“Education is what is left when you have forgotten everything you have learned” – this quote is attributed to many: Werner Heisenberg, Burrhus Skinner and of course Albert Einstein. In these dark times, I – a theoretical (!) physicist – have no choice but to hold on to Humboldt’s ideal of education, i.e. the unity of research and teaching, whereby I define “teaching” in a very general way.

I see it simply this way: Apart from the actual scientific projects on current challenges like climate change or COVID, it is our mission and duty as scientists to contribute to the education of the public and thus also to the education of politicians who make far-reaching decisions on a daily basis. Therefore I find it equally important to explain to mankind the importance of exponential growth as to invest in the development of the COVID vaccine. And it is just as important to explain all measures against climate change as it is for the public to understand the difference between a “theory” and a “hypothesis”. That’s why, as a theoretical physicist, I decided a few months ago to make a practical contribution to public education and set up a YouTube channel. The reactions show me how great the need and interest in such education is. Have a look: https://www.youtube.com/ProfLemeshko

Mikhail Lemeshko is Professor of theoretical physics and head of a research group at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria. The main direction of his current research is understanding the physics of quantum impurities possessing orbital angular momentum. Recently, he has been elected to the Young Academy of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. On his Youtube channel, he shows experiment or explains scientific correlations.