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Whether it is press releases, posts, reports in the university newspaper, podcasts, blog entries, lectures or events for children and school students: in all its diversity, science communication has long been an integral part of knowledge transfer at universities, including the University of Münster.

Münster University has many years of experience with Citizen Science projects. One project deals with the history of the old railway tunnel in Lengerich. The research project was explored in 2011 as part of the Innovation Office’s "Expedition Münsterland" and scientifically processed by the Department of History of Münster University and the Villa ten Hompel historical site together with citizens.

Intercultural competence is increasingly seen as an important prerequisite for people living together in a multicultural society. As early as 1992, ethnologists and pedagogues from the Institute for Ethnology at the University of Münster founded the association Ethnology in School and Adult Education. Since then they have implemented the transfer of knowledge in various formats.

FrachtPilot – a digital end-to-end solution for direct selling in agriculture – is the first product launched by the FlexFleet Solutions start-up. Founder Dr. Sebastian Terlunen studied Business Information Systems at the University of Münster, where he also wrote his PhD in the subject. In the interview with he talks about the advantages of an academic education for someone setting up a business.

The publication of two anthologies on the debate in Münster on the culture of remembrance with regard to Paul von Hindenburg and on gender history in Westphalia based on the example of the diaries of Anna Topheide: these are the results so far of the research carried out by Klaus-Dieter Franke. Since the winter semester of 2015/16, he has been taking part in the Senior Guest Programme.

Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) 1348 – "Dynamic Cellular Interfaces" – at University of Münster offers school students majoring in Biology an opportunity to take a close-up look at university research and conduct their own experiments. For two weeks, every spring and autumn, senior school students can be found at the Institute of Neuro- and Behavioural Biology.

At the University of Münster the transfer of knowledge into society also takes place through the Archaeological Museum and the Bible Museum. In this guest commentary, Prof. Hermann Parzinger, President of the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, describes the collections as a showcase for research.

The creation of knowledge and its transfer to society is part of the public cultural heritage and therefore a central goal of the University of Münster. Whether museums, senior guest programme and children's university, support for start-ups, teacher education or science communication: The University of Münster understands knowledge transfer as an active exchange.

Knowledge transfer at German universities has been becoming increasingly important for some years now and, more and more, is being recognized as an academic achievement. Dr. Annette Barkhaus, deputy head of the Research Department at the German Council of Science and Humanities, describes in an interview the challenges of knowledge transfer for German universities and research institutions.

Whether it is citizen science, the creation of a climate conducive to entrepreneurship or the training of tomorrow's teachers: At the University of Münster, knowledge transfer to society is lived out in very different ways. The three examples have one thing in common – they convey university research.