Lange Nacht der Forschung 2026

How can we recognize, describe, and make use of symmetries—from nature to abstract mathematics?

Under this title, the Department of Mathematics participated in the “Lange Nacht der Forschung” on April 24, 2026, at the University of Klagenfurt. A team of eleven members from the department, along with Carinthian math teachers Gerhard Hainscho and Roland Prinz, set up a variety of interactive stations, both large and small.

The activities ranged from mirror boxes that make the viewer rotate in surprising ways, to the tessellating works of M. C. Escher, which could be assembled from 3D-printed parts, to tricky packing puzzles where the solutions seem to contradict the properties of the individual pieces. Symmetries in nature also played a central role: Visitors could explore the structures of plants and ice crystals and discover how mathematical principles become visible in natural forms.

Another highlight was a music visualization based on dynamic systems, in which mathematical models generated moving patterns in real time. The “Symmetry Camera” was also particularly popular: there, visitors could have their photos taken with kaleidoscopic and fractal effects, and the images were printed immediately and taken home.

Those who wanted to delve deeper into the topics could learn more from posters and engage in conversation with the team.