MtL Spring Days 2025

Hello from Heilbronn!

May 19, 2025
MtL Days

Heilbronn is quickly becoming a hub of innovation and technological progresses that portends a center of excellence in science and research. We held our biannual MtL Spring days earlier this year in this city of science, at the Forum, to learn more about the ecosystem that is being engineered and fostered across the Heilbronn campus.
 

A diverse group of people, numbering around 100, stand together in front of a building with large glass windows, labeled "Campus Garden," many waving at the camera.

Our faculty and PhD candidates are sequestered in the different locations, institutes and universities, labs and workstations, working on different aspects of Matter to Life. However, twice a year we converge to share our latest findings, discuss, debate and network; this is the principal aim of the MtL days.

Individuals engage in discussion at a standing table, each with a drink in hand, in a wooden-paneled room.

Alongside achieving this, this time we could also gain an understanding of the goals and philosophies of the Dieter Schwarz Stiftung, and their vision for the future of science.

Opening remarks by Joachim Spatz (chair of the MPS MtL School) and Gunther Friedl (Managing Director, Dieter Schwarz Stiftung) introduced the scope and objectives of the School and the Foundation, respectively, and set the tone for the event. Patrick Burkert from Campus founders- a unique venture to facilitate technology transfer- explained the various paths for bringing research to entrepreneurial success.

The new age Polymaths

Did you know that polymaths were the ancient interdisciplinary thinkers? Our Fellows and PhD candidates follow in their footsteps to do some truly remarkable interdisciplinary research. How does life come crawling out when you mix a bunch of chemicals? What is the physics behind contact inhibition of cells? Which origami is cooler- DNA or RNA? Can we modulate lipid nanoparticles through pH? These seem like disjointed and disparate questions without a unifying theme. However, at our seminar, you could listen to talks exploring these topics, drawing connections, and learning from one another. These represent different interrogation points on the path from matter to life, as demonstrated by the presentations by our faculty Fellows, and posters presented by our PhD candidates.

Presentation slide for MtL Spring Days at Heilbronn's Bildungscampus, listing speakers and event dates (25-27.02.2025), with QR code for program access.
Several individuals are conversing around a standing table. They wear casual attire with visible name tags. The setting includes an open door, leading to a modern building exterior.
A conference presentation addresses overcoming challenges in tissue engineering, featuring speaker Laura De Laporte at the Max Planck School event.
Group of people in a room with wooden wall panels, engaging in conversation.
People discussing, some holding drinks, against a backdrop of large windows and modern architecture.
Ulrich Schwarz at podium with "Bildungscampus" logo, hand raised in gesture.
In a conference room, participants are seated facing a presentation screen. A person wearing a "Matter to Life Class of 2024" hoodie engages in conversation.
Several people are gathered around a high table indoors, engaged in discussion. Bottles are on the table, and large windows provide a view of the outside, where a modern building and people walking can be seen.
Roseanne Zia at podium with "Bildungscampus" logo, dark curtains in background.
Michael Donihue at podium with "Bildungscampus" logo, dark curtains in background.

We also had the pleasure of hosting Roseanne Zia (University of Missouri College of Engineering, Columbia, USA), a Sloan Foundation Matter to Life grant recipient, who presented her findings on ribosome kinetics (left picture above). Michael Donihue, from Davis Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Waterville, USA, was also an invited speaker, delivered a thought-provoking talk on the fundamentals of AI and how it has disrupted our lives (right picture above). Martin Jechlinger (Molit Institute, Heilbronn) closed the event by sharing his research on cancer evolution models.

Four individuals engaged in conversation near a scientific poster in a sunlit space.
A Matter to Life PhD candidate, dressed in black, gestures towards a display or board while holding a drink, possibly explaining something. She is indoors in a bright, modern space with large windows, and several people are conversing in the background.
Matter to Life PhD Candidates engaged in conversation
Matter to Life PhD candidate in dark shirt gesturing inside a glass-walled building, with backpacks nearby; trees visible outside through the windows.
Three people are gathered around a high-top table in a contemporary indoor environment, holding smartphones and engaging in conversation. They are dressed casually, with one wearing a backpack and another carrying a tote bag.
Matter to Life PhD candidates in business attire interacting at a professional gathering, with a focus on one person gesturing with a pen.
Two people sit at a table with various documents, a laptop, a bottle of soda, and writing utensils, positioned by a large window.

Science to Society

Communicating science and research to the broader public is essential in helping society appreciate its importance and impact—especially now, when public trust in scientific institutions is low. Hence it was heartening to see this emphasized in Heilbronn, through the initiatives IPAI and Experimenta, both funded by Dieter Schwarz Foundation. During our visit to IPAI, we learned about this state-of the art center for AI developers and end-users, which is set to expand to a small district! At the forefront of development and advancement of AI in Europe, they are poised to play an important role in fueling science and research.

Installation with two fabric panels: front displays a blurred face painted in rainbow hues, rear panel features embroidered philosophical question "What makes you human?" in elegant cursive.
A woman sits at a racing simulator setup, holding a steering wheel and focused on the driving game displayed on a large screen. Two young adults, a man and a woman, stand nearby smiling and watching. The scene takes place in an indoor exhibition or event space with informational posters on the wall in the background.
A person in a dark coat looks at a work of art on a large screen. The painting shows a group of people in vivid colors and geometric shapes. Curtains can be seen in the background.

Our PhD candidates and faculty also had the opportunity to visit the interactive science museum Experimenta. To conceptualize and demonstrate scientific concepts in a way that can be understood by all ages and people from all walks of life is remarkable. The highlight of the visit was the Chemistry of Life dome show. This verisimilitude experience from atoms and molecules to life, inspired us to envision a similar show titled Matter to Life, that is built around the research done in our program.

We would like to acknowledge all the members of the Dieter Schwarz Stiftung for welcoming us and helping us organize the event. Their dedication to science matches our passion for science. We are confident our partnership marks the beginning of a lasting and successful journey together.

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