Project coordination:

• Stefanie Schroeder, Directorate 8, ServiceCenterStudies, Mentoring Program

The “Architecture Talks” program connects pupils of secondary schools in Saxony with those active in the fields of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at TU Dresden in a project week at the COSMO Science Forum. It addresses architectural and landscape planning topics in schools as places of learning and living. The project week ends with presentations of ideas and designs at TU Dresden and an exhibition during the Dresden Science Night at the COSMO Science Forum.

The project is organized in collaboration with Architektenkammer Sachsen, Saxony’s Chamber of Architects.

Please see the web pages of the ServiceCenterStudies for more information.

Project coordination:

• Dr. Doreen Pretze (Carus Center for Teaching Excellence)
• Stephan Wiegand (Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus at TU Dresden, Press Office)

The “YOU ASK we explain” project was launched in 2023 to give the public the opportunity to ask doctors and scientists their questions on critical medical issues. In 2024, the range of topics will be expanded to include life sciences, information technology, and construction, as many people are interested in topics where these disciplines intersect such as: Will I only be operated on by a robot in the future? Will AI do the thinking for us? Where is the empathy for people in the midst of all this new technology?

The series will retain its successful approach: First, the issue will be explained, which will then facilitate a discussion between experts and those interested in the topic. Questions on the individual topics can be submitted in advance or during the recording. The episodes are recorded as a kind of round table discussion in which the public can participate. Discussions are professionally recorded and made available as podcasts on a variety of channels.

Further information

Project coordination:

• Nadja Bauer (Directorate 8, ServiceCenterStudies)

Pupils attending schools in Lusatia can become climate heroes! The format, which was launched in 2023, will be continued in Lusatia in 2024. It offers a space for dedicated pupils to develop their ideas on how to combat climate change, to raise awareness of the efficacy of these ideas, to connect with like-minded people and to understand the value of their contributions. During the program, the pupils will receive support and encouragement from TUD researchers and follow the guidance of the latest scientific findings.

The project was honoured with the eku Future Prize for Energy, Climate and Environment in Saxony in the science category.

In 2021, the Department of University Culture launched the TUD Lectures series in which experts from a broad range of disciplines at the TU Dresden examine current topics. In lectures, the experts present their knowledge in a transparent and understandable way. During the Q&A session afterwards, participants have the opportunity to talk to the scientists.

More Information

Project leadership:

• Dr. Karoline Oehme-Jüngling (School of Humanities and Social Sciences)

The “Migration in East Germany in the museum – exhibition, education, intervention” project (OMiM) is a science communication project that supports the citizen science project entitled “Migration in East Germany: Your story told in your own words” (MigOst), which is being funded by the BMBF. With OMiM, findings from MigOst will be incorporated into an exhibition project at the Stadtmuseum Cottbus. The exhibition is being developed using the City Lab method, where MigOst researchers, people with migration experience, and staff from the Stadtmuseum work together.

Project leadership:

• Prof. Wolfgang E. Nagel, Center for Interdisciplinary Digital Sciences
• Jun.-Prof. Matthew McGinity, Junior Professorship in Immersive Media

Developments in information technology – especially digitalization processes – permeate and shape all areas of our lives. As places of knowledge and its dissemination, universities have a responsibility to communicate their research topics outside the scientific community, to make these comprehensible, and to discuss them with the public. This social responsibility also includes a commitment to contribute to the conditions for the understanding of technology among the public. For this reason, the exhibition aims to inform and educate about the potential, limits, opportunities, and risks of digitalization. The exhibition will function as a platform for knowledge and discussion.

The interactive pilot exhibition will present prototypes and demonstrations of current research from the Center for Interdisciplinary Digital Sciences (CIDS) in combination with historical objects from the university collections.

Project coordination:

• Dr. Doreen Pretze (Carus Center for Teaching Excellence)
• Stephan Wiegand (Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus at TU Dresden, Press Office)

The “YOU ASK we explain” project will give the public the opportunity to ask physicians and researchers their questions about critical medical issues. Topics such as sex- and gender-sensitive medicine, radiation therapy, palliative care, AI in the operating theater, or medical errors evoke fear in many people and cause them to reflect on these topics. A team of physicians and researchers will discuss submitted questions in a 60 to 90-minute podcast moderated by students. The focus is not always on a straightforward answer to the question, but on the ability to critically engage with a topic.

