Raindrops create excitement
Despite the bad weather - the first Long Night of Science was a success.
The most-clicked app last week was the weather forecast—at least among those involved in planning the “OHA! Science Adventure” Long Night of Science. If the weather holds, will we be able to enjoy a beautiful summer evening?
For six months, we’d been fine-tuning and working toward this day. After all, we had to put together a program that encompassed two cities, nine research institutions, and many other external offerings. An event website was set up, photographers were hired, and marketing strategies were devised and commissioned.
Unfortunately, the weather gods were not on our side (or perhaps someone hadn’t finished their plate the day before)—in any case, we made the difficult decision for Görlitz not to use the specially erected LED wall and wooden stage and to move the closing event to the Bluebox. Braving the inclement weather, the activities—spread across both cities—kicked off right on time at 4:00 p.m. After just under an hour, Martin Laqua from CASUS at the Untermarkt sent out an initial call for help: “We’re running low on stamp cards for the kids!” Not the worst sign. Fortunately, we were able to restock them in time.
Christian Düker from Senckenberg also had plenty of good news to report: new faces getting their first taste of the event, lots of children, long dwell times, and in-depth conversations. Prof. Meinert from the HSZG noted that the staff at his station could barely take a break. Many other stations in Zittau and Görlitz saw similarly high turnout from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Starting at 8:00 p.m., all the curious visitors gathered at the two university campuses. In Görlitz, the evening event began in the large lecture hall. Attendees were treated to an experiment show with interactive puzzles and three Science Slam presentations. But first, there were official opening remarks and a prize drawing for the successful stamp rally participants.
In Zittau, they were more daring. Despite an approaching rain cloud, the event kicked off at 8:00 p.m. outside on the campus grounds. The timing was good. Just in time for Prof. Weber’s science slam “Superficially Exciting! Or: A Story About Water Drops,” they arrived—the water drops. And since they weren’t just visible on the LED wall but could also be felt on people’s heads, the event was quickly moved to the nearby, sheltering lecture hall. This allowed the science quiz and science slams to be successfully brought to a close; the guests were clearly well entertained and subsequently enjoyed some lovely music under the lecture hall awning—even though it had long since stopped raining.
A lovely evening and a wonderful event then drew to a close. We’re pleased, including with the attendance figures—about 400 in Görlitz and 500 in Zittau. It was simply wonderful to see how many dedicated employees the nine participating research institutions in the region have and how many interested people live here.
Of course, there were a few hiccups here and there—as is often the case when you’re doing something for the first time. So if you attended the event or helped organize it and have any valuable feedback—including constructive criticism—about “OHA! Adventure in Science,” please feel free to share it at kristin.sprechert@hszg.de.
If you’d like to take another look at the fantastic program we offered, visit www.abenteuer-wissenschaft.de. There you’ll find some great highlights from the event in both cities.
All the staff members at the Senckenberg Museum, CASUS, IZS, Fraunhofer IOSB, Fraunhofer IWU, Fraunhofer IEG, DLR, IHI, and HSZG who contributed great activities and helped with setup and takedown. Dezibar, Bierblume, Vinyl, the Faculty Student Committees of F-E and F-S, and Jenny Böttcher for the food and drinks. Laura Jankowski, Marcel Schröder, Anass Halime, and Sven Müller for the wonderful photos and videos of the event. Mayor Zenker, Dr. Nicke, Mayor Ursu, Prof. Xylander, Prof. Kratzsch, and Prof. Kollmorgen for their opening remarks. Christian Düker and Julian Dutschke for their charming hosting of the evening events. The VHS Dreiländereck, the Dresden Chamber of Crafts, the MINOS Network, VDIni, the Erfinderkiste, and ENSO for their support with additional offerings. The university’s Public Relations Office and the division of Technical Administration & Facility Services, especially the building maintenance staff, electricians, and Ms. Grundmann. Thank you.
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