Edvard’s citation for the Faraday Club Award:

Dr Edvard Kobal has shown how science communication and science itself can be part of a strategy for national development, in which researchers and teachers at all levels can be assisted and inspired to play their part.

Edvard is the Director of the Slovenian Science Foundation and has been actively involved in science communication in Slovenia since 1986. He is a chemist and has worked across different areas of research in chemistry, pharmacy, history of science, history of philanthropy, science policy and management, and peer review.

He is an initiator and founder of the ‘Let Us Rely On Our Own Creativity’ programme of the city of Ljubljana, Slovenia’s capital, the national programme in Public Understanding of Science and Technology, the national network of hands-on science and technology centres, and also of the Noordung Forum and the Research Laboratory for Children and Adolescents, and he is co-founder of the IdeaLab, an ecosystem of creative action for students and young doctors of science.

In 1994 he established the annual Slovenian Science Festival and built a strong link with Orkney International Science Festival, with the two festivals collaborating over the years in various ways from speaker exchange to joint projects.

In cooperation with Steve Miller from University College London he developed training programmes for Slovenian researchers and teachers in science communication, which he conducts.

He has written popular science books, handbooks and biographies, as well as articles in national and international newspapers and magazines, and is a contributor to radio and television programmes.

In 2009 he was awarded Honorary Life Membership of Orkney International Science Festival and in 2012 Membership of the Faraday Club for his lifelong commitment to excellence in the communication of science.

Edvard Kobal