Fox Award Gold for the Hannover Science Initiative

© Fotograf: Nico Herzog, Rechte LHH

The jury selected www.wissen.hannover.de for this prize, because its efficiency performance was rated above average across all criteria, so that it can be considered an inspiring showcase example in its business sector. Since March 2013, the video sharing website wissen.hannover.de has been used by Hannover’s nine universities and higher-education institutes, the Student Administration, Fraunhofer ITEM, the Volkswagen Foundation, hannoverimpuls GmbH, and the State Capital of Hannover to provide information about academic studies and research in Hannover – always with a focus on science, yet in an entertaining way.

Jury: "Impressive pioneer work"

“This is impressive pioneer work that has been accomplished by Hannover. All leading universities and research institutions are acquiring students, business start-ups, and research projects via this commonly used video sharing platform featuring over 555 scientific videos. Not only does it make use of every possible channel; the (proven) response it achieves is equally impressive: 50-percent increases in site visits and downloads,” the Fox Award jurors explained their decision. Fox Award is the leading efficiency award for media published by companies or public institutions. Besides the Hannover Science Initiative, awardees include the following: Airbus, the German Bundestag,  Madsack Medienagentur, Siemens AG, Deutsche Bank, NORD/LB, Dirk Rossmann GmbH, HARIBO GmbH & Co. KG, ARTE, Bertelsmann Stiftung, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Hannover 96, DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga GmbH, Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) mbH, Aktion Mensch e.V.,  Deutsche Welthungerhilfe e.V., and many more.

Lord Mayor: "A prize for Hannover as a center of academic and scientific activity as a whole"

“The Fox Award in Gold confirms the successful work of the Hannover Science Initiative. It was only through the trustful and close collaboration of all academic and science-affiliated institutions that this video sharing website – the only one of its kind in Germany – could be realized.  It is thus a prize for Hannover as a center of academic and scientific activity as a whole,“ said Oberbürgermeister (Lord Mayor) Stefan Schostok, in whose office the buck stops with regard to the Initiative. Responsibility and coordination of the video sharing website lies with the Science City Hannover department of the Lord Mayor's Office, while hannoverimpuls GmbH is in charge of the operative management. Hannover Internet GmbH is operating the video website via the Hannover homepage www.hannover.de. The main project sponsor is MADSACK Media Group. Production of the high-quality, professional videos, generated on a journalistic basis, is performed by TVN.

Wissen.hannover.de – 14 partners, one website

The strengths of the video sharing website wissen.hannover.de include HD quality videos, a very high average time per visitor of over four minutes, and a monthly visitor rate of 3500, over 500 of which are international. The 14 partners use the website to accompany research projects and acquire funding by means of their videos. To students and prospective students, they provide practical life hacks for daily student life. Press conferences of the partners can be accompanied by video material, examples of business startups are presented to prospective entrepreneurs, and the scientific community can get insight into research activities in Hannover. In their digital video magazine, the partners publish about 50 video clips per year, thereby expanding their reach beyond their own social media channels and print publications.

International acknowledgment and fund raising

The collaboration of universities and research institutions in Hannover and the video sharing website have been acknowledged both on the national and international levels. In July this year, the British Council in a comparative study on the internationalization of university locations praised the Initiative and also the English website wissen.hannover.de/en. The Bertelsmann Stiftung and the German Student Administration have presented the Initiative and the video sharing website as examples of best practice at conferences all over Germany. In fall, the German Institute of Urban Afffairs (Difu) will follow. In literature, the German scientific journal “Spektrum der Wissenschaft” and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology have commented positively on individual films. Furthermore, the video sharing website wissen.hannover.de plays an important role when it comes to applying for third-party funding. The State Capital of Hannover, for example, became part of the EU project NUCLEUS, a collaborative project performed by a consortium of 24 international institutions from 14 different countries. Hannover also came of well as a pilot region of the Bertelsmann Stiftung for a culture of welcoming international students and was able to provide video coverage for many activities under a common action program.

New Image Trailer

Just in time for the Fox Award in Gold ceremony, the Hannover Science Initiative has come up with a new (German) image trailer on www.wissen.hannover.de.