Further information

Project coordination:

• Prof. Melanie Humann (Chair of Urbanism and Design, Faculty of Architecture)

This project explores the Ore Mountains, or Erzgebirge – the region’s stories and resources, its identities and unique characteristics, its present and future – together with the people in the region.

Since 1989, the region has been undergoing structural change, strongly characterized by emigration. Images and metaphors pertaining to this (such as the “dying region,” “being left behind”) have become firmly entrenched in people’s minds both within the region and beyond, despite opposing trends. In German regional development, this mental straitjacket is known as deep framing. In addition, the Erzgebirge region has received a great deal of media attention in recent years as a stronghold of the right-wing populist political party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) and as a region of anti-vaxxers. On November 17, 2021, it even made international news in a New York Times report on “Europe's Covid Culture War,” coming directly from a bar in Annaberg-Buchholz.

For dialog on the present and future of the Ore Mountain region, the project strives to overcome these prejudices and stereotypes. It invites the public to consider other perspectives, to offer different points of view and to discuss them on site.

The project therefore comprises three elements:

• The Erzgebirge Atlas, which provides a wide range of useful information about the region (based on preliminary student work from the 2021/22 winter semester and 2022 summer semester)
• A traveling exhibition of the Erzgebirge Atlas for market squares and other locations
• Four 2-day thematic interactive events in the Ore Mountain region. Together, these three elements address a broad audience and inspire open, social and academic dialog.

Further information on http://erzgebirgeatlas.de/ and Instagram

Project coordination:

• Prof. Dr. Julia Enxing (Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Science, Chair of Systematic Theology at the Institute of Catholic Theology)
• Prof. Dr. Frank Nestmann (Faculty of Education, Research Group on Human Animal Relations)
• Prof. Dr. Sven Herzog (Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Lectureship for Wildlife Ecology and Management at the Institute of Silviculture and Forest Protection)

With the event series “Human Animal Relations – Interdisciplinary Perspectives”, the Chair of Systematic Theology, the Research Group on Human Animal Relations of the Faculty of Education and the Lectureship for Wildlife Ecology and Management want to shed light on the complex and ambivalent relationship between humans and animals. The events will debate the various aspects of this relationship, such as the economization and use of animals, as well as the question of society’s appreciation of non-human life.

 Further information on the series of events

Project coordination:

• Nadja Bauer (Directorate 8, ServiceCenterStudies)

Pupils attending climate schools in Saxony can become climate heroes! This new program offers a space for dedicated pupils to develop their ideas on how to combat climate change, to raise awareness of the efficacy of these ideas, to connect with like-minded people and to understand the value of their contributions. During the program, the pupils will receive support and encouragement from TUD researchers and follow the guidance of the latest scientific findings.

Project coordination:

• Dr. Karoline Oehme-Jüngling (Center for Integration Studies)

“Performing MigOst: Migration Research Onstage” describes itself as a science communication project that supports the citizen science project currently running at the Center for Integration Studies entitled “Migration in East Germany: Your story told in your own words” (MigOst), a project that is being funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research until February 29, 2024. “Performing MigOst” aims to translate research findings to a theater production, to make new discoveries during the development of theatrical material, and then to make this accessible to the wider public.

The “Performing MigOst” project is thematically related to the “MigOst” citizen science project and explores the biographies of people with experiences of migration in East Germany. The aim is to initiate analysis of migration experiences in East Germany and to encourage reflection on these matters in collaboration with those who have had firsthand experience of migration themselves.

Further information on MigOst

In 2021, the Department of University Culture launched the TUD Lectures series in which experts from a broad range of disciplines at the TU Dresden examine current topics. In lectures of up to 1 1/2 hours, the experts present their knowledge in a transparent and understandable way. The TUD Lectures are addressed to the TUD community and all interested participants.

More Information

Coordination:

• Elisabeth Krollpfeiffer, project and communication coordination university and society

The International Weeks Against Racism is a nationwide campaign promoting solidarity with those affected by and those fighting against racism. The campaign takes place annually around March 21, the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

The theme of this year’s International Weeks Against Racism is “Speak up.” TU Dresden is taking this prompt to heart and participating in the nationwide campaign by hosting various events in the weeks from March 20 to April 6, 2023.

Project coordination:

• Dr. Barbara Ditsch (Botanical Garden)

“Triff die Koryphäe unter der Konifere” (“Meet the Luminary under the Conifer”) is a series of events organized by the Botanical Garden of TUD. The series enables citizens and scientists to spark up conversation with one another in the informal atmosphere of the Botanical Garden. The focus is on the questions and impulses of the guests, so that an open conversation can develop between the visitors and researchers.

