Berlin Science Week 2023

The Berlin Science Week is an international science outreach fair taking place in Berlin every year. Scientists from all over the world introduce their research topics and their social impact during the 10-day fair to thousands of visitors. This year, the fair took place from 1st to 10th November 2023, with two central locations: the Campus and the Forum.

The CAMPUS program took place in the Museum for Naturkunde in Berlin. Under the motto “Dare to Know: Our Narratives, Our Futures”, and surrounded by dinosaurs’ skeletons and stuffed animals, researchers and institutions presented their research to the public by bringing over interactive booths. NCCR SPIN decided to take part by building an interactive booth from scratch to introduce quantum computing and its potential relevance to society to a broad audience.

This year for the first time, the Berlin Science Week introduced the FORUM. Under the motto “Dare to Know: Creative Science, Precise Art”, the FORUM was dedicated to exploring exchanges between science and art. The results of this blend were tiny galleries, workshops, science slams, concerts, performances, and a club night with a scientific twist. NCCR SPIN participated by presenting an artistic artifact inspired by unused scientific data in one of the tiny galleries.

The teams for both the Campus and the Forum were formed in August 2023 and the preparation of the event took three months of work. Six young researchers joined the team together with our Outreach officer Marie Le Dantec. Miguel Carballido, Pierre Chevalier Kwon, Pierre Fromholz, Simon Geyer, Akash Gupta and Jung-Ching Liu worked on all aspects of the project, from concept to realization. All of them took part in the Forum, while Miguel and the two Pierres also dedicated their time to the Campus.

Our booth at the Campus, named “Quantum Computing Unplugged”, consisted in a collection of six panels designed to explain the vision and the basic functioning of quantum computers to a broad audience, as well as an interactive electric board showing the fundamental differences between a classical and a quantum computer. A package got stuck at the customs right before the event, obliging the team to rebuild half of their booth on the same day it was supposed to be mounted. Despite the stalemates, they managed to replace all parts of the booth on time, and nobody could see the difference!

Our tiny gallery hosted our science-inspired artwork called “Hidden Variables” at the Forum taking place at Holzmarkt25, a creative urban neighborhood in the heart of Berlin. “Hidden Variables” is a 3D structure in the shape of an hourglass. Beads are falling out from the top part of the hourglass, transforming into unused scientific data at the bottom part. The artwork is a representation of the time invested into producing the huge amount of data which may or may not lead to a valuable scientific result. Each of the panels composing the bottom part of the artwork was created from discarded data of each of the six young researchers, who transformed them into stories.

In the end, the Campus received 9500 visitors over the two days 3-4th November, and the Forum got 2000 visitors just on its opening day. The team interacted with many people wanting to learn about quantum computing and asking many questions. The public appreciated both our art&science and our quantum computing booths, which was very rewarding. Both projects successfully allowed to do outreach with two different approaches.

NCCR SPIN would like to thank the team of young researchers and its Outreach officer for their dedicated work! We are looking forward to more multidisciplinary projects in the future!

Quantum Computing Unplugged

The international race for developing a practical quantum computer has started. But what’s exactly behind the hype? How do quantum computers function? Are they even real? Explore of of the biggest challenges of our time, meet NCCR SPIN scientists who workon developing quantum computers and ask your most burning questions!

Hidden Variables

What lies behind a single scientific breakthrough? A journey of trials and errors, ups and downs, successes and failures, and above all, an investment of time. At the intersection of art and science, a team of six dedicated quantum computing scientists come together to show you the hidden beauty within lost data and failed measurements - essential components in the pursuit of even the most subtle scientific insights.