GDCh Prize for Journalism, Literature and Science Communication

New name!

The GDCh Board has decided to rename the "GDCh Prize for Journalism and Literature" to "GDCh Prize for Journalism, Literature and Science Communication".

With this renaming, the GDCh (German Chemical Society) is acknowledging the growing importance of science communication. In addition to journalism and publications, numerous other formats have become established in recent years – such as podcasts, blogs, social media, videos, and multimedia projects – which make a significant contribution to communicating chemical content to society.
The biennial award process will remain in place.

The GDCh Prize for Journalism, Literature, and Science Communication is awarded, regardless of language, for outstanding journalistic, literary, or science communication achievements that make a significant contribution to the dissemination of chemical science content in German-speaking countries. A prize for journalists was established at the GDCh in 1980, followed by a prize for writers in 1997. These two prizes were awarded alternately until 2008, when they were merged into the GDCh award for journalists and writers . With this expansion in 2025, the GDCh is acknowledging the growing importance and diversity of science communication.

2026 Award Winner: Verena Tang

The German Chemical Society (GDCh) has awarded Verena Tang the 2026 GDCh Prize for Journalism and Literature in recognition of her outstanding achievements in science journalism on chemistry. Verena Tang combines sound expertise with linguistic clarity, conveying chemical and scientific content in an understandable, insightful, and sophisticated manner. In her articles, she addresses topics of high relevance to the environment and industry, making them accessible to a broad audience. Her column "A Pinch of Chemistry" is particularly noteworthy, in which she analyzes and vividly explains phenomena from the kitchen and everyday life, as well as questions surrounding food and consumption, from a chemical perspective.

Award winner interview 2020

Selection committee

Prof. Dr. Evamarie Hey-Hawkins, University of Leipzig (lead author)
Prof. Dr. Stefanie Dehnen, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Charlotte Gerischer, JCF Munich
Dr. Peter Gölitz, former Wiley-VCH
Dr. Tom Kinzel, GDCh Executive Director
Dr. Brigitte Osterath, science journalist, Alfter
Prof. Dr. Holger Wormer, Technical University of Dortmund