President of the Friedrich Loeffler Institute reviews research ideas of Ilmenau media students

On Friday, students in the Media and Communication Studies master's degree program at TU Ilmenau presented research concepts for investigating international crisis communication on animal epidemics. This was done on behalf of the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI), a higher federal authority that deals with the health and welfare of farm animals and the protection of humans from contagious animal diseases. The president of the FLI, Professor Dr. Thomas C. Mettenleiter, was also a member of the jury. He was impressed by the scientific foundation and practical relevance of the proposed research projects: "Both the underlying considerations and the proposals for implementing the research concepts are of high quality and were presented in a highly motivated and committed manner. I am very much looking forward to the results of the research work". The head of the FLI's press office, Elke Reinking, was also part of the jury as an expert for public relations.

The research pitch took place within the framework of a teaching cooperation between the Department of Public Relations and Technical Communication of the TU Ilmenau and the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute (FLI), which will run until the end of September. The students will plan and implement scientific analyses of risk and crisis communication about animal epidemics in a two-semester research seminar. Dr. Andreas Schwarz, Head of the Department of Public Relations and Technical Communication, would like to use this course to introduce students to applied research on issues of international crisis communication: "This is not just research for the drawer, but practice-relevant knowledge at the cutting edge of communication science" says Schwarz.

The focus is on the analysis of animal epidemics such as African swine fever and bird flu, which recently broke out in Germany. The four student research teams are expected to study institutions or media in countries such as Belgium, Great Britain, Poland or India.

As the Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI) is dedicated to the health of food-producing animals. Its central tasks are the prevention, diagnosis and control of animal diseases, the improvement of animal husbandry and nutrition, and research into farm animal genetics.

Contact:

Dr. Andreas Schwarz (TU Ilmenau), andreas.schwarz@tu-ilmenau, +49367769-4694

Elke Reinking, (FLI), Elke.Reinking@fli.de, +49383517-1244