Please find further information on the web pages of the Botanical Garden.

• Curated by: Philippe Fanghänel and Dr. Anna Kraft (National Center for Tumor Diseases Dresden (NCT/UCC)), Gwendolin Kremer (Custody of TUD)

In drawings, paintings, pictorial objects as well as installative sculptural works and a film essay, artists reflect on therapeutic procedures and innovative approaches in cancer medicine and research. In a very personal way, the artworks invite the viewer to engage with the possibilities and advances in oncological research and therapy.

Further information on the exhibition

Contact at TUD:

• Dr. André Lindner, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering

United Nations Day has been celebrated for nine years. The focus is on a key theme of the United Nations. This year, the programme is dedicated to Sustainable Development Goal 6 " Clean water and sanitation". To mark the occasion, TUD and its partners are offering a diverse programme on this theme on 9 November 2023.

Further information

Project coordination:

• Prof. Dr. Henning Haupt (Faculty of Architecture, Chair of Foundations in Art and Architecture)

The project "Science creates space" will make research results from different disciplines accessible in the public space and encourage discussion. Based on a common theme and specific questions, scientists and artists will develop subject-specific and interdisciplinary approaches in four sub-projects that will lead to a collaboratively designed experience space that inspires dialogue.

Further information

Project coordination:

• Prof. Dr. Henning Haupt (Faculty of Architecture, Chair of Foundations in Art and Architecture)

The project "Science creates space" will make research results from different disciplines accessible in the public space and encourage discussion. Based on a common theme and specific questions, scientists and artists will develop subject-specific and interdisciplinary approaches in four sub-projects that will lead to a collaboratively designed experience space that inspires dialogue.

Further information

Project coordination:

• Dr. Barbara Ditsch (Botanical Garden)

“Triff die Koryphäe unter der Konifere” (“Meet the Luminary under the Conifer”) is a series of events organized by the Botanical Garden of TUD. The series enables citizens and scientists to spark up conversation with one another in the informal atmosphere of the Botanical Garden. The focus is on the questions and impulses of the guests, so that an open conversation can develop between the visitors and researchers.

Please find further information on the web pages of the Botanical Garden.

Project coordination:

• Dr. Karoline Oehme-Jüngling (Center for Integration Studies)

“Society in Dialogue” was launched in 2020 – at that time, it was still known under the title “Diversity in Dialogue”. It will be continued in 2022. The series of events will continue to follow the basic idea of the previous funding years, but with a different thematic focus. The long-term goal of the series is to build a Saxony-wide network between universities, institutes of applied science, political education providers and local actors in order to establish scientifically sound projects on fundamental democratic issues. This will be coordinated by the Center for Integration Studies.

Please find further information on the web pages of the Center for Integration Studies.

Project coordination:

• Prof. Dr. Julia Enxing (Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Science, Chair of Systematic Theology at the Institute of Catholic Theology)
• Prof. Dr. Frank Nestmann (Faculty of Education, Research Group on Human Animal Relations)
• Prof. Dr. Sven Herzog (Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Lectureship for Wildlife Ecology and Management at the Institute of Silviculture and Forest Protection)

With the event series “Human Animal Relations – Interdisciplinary Perspectives”, the Chair of Systematic Theology, the Research Group on Human Animal Relations of the Faculty of Education and the Lectureship for Wildlife Ecology and Management want to shed light on the complex and ambivalent relationship between humans and animals. The events will debate the various aspects of this relationship, such as the economization and use of animals, as well as the question of society’s appreciation of non-human life.

Further information

Project coordination:

• Beate Herm (Centre for Continuing Education)

With the series of workshops “Science for Society”, the Center for Continuing Education will offer academic staff at TUD a continuing education program in the field of science communication. The aim of the workshops is to enable scientists to expand their repertoire for science communication and to present their research results to a non-scientific audience in an exciting, creative, understandable and appropriate way. Exciting and comprehensible presentations can build bridges between science and society, which in turn contributes to a reduction of mistrust in science.

The offers of the Center for Continuing Education can be found in the Continuing Education Catalogue.

