Ringberg Symposium 2025

Celebrating the 4^th cohort amidst an epic scenery

Above lake Tegernsee in the picturesque scenery of Castle Ringberg, our PhD students and Fellows came together to present, exchange and discuss the science embedded in Matter to Life. This beloved tradition also marks the official transition of our latest Master cohort into the PhD phase, including a celebration ceremony in their honor and a special Bavarian cuisine dinner appreciating their achievements.

Petra Schwille is standing at a wooden podium and speaking. — Petra Schwille connected past and present in a compelling keynote, setting an inspiring tone for the Symposium.

Petra Schwille connected past and present in a compelling keynote, setting an inspiring tone for the Symposium.

Ringberg Symposium is most likely the highlight of the Max Planck School Matter to Life year; at least it is the one event where the participation spots are gone within the shortest amount of time. Ringberg stands for one week of intense exchange of Matter to Life research, out-of-the-box workshops and plenty of time and space to interact with Fellows and fellow students.

This year’s Symposium was launched by a special keynote presentation of our deputy chair Petra Schwille. She presented her life story in the light of her career and research and the serendipities that shaped per path.

Monday is traditionally the day of the Master celebration ceremony, this year celebrating and honoring the students of the 4^th cohort and their successful completion of the 1^st (Master) phase and transition into the 2^nd (PhD) phase. As guests of honor, we welcomed Gunther Friedl and Miriam Biller from the Dieter Schwarz Foundation as well as Maximillian Prugger, Vice Secretary General Max Planck Society, and Johanna Rapp from the Max Planck general administration. The ceremony was accompanied by two scientific insights into the work as a Master student and a humorous recap from the student representatives of the 4^th cohort. The evening culminated in a traditional Bavarian dinner, celebrating the students and their achievements.

Two MPS coordinators sit on tables facing each other, discussing in front of a projector screen showing a slide titled "Task 1 – Communication." The slide lists options for creating science content. — Discussing creative ways to communicate science—because research doesn’t make an impact if it stays in the lab.

Discussing creative ways to communicate science—because research doesn’t make an impact if it stays in the lab.

Calling A.I. a hot topic is probably an understatement and therefore, we were delighted to shed some light on this matter, related tools and use cases on Tuesday afternoon with a workshop given by our guest and collaboration partner Michael Donihue from Colby College. The session closed with a lively discussion about what can, should and should not be written and done by A.I. in science and with regard to publications, theses and other applications.

“Create to communicate” was the task for our participants on Thursday, where the joint Marketing forces from the Max Planck Schools gave some insights into successful scientific communication and the use for Marketing and beyond. The participants used their time at the castle to take the best picture, create stories, reels and posts to communicate their individual impressions.

Group picture in front of the picturesque castle. Some participants are raising their hands.

A wooden welcome desk in a historic room of the castle with large windows and ornate furniture. A banner on the desk reads “Welcome to Matter to Life” The desk holds name tags, pens, and informational materials.

Group picture of the graduates, also using the castle as a backdrop. A few students in the front are hitting the thinking pose, a few in the back are raising their hands.

A student pours himself a beer from a large keg.

Group picture of ten graduates laughing and holding another fellow student up horizontally in the air.

One week of great exchange, new ideas and collaborations lies behind us and besides the train chaos which overshadowed all travel planning and made it impossible for some participants to attend, the Symposium was a great success. We are already looking forward to the next edition and wishing the 4^th cohort all the best for their PhD phase.

May the 4^th (cohort) be with you!

Ringberg Symposium 2025

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