In January 2024, 16 Frankfurt-based research institutions joined forces to set up the "Frankfurt Alliance", made up of Goethe University Frankfurt and several non-university research institutions. With the aim of visualizing at an event held in the heart of the Main metropolis both the strength and the diversity of research conducted in the science city of Frankfurt and the larger Rhine-Main region, including its importance for society, the alliance invites you to the first "Science Festival", held
on Saturday, September 28, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
at Roßmarkt
in downtown Frankfurt.
The big and colorful family festival will bring science to life in multiple tents as well as on stage. Its diverse program ranges from science slams to debates on current socio-political topics and hands-on activities all the way to short lectures and musical performances. Researchers from different Goethe University faculties as well as the research-intensive institutes of Max Planck Society, Leibniz Association, Fraunhofer Society, Helmholtz Association, Paul-Ehrlich-Institut and the German Cancer Consortium will be providing insights into their research and will be on hand to answer questions and engage in discussion.
The program on stage will kick off with a panel discussion on the topic of (educational) justice, joined by DIPF | Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education. The discussion will focus not only on the connection between educational opportunities and social background, but also on social mobility and the important roles played by politics and research in decision-making processes. A comprehensive AI quiz in the form of a prompt battle, a talk and comedy interludes by the two quirky "professors" Dr. KNOW and Dr. HOW are also part of the program. Together with biologists and equipped with a magnifying glass, you can explore Roßmarkt's nooks and crannies, and discover what exactly is growing between the pavement joints and wall cracks. Wrapping up the festival will be a rap by Coodiny, aka Nikita Kudakov and his live band. Kudakov has been making music since he was a teenager and is now a doctoral candidate at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, where he is researching the interaction between rappers and their audience. The stage program will be moderated by Stephan Hübner from hr Info, the festival's media partner.
Accompanying the program on stage, each of the alliance's member institutions will have their own pagoda tent, offering insights into respective research activities. To name a few examples: In a joint tent, Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research and Goethe University Frankfurt will be presenting a walk-in model of the human heart, a central research object of the Cardio-Pulmonary Institute (CPI) cluster of excellence, which is dedicated to diseases of the cardiovascular system. The adjacent Goethe University tent will feature colorful flowers in bloom, as well as open studios for experimenting, painting and solving puzzles. In addition, scholars from the humanities, social and natural sciences will be presenting their own favorite topics as part of the series "Research close to my heart". Visitors to the Senckenberg Society for Nature Research's tent will be able to travel around the world and evaluate camera traps from Bolivia and South Africa, while the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF) will use the festival to collect visitors' ideas for peace. As part of its "Dive into the cell" activity, the Max Planck Institute for Biophysics is providing VR glasses that enable visitors to experience the building blocks of life from the inside, while two hands-on experiments from GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung show how particle accelerators work.
The festival invites passersby of all ages to not only be curious, but to join in the conversations, ask questions and learn more about science. Catering to visitors' culinary tastes will be food trucks serving regional specialties, while numerous deckchairs and seats invite passersby to stay and linger. The festival starts at 10 a.m. and ends at 7 p.m. Admission is free.
