The Technical University of Darmstadt opened its doors to the public at the Lichtwiese campus on Sunday, May 25, 2025. The offerings promised exciting insights into current scientific developments, teaching, and innovation.

The Institute of Materials Science participated in this event with an exhibition, several workshops, a special lecture, and more. Giant soap bubbles in front of the building invited visitors into the exhibition, which was themed “World of Materials – Experience Research, Understand the Future.” At the hands-on station in front of the building, guests of all ages could experiment and create beautiful, albeit short-lived, works of art from soap suds.

In the L2|01 building itself, hands-on stations on various areas of materials research awaited a curious audience.:

• Hoverboard
• Magnetocaloric cooling and magnetic butterflies
• Machine learning and shape memory alloys
• Notched bar impact tester
• Atomic simulations on large screens
• Materials for energy conversion and storage

Prof. Dr. Karsten Albe's special lecture on next-generation batteries offered in-depth insights into the latest developments in this key technology. All slots offered in the two workshops on atomic force microscopy and the study of materials science, respectively, met with great interest and were quickly fully booked.

We thank all participating students, researchers, professors, and faculty members for their active support on this day. Thanks to the diverse offerings, materials science was strongly represented at the event.