Science and Art Lab combines art and science Science Schaufenster opened in Braunschweig city centre

Joint press release by the city of Braunschweig and TU Braunschweig

The newly founded “Science and Art Lab” at Technische Universität Braunschweig combines science and art. With exhibitions, discussion evenings and workshops, the Science and Art Lab is aimed at an audience interested in scientific and artistic topics and their interrelationships. The Science and Art Lab now has a new base in the city centre: it is the first guest in the new Science Schaufenster (display window) at Waisenhausdamm 8, which opened on Tuesday 4 March.

The new Science Schaufenster at Waisenhausdamm 8 in Braunschweig. Photo credits: City of Braunschweig/Daniela Nielsen

The central idea behind the Science Schaufenster is to raise public awareness of research and science in the region in a low-threshold way, while at the same time making good use of vacant premises in the city centre. To this end, the city of Braunschweig is making a currently empty shop available to Braunschweig’s research institutions as a presentation space for two years and is daring to experiment: the Science Schaufenster explains science where it touches everyday life – in the heart of Braunschweig’s city centre.

“Our city’s research institutions are spread all over the city. With the centrally located Science Schaufenster, they now have the opportunity to offer cutting-edge research that people can touch and interact with,” says mayor Dr Thorsten Kornblum. “Science and research are moving out of the laboratory and into the heart of society, becoming visible and tangible through interaction and exchange. This is a central concern of the action plan adopted by the city council at the suggestion of the administration to make research and science in Braunschweig even more visible. The Science Schaufenster is an important part of this concept.”

“The Science Schaufenster provides a unique platform to reflect the breadth of research in our region. At the same time, it provides open access for all citizens to the exciting topics we are working on with our partners in our science ecosystem. In this way, we want to strengthen the interaction between research and society and develop and strengthen a common understanding of the innovative developments that will shape our future,” summarises Prof. Angela Ittel, president of TU and chair of the board of ForschungRegion. “We are particularly proud that the Science and Art Lab of TU Braunschweig is the first guest in the Science Schaufenster. The Science and Art Lab is not only a place where science and art meet, but also a space for the development of new perspectives and innovative ideas for all participants and visitors. By bringing these worlds together, we enable a new kind of creative and lively dialogue that helps us look at the complex challenges of our time from different perspectives. Science and art complement each other in their ability to make the invisible visible, and together contribute to the development of our society.”

TU president Angela Ittel and mayor Thorsten Kornblum opened the Science Schaufenster. Photo credits: City of Braunschweig/Daniela Nielsen

The city of Braunschweig is making a currently empty shop available to the research institutions of the ForschungRegion (research region) Braunschweig for two years as a presentation space. Photo credits: City of Braunschweig/Daniela Nielsen

Mayor Thorsten Kornblum: "Science and research are moving out of the laboratory and into the centre of society, becoming visible and tangible through interaction and exchange." Photo credits: City of Braunschweig/Daniela Nielsen

TU President Angela Ittel: "Science and art complement each other in their ability to make the invisible visible and thus together contribute to the further development of our society." Photo credits: City of Braunschweig/Daniela Nielsen

TU Braunschweig's Science and Art Lab is the first guest in the Science Schaufenster. Photo credits: City of Braunschweig/Daniela Nielsen

The Science and Art Lab combines science and art. Photo credits: City of Braunschweig/Daniela Nielsen

The region’s research institutions will present their respective areas of research and results. Until the beginning of June 2025, the Science and Art Lab of TU Braunschweig will reach out to the public with a variety of formats. Film screenings, discussion and lecture evenings are planned, as well as a duet format in which students from TU Braunschweig and the University of Fine Arts will jointly present their current artistic and scientific projects. The Science Schaufenster will also host a children’s disco and workshops for schoolchildren. Guest artist Mareike Bernien will also present her project for which she has been working with quantum researchers at TU Braunschweig since September 2024.

Science and art in dialogue

Dr Jule Hillgärtner and Henrike Wenzel co-direct the Science and Art Lab. Their aim is to provide a common platform for science and art to reflect on their respective approaches in an appreciative but also critical way. Their goal is to use the Science and Art Lab at TU Braunschweig to bring different fields of knowledge into dialogue with each other.

Jule Hillgärtner moved to TU Braunschweig in the spring of 2024 as director of the Kunstverein (art association) Braunschweig for the Science and Art Lab in order to contribute her expertise and network in the international art and exhibition business. The art historian Henrike Wenzel has been working at the TU Braunschweig Project House since 2016 and will also contribute her expertise to the Science and Art Lab as a developer of the cultural venue DIE H_LLE and as co-founder and chairwoman of the KUNSTVEREIN DIE H_LLE e.V.. The pilot phase of the Science and Art Lab is funded by Stiftung (foundation) Niedersachsen, Braunschweigische Stiftung and Stiftung Braunschweigischer Kulturbesitz.

International role models

Since the 1960s, international universities such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have specifically promoted collaboration between science and art. In Germany, TU Dresden and TU Munich, among others, are currently taking a similar approach.

The programme of the Science and Art Lab at Waisenhausdamm 8 is available on site, on the Science and Art Lab website and on Instagram @scienceandart_tubs.