“The research being done into outer space is wonderfully exciting,” says Prof. Dr. Frank Bertoldi from the Argelander Institute for Astronomy, who has provided expert support to the project. “Not only does it cover the origin, development and structure of the cosmos, it also allows us to explore the origins of life on Earth and the world of the tiniest elementary particles that exist. We’d like to invite young people in particular to explore this wealth of fascinating topics all about the small and large universe for themselves.” The Argelander Institute for Astronomy created the exhibit in partnership with the Blocks of Matter and Fundamental Interactions Transdisciplinary Research Area (TRA Matter) and the enaCom Transfer Center as well as other University institutions.
The three-dimensional exhibit is a kind of maze of possible decisions that visitors can move through by directing a playing piece. Guided by the question of “What would you like to explore in the universe?”, they thus get closer and closer in a fun way to one of a total of 13 areas of research focus spread across four broader thematic fields (Outer Space, Our Earth, Life and Models). At each of the various destinations, a postcard provides some initial insight into the topic and some inspiration for relevant study options. A web page linked to the exhibit (www.faszination.uni-bonn.de) also supplies further information and additional material produced by researchers at the University of Bonn. Much of this takes the form of “research assignments,” short tasks that visitors can tackle after seeing the exhibit, e.g. at school, to gain some deeper insights into science.
“The project thus combines several opportunities for engaging in dialogue about science in order to bring young people into contact with science,” says Dr. Florentin Schmidt, Innovation Scout at the enaCom Transfer Center. Dr. Birgit Westernströer, manager of the TRA Matter, has this to say on the purpose behind this dialogue: “The focus is on people getting active themselves and developing their own interests in various topics and methods. That’s how research becomes something tangible.”
Researchers from the fields of astronomy, biology, chemistry, geography, geology, mathematics and physics had a particularly large hand in creating the research assignments for the various topics. “The exhibit shows just how diverse and interdisciplinary the research is that’s being done not only into the universe but also at the University as a whole,” says Prof. Dr. Andreas Zimmer, Vice Rector for Research and Early-Career Researchers. “It is precisely this collaboration on specific topics and research questions across discipline boundaries that’s so key to the University of Bonn.”
After leaving Berlin later today (May 9), the ship will sail through Germany and Austria along various rivers. The floating exhibition will be moored on the banks of the Rhine in Bonn between August 3 and 6, where an evening panel discussion entitled “Schwarze Löcher und die Grenzen von Raum und Zeit” (“Black Holes and the Limits of Space and Time”), part of the “Dialog an Deck” (“Dialogue on Deck”) series, will also be held from 6 pm onward on August 4.
Visit www.faszination.uni-bonn.de for more information on the content of the University of Bonn’s exhibit and the research assignments for schoolchildren to work on independently.
All the tour dates and further information about the “MS Wissenschaft” are available from https://ms-wissenschaft.de/en/.
The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) has been organizing the Science Years since 2000 in partnership with Wissenschaft im Dialog (WiD). The initiative aims to get people more interested in science and foster a dialogue about research in society: https://www.wissenschaftsjahr.de/2023/english.
The institutions involved
The Building Blocks of Matter and Fundamental Interactions Transdisciplinary Research Area (TRA Matter) is one of six that have formed a key pillar of the University of Bonn since 2019, serving as spaces for exploration and innovation and focusing on a wide range of topics. TRA Matter’s main research objective is to investigate nature on different length scales in order to understand how the building blocks of matter interact and complex structures are created:
https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/research-and-teaching/research-profile/transdisciplinary-research-areas/tra-matter/tra-matter?set_language=en
The Argelander Institute for Astronomy is a research institute with seven research groups that tackle some of the problems thrown up by modern astrophysics. As an institution of the University of Bonn, it is committed to supporting its research, its teaching and, in particular, its students. The University is one of only a handful in Germany to offer an MSc degree program in Astrophysics, while even BSc students in Physics can choose a large number of courses with astronomy content:
https://astro.uni-bonn.de/en
The enaCom Transfer Center assists members of the University of Bonn from their initial idea for a start-up right through to their final transfer project in collaboration with representatives from the private sector, society and the political sphere. It advises on and supports activities along the various paths to a successful transfer as well as specific transfer projects:
https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/research-and-teaching/transfer-center-enacom/transfercenter-enacom?set_language=en