In 2021, the Department of University Culture launched the TUD Lectures series in which experts from a broad range of disciplines at the TU Dresden examine current topics. In lectures of up to 1 1/2 hours, the experts present their knowledge in a transparent and understandable way. The TUD Lectures are addressed to the TUD community and all interested participants.

More Information

Coordination:

• Anja Wiede (Contact person in cases of harassment, discrimination, violence)

The International Weeks Against Racism is a nationwide campaign promoting solidarity with those affected by and those fighting against racism. The campaign takes place annually around March 21, the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

The motto of this year’s International Weeks is “Show attitude“. TUD is also firmly opposed to racism and committed to mutual respect, open-mindedness, tolerance and social cohesion.

In order to enter into dialogue on the topic of "racism", the Center for Integration Studies and the TUD Complaints Office have organised various events as part of the action weeks. The events organised by the Complaints Office are sponsored by "TUD in Dialogue".

Contact at TUD:

• Dr. André Lindner, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering

United Nations Day has been celebrated for nine years. The focus is on a key theme of the United Nations. This year, the programme is dedicated to Sustainable Development Goal 16 "Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions". To mark the occasion, TUD and its partners are offering a diverse programme on the theme of "Culture of Peace" on 3 November 2022.

Co-organisers: UNU-FLORES; Landesverband Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt und Thüringen der Deutschen Gesellschaft für die Vereinten Nationen (DGVN); Landeshauptstadt Dresden; Technische Universität Dresden (School of Civil and Environmental Engineering (Administration), Center for International Studies);  Lokale Agenda 21 für Dresden e.V.; Lions Club Dresden Agenda 21

Further information

Coordination: 

• Elisabeth Krollpfeiffer and Monique Rust, Directorate 9 – University Culture, Unit University and Society

Everyone would like to believe they are tolerant. However, whether it’s climate change, migration policy or gender-neutral language – when different opinions clash, the picture tends to change. Most of the time, we are prone to consider only our own opinion valid. At the same time, our democratic constitution accords freedom of expression as a fundamental right. So, how should we respond to the opinions of others, especially if they do not correspond with our own? How can we learn not to judge too quickly? And where are the limits to tolerance and freedom of opinion?

With the International Day of Tolerance taking place on November 16, TUD and the Saxon State and University Library Dresden (SLUB) held a workshop titled “MEINUNGSVERSCHIEDENHEIT” (“Difference in Opinion”) on two days in November. The workshop encouraged participants to question their own views and inspire tolerance for other opinions, and was conducted by Aktion Zivilcourage.

The beginning of the workshop highlighted the causes and mechanisms of marginalization and discrimination. Using examples and group exercises, participants tried out methods for addressing prejudice and making decisions that could be applied in everyday life. The aim was to scrutinize the image we have of ourselves and others, to improve decision-making skills and to encourage respectful interaction with others.

Project coordination:

• Dr. Karoline Oehme-Jüngling (Center for Integration Studies)
• Dr. Julia Schulze Wessel (anDemos – Institut für angewandte Demokratie- und Sozialforschung e.V.)
• Dr. Oliviero Angeli (Mercator Forum Migration and Democracy)
• Prof. Dr. Michael Kobel (Chair of Particle Physics and Vice-Rector Academic Affairs at TUD, volunteer head of the working group on work and training for refugees in the network Willkommen in Löbtau e.V.)

"Society in Dialogue" is a project of the TUD in which various cooperation partners from civil society and scientists engage in a dialogue with a broad public in Saxony on topics of migration, integration, and also on issues of discrimination and racism. In different formats such as art workshops, readings, panel discussions and an open conference, new perspectives on topics of the migration society are jointly developed and discussed against the background of current research findings and practical experiences.

Please find further information on the web pages of the Center for Integration Studies.

Project coordination:

• Dr. Barbara Ditsch (Botanical Garden)

“Triff die Koryphäe unter der Konifere” (“Meet the Luminary under the Conifer”) is a series of events organized by the Botanical Garden of TUD. The series enables citizens and scientists to spark up conversation with one another in the informal atmosphere of the Botanical Garden. The focus is on the questions and impulses of the guests, so that an open conversation can develop between the visitors and researchers.

