Vienna Ball of Sciences

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Ballroom in the Vienna City Hall at the Vienna Science Ball 2019

The Vienna Science Ball is an annual ball that takes place in January and combines classic traditions with contemporary impulses from the field of science communication. Due to the great public interest, the Science Ball has quickly established itself as one of the most successful and largest balls of the Vienna ball season since it was founded in 2015 .

history

The establishment in 2015 goes back to an initiative of the then Mayor of Vienna Michael Häupl and the University Commissioner of the City of Vienna, Alexander Van der Bellen . It was their concern to position Vienna in public more clearly than previously practiced as a location for science.

At the request of Häupl, Van der Bellen and the then Science City Councilor Andreas Mailath-Pokorny , the science manager and science communicator Oliver Lehmann started the conception in the summer of 2014. The ball is organized as well as being responsible for its content and economy by the “Wien Wissen” association, chaired by Oliver Lehmann. The first Vienna Science Ball took place on January 31, 2015. Since its inception, the Science Ball has traditionally been held on the last Saturday in January in the ballrooms of the Vienna City Hall.

Motto and program

"Fun with decency - dance with poise" has been the motto of the Vienna Science Ball since the beginning.

The ball program combines classic elements of traditional dance ball with contemporary forms of representation and presentation from the fields of science and art. The actors come from universities and research institutions in Vienna. Traditional components of a ball such as the opening by the young ladies and gentlemen's committee, the midnight quadrille and the table decorations are expanded to include scientific content. In 2018, for example, there was a fashion show with models that had been inspired by molecular biological experiments. In 2019, a thermal imaging camera was used in the ball disco to visualize the temperature profiles of the ball guests.

Honor protection and ball committee

The rectors of all Viennese universities, private universities, educational colleges and universities of applied sciences have formed the honorary committee since the first ball. Protection of honor is granted by Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen , the chairmanship of the ball committee and the honorary presidium are, as of 2019, EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn , Mayor Michael Ludwig (until 2018 Mayor Michael Häupl), Science Minister Heinz Fassmann , city councilors Veronica Kaup- Hasler (until 2018 Andreas Mailath-Pokorny ), and Maria Vassilakou .

Ball ambassador

The ball ambassadors are a special feature: People are selected who either come from science with a marked interest in communicating it or from other areas of society such as politics, economics and culture with a pronounced (although often not publicly known) connection to science. In the weeks before the respective ball, the statements of the ball ambassadors will be published on the ball's homepage and on social media channels.

Ball ambassadors from previous years (selection)

Prominent visitors

Ig Nobel Prize founder Marc Abrahams was the guest of honor at the first ball in 2015, @noQuarterly publicist Eric Jarosinski at the 2016 ball. Nobel laureate Eric Kandel (Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2000) opened the 2016 ball with a visit to the 3rd Science Ball on 28. January 2017, the newly elected Federal President of the Republic of Austria, Alexander Van der Bellen, made his first social appearance after his inauguration on January 26, 2017. The 4th Science Ball on January 27, 2018 was the occasion for the first public appearance of Michael Ludwig as designated Mayor of the City of Vienna after his election as chairman of the Vienna SPÖ on the same day. The guest of honor in 2018 was the co-founder of the March for Science , Caroline Weinberg. At the Ball 2019, the winner of the 2018 Technology Oscars, the computer scientist Bernd Bickel ( IST Austria ), the Nobel Prize Winner for Chemistry 1988, Robert Huber (TUM) and Austria's scientist of the year 2018, the chemist Nuno Maulide (University of Vienna) were welcomed as guests of honor .

public perception

The Vienna Science Ball was well received from the start. Despite the continuously expanding space, the ball was sold out right from the start. The most striking media statements include:

“ In contrast to the academics ball, there were no fireworks or Molotov cocktails at the first science ball on Sunday night. The only danger for the guests was the distribution of the 'Sweden bomb ', a sweet Viennese temptation that is not entirely safe for body weight due to the many calories "( Handelsblatt, February 1, 2015 )

“ Vienna's academic community often comes off as fragmented and contentious, but by highlighting the core values ​​of 'tolerance, excellence, and creativity,' the Science Ball made everyone feel, for at least one night, like they were dancing to the same beat. "( Science, March 15, 2015 )

" The science ball promotes diversity, reaching out to students and researchers from all academic disciplines and institutions. (A) clever attempt to associate a big city's science base with its most distinguished cultural characteristics. And the sold-out event was ample proof that the organizers had hit a nerve. "( Nature, February 3, 2017 )

" Wiens universitet dansar för vetenskapens värden " ( Dagens Nyheter, February 4, 2018 )

" We're about diversity, openness and excellence " ( New York Times, February 6, 2018 )

" Il Walzer delle Scienze (contro le fake news) " ( Corriere della Sera, February 22, 2019 )

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The ball of many presidential selfies
  2. ↑ The new and the old mayor at the science ball
  3. ↑ The War of the Balls
  4. ↑ Having a ball in science
  5. ^ Waltzing for science
  6. ^ När Wien dansade för vetenskapen - DN.SE
  7. ↑ Gowns, sausage and Protesters: It's Ball Season in Vienna