Failed experiments, surprising results, and situations familiar from everyday laboratory life: Dr. Ondřej Havelka of Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH) turns them into humorous short videos – reaching an audience of millions. The researcher from the Institute for Molecular and Multimaterial Manufacturing has now been honored by the American Chemical Society (ACS) at the ACS Fall 2026 in Chicago for his science communication. In the newly introduced “Leadership in Science Outreach and Engagement” category, ACS recognized Havelka for his outstanding commitment to making science accessible beyond the academic community.
On his Instagram channel “ChemLab.X,” Havelka addresses situations and challenges that researchers encounter in their everyday work. His short videos have received more than 20 million views in total. Through humor, they offer audiences a glimpse not only into science itself, but also into the culture and everyday practice of research. Beyond social media, Havelka has published more than 50 popular-science articles, including contributions to the Czech and Slovak edition of WIRED, and has contributed to international science communication projects.
Humor Connects Across Disciplines
“Humor works in science because so many of us recognize similar situations, regardless of discipline,” says Ondřej Havelka. “I am especially grateful to Prof. Felix Löffler and the School of Process Engineering for their support in the nomination process, and I am very glad to be part of the Institute for Molecular and Multimaterial Manufacturing. Fortunately, most of the unpleasant situations portrayed in the videos stay confined to the videos, while the best parts of scientific life are the ones we actually get to experience for real.”
For Havelka, however, humor is not only a way to make science entertaining. It can also provide an accessible entry point into understanding the world behind scientific results. “We are often very good at communicating the results of science, but much less good at communicating the world that produces them,” he says.
In the future, Havelka wants to take this approach beyond individual scientific findings. “The next frontier of science communication is not to make science simpler, but to make the scientific system itself understandable,” says Havelka. “People should not only hear about scientific discoveries after the process that produced them has succeeded. They should understand why we invest in research before we know what it will lead to, why an unsuccessful path can still contribute to progress, and why the value of fundamental science may emerge only years or even decades later.”
International Recognition in an Anniversary Year
The international context makes Havelka’s recognition by the ACS particularly noteworthy. Of the 64 recipients in the “Leadership in Science Outreach and Engagement” category of the Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Scholars Recognition Program, Havelka is one of only two honorees affiliated with a European institution and the only one from a German institution.
With more than 150,000 members in 140 countries, the American Chemical Society is one of the world’s largest scientific societies. As the ACS celebrates its 150th anniversary this year, awards in the “Leadership in Science Outreach and Engagement” category were presented for the first time.
