Zauner