“Between Breakfast and Borussia” Celebrates 20th Anniversary

On Saturday, 27 January, the successful popular science event series “Between Breakfast and Borussia” (“Zwischen Brötchen und Borussia”) of the Department of Physics celebrated its anniversary at the Dortmunder U. At the celebratory event, TU alumnus Marcus Weber from the “Physikanten & Co.” presented entertaining physics experiments to the Minister of Science and around 170 guests. Afterwards, the visitors were invited to the exhibition “2ˣ - Physics and Art between Time and Space”, which shows the exploration of physical phenomena by young artists from TU Dortmund University until March.

Twenty years ago, when he had just been appointed as a physics professor in Dortmund, the current TU President Manfred Bayer and his then colleague Prof. Metin Tolan established the public event series “Between Breakfast and Borussia”. Since then, four times a semester, researchers have given easily understandable lectures on topics related to physics on Saturday mornings – at a time when around 400 guests regularly come to the campus of TU Dortmund University: between breakfast and a home game.

Prof. Bayer opened the anniversary celebration and welcomed Ina Brandes, Minister for Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, as guest of honor. According to the President, a total of 70,000 guests have attended the physicists’ lectures over the past two decades. This makes “Between Breakfast und Borussia” the most successful event series of its kind in Germany. Over the years, it has covered topics such as the physics of soccer matches, highlighted effects in science fiction films, explained the current state of research on mobile phone radiation, and presented models on the spread of the coronavirus. As a personal highlight, Prof. Bayer recalled a lecture on the “Ice Cube” project, in which the university is researching neutrinos at the South Pole. At one time, there was a live broadcast to the Antarctic research station, where a BVB flag was even temporarily added to the official flags at the pole in 2005.

Minister Ina Brandes also welcomed the guests and thanked everyone who inspires young people in particular for science, as is the case with the presentations given at “Between Breakfast and Borussia”. For years, participating schoolchildren have also been able to complete a quiz through which they can receive a student diploma and the opportunity to visit laboratories.

“Die Physikanten”: A show with bang effects

After the welcoming words, Marcus Weber, who founded “Physikanten & Co.” in 2000 after studying at the former University of Dortmund, opened his science show in the Dortmunder U cinema. He presented experiments that he had already shown on the television program “Wer weiß denn sowas?” (ARD), on which he is a regular guest. Weber invited the audience to take part in the experiments and playfully explained how the physical processes work. Among other things, he wowed the diverse audience with an imploding barrel and vortex rings made of smoke and soap bubbles.

Physics meets art on the university floor in the Dortmunder U

After the science show, guests had the opportunity to visit the exhibition “2ˣ - Physics and Art between Time and Space” on the university floor. The photographs and multimedia installations on display are based on a collaboration between the Seminar for Art and Art Science and Experimental Physics 2 at TU Dortmund University. The young artists have explored physical phenomena and made them the starting point for their works. One of these works by Malin Emming even made it into the 2024 annual calendar of the German Research Foundation: her digital collages show a series of compressed photos of a trip to France, creating an overall picture that is compressed and lends visual expression to the interconnectedness of space and time. The exhibition, which features works by a total of eleven artists, is open until 3 March.

Note:

The show was streamed live on YouTube and can currently still be watched there: To the video

Highlights from the event

TU President Prof. Manfred Bayer opened the ceremony with a recap of the early days of the event series.
Around 170 guests gathered at the Dortmunder U cinema to watch the science show.
On stage, Marcus Weber experimented with light,...
...created giant vortex rings of smoke,...
...and also showed how to replicate physics experiments at home using everyday objects.
An imploding barrel caused quite a bang...
...and dry ice also amazed the audience.
Following the show, Minister Ina Brandes and President Manfred Bayer visited the exhibition at the university floor together with the guests.
Prof. Barbara Welzel gave a speech on the exhibition “2ˣ - Physics and Art between Time and Space”.
Afterwards, visitors were able to talk to the artists about their works.