BIG DATA

The Barcelona-based science journalist Michele Catanzaro is now as "Journalist in Residence" at the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS). The program provides science journalists a longer stay at the Institute, the data-driven research from astrophysics to zoology operates. For the first time internationally advertised position, candidates had applied from 22 countries.

The science journalist Michele Catanzaro begins today, August 15, his stay as the third and the first foreign "Journalist in Residence" at the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS). The program was advertised internationally last year for the first time. A panel of science journalists and scientists from universities, the Max Planck Institutes and the HITS chose to live in Barcelona native Italians among 36 candidates from 22 countries and 5 continents.

Catanzaro studied physics in Rome and then a PhD at the Technical University in Barcelona. Since 2000 he works as a freelance science journalist for media in Italy, Spain, Mexico and the UK, among other things, "Nature", "The Guardian" and "El Periodico". His main focus lies in the field of science, medicine and technology. He writes not only about products in four languages, but also produces short documentaries or writes scripts for television. He is also co-author of the book "Networks: A very short Introduction", which was published in English and Spanish.For his work he received the 2013 "King of Spain International Journalism Prize" and the "BBVA Innova Data" Award for a project in the field of data journalism. His stay would like to use it to interact with the scientists of HITS and learn more about the increasing amount of data in science.

The "Journalist in Residence" program offers since 2012 professionally experienced journalists with a focus on science journalism is a three - to six-month remunerated guest stay. The journalists can while staying accompany research groups in publications, implement their own projects and participate in internal discussions and seminars of HITS-researchers.

First "Journalist in Residence" at HITS 2012 was the renowned science journalist Volker Stollorz , among other things, for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday newspaper works.2013 took advantage of the free TV journalist Pia Grzesiak their stay intensely to look behind the "mountains of data" at HITS.

The HITS was founded in 2010 as a research institute of the nonprofit Klaus Tschira Foundation (KTS). Around 100 scientists from 22 countries work at HITS in now ten research groups in areas where large amounts of data produced and processed - from astrophysics to biology. One goal of the institute, the importance of supercomputer-based, data-driven research (data-driven science) is greater focus especially in the natural sciences into the public consciousness.