Successful Christmas lecture at the FB: Chemistry inspires with science, humor and Christmas magic
With two packed performances, an enthusiastic audience and a rousing mix of science, entertainment and Christmas magic, this year's Christmas lecture by the Chemistry department at RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau was a complete success. The lecture hall was filled to the last seat, the atmosphere was tense and full of expectation - and from the first to the last minute, the audience marveled, laughed and shared in the excitement.
Under the motto "Wichtelwerkstatt goes Insta", the lecture transported the audience into an imaginative story from the world of Christmas, in which Santa Claus decides to move with the times and break new ground in communication. Embedded in this humorous framework, Prof. Dr. Sabine Becker (Inorganic Chemistry), Prof. Dr. Johann-Nikolaus Seibert (Chemistry Didactics) and Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Kleist (Technical Chemistry), together with the thirteen-strong team of elves, presented impressive live experiments and explained chemical phenomena in a way that was both understandable and scientifically sound.
At the same time, it became clear how closely research, teaching and science communication are interlinked in the Department of Chemistry. The aim of the event was to make chemistry tangible, arouse curiosity and convey a differentiated picture of this key science - as the basis for technological development, sustainable action and social progress.
The Christmas Lecture is an integral part of public science communication at RPTU and is deliberately aimed at a cross-generational audience. It creates encounters between the university and society and shows how science can be communicated in a low-threshold, dialog-oriented and enjoyable way. This cooperation between science and didactics is a central building block in the Department of Chemistry - not only for such events, but also in the training of future teachers and chemists. Sustainable education is created when subject-specific and didactic research are combined.
Special thanks go to all those involved who contributed to the success of the evening: the academic staff, the students, the chemistry student council and the numerous helpers in front of and behind the scenes. The Department of Chemistry would also like to thank the audience for their great interest, enthusiasm and the special atmosphere that characterized this evening.
The Christmas Lecture 2025 impressively demonstrated how lively, relevant and fascinating chemistry can be - and why this traditional format will remain an integral part of public science communication at RPTU in the future. Over 900 ticket requests are proof of the overwhelming success of the concept. The Wichtel team is all the more looking forward to next year!
Media coverage:
- Die Rheinpfalz: "Santa Claus competes with the Easter Bunny: It bangs, flashes and snows in the lecture hall"
(digital Rheinpfalz subscription required for full article) - SWR: "This is how the Christmas lecture at the University of Kaiserslautern went"
(TV report from SWR Aktuell from 18.12.25)
Impressions of the Christmas lecture: Picture carousel
(further pictures by mail - please send a short declaration of consent for publication - to mang[at]rPTU.de)