As of May 1, 2024, Monika Landgraf will head the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft’s Science Communications Section and be the Fraunhofer President’s spokesperson. Since 2019, the journalist has been working as Chief Communication Officer of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). She has headed the Corporate Communications Group and has been responsible for KIT’s internal and external communication.
“Together with her team, Monika Landgraf has organized and further developed KIT’s strategic cross-media communication and public relations work with a keen instinct for relevant topics and trends. Her commitment to KIT and to science communication in the region and beyond is exemplary,” says Professor Oliver Kraft, Acting President of KIT. “In strategic communication to support the goals of KIT, in crisis communication, and in establishing new formats, such as the KIT Science Week, Monika Landgraf shaped KIT’s communication in the past 16 years and represented it excellently to the inside and outside. For this, I would like to thank her on behalf of the Executive Board.”
As Chief Communication Officer of KIT, Landgraf cooperated with three presidents in the past 13 years. She promoted a clear marketing and communication strategy and developed new formats of science communication. Under her direction, the first KIT Science Week took place in fall 2021. This innovative type of event combines a conference of renowned scientists with a variety of events addressing all groups of society. In 2014, the journalist was honored as “Research Spokesperson of the Year.” Landgraf is member of many science communication bodies and was member of the Executive Board of the Federal University Communication Association for several years.
“After so many years, I feel very closely attached to KIT. Above all, I would like to thank the many people with whom I strategically established and sharpened communication and PR work of KIT as a unique science institution: The Executive Board of KIT, the Division Heads, scientists and researchers, and not least my colleagues in the administration,” Monika Landgraf says. “In particular, my thanks go to my highly motivated and dynamic team for their trust and their wonderful team spirit. It made it easy to define joint goals and to implement them rapidly. I am now looking forward to my new tasks with the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, but will take along a lot of fond memories.”
As future Head of the Science Communications Section, Landgraf will also be the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft’s Press Officer and report directly to its President Professor Holger Hanselka, the former President of KIT. The Science Communications Section comprises the Science Policy, Press and Media, Corporate Media, and Multi Media and Print Communications departments.
As of May 1, 2024, press officer Margarete Lehné will be the Acting Chief Press Officer of KIT. Dr. Joachim Hoffmann will be Acting Head of the Corporate Communications Group.
Being “The Research University in the Helmholtz Association”, KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility, and information. For this, about 10,000 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 22,800 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence.
Monika Landgraf wechselt zu Fraunhofer