LIGHT.LIFE.LIBERTY. Theme week ‘What is life?’

Find out why parasites are more than just pathogens - and how their sophisticated survival strategies can expand our understanding of life.

Experience living nature and fascinating plants up close in the botanical garden.

Three perspectives from Chemistry, Medicine and Ethics show what nanomaterials and gene transfer can do today and relate scientific reality to social expectations.

Biominerals - some people immediately think of gallstones and other nasties. But biominerals also ensure stable bones, give us a sense of balance, provide the largest iron ore reserves in the world and ensure good plant growth.

Experience in the lecture how the Collegium Jenense, as the heart of the early university, shaped the life, teaching and celebrations of Jena's students and helped to shape the city's history.

Plants in the biblical-ancient oriental world view

How can the ageing brain be trained? New approaches for prevention and memory research.

Discover the Romantikerhaus and immerse yourself in Early Romanticism and Jena around 1800 - compact, vivid and directly tangible.

A journey to the origins of mankind: the guided tour through the Prehistory and Early History Collection shows key stages of development using special finds and opens up new perspectives.

Discover how literature shapes our empathy: The lecture shows why narrated worlds are more than fiction - and what they reveal about human empathy.

When research and the technology industry work together on solutions - experience how ideas become the future.

A look under the skin: discover the fascinating and complex structure of the human body in the anatomical collection - from historical specimens to modern teaching models.

Critique as mediation connects different perspectives in the search for shared solutions. Using the climate crisis as an example, discover how viable courses of action can emerge from disagreement.

University of Jena competes in two sporting events this spring. Be part of it!

The lecture leads from the origins of spiritual techniques in the Christian mysticism of antiquity to today's forms of meditation and mindfulness.

On the trail of Goethe's research into nature: the tour links historical objects with his methods and shows how life can be thought of as a dynamic, changing whole.

The crypt of the Princes of Saxony-Jena is hidden beneath St Michael's Church - a Baroque burial chamber in which the short history of a principality is brought to life in magnificent pewter coffins and impressive epitaphs.

Discover how modern research is unravelling the origins of complex life and shedding new light on our own evolutionary history!

Discover the fascinating diversity of evolution at the Phyletic Museum and experience the history of life brought to life on a guided tour.

Insights into the world of fermentation – where microorganisms become partners in research.

Archaeogenetics brings hidden human history to light – discover how ancient DNA decodes the migrations, origins and characteristics of our ancestors and paints a new picture of Europe since the Ice Age!

Vote for Team Jena!

Gain new insights into the study of nature: This guided tour of the exhibition on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe combines historical objects with his methods of careful observation and comparative analysis—and invites us to ask, with him, what it means to understand life as a dynamic and ever-changing whole.

Join a guided tour of the historic Collegium Jenense, the former heart of Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, and discover its rich history spanning from the 16th to the 21st century.

Excavations at Tel Shaddud offer insights into the way of life and cultural continuities of early societies – find out what the archaeological finds reveal.

How can biological and synthetic fluorescent markers be used specifically for modern imaging and diagnostics? The lecture provides a compact insight into fluorescent proteins, chemical tag systems and synthetic dyes - and compares their properties and applications in biomedical photonics.

Two perspectives on the climate bring together economic factors and hydrogeological insights – discover the intersections between business and nature through dialogue!

How does life arise from inanimate matter? A lecture on the chemical origins of life and current experiments on the "primordial soup".

Show off your improvisational skills: at the open PowerPoint karaoke session on the theme of ‘What is life?’, participants explain slides off the cuff, giving rise to fascinating and unexpected perspectives.

Discover the Romantikerhaus and immerse yourself in the early Romantic period and Jena around 1800 – in a compact, vivid and hands-on experience.

The symposium demonstrates how our brain does not develop in isolation, but is shaped through constant interaction with relationships, experiences and a changing world, thereby opening up new perspectives on the human mind in the digital age.

An open discussion that sheds light on life – featuring fascinating insights from the fields of medicine, chemistry, physics and literary studies. Followed by a small get-together!