Sophia Charlotte Volk joins Scientific Advisory Board

We are welcoming Sophia Charlotte Volk, Professor of Strategic Communication in the Department of Media and Communication at LMU Munich to the Academic Society. As of October 1st, she joins our Scientific Advisory Board.

Her research interests include strategic communication, science communication, evaluation and impact measurement, digital media environments and technologies like generative AI. Sophia is also actively engaged in public outreach and knowledge transfer.

To get to know the inspiring person behind the name, we had a conversation with her, starting with some lighthearted “this or that” questions.

This or that?

After the ice was broken, we dug deeper into what she enjoys and cares about most.

In your own words:

What motivated or inspired you to become part of the Scientific Advisory Board?

»I’m passionate about bridging research and practice. Serving on the Scientific Advisory Board offers a valuable opportunity to exchange ideas with communication leaders and academics and to contribute my expertise to addressing future challenges in strategic communication.«

What do you think is the most underestimated contribution academia can make to organizational communication?

Academia brings critical distance, conceptual clarity, and robust empirical evidence on practices and effects of organisational communication. In a landscape shaped by industry-led trend reports about the profession, the value of independent academic research might sometimes be overlooked.

How has your perspective on communication research changed over the course of your career?

My perspective has evolved from viewing strategic communication primarily through an organizational lens to a more holistic approach that connects it with broader (inter)disciplinary debates. This includes examining strategic communication within the broader context of changing media environments, media use, and technologies like generative AI—across sectors, such as business and higher education, and in cross-national comparison—to better understand both common patterns and contextual differences.

What research project would you like to realize one day – regardless of time and money?

Innovation—whether in AI, green energy, or biotechnology—is key to Europe’s competitiveness and democratic resilience. Yet public trust in science and innovation is fragile. I would like to lead a large-scale study on how companies communicate science and innovation: how they frame scientific topics, how these efforts shape public trust or skepticism, and what this means for the legitimacy of corporate actors in science communication—an area that remains underexplored in research.

We sincerely thank you, Sophia Charlotte Volk, for sharing your valuable insights. We are delighted to welcome you to the Scientific Advisory Board and look forward to a successful collaboration!

You can find all the members on the Scientific Advisory Board here.