Dr. Helga Rietz-Pankoke

Helga Rietz is the Science Communications Manager at ETH AI Center. She has a background in physics and graduated with a PhD in attosecond physics in Heidelberg, Germany. Writing and storytelling, however, has always been a passion of hers, which she pursued first at Heidelberg's student newspaper "ruprecht", later on as an intern at various media outlets. A postgraduate degree in science journalism made writing about complex scientific findings for lay audiences her profession.  

Before joining the ETH AI Center, Helga has been a writer and editor for the science section of Neue Zürcher Zeitungcall_made, where her main beats were physics, astronomy, space exploration and engineering. Her stories have won a AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Awardcall_made in 2015 and the PUNKT - Preis für Technikjournalismuscall_made in 2018. Her work got shortlisted for "prix média"call_made, the journalism award of the Swiss Academy of Science, as well as for "Medienpreis Luft- und Raumfahrt" in 2017.

In 2020/21 she completed a CAS in Data Journalism at the Swiss School of Journalism MAZcall_made, enriching her reporting with data-analytics and methods borrowed from machine learning. She was a fellow of the "Masterclass Wissenschaftsjournalismus" by Robert Bosch Foundation (class of 2014/15), and of the "Immersion to Action" Science Communication Bootcampcall_made, supported by Gebert Rüf Stiftung and organized by Swissnex San Francisco (class of 2023). In 2023, she got elected into the board of the Swiss Association for Science Journalism (SKWJ/SASJ)call_made and became a member of the jury for prix média. 

In her role as a Communication Manager of the ETH AI Center, she regularly appears as a speaker and panelist discussing topics around AI, including in the series "KI imDialogcall_made" organized by the Department of Economic Affairs in the Canton of Zurich. Other noteworthy appearances include a panel at Paulus Akademie Zürichcall_made, and the "Disputationen" at the Zurich Grossmünstercall_made. As an invited speaker and panelist for the Science Journalist's Association of Indiacall_made's inaugural conference in New Delhi (2023)call_made, she delved into chances and challenges that current AI technologies bring about for reporters and newsroom staff.