Programme 2023

Berlin, 28 September 2023: The mobility and energy transition, challenges and the future of work in science, advances in quantum technologies and nuclear fusion, and the synergy of art and science – Berlin Science Week announces the 2023 festival programme

• 1–10 November, 200 events and 500 speakers at the 8th Berlin Science Week
• “Creative Science, Precise Art”: for the first time ART & SCIENCE FORUM at Holzmarkt 25 with the Club Night: Berlin Science Week Closing Party
• The Berlin Science Week CAMPUS on 3 and 4 November with workshops, discussions and exhibitions at the Museum für Naturkunde under the motto “Dare to Know: Our Narratives, Our Future”
• The most important international scientific breakthroughs from 7 to 9 November at the Falling Walls Science Summit
• The entire program is now available at berlinscienceweek.com/programme/

The 8th Berlin Science Week starts on 1 November with Unwetter – a series of events at Humboldt University on the installation by painter and video artist Katharina Ziemke. Through the synergy of art and science, Unwetter addresses the multifaceted nature of storms as a weather phenomenon and as a metaphor for the ecological challenges of our time. On 3 November at the “Challenges in Sustainability: Enhancing Governance and Management for a Sustainable Transition” conference, Berlin Science Senator Ina Czyborra, EUREF-Campus Berlin Board Spokesperson Karin Teichmann and other participants will meet to discuss the energy and mobility transition and how close collaboration between research, academia and industry can contribute. Successful examples from the capital on the topic of energy transition will be presented at the event “Berlin saves energy” at the CAMPUS in the Museum für Naturkunde.

This year the festival will be extended to an additional location. In collaboration with the cultural center Holzmarkt 25, the Science Week ART & SCIENCE FORUM is dedicated to the interaction between research and artistic practice. “Science and creativity are the driving forces of Berlin. With the Art & Science Forum at Holzmarkt, we bring them together in an unconventional location, explore interfaces and create exciting new networks for the city of the future”, says Konstantin Krex, spokesman Holzmarkt 25.

Under the motto “Creative Science, Precise Art,” performances, pop-up formats, temporary exhibitions and artistic interventions will take place from 1 to 10 November, culminating in the Club Night: Berlin Science Week Closing Party on 10 November. The FORUM opens with a vernissage on 1 November and the live performance “Unravelling the Mind” by Berlin-based artist duo Witch’n’Monk, which tells of the hidden genius of brainless organisms.

On 5 November, the Art Fair market will take place, where 20 Berlin-based artists will offer for sale their creations inspired by science. In the evening, FORUM visitors can experience a unique “Quantum inspired Sounds” performance, where quantum physicists and sound artists present their joint compositions. In a solidarity action by Buddy Bear Berlin “Colors of Unity: Live Painting of Buddy Bear Sculpture for Ukraine” artist Ute Faber will paint the symbol of the capital, the Buddy Bear, which will later be gifted to the Embassy of Ukraine in Berlin.

On 9 and 10 November, the unidad.salgan festival of the Berlin University of the Arts will take place, where four young composers and their ensembles will present their works. Together with Pitt Rivers Museum from Oxford, TU Berlin, Humboldt University, and the Museum für Naturkunde will present the exhibition “Power in/of Collections”, which explores the power of collections and archives and the dynamics between museums, academic scholarship and artistic or activist endeavors. In total, there will be eight galleries in the FORUM that will be open to visitors during the festival.

CAMPUS Highlights (3 – 4 November, Museum für Naturkunde)

• Panel discussion organized by the Italian Embassy “Nuclear Fusion for a Decarbonized Future” with experts from the leading international research centers RFX Consortium (Italy), ITER (France), Naka Fusion Institute (Japan), Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (USA).
• What solutions can fungi and trees offer us in addressing climate change? – Using the examples of agroforestry in Lower Saxony, Germany, panelists at the GREEN RELOAD Talks event will discuss how the idea of acting with nature is changing the way we understand and approach agriculture, forestry, and mycosystems.
• “Forging Peace Through Lab Coats: Exploring the Power of Scientific Collaboration in Fostering International Tolerance and Understanding”: panel discussion on science diplomacy and how scientific collaboration and exchange can help strengthen diplomatic relations between countries.
• Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, German Informatics Society, CISPA School Lab, Einstein Research Unit on Quantum Devices, and other organizations will ask for exciting multimedia projects for children and adults in the interactive area “Discovery Space”.

The Norwegian Embassy, the Fridtjof Nansen Institute and the Alfred Wegener Institute will present the results of their scientific cooperation in the Arctic on 9 November. On the same day, Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach, Chairman of the Board of the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité Christopher Baum and other panelists will discuss potential ecosystems for innovations in cell and gene therapy at the conference “Future Medicine Science Match 2023 – Turning Research into Health an Ecosystem for Innovations in Cell and Gene Therapy.”

Falling Walls Science Summit (7–9 November, Radialsystem)
The 2023 Falling Walls Science Summit will present international scientific breakthroughs in Berlin. Among the renowned speakers this year are Nobel Laureate Benjamin List (Max Planck Institute for Coal Research), Tammy Ma (National Ignition Facility), Amina Helmi (Kapteyn Astronomical Institute), Matthias Tschöp (Helmholtz Munich), Ulrike Malmendier (University of California Berkley) and others.

About Berlin Science Week
Berlin Science Week is a 10-day international festival that brings together the world’s most innovative scientific organisations in Berlin and online to celebrate science and facilitate an open and interdisciplinary exchange of ideas and knowledge. With thousands of participants, it is one of the largest science events and takes place annually from 1 to 10 November. Berlin Science Week is organised with the support of the Senate Department for Science, Health, Care and Equality and Berlin Partner for Business and Technology. Coordination is provided by the non-profit Falling Walls Foundation.
berlinscienceweek.com