Programme Launch – Berlin Science Week

Berlin, 30 September 2021. Who owns the city and how will we work in the future? How does the European Research Area address the climate crisis, and how do we make AI safe? The 6th Berlin Science Week 2021 presents its programme with 200 events and top-class international participants – online and live!

Participating organisations include Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Berlin University Alliance, European Research Council, Berlin Research 50, Climate Change Center, Science Gallery Berlin & Detroit, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Gropius Bau, ETH Zurich, International Science Council, Futurium, University of Oxford, Science Advice for Policy by European Academies (SAPEA), Springer Nature, National Research Council Canada – and many more. The Berlin Science Week Campus at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin will host hybrid events and exhibitions on site on November 5 and 6.

The complete programme is now available at berlinscienceweek.com/programme/.

Berlin Science Week 2021 starts on 30 October at the Urania with the “Tabula-Rasa” day and lots of hands- on science. On 31 October Zeiss Grossplanetarium will host “Cosmic Kiss,” the livestream broadcast of the launch of ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer to the ISS. For the official start on 1 November with a total of 10 events, Sanam Naraghi Anderlini (Director of the Center for Women, Peace and Security at the London School of Economics and founder of the International Civil Society Action Network) will take over this year’s Queen’s Lecture.

Parallel to the UN Climate Change Conference COP26, important topics from the fields of climate change and sustainability will be discussed at Berlin Science Week. The transdisciplinary Climate Change Center will present the latest scientific results in its Climate:Lab series. The Swiss legal scholar Helen Keller, winner of the Madame de Staël Prize of the All European Academies (ALLEA), will report in her lecture on the first climate change lawsuits in the European Court of Human Rights and how the associated admissibility hurdles can be overcome. In the Campus, the BMBF will organise a panel discussion on the topic of sustainably anchoring climate protection in society and the economy with the question of how European research and innovation intends to tackle the climate crisis.

Berlin TXL- The Urban Tech Republic will provide digital insights into the future of the former Tegel Airport and its development into the capital’s next research and industrial hub. The new president of the European Research Council, Maria Leptin, will exchange views with representatives of the Berlin University Alliance on the transformative impact of science at the Campus on 6 November.

With “The Berlin-Detroit Axis of Techno,” Science Gallery Berlin & Detroit dive deep into the ’90s to share the history of the seminal electronic music genre. Picking up the same topic, Berlin University Alliance will discuss the role of clubs as important places for innovation and exchange and their future in the context of gentrification and rapid urban development.

Under the motto “Science Reunites Us,” the Falling Walls Science Summit will present scientific breakthroughs from around the world at Radialsystem V in Berlin from 7-9 November. Invited speakers include Özlem Türeci (BioNTech), Stefanie Arndt and Markus Rex (MOSAiC/Alfred Wegener Institute) and Donna Strickland (University of Waterloo), among many others.

More highlights of Berlin Science Week 2021 can be found at berlinscienceweek.com/programme. To register for separate events, please use the programme page of the respective organisation.