Aarhus University Anniversary Foundation's Research Communication Prize 2012
The Aarhus University Anniversary Foundation’s Research Communication Prize of DKK 100,000 is awarded in recognition of outstanding and ground-breaking communication of knowledge from the university to society.
PROFESSOR TOBIAS WANG, AARHUS UNIVERSITY
Dr Tobias Wang, a professor of zoophysiology, is not only an extremely accomplished researcher; time and time again, he has demonstrated a rare talent for making his research and knowledge comprehensible and useful to others. This is precisely why he has been awarded the Aarhus University Anniversary Foundation’s Research Communication Prize, which is awarded to a researcher who has made particularly great efforts to communicate his or her research.
Professor Wang is particularly well-known for his research on the circulatory systems of animals, where he has made his mark with studies of blood pressure regulation in giraffes and the circulatory system of snakes. His research spans a number of disciplines in the natural sciences and medicine, and it contributes to our understanding of fundamental physiological mechanisms. The study of animal physiology provides important new knowledge that can be applied to humans and can help
medical science understand human diseases and develop new treatment methods.
Professor Wang excels at involving the lay audience without compromising high academic standards. He communicates complex physiological research in a lively, entertaining and relevant way. Professor Wang’s research often receives coverage in newspapers and magazines, and he is an exemplary communicator on TV and radio.
For this reason, he is often in demand by the media as a scientific commentator and expert: not only in Denmark, but also abroad, where his activities include radio programmes in countries including Brazil and Vietnam, as well as appearances on Swedish and British TV.
With his special way of communicating, Professor Wang has the ability to increase the public’s understanding of the importance of research for society. His research communication activities increase our ability to understand the world scientifically, at the same time as they increase our understanding of why science is of such great significance to society.
The hallmark of his communication is his will to involve his audience, readers and listeners and to enter into dialogue with them. Professor Wang gets people interested in science and breaks down the barrier between the world of research and the general public. He brings science down to eye level for ordinary citizens, and he is the perfect ambassador for Aarhus University’s ambition of engaging in dialogue with society.
TOBIAS WANG – CURRICULUM VITAE
Professor, Department of Bioscience – Zoophysiology, Aarhus University
Appointments
- 2005- Professor, Aarhus University, Denmark
- 2000-2004 Associate Professor, Aarhus University, Denmark
- 1998-2000 Lecturer, University of Birmingham, UK
- 1997 Assistant Research Professor, Aarhus University, Denmark
Honours
- 2012 Elected to the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters
- 2004 Honorary Professor, School of Biological Sciences, University of Birmingham, UK
- 2003 Elected as a member of the Danish Academy of Natural Sciences
- 1999 President’s Medal from the Society for Experimental Biology