Science meets society: Looking back on the Real:labor Festival 2025
Can and should science take place outside the university, as well? “Yes!” would be the clear answer by real-world laboratory researchers to this question. Together with stakeholders from within and outside the scientific community they aim to find answers to the most pressing questions of our time. In order to promote this broad and diverse dialogue with different stakeholders inside and outside of KIT and to make research not only accessible but also attractive, the Kronenplatz became the location of the second Real:labor Festival – lively, inspiring, and encouraging joint action.
KIT's real-world labs and humanoid robots
The festival offered not only information booths from the various real-world labs on accessibility, mobility, urban transformation research, and robotic AI, but also a wide range of events: workshops, discussion formats with representatives from politics and NGOs as well as interactive experiences for all ages. For example, Pepper, a humanoid robot from KIT, invited visitors to learn in a playful way, while a “decision path” gave them the opportunity to reflect on their ideas on everyday life with robots. In a smaller setting, representatives of the Karlsruhe city administration and ITAS researchers discussed the potential for cooperation on “data-based, sustainable urban development,” which is already beginning to take shape.
Exchange with the KIT president
A special highlight was the exchange on the topic of “Science for Impact” with KIT President Jan Hesthaven, Caroline Pim, Vice President Power Systems Germany, Switzerland & Austria at Schneider Electric, and Gabriela Wülser, Head of the Swiss Sustainability Research Initiative of the Swiss Academy of Sciences. After an impulse on stage, all three invited guests took the time to discuss their ideas and theses with the participants over coffee and cake.
Social participation: Talk with Jutta Allmendinger
The event was rounded off with an inspiring headliner talk with Jutta Allmendinger, sociologist and member of the German Science and Humanities Council, on Saturday afternoon on the well-visited Kronenplatz. Under the title “Democracy needs Participation,” she spoke with KIT Vice President Kora Kristof about the importance of participation and social commitment, moderated by Daniel Lang, Professor for Real-World Laboratory Research at ITAS. In this context, Jutta Allmendinger emphasized the importance of transdisciplinary research when it comes to enabling participation and generating more robust research results. She not only backed this up with personal anecdotes from a successful Berlin real-world lab, but also underlined the need to include “transdisciplinarity in the canon of values of scientific excellence.” The contributions of the speakers were just as impressive as the feedback from the audience. All the listeners agreed: By getting involved, I can make a difference.
With this in mind, we are already looking forward to the next Reallaborfestival in October 2026 – shaping the future together!
The real-world lab festival is funded by the University of Excellence and organized by ITAS together with TRIANGEL Open Space and supported by the KIT Center Humans and Technology. The ITAS research group Designing Real-World Laboratory Research was this year again in charge of program and coordination. (28.8.2025)
Further links:
- ITAS research group Designing Real-World Laboratory Research