How did the idea come about?
I love talking about my science in an unconventional way – I like to entertain people and make them aware of what they don’t know yet but might find interesting. I really enjoy listening to science slams, but usually miss the vivid discussion afterwards. While there is effort in the direction of science pubs, I quickly found, that Berlin is lacking for science cafés – especially in Adlershof. So I thought: why not give it a try and see what Adlershof is able to show off?
What is the goal?
The technology park Adlershof is the biggest science cluster in Germany consisting of university, non-university research and companies in Adlershof – and they all have early career researchers they educate starting from bachelor students to postdocs. For me it is a personal urge to connect them and provide a platform to let them try themselves out.
In Science Café Adlershof complex research will be presented in an easy to follow and entertaining way by the scientists themselves – no matter of the area of expertise. This interdisciplinary exchange enables synergetic effects for your own research and for developing innovative concepts.
Why do we need a Science Café?
A science café connects researchers with everyone, who is interested. While I know most of the PhD students at BAM, it was difficult for me to connect with other non-university or university research institutes. Both the occasion and the platform were missing. I believe that this site in Adlershof consolidates from strong connections in between its institutes and in my understanding this should start as soon as possible.
At Science Café Adlershof students benefit from the unconventional exchange with grads, PhDs and Postdocs, while they can practice their presention skills with a broad and exciting target group.
How can people get involved?
Science Café Adlershof happens every second Tuesday of the month at 4 P.M. on the campus. You can join as a participant by listening to the 10 min talks and engage with questions in small groups or to the speakers themselves.
At each event, two speakers out of the many early career researchers in Adlershof will present their research to you – or it can be you, presenting your research to us! All you need is you and a research topic you are passionate about to explain it to a broad target group. Talks at Science Café Adlershof are in a science slam style and pretty different to specialist lectures – which makes it even more exciting to prepare and present.
In case of questions, please reach out to me via Twitter @sciencecafe_ah.