Brainy blog Donders Wonders wins prize for science communication

Donders Wonders, the Donders Institute’s science blog, has won the Communication Award of the NWO Domain Science (ENW). The jury praised the bloggers for the impact and reach of the articles they write and called the way the blog is organised ‘an inspiration’.

Donders Wonders was founded in 2014 by early career researchers from the Donders Institute and has been telling stories about brains and science ever since. It developed into a highly structured blog that publishes a new article once or twice a week in Dutch and English.

As well as being published on the Donders Wonders website, most of the blogs appear on the websites of De Gelderlander and AD, and on the Radboud Recharge platform. The amplification of the blog through other channels received high praise from the jury. ‘In this way, the researchers reach a new audience and make an active contribution to social discussions', according to the jury's verdict.

Young and sustainable

The Donders Wonders team consists of about 15 people, mainly PhD students and some postdoctoral researchers. Besides writing their own blog posts, they provide feedback on each other's texts according to a tight schedule and take care of translations and final editing. ‘This has created a very sustainable structure, which will enable this blog to continue to exist for many years to come', writes the jury.

The blog ultimately serves two purposes: On the one hand, young researchers gain valuable experience in writing for a lay audience. On the other hand, and as the main goal, Donders Wonders brings science to the general public. The bloggers reach this goal by translating fundamental research into practical, understandable facts and by explaining people's behaviour and social developments.