The Long Night of the Sciences 2025
A quarter of a century! What began in 2001 as a small initiative by a handful of Berlin research institutions has grown into a city-wide festival of science. “The Long Night is one of the most wonderful events of the year – at least for me,” said Dr. Ina Czyborra, Berlin’s Senator for Science, Health, and Care, during the opening at Campus Buch. “And you were among the very first organizers! Campus Buch is a key driver of progress in healthcare, which is especially close to my heart as a senator. We should never forget how science has advanced us for thousands of years – rather than buying into anti-elite narratives, which are not limited to the U.S.”
From left to right: Dr. Henry Marx, State Secretary for Science and Research in Berlin, Olaf Schulz, Board Member of Berliner Sparkasse, Dr. Ina Czyborra, Senator for Science, Health and Care in Berlin, Dr. Christina Quensel, Managing Director of Campus Berlin-Buch GmbH, Kirstin Bodensiek, Administrative Director (interim), Professor Dorothea Fiedler, Director of Leibniz FMP, Professor Volker Haucke, Director of Leibniz FMP, Dr. Harald Hasselmann, CEO Eckert & Ziegler. Dr. Ulrich Scheller, Managing Director of Campus Berlin-Buch GmbH, opened the Long Night.
Each year, the Long Night shows just how deeply science shapes Berlin, emphasized Kirstin Bodensiek, interim Administrative Director of the Max Delbrück Center. “When you step behind the scenes here, you see how the medicine of tomorrow is being created.”
To truly bring discoveries from basic research into clinical practice, companies are essential, added Dr. Christina Quensel, CEO of Campus Berlin-Buch GmbH (CBB) and chair of the Long Night. The campus is home to around 70 companies, most of which were spun out of local research institutions. “And yes, this is still Berlin – even if we’re outside the city’s ring road and the S-Bahn isn’t running to Buch tonight. We’re glad you made your way here!”
From 5 p.m. onward, families, curious minds, and well-known guests explored labs, enjoyed a light show, magic, a pub quiz, and a reading, conducted hands-on experiments, walked through an artery model, and took virtual reality tours inside the heart.
A few highlights from the evening in pictures
Visitors showed off their knowledge of science trivia during the evening PubQuiz.
To mark the 25-year anniversary, prominent guests from all over Berlin were treated to cake after a tour of our labs. Berlin Senator for Higher Education and Research Ina Szyborra and Managing Director of Campus Buch Christina Quensel (from left to right in foreground).
Learning about how new blood vessels form during a tour of Professor Holger Gerhardt’s Integrative Vascular Biology lab.
Demonstrating how organoids help diabetes research in the Pancreatic Organoid Research and Disease Modelling lab of Professor Maike Sander.
At a booth staffed by the lab of Professor Dominik Müller, people donned VR goggles to observe a heart attack happen close-up in virtual space.
The Neural Circuits and Behavior lab of Professor James Poulet demonstrated in various ways how we perceive touch and temperature.
Looking for small organoids in culture dishes in the labs of Dr. Mina Gouti and Dr. Sebastian Diecke.
Children learn about human anatomy through a real-life model.
“Cellular echo" was a light show of microscopic images projected on a campus building.
See you again next year!
See you next year!