Further information on the series of events

Project coordination:

• Prof. Dr. Philipp Kanske (Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy (ICPP))

The aim of the future workshop is to develop a common vision of the future for all employees for the cooperation at the ICPP. This overarching goal is pursued on three levels in particular. Important goals, which the ICPP strives for intensively through the future workshop, are the development of a mission statement, the optimization of work and cooperation at the ICPP as well as the assurance of good scientific practice (according to the compliance requirements of the TUD). The crucial points of the future workshop are the principles of the compliance strategy: appreciation, mutual respect, honesty and transparency. The implementation and consolidation of these principles will be worked on in depth, particularly with regard to scientific compliance (good scientific practice), administrative and financial compliance (such as anti-corruption), and interpersonal compliance.

Project coordination:

• Dr. Helge Fischer (Center for Open Digital Innovation and Participation (CODIP))

edLUDO supports the development and establishment of a TUD-wide community on the topic of "Game-Based Learning/Gamification". The aim is to develop a cross-institutional network with the help of which the topic can be worked on interdisciplinarily, project partnerships can be established and actors can be connected with each other in a scientific discourse. The dialogue between the various scientists and external stakeholders is to be promoted both virtually via a website and its associated channels (newsletter, blog) as well as via (hybrid) events.

Please find further information on the website of the project.

In 2021, the Department of University Culture launched the TUD Lectures series in which experts from a broad range of disciplines at the TU Dresden examine current topics. In lectures of up to 1 1/2 hours, the experts present their knowledge in a transparent and understandable way. The TUD Lectures are addressed to the TUD community and all interested participants.

More Information

Project coordination:

• Dr. Karoline Oehme-Jüngling (Center for Integration Studies)
• Dr. Julia Schulze Wessel (anDemos – Institut für angewandte Demokratie- und Sozialforschung e.V.)
• Dr. Oliviero Angeli (Mercator Forum Migration and Democracy)
• Prof. Dr. Michael Kobel (Chair of Particle Physics and Vice-Rector Academic Affairs at TUD, volunteer head of the working group on work and training for refugees in the network Willkommen in Löbtau e.V.)

"Diversity in Dialogue" is a series of events at the TU Dresden that aims to enter into a conversation with a broad public in Saxony about topics of migration and integration in the fall/winter of 2020. With different formats such as an art workshop, readings and panel discussions, new perspectives on topics of the migration society are to be jointly developed and discussed against the background of current research findings and practical experiences.

Please find further information on the web page of the project.

For more than 50 years, sociologists have been talking about the transformation of industrial society into a knowledge society, which would lead to a victory of knowledge over non-knowledge. This expectation was also linked to the hope that, as knowledge became more accessible, communication would become increasingly rational. In the meantime, this has proven to be a thorough error. The knowledge society is not characterized by a general broadening of knowledge, but by a generalized distrust of experts and institutions. It is characterized not by an increased rationality of communications but by increased emotionality, not by recognition but by disparagement. Invectivity, i.e., the modality of disparagement, which spreads quasi-ubiquitously in different constellations and with increasing dynamics, has thus become a central mode of social communication. What does this mean for the future dissemination and recognition of expertise? This question was addressed by the panel discussion of the Collaborative Research Center 1285: "Invectivity. Constellations and Dynamics of Disparagement". For more information, please visit the web page of the event.

Contact:

Thursday, 11 July 2019
9am–1pm
Conference building of the Institute of Wood Technology, Zellescher Weg 24

© peterschreiber.media - stock.adobe.com

As society changes, so does the role of science. Political statements and reports in the media – e.g. on climate change, migration or nutrition ­– increasingly show scepticism about science and problems in communication. For example, in public perception, it is apparently difficult to distinguish between different contributions from science, in particular between confirmed facts as opposed to theories.

The School of Humanities and Social Sciences and the School of Science, together with the Collaborative Research Centres 940 "Volition and Cognitive Control“ and 1285 "Invektivity. Constellations and Dynamics of Disparagement", took the initiative in accepting these interdisciplinary challenges. The “Fake Science?!” Future Lab on 11 July 2019 kicked off this process as part of the series of events “TU Dresden in Dialogue”. The Future Lab was also supported by the Sächsische Bibliotheksgesellschaft - SäBiG.

During the Future Lab, we discussed in six thematic circles, which contributions scientists can make to social discourse, why scepticism about science is growing in some sections of the population, how a devaluation of expert knowledge can be countered, and what constitutes appropriate science communication.

All interested members of TU Dresden and of the DRESDEN-concept institutions had the opportunity to contribute their experiences, ideas, topics and questions to the Future Lab "Fake Science?!”.

The Future Lab "FAKE SCIENCE?!" was funded by the Excellence Initiative of the German Federal and State Governments.