05.07.2011, Berlin | A team composed of scientists and PR experts from Kiel is the winner of the 10,000-euro “2011 Science Interactive” award, sponsored by the Schering Stiftung. Following an exciting finale at the Science Summer in Mainz, during which visitors and school groups took an active part, the team from the Kiel Campus of the Schleswig-Holstein University Medical Center (USKH) beat the two other finalists from Berlin. The competition entry by the Kiel-based team provides insights into the functioning and structure of the skin.

The Skin – My Sacred Little House

It breathes, feels, regulates, and protects: The skin is the organ that defines a human being as an individual – it separates inside from outside. Since the skin is exposed to so many influences, it is in particular need of protection and care. Under the motto “Become the builder of your skin!,” the team led by Professor Regina Fölster-Holst from the Department of Dermatology, Venereology, and Allergology at the University Medical Center in Kiel designed an interactive traveling exhibition, where visitors can experience and feel skin health with the aid of walk-in models.

In the exhibition, children playfully learn about the skin and its most common diseases and get tips for skin care. Complex knowledge is explained in an easy-to-understand way and posters and charts present the latest in research. The first stations provide an introduction to the structure of the skin and the characteristics of the different layers of skin that contain vessels and nerves as well as hair and sweat glands. The second part of the exhibition shows what can happen when there are holes in the skin or when skin layers are destroyed (e.g. because of bug bites, piercings and tattoos). Another topic are skin problems across all age groups, in particular neurodermatitis, its causes and how to deal with it.

After the presentation at the 2011 Science Summer, the prevention project is scheduled to be shown in hospitals, shopping malls, schools, and natural history museums across Germany. The exhibits will be on display in Kiel, including at the Health Forum of the Schleswig-HolsteinUniversityMedicalCenter.

The Science Interactive audience award is offered jointly by Science in Dialogue and the Donors’ Association for the Promotion of Science and the Humanities and is sponsored by the Schering Stiftung. It seeks to promote the cooperation between young scientists and their organizations’ or institutions’ press offices and wants to inspire new forms of science communication. In 2011, the Schering Stiftung for the first time sponsors the Science Interactive Award, since it communicates research to a broader public in a vivid and interactive manner and stimulates the dialogue between scientists and citizens.

Photos: 

Prof. Dr. Regina Fölster-Holst and Dr. Matthias Buchner from the team of the Universitätsklinikums Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel | Photo: Peter Pulkowski/WiD

„The Skin – My Sacred Little House“ | Poto: David Ausserhofer/WiD