iMDC03 zum Download (pdf)

“smartest
night of the
Year“
photos Peter himsel,
David ausserhofer
On June 2, 2012, the Long Night of
the Sciences took place in Berlin and
Potsdam for the twelfth time, and the
MDC was once again one of the host
institutions. Like last year, the MDC was
playing a special role in this joint mega
event of the science region. In September
2010 Professor Walter Rosenthal, the
scientific director of the MDC, became
chairman of the Long Night of the Sciences
Association, the executing organization
of the science event, for a period
of two years. During his term as chairman,
the Association’s office is located
at the MDC. imdc spoke with Dr. Kathrin
Buchholz, office manager of the Long
Night of the Sciences Association, in the
run up of the night.
Why does the Long night of the
sciences need an association
and a year-round office? Doesn’t
it primarily take place in the individual
institutes, universities and
colleges?
I’m often asked that – with the inference: Are you really busy
all year? Yes, we are! After all, this year more than 70 research
and science-oriented institutions will participate in the Long
Night. I anticipate around 2400 individual events, all of which
must be compiled and presented in the program booklet and
on the website. Around 50 buses will be shuttling to and fro,
transporting eager participants on several routes to the various
science sites. Prior to the event, thousands of posters, transport
info and maps, program booklets, and radio and TV spots will
draw attention to the Long Night. Tickets will be available for
purchase at various distribution partners, in particular the
S-Bahn, the BVG and the ViP in Potsdam, etc. All this means
a massive coordination effort. It begins in the fall with the
invitations to the various institutions to participate and the
CaMpus anD people
acquisition of sponsors and ends with the financial report in the
summer. One can truly say that “after the Long Night is always
before the Long Night”.
there are science nights in many
cities in Germany. Do they all have
an association as organizer?
No, in other cities an agency of the city administration is
often the organizer of the science night. That is unique about
the Long Night of the Sciences in Berlin and Potsdam – it is
supported and organized from the “bottom-up” – by the science
institutions themselves. Our association currently has eleven
scientific and science-oriented institutions as members, among
them the three large Berlin universities, the Forschungsverbund
Berlin (FVB), the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam – GFZ German
Research Centre for Geosciences and of course also the MDC.
What is the role of the association
office?
In the office all of the different threads converge. The
Long Night Association is supported by an external agency for
project management and public relations. As the Association’s
representative, I commission and coordinate the orders in a
continuing process. In addition, the office coordinates the
decision processes in the Association in consultation with the
Board and manages the budget for the whole organization. In
particular, this includes the preparation and follow-up of the
general meetings of the members. These convene several times a
year to make the most important management decisions for the
joint project.
the chairmanship of the association
rotates every two years and
the office moves with it. Why is
this so?
As I understand the history of the Board of Trustees of the
Long Night of the Sciences, the precursor to today’s association,
the purpose was that the members should alternate in bearing
the burdens for the joint project, because the presiding institution
contributes more resources than others. At the same time,
this ensures that no single institution can regularly present
itself as initiator and driving force of the whole project. Thus,
the reputation connected with the Long Night of the Sciences
is distributed equally. And the office of course must be in close
proximity to the chairman. The regular moves are strenuous,
but in this way I also really get acquainted with the science
landscape in Berlin and Potsdam. This is an advantage for such a
coordination-intensive job. (kb, co)
after the Long night is always
before the Long night: On June 8,
2013, the next Long night of the
sciences will take place in berlin
and Potsdam.
imdc03 2012
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