Festival Centre Programme

Review the Festival Centre Exposé here to explore this year’s available formats, including their prices and benefits. If you can’t find the perfect fit just yet, don’t worry, our team is happy to support you.

Once you have an overview of the available options and your intended topic, book a consultation call with our team here. We’ll walk you through the relevant details and help you choose the date and format that best fit your goals. 

 After you’ve settled on a format, time, and date with our team, you will be able to finalise your booking by registering your event via our online platform. This information will serve as the basis for all future administrative steps.  

Congratulations! Your event is booked.  

Next, we’ll contact you with a binding offer and further information on payment. Our Festival Centre producers will be in touch to coordinate next steps and finalise the details of your event. They will support you in the weeks leading up to the festival and will be your main point of contact for any questions.  

Now that you’ve booked your event, you’ll receive login details to our website, where you’ll upload your final event information for publication. You have until 30 June to submit all final information about your event, including your cover photo. We’ll review your event entry and may make small editorial adjustments before publication to our website.  

💬 Optional Support: Join our free online workshop on 15 June to refine your title, polish your description, and ensure your event is communicated clearly and effectively. 

The full programme goes live on 3 September, kicking off our citywide and digital campaign. To maximise your reach, we highly encourage running your own communication efforts in parallel. 

You’ll receive downloadable copy and pre-made social media posts to support your event promotion. Please include the Berlin Science Week logo in all communication materials for your event and tag us @berlinscienceweek. 

💬 Optional Support: Book an additional comms package to boost visibility on our channels. To book a comms package, get in touch with our team by scheduling a call here. 

The Festival Centre is open for all organisations looking to present their work on a professional stage, at the heart of the festival. The Festival Centre brings together institutional partners, independent researchers, and art-science practitioners to create connections and synergies across disciplines and fields of practice. 

Yes. Participation in the Festival Centre requires a participation fee, covering production and communication costs.  

If you are an independent project and would like to present your work at the HKW, but lack the institutional funding, we recommend that you apply via our Art & Science Programme. 

We’re open to any topic grounded in solid, verifiable research and designed to spark curiosity, learning, or discovery for our audiences. 

We understand science in a broad sense, from astrophysics to anthropology, from climate research to cultural studies. Projects from the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, arts, and interdisciplinary fields are all welcome. 

If your work is rooted in science and helps people explore, understand, or experience something in a meaningful way, it’s a good fit. 

A direct connection to our annual theme, In Touch, is not mandatory, but engaging with it will help frame your event within the festival, support its promotion, and can create new connections with audiences and partners. 

No. We encourage you to get in touch even if you only have a preliminary idea for your event. We’re happy to advise you and help you further develop it into a full event concept. Final information is only required by 30 June. 

If you have an idea you’d like to discuss, go ahead and schedule a call with our team here.  

No. The Festival Centre formats are only available on our Festival Centre weekend, from 6-8 November 2026. Please get in touch with the team to find out more about available formats and dates. 

Yes. You are welcome to book multiple events. Our team can advise you on how to create synergies between different topics and formats. 

Yes. Collaborative events are welcome and often lead to especially engaging formats. Please let us know about your collaborating partners when booking your event so we can reflect this accurately in the programme.

Events that do not meet our festival standards (scientific quality, societal relevance, and an engaging, accessible format) may not be included. Purely promotional or commercial events are not eligible. Events that do not align with our Guiding Principles will also not be considered.

We will gladly advise you in choosing the best available time for your event. When scheduling your event, you will be able to choose from an available list of dates, times, and durations. While there is some flexibility in the planning, special scheduling requests need to be discussed on a case-by-case basis.  

Please note that available event and exhibition stand slots are booked on a first come, first serve basis.  

Events can be held in German, English, or both. Please indicate the event language during registration so we can communicate it clearly to audiences. For English events, we can help arrange simultaneous translation into German.   

Unfortunately, we are unable to actively support with speaker curation and management. However, we are happy to provide suggestions or pointers. 

While we are here to advise you on the organisation and implementation of the event, the detailed planning and choosing of your event topic remain your responsibility. Our producer will make sure to check in about all relevant details of your planning and ensure your event goes smoothly. 

Once you have decided on a date and time for your event with our team and have registered your event via our online platform, you will receive a binding offer from our team within a week of submission. From this point on, you will have 3 weeks to submit the signed offer and secure the event.  

