The University of Würzburg at the Mainfranken-Messe

09/23/2025

300 exhibitors, 17 exhibition halls, a large outdoor area: the Mainfranken-Messe sets up its tents at the end of September. The University of Würzburg will also be exhibiting there.

A sandbox is used to simulate processes that change the surface of the earth. (Image: Thomas Amend / Universität Würzburg)

"Come and discover the world of research!" This is the motto under which the University of Würzburg will be represented at the Mainfranken-Messe - with many hands-on stations for learning and experiencing. The fair takes place from 27 September to 5 October 2025 on the Mainwiesen in Würzburg; the university's stand is located in the city's tent.

The university's presence will be organised by the Service Centre for Research and Technology Transfer (SFT). The team led by Saschan Korder and Ronja Möller has put together an attractive programme for the nine days of the fair in cooperation with many players from the university.

Simulating the Consequences of Flooding

Didactics of Geography will be presenting a sandbox that can be used to simulate processes that change the surface of the earth - such as river courses and the consequences of floods. The box can be used to model various valley cross-sections and measure the resulting water runoff and erosion. With the help of a 3D camera and a projector, it is also possible to visualise changes in contour lines in real time.

React and Act Quickly

For children, teenagers and the young at heart in particular, a movement experiment of the JMU sports centre is all about speed: who can recognise and touch the light points that light up on a wall as quickly as possible? The "agility wall" tests reaction and action speed. Similar tests are used in high-class football and basketball, for example.

Playing With the Power of Thought

The interactive knowledge exhibition Touch Science from the MIND Centre invites you to play Mindball : Two people sit opposite each other at a table with a ball on it. The players wear headbands fitted with sensors that measure their brain activity. The ball reacts to the nerve signals - whoever remains mentally relaxed wins. Their "relaxed" brain waves send the ball into the opponent's field.

Touch Science also presents a 3D version of the classic game "Four Wins". It consists of four levels, each with 16 wells in which red and white balls can be placed. The aim is to line up four balls of the same colour across the levels.

Humans Compete Against AI

Understanding artificial intelligence? With an experiment set developed by Dr Silvia Joachim from the Department of Computer Science Didactics, this is child's play: you can watch an AI perform machine learning. At the beginning of the game "AI wins", it is still easy for humans to outdo the AI. However, this changes the longer the machine can learn.

Botanical Garden Quiz

Whether tropical forest, Mediterranean rock heath or American prairie: the variety of plants in the Botanic Garden is huge. At the fair, visitors to the university stand can answer questions about the Botanic Garden at an interactive stele. LEDs show whether the answers are correct.

Kitty Q and Quantum Physics

"Kitty Q - a Quantum Adventure", a multi-award-winning educational game about quantum physics for people aged 11 and over, can be played on a tablet. It was developed by the Würzburg-Dresden Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat together with app designer Philipp Stollenmayer.

About the Service Centre Research and Technology Transfer

The JMU Service Centre for Research and Technology Transfer (SFT) provides information and support in the areas of inventions, patents and licences as well as in questions relating to entrepreneurial independence and technology transfer. It is the point of contact for students, researchers and employees of the university, but also for companies wishing to co-operate with the university.