Dr. Niels G. Mede

Science Communication Researcher

Science Barometer Switzerland



I am co-leading the Science Barometer Switzerland – the “Wissenschaftsbarometer Schweiz” – together with Prof. Dr. Mike S. Schäfer (University of Zurich, Switzerland) and Prof. Dr. Julia Metag (University of Münster, Germany).

The Science Barometer is a long-term survey project running since 2016, currently funded until 2031. The project investigates how people in Switzerland perceive and communicate about science, scientists, and science-related topics, such as Artificial Intelligence. Every 1-3 years, we conduct nationally representative online and telephone surveys in all three major languages of Switzerland (German, French, Italian), using cross-sectional and panel samples of Swiss residents aged 15+ years. For example, my colleagues and I have identified different audiences of science communication in Switzerland and tested how they change over time, assessed populist attitudes to science, developed a new survey scale to measure science literacy, and analyzed users of alternative science media. See below for my publications resulting from this project.

Publications


Measuring science literacy in a digital world: Development and validation of a multi-dimensional survey scale


Niels G. Mede, Emily L. Howell, Mike S. Schäfer, Julia Metag, Becca Beets, Dominique Brossard

Science Communication, 2025


Literate and critical? Characterizing users of alternative scientific media


Lena Zils, Florian Wintterlin, Julia Metag, Niels G. Mede, Mike S. Schäfer

Science Communication, 2025


Cognitio populi – Vox populi: Implications of science-related populism for communication behavior


Niels G. Mede, Mike S. Schäfer, Julia Metag

Communications, 2023


Are science communication audiences becoming more critical? Reconstructing migration between audience segments based on Swiss panel data


Kira Klinger, Julia Metag, Mike S. Schäfer, Tobias Füchslin, Niels G. Mede

Public Understanding of Science, vol. 31, 2022, pp. 553-562


Predicting public trust in science: The role of basic orientations toward science, perceived trustworthiness of scientists, and experiences with science


Florian Wintterlin, Friederike Hendriks, Niels G. Mede, Rainer Bromme, Julia Metag, Mike S. Schäfer

Frontiers in Communication, 2022


The SciPop Scale for measuring science-related populist attitudes in surveys: Development, test, and validation


Niels G. Mede, Mike S. Schäfer, Tobias Füchslin

International Journal of Public Opinion Research, vol. 33, 2021, pp. 273-293