Open Call to Spectral Dialogues
Graphic: Timo BuhlLet’s imagine we put photonics engineers together with artists, designers, and creators in a box and shake it well for 24 hours. What might we observe when we open it afterward? At the end of November 2025, we invite interested and active participants from both disciplines to the Abbe Center of Photonics in Jena to dive into current photonics research and find inspiration for future artworks and science communication concepts. This collaborative event is organized by the Interface Design ProfessorshipExternal link at Bauhaus University WeimarExternal link and Lichtwerkstatt, the Open Photonics Makerspace at Friedrich Schiller University Jena.
a chance to step directly into the world of light-based science. Surrounded by researchers and engineers, you’ll explore how photonics — the science of light — can inspire new materials, forms, and ideas for your creative practice. In this collaborative space, experimentation is encouraged: unexpected intersections between art and science can lead to striking visual concepts, interactive installations, or entirely new ways of perceiving light. Beyond the creative exchange, you’ll also meet like-minded collaborators and potential partners for future projects, exhibitions, or interdisciplinary ventures. Please consider: You do not need to have any prior knowledge about photonics or physics at all. There will be experts of all kind to help you take a dip into this research area, explain certain aspects and answer any open questions.
provides an opportunity to experience your research through a completely different lens. Collaborating with artists and designers can open new pathways for innovation, communication, and creativity — helping you see familiar problems in unfamiliar ways. By translating complex scientific ideas into tangible experiences or artworks, you’ll explore how science can connect with the public on emotional and sensory levels. The event is also a space to exchange knowledge, build networks across disciplines, and develop new ways of presenting and communicating research results.
If you’re passionate about making science accessible, this hackathon offers a living laboratory for creative communication. You’ll witness and participate in the transformation of complex photonics concepts into engaging, sensory experiences — an invaluable opportunity to observe how stories about science are built through artistic collaboration. It’s a chance to connect with both researchers and artists who share your enthusiasm for curiosity-driven exchange, and to gather inspiration for future communication formats, from installations and performances to interactive media and storytelling.
Frankly, we don’t know :) We hope for an inspirational stimulated emission of ideas (LASER pun intended) through the interdisciplinary exchange of thoughts, tools and workflows. Thanks to the adjacent Open Photonics Makerspace “Lichtwerkstatt”, everything is possible. The results might be for all kind of (prototypical) artworks: be it installations, sculptures, posters, illustrations, zines, comics, games, … all circulating around some photonics aspect. There will be a public exhibition showing the results from the event and on-going work during 2026.
| Saturday, Nov 29th | |
| 12:00 | Welcome and Warm Up |
| 12:30 | Projects, Teams, Idea Brainstorming |
| 13:30 | Introduction into Basics of Modern Optics for Artists with Experiments |
| 14:30 | Start of Working Time |
| between 15:00 and 18:00 | Occasional optional Lab Tours and Input Sessions |
| 19:00 | Dinner |
| 20:00 to open end | Continue Working Time |
| Sunday, Nov 30th | |
| 08:00 | Breakfast |
| 09:00 | Continue Working Time |
| 11:00 | Preparation Time for Presentations |
| 12:00 | Final Presentations |
| 13:00 | Goodbye with open discussion about further approach and long-term prospects of projects |
The event will start on Saturday, Nov 29th 12:00 and will continue until Sunday, Nov 30th 13:00 at the Abbe Center of Photonics at the Beutenberg Campus in Jena. The program is contineous for 24 hours. Feel free to come and go as you please. We will organize places to rest, so bring a sleeping bag, sleeping mat, or something similar comfy if you like. There will also be plenty of food and drinks provided (according to your dietary preferences given during registration). Still, feel free to bring your favorite snacks for yourself or to share.
You can reach the Beutenberg Campus with the Bus lines 10, 11 or 12 from city center or Westbahnhof train station. The building is at Albert-Einstein-Str. 6, 07745 Jena. Please contact us if you plan to arrive by car. The event is free of charge will be bilingual in English and German.
Please fill in the registration formExternal link until November, 26th 2025.
If you feel uneasy entering personal data in a google form, send us an email. Thanks!
