Dear friends of »Matters of Activity«,

In this newest issue of the CZ#, we look back on another four weeks full of intensive interdisciplinary exchange and collaboration. There is an exciting new project with the Cluster of Excellence »Science of Intelligence« around knowledge exchange funded by the Berlin University Alliance. We would also like to draw your attention to the conference »On Activity II: Space and Materiality« taking place March 19th and attractive new job postings.

Happy reading,
Antje Nestler, Eva Schmidt and Franziska Wegener

News | Achievements The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) has elected Max Planck Director and MoA Co-Director Peter Fratzl into its ranks. This honor is »among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer« the NAE writes in its press release. Out of a total of 23 new international members, Fratzl was the only researcher from Germany elected to the U.S. academy this year. → more

News | Gamelab The project »My Object« deals with games for knowledge transfer. It is intended to offer interactive access to the objects in a museum and thus fundamentally redefine the engagement with the artworks. The starting point for the development was, that museums often exhibit hundreds of objects and that visitors are often not able to look at everything, let alone absorb all the information that comes with this diversity. The objects in the museum are no longer passive behind a display case but enter into an interactive and entertaining chat dialogue with the visitors on their smartphones. → more

News | Achievements One of the core objectives of the Berlin University Alliance (BUA) lies in strengthening the multidirectional exchange of knowledge between universities and other important figures and stakeholders. The BUA defines knowledge exchange and therein science communication as a multidirectional process through which scientific ideas and research results are transferred to the public and external perspectives flow back into research. The experimental laboratory »Wenn Materie lebendig wird« is dedicated to socially highly relevant changes and, within them, to a knowledge production process that cannot take place in isolated research spaces, but should involve different social groups in a participatory process using innovative methods. → more

Symbolic Material The change of view from allegedly passive material to »active matter« that engenders symbolic processes according to its inherent structure provokes a shift in the traditional boundaries between nature and culture. Thus, other traditional opposites (body-mind, active-passive, material-symbolic) can also be rethought as changeable polarities. The project »Symbolic Material« investigates the material foundations of symbolic processes in interaction with the symbolic dimension of materials from the viewpoint of philosophy, history of mathematics, physics, and neuroscience.

The project just launched a new website. → more

News | Achievements Cluster member → Cécile Bidan receives further funding for the interdisciplinary research project »InterDent«, together with dental colleagues at the Charité. Its goal is to make dental fillings or crowns more durable in the future. The German Research Foundation (DFG) is funding this project with 2.1 million euros, initially for three years. It is a special feature of the research project »InterDent« that fundamental researchers and dental clinicians are working together to develop new materials based on fundamental principles, in order to quickly create materials that are more suitable for practical use. In this context, the benefits are definitely reciprocal. The scientists and dentists use tools from materials engineering with approaches from dental research to improve existing dental restoration materials. In dental caries filling materials made of polymer-based composites, metal alloys and various ceramics, for instance, are used but the durability varies greatly. In this context, learning from the interactions between strongly adherent calculus and restored tooth surfaces is essential.     → more

Event | Symbolic Material The one-day conference will bring together representatives from different backgrounds in order to discuss the complex knot between space, materiality, and activity at stake in their disciplinary practices.
The conference is organized by the Cluster members → Michael Friedman and → Samo Tomšič. Please register by sending an email to michael.friedman@hu-berlin.de.

This conference will take place online, using a mix of specially pre-recorded presentations and live discussions via Zoom. The pre-recorded presentations will be uploaded two to three days before the conference. The links to the presentations will be sent to *registered participants* on March 17th. Links for live Q&A sessions will be sent to registered participants also on March 17th. → more

job The project »Object Space Agency« is currently looking for a student assistant in the field of Visual Communication. Follow the link for the announcement. → more

job At the Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin (HTW), a professorship (W2) in the department of computer science, communication and economics for the field of cultural informatics is to be filled by 1 October 2021. The teaching assignment is intended in Bachelor's and Master's degree programs of the department. → more

Job A professorship (W2 with 100 % regular working time) is available at the Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin (HTW) in the Department of Computer Science, Communication and Economics in the field of Health Informatics as of 1 October 2021:

They are looking for a person with a proven track record in health or bioinformatics who can represent the field in research and teaching. The teaching assignment is intended for Bachelor's and Master's degree programs in the department.

More Information and the detailed job advertisement can be found ↗ here.