On the eve of the ball, on Friday, 24 January 2025, Maja Göpel gave the Vienna Lecture on Science Communication in the festive hall of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. The introduction and welcome was given by Univ.-Prof. Matthias Karmasin, representing ÖAW President Heinz Fassmann. Göpel’s well-founded and animated appeal for greater involvement of science in public discourse was enthusiastically received by the audience.

The lecture and the discussion hosted by ball organizer Oliver Lehmann were followed by a reception with extensive opportunity for a personal conversation with Göpel and to sign her latest book “Werte” (Brandstätter Verlag, 2025). An overview of Göpel’s impressively extensive media work on the occasion of her visit to Vienna can be found on the German version of this page.