Science festival "Highlights of Physics" presents exciting research on Ernst-August-Platz in Hannover in September

The "Highlights of Physics" offer a wide range of activities for visitors of all ages: physicists from Hanover and all over Germany will be on hand at Ernst-August-Platz to answer questions from the interested public about their current research work. "Playfully understanding the world, exchanging ideas directly with researchers and rediscovering or reviving enthusiasm for physics is at the heart of the "Highlights of Physics"," explains Prof. Dr Klaus Richter, President of the German Physical Society (DPG). Under the motto "From the very smallest to the very largest", they will present news from the world of quanta to cosmology. "Curiosity is the most important driver of scientific progress and new insights into physics," adds Richter. 

Physics is the fundamental science for understanding our world

"With this popular science festival, Hanover will be the centre of physics in Germany for a week. The colourful programme brings research to life for everyone. The topic of quanta, for example, is now on everyone's lips. But what does that mean? At the Highlights of Physics, there will be understandable answers and hands-on experiments on this and many other questions," says Prof Dr Silke Ospelkaus, spokesperson for the QuantumFrontiers Cluster of Excellence. Together with the second Cluster of Excellence at Leibniz University Hannover, PhoenixD, the two research alliances have taken over the local scientific management of the festival this year. "It is a great pleasure for us that this renowned science festival is setting up camp in a central location in Hanover this year," says PhoenixD spokesperson Prof Dr Uwe Morgner: "Physics is the fundamental science for understanding our world and developing new applications from it - from the internet to the atomic clock. We cordially invite everyone from the city and the surrounding area to experience the fascination of scientific contexts at the festival and to engage in dialogue with physicists."

Lectures, competitions and workshops for all age groups

Daily lecture series on the Cumberland stage and in the atrium of the University of Hanover offer the opportunity to look over the shoulders of well-known scientists, such as marine researcher Antje Boetius, as they do their work. A particular focus of the "Highlights of Physics" is an extensive programme for children and young people - from activities for primary school children to career advice. Science shows, quiz events and children's theatre plays will convey physics concepts intuitively and playfully. The junior laboratory enables young visitors to carry out experiments under expert guidance. In the nationwide "exciting physics" competition, schoolchildren from year five onwards can have their self-made exhibits assessed by an expert jury and win great prizes. Challenging workshops will round off the programme.

Stunts in the James Bond films: fiction or physics?

The "Highlights of Physics" will kick off on 23 September at the Theater am Aegi: the evening lecture by university professor and TV presenter Harald Lesch will be all about the "Sun, Moon and Stars", accompanied by music from the quartet Quadro Nuevo. At the end of the week of events, Prof Dr Metin Tolan, Communicator Award winner and President of the University of Göttingen, will examine whether the spectacular effects shown in James Bond movies reconcile with the laws of physics. The Ärzteorchester Hannover will accompany Tolan's lecture on 28 September in the Theater am Aegi with the world-famous music from the spy series.

Admission to the entire science festival is free.
For individual events with limited seating,
such as the evening lectures,
free registration is mandatory in advance
via the website www.highlights-physik.de.

Background information

The "Highlights of Physics" were launched in 2001 by the DPG (German Physical Society) and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The science festival has attracted up to 60,000 visitors in recent years. It tours from city to city with changing themes. The two Clusters of Excellence at Leibniz University Hannover, PhoenixD and QuantumFrontiers, provide local scientific management and support for this year's edition. The DPG organises the Science Festival 2024 with funding from the Wilhelm and Else Heraeus Foundation in Hanau. The "Highlights of Physics" are also supported by numerous other institutions such as ams OSRAM, Niedersachsenmetall, TÜV NORD and Laseroptik GmbH, with 'Mein EinkaufsBahnhof' as a cooperation partner.

The non-profit Wilhelm and Else Heraeus Foundation promotes research and education in the natural sciences, especially physics. The foundation organises international specialist conferences and seminars, supports school projects and extracurricular places of learning, and is involved in teachers' training. Founded in 1963 by the physicist and industrialist Dr Wilhelm Heinrich Heraeus and his wife Else Heraeus, the foundation works closely with the German Physical Society. Further information at: we-heraeus-stiftung.de

You can download the press release here. 
On the official festival website you will find further information and press photos.
Please visit https://www.highlights-physik.de/presse

Contact persons for media representatives are: 

Media office "Highlights of Physics"                           Leibniz University Hannover
c/o iserundschmidt GmbH                                                 Department of Communication and Marketing
Ruben Düchting                                                                      Mechtild Freiin v. Münchhausen

Phone: 0228 55525-25                                                          Phone: 0511 762 5342
Fax: 0228 55525-19                                                                Fax: 0511 762 5391
Email: highlights@dpg-mail.de                                       Email: kommunikation@uni-hannover.de