We understand that plans can change. If you need to cancel your event, please inform us as soon as possible at info@berlinscienceweek.com so we can update the programme and communicate any changes to the public. Please note that, for signed offers, predefined cancellation periods and fees apply.  

Booking an event or exhibition stand in the Festival Centre includes: 

• Standard technical set-up (see exposé for details) 
• Support with planning and coordination from our Berlin Science Week producer 
• Cleaning and security services
• On site visitor management, technical support, and additional support from our volunteers
• An invitation to the Berlin Science Week Opening Night on 01 November 2026 at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin

Yes. All Festival Centre Partners must have standard liability insurance (Haftpflichtversicherung). For more information on the legal requirements, you can refer to our Terms of Use, which will be sent to you with our formal offer.  

Yes. We kindly ask that those who have booked exhibition stands always ensure that at least one person is present at the stand to answer questions, engage with the audience, and mind the equipment. We advise planning groups of at least two people each day, as the exchange with the audiences can get quite tiring. 

The set-up of the exhibition stands will take place on 05 November, in the afternoon. The take-down will take place on 09 November during the day. More details will be communicated in due course. 

No, we are unfortunately unable to coordinate transport for our participating institutions. Partners are responsible for organising transport to and from the Haus der Kulturen der Welt. We will happily coordinate with you regarding the delivery and pick-up of your materials. 

If you would like to organise a get-together for your guests or participants, we will gladly support. Catering can be arranged on-site and several options are available. Please let us know what you would be interested in, and we can connect you with our partners.  

While recordings and livestream services are not part of the standard packages, we can organise these upon request. Single or multiple-camera set-ups are available.  

Yes. Events at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt are free to attend. Free online registration is required to enter the building. Registration for the Festival Centre is handled by the Berlin Science Week team.  

Yes. In order to ensure equitable access for all, events in the Festival Centre must be free to attend. The only possible exception applies for events held in the Auditorium. This will be decided on a case-by-case basis, in consultation with partners.  

In order to facilitate easy access to the events, we kindly ask that participation be possible without registration. The only exception applies to workshops, as they are formats with a limited number of participants. In the case of workshops, the Berlin Science Week team will take care of setting up the registration platform, managing guests on site, and coordinating with the organising institution.  

The Berlin Science Week team is responsible for overall guest management on site, including access to individual events. In the case of separate guest/VIP lists, we kindly ask that you manage their attendance on site. 

Yes, the Haus der Kulturen der Welt is entirely wheelchair accessible.  

Yes. Our safer space concept will be visible on site and will be included in all the team and volunteer briefings. If you would like to find out more, please contact us. Alongside the Berlin Science Week volunteers, the Haus der Kulturen der Welt also has dedicated team members who are tasked with supporting on site.  

All formats at our Festival Centre include the following communications measures: 

• A detailed event page for each of your events in our online programme, presented as part of Berlin Science Week and as part of the Festival Centre 
• A short event entry in the Berlin Science Week Tagesspiegel Magazine and in the printed Festival Centre programme available to visitors on site 
• A partner media kit with digital assets
• Visibility through the festival’s citywide communications campaign 

Yes. By participating in the festival, you agree to always include Berlin Science Week in all communication related to your event. A logo set and digital assets will be provided in due course. Please make sure to tag @berlinscienceweek in your communications on social media.  

Photography is included when you book an exhibition stand or an event in the Auditorium. For other event formats, professional event photography can be booked per event and includes five high-quality photos capturing key moments and speakers. Images are professionally prepared and delivered within 48 hours, ready to share across your networks, press, social media, or reports. 

To book event photography or arrange recordings of your event, please contact our team at info@berlinscienceweek.com or mention your interest during your consultation call. 

Our main channels highlight the festival as a whole, and we cannot guarantee individual promotion for every Festival Centre event. However, we regularly feature a curated selection of events across our platforms and put a lot of emphasis on events in the Festival Centre. You’re encouraged to use the media kit and branding assets to promote your event through your own channels. 

If you’d like to guarantee social media promotion via the Berlin Science Week channels, please have a look at our Communication Packages here.   

Yes. By registering your event, you agree to include Berlin Science Week in all communication measures for your event. If you’re creating flyers, posters, or other promotional materials, please make sure to use our logo.