Interactive drug development disk, heart-related games, information on diabetes and discussions on the future of the City of Science Mainz

It has been almost a year now since visitors were first encouraged to get to know research through interactive, exciting and, in some cases, innovative and unusual projects as part of the "Mainz - City of Science 2011" program. One of the focal topics was medicine - perhaps unsurprisingly, in view of the fact that 2011 has also been declared in Germany the year of "Research for our health". The main emphasis was and continues to be on sustainability. There will also be panel discussions on this theme during the grand finale event being staged to mark the completion of Mainz's year as "City of Science 2011" on Saturday, 17 December (4 pm - 10 pm in the Phönix-Halle, Hauptstrasse 17 - 19). Present on the panel with its host, Gundula Gause, will be Minister Doris Ahnen, Mayor Jens Beutel, Profssor Dr. Gerhard Muth (President of Mainz University of Applied Sciences and Coordinator of the MAINZ RESEARCH ALLIANCE), Professor Dr. Andreas Schlüter (General Secretary of the Donors' Association for the Promotion of Sciences and Humanities in Germany) and others, who will be considering the future of Mainz as a City of Science.

"I am convinced that we will not witness any stagnation of research activity in Mainz with the end of our year as 'City of Science'" promises Mayor Jens Beutel. "There will continue to be many fruitful collaborative research projects involving scientific, educational and cultural institutions, business and city administration!" The audience will find out more about projects that are already being planned during the panel discussions on stage from 4.30 pm.

One of these is the new environmental education center (UmweltBildungsZentrum, UBZ) being developed by the Waste Management Authority and Business Enterprise Authority of Mainz. Much has already been undertaken in 2011 on the site of the future center. The "geological discovery path" has been opened; many a nursery school group has already used the opportunity to learn about flora and fauna in the renaturalized Mainz-Weisenau quarry. During the "Mainz City of Science 2011" finale event, the audience will be given an initial insight into the educational strategies to be employed at the UBZ.

Boehringer Ingelheim will be maintaining a stand on which there will be an interactive disk that demonstrates how a drug is developed. Active participation on the part of visitors will be expected, and not only during the finale event. The interactive exhibition "A drug is created" being staged as part of the "City of Science 2011" program since December 13 in Mainz's Museum of Natural History will remain open until April 30, 2012. This exhibition not only gives visitors insight into a fantastic new collaborative project, but is also evidence that projects and exhibitions will be continuing even after 2011. A similar role will be played by the stand of the "Diabetes Initiative". Companies and institutions in Mainz that have a particular interest in the disorder have joined together to form the "Diabetes Initiative" network.

This alliance was established as part of the "Mainz - City of Science 2011" program by Mainz University Medical Center, the Institute of Clinical Research and Development (ikfe), the Kirchheim Verlag publishing house, the project "D-Run" (health and information) and the specialist supplier of diabetes treatment-related products, the Mainz-based Novo Nordisk and SCHOTT AG. Visitors can ask to have their blood glucose levels measured at the stand where, just in time for Christmas, there will also be available take-away recipes for healthy snacks.

The stand of the University Medical Center will have displays relating to the various events held during the year, with special reference to the five university medicine research units. With the aid of the "Kolosimulator", visitors will be able to experience what it is like to undergo minimal invasive surgery while a game will teach them about the fundamentals of translational neurosciences. In addition, a "test-your-strength" heart game will show them how the heart functions and demonstrate the importance of vascular prevention. They also will be able to review the events of the year in image and films. Mainz University Medical Center also intends to use the event to raise public awareness for organ donor programs. Medical experts from the center will be present on the stand to answer questions on this subject. Also present will be a girl who received a heart transplant some six months previously. For her, organ donation "is a matter close to my heart and I would like to make those around me more aware of what they can do by agreeing to be organ donors and encourage them to have the courage to say 'yes'". The ensemble "placebotheater" will be mixing among visitors with its floor show during the finale event and will be staging an improvised entertainment on the subjects of medicine and organ donation. This highlight of the event is undoubtedly not something one sees every day and Mainz University Medical Center hopes that this will not only draw the attention of visitors to the topic but also help sustain the concept of Mainz as a City of Science.

The organizers are extending a hearty welcome to all citizens of Mainz; admission is free!
 

Background: The grand finale event
"E = MZ²": this deliberately modified version of Einstein's famous equation has been used by Rhineland-Palatinate's capital as the slogan for its year as "City of Science": it also serves to indicate the amount of energy in the form of research potential available within Mainz. Through the more than 3,000 projects and 500 individual events, an interest in research has been awakened in many of Mainz's citizens and numerous guests from near and far. In a grand finale event to be held on 17 December 2011 from 4 pm - 10 pm in Mainz's Phönix-Halle (Hauptstraße 17-19), there will be a program of entertainments designed for all the family focusing on aspects of research.
Presented under the maxim "Ausgestochen gut" (or "By way of dessert"), visitors can expect an enthralling range of acts in the form of staged chemistry experiments, a Christmas concert performed by the "Choir as social education" project and the relaxed sounds of the Bourbon Street Orchestra. There will something for everyone. Uwe Geisler of famity.de will be demonstrating for the whole family through fun and games how computers work. The students of the German Department of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz will be presenting the highlight of their piece "mainz1184" whose subject is one of the largest courtly festivals of the Middle Ages. And the "LyrikLab", a collaborative project of Mainz University of Applied Sciences and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, will be back with another of its incomparable performances. From 8.00 pm, the group "placebotheater" will be presenting a sharp and witty improvised show using themes appropriate to the year of "Research for our health".

In a panel discussion, Minister Doris Ahnen, Mayor Jens Beutel, Professor Dr. Gerhard Muth (President of Mainz University of Applied Sciences and Coordinator of the MAINZ RESEARCH ALLIANCE), Professor Dr. Andreas Schlü̈ter (General Secretary of the Donors' Association for the Promotion of Sciences and Humanities in Germany) and others will be debating with each other and the presenter Gundula Gause the future outlook for Mainz as a City of Science.