Adlershof Journal November/December 2025
A question of time: How we oscillate between the speed of light and Zen:
ESSAY by Paul Bokowski: Laws of natureIN CONVERSATION WITH Tobias Hein, online marketing manager at LUMITOS AG, has a close on-off relationship with Technology Park AdlershofPORTRAIT The timekeeper: Oliver Fartmann is…
From the editors
Everything is relative
When the sun is shining, Einstein walks to his institute. He counts to ten ten times before he arrives. When it rains, he takes the car and arrives after counting to ten once. While playing the violin, Einstein wonders why the journey sometimes feels long and other times short. He concludes that it must have something to do with time. The children’s book Einstein with the Violin beautifully captures, in simple terms, the thought experiments that led Albert Einstein to his theory of relativity.
When do we think about time? When an unpleasant appointment beckons and the waiting feels endless. When deadlines breathe down our necks and the clock starts racing. When the years slip by and we take stock. What else should we have “fit into” our lives? Are you part of the generations who had summer holidays that felt like forever? Or does it feel to you as though time is flying by?
Time plays a peculiar role for our community here in Adlershof: “Science is always a race against the world,” says entrepreneur Ta-Shun Chou, whose start-up NextGo Epi was spun off from the Leibniz Institute for Crystal Growth. We asked institute director Thomas Schröder and science manager Maike Schröder how successful technology transfer works. Sometimes, research work requires incredible patience, other times technology must be made available instantly. Our cover story explores both cases. How are glaciers changing and do we have enough time to stop them from melting? We spoke to climate researcher Tobias Sauter of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
We hope that you get time to stop towards the end of the year, not slip away.
Sincerely,
Peggy Mory
Editor-in-chief
Articles
Laws of nature
Essay by Paul Bokowski, author from Berlin:
The Gerkens live next door. If we consider the house’s inner workings, though, this is not a true statement. Nobody has lived here for longer than them. If anything, I live next door to the Gerkens. They signed their…
In conversation with Tobias Hein
The online marketing manager at LUMITOS AG has a close on-off relationship with Technology Park Adlershof:
The Adlershof spirit is hard to shake off. Just ask Tobias Hein. The 40-year-old biotechnologist has maintained a devoted “on-off relationship” with the Technology Park since 2014. Today he works as online marketing…
The timekeeper
Oliver Fartmann is working on an improved atomic clock:
What are the paths into science and research? “I was quite good at maths, I think,” says Oliver Fartmann. Good enough, at any rate, to catch the attention of his physics teacher at the Archenhold Gymnasium in…
Time matters
Which research questions call for short measurement times, and which analyses require longer ones? A brief journey through time and the Adlershof campus:
Watching molecular and atomic building blocks while they work? This is made possible by operando studies. Such deep insights at an atomic resolution are facilitated by BESSY II, a research facility operated by the…
Too warm for comfort
Climate researcher Tobias Sauter studies the melting of glaciers:
Nowhere are the effects of climate change more visible than in the world’s glaciers. The loss of ice masses is immense. Climate researcher Tobias Sauter investigates how and why the melting of glaciers is…
Crystals and careers
How research is turned into business:
New technologies require one thing above all else. They take time. It takes years for a good idea to grow into a viable spin-off,” says Thomas Schröder, director of the Leibniz Institute for Crystal Growth (IKZ) in…
In Memoriam Klaus Thiessen
Optoelectronics specialist and solar energy pioneer:
Professor Klaus Thiessen passed away on 3 July 2025 at the age of nearly 98. The internationally recognised expert in optoelectronics remained a committed bridge-builder between science, industry, and society well…
Mars in 3D
Using a special camera developed in Adlershof, planetary geologist Daniela Tirsch and her team are mapping planet Mars:
For more than 20 years, the Mars Express probe of the European Space Agency (ESA) has been studying the surface and atmosphere of Mars. On board is Germany’s most significant contribution to the mission: the High…
“Stromberg is a part of me”
How business founder Markus Wogatzki became an extra in the German version of The Office and developed an AI app for Stromberg video quotes:
He’s a superfan of TV cult figure Stromberg and now an extra in the newest remake: Business founder Markus Wogatzki even developed an AI app for Stromberg video quotes. After ten years of radio silence, “Papa” is…
“Adlershofer Geschichten – Mit Wissen Geld verdienen”
Today Berlin-Adlershof stands for innovation, high technology, and scientific excellence, but that path was by no means a sure thing. What began in 1991 as a cautious new start amid the ruins of a bygone era has since evolved into something few dared to dream of: a science and technology park with international appeal. Author Peter Strunk tells the remarkable story of Adlershof’s transformation—from a group of visionary scientists who became entrepreneurs, and policymakers willing to take bold risks, to a thriving high-tech ecosystem with more than 1,300 companies, 28,000 employees and 6,500 students in 2024. The book explores this unique symbiosis of research, industry, and a steadfast belief in the transformative power of knowledge.
“Leucht-Türme – Adlershofer Hightech-Firmen und ihre Geschichte”
Edited by Norbert Langhoff and Klaus Meier, this volume presents over 20 portraits of business founders from the early 1990s, most of whom came from the former Academy of the Sciences of former East Germany. With courage, they succeeded in establishing their scientific and technical projects and potential at a global level and use the opportunities that came their way. The book highlights the success factors and spirit behind Germany’s largest science and technology park and presents personal stories from the Adlershof community.
WISTA Welcome Tour
Learn more about the success story of Technology Park Adlershof at the free WISTA Welcome Tour on 10 December 2025, from 2.30 pm to 5 pm. The meeting point is at Rudower Chaussee 28, WISTA Academy, Equality (ground floor).
Information and registration:
www.wista.de/aktuelles/termin/tour-technologiepark-adlershof-4
Information event “Adlershofer Brückenschlag”
The Adlershofer Brückenschlag event offers updates on developments on both sides of Adlergestell road—Brückenschlag is German for bridge-building. What’s new at the Science and Technology Park as well as the area around Dörpfeldstrasse? The latter is currently under development by the Lively Centres and Quarters (LZQ) funding programme. WISTA Management GmbH, WISTA.Plan GmbH, and the LZQ Dörpfeldstrasse team invite you to this information event on 6 November 2025 from 5 pm to 8 pm at WISTA’s Bunsen Hall, Volmerstrasse 2. Registration is required by writing to pr(at)wista.de.
www.adlershof.de/termin/nachbarschafts-infoabend-adlershofer-brueckenschlag
Science Slam “Battle den Horst”
WISTA Management GmbH invites you to this year’s last Adlershof Science Slam on 27 November 2025, 6.30 pm, Bunsen Hall, Volmerstrasse 2. Everyone can look forward to fascinating presentations by young scientists, who present their research work in a way that is educating as well as entertaining. As always, the audience decides who entertained them the most.
Tickets cost €10 and are available at:
www.adlershof.de/ticketservice
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