Events
The event program at the Collegium engages different audiences around topics of societal and scholarly importance. As part of their fellowship, each fellow organizes an event that is open to the public. In addition, the Collegium hosts events that link up with current interdisciplinary academic discussions.
Upcoming events
All events are free-of-charge and open to the public, unless stated otherwise. The events take various forms, from lectures or conferences to more artistic formats such as exhibitions, concerts, film screenings, or theater productions. Most events take place at the Semper Observatory, but the Collegium also cooperates with local academic and cultural institutions.
Ludwik Fleck Lecture
From 2005 to 2022, the Collegium was home to a research center on the life and work of Ludwik Fleck, a microbiologist and pioneering philosopher of science. The annual Ludwik Fleck Lecture invites outstanding speakers to honor the thinking of Ludwik Fleck, who continues to be an essential reference for cross-disciplinary research at the Collegium. Since 2006, the Ludwik Fleck Lecture has been delivered by renowned speakers, notably Carlo Ginzburg, Michael Gordin, Bruno Latour, Annemarie Mol, and Christian Drosten.
Past events
Religion(s) in an Age of Digitalization
New Perspectives on Ludwik Fleck
The Values of Diversity A History
Towards an Economic History of Climate Change
Night at the Observatory The Collegium at Zurich’s Long Night of Museums
Colors of (Colonial) Chemistry
Colors of (Colonial) Chemistry A Self-Guided Tour
Under Construction
Just Transitions Challenges and Opportunities of Necessary Change
Luminous Links Encounters with Light in Science, Society, and the Senses
Colors of (Colonial) Chemistry Dye, Photography, and Architecture
Human Responses to Extreme Weather Events An Interdisciplinary Approach
Seeing is Believing Extreme Weather Events and Climate Action
Boosting Computational Catalysis with Machine Learning Current Challenges, Limitations, and Opportunities
The Rise of Self-Driving Labs in Chemistry and Materials Science Autonomous Robotic Experimentation
Efficient? The History and Future of Architectural Performance
The Future of Modeling Nature
On Models in the Experimental Sciences With Examples from the Early History of Molecular Biology
AI Reimagined Sustainable Futures in the Digital Age
Why Facts Don’t Speak for Themselves Ludwik Fleck Lecture 2025 by Naomi Oreskes
Modeling of Granular Materials Integrating Data, Computation, and Physics
Ministry for the Future Episode 4: Foundation
Interfacial Aesthetics From Earth to Space
Ministry for the Future Episode 3: Nomadism
Endings and Meanings Existential Suffering in the 21st Century
Between Proximity and Distance Self-Chosen Death in Documentary Film
Bodies in Science The Role of Human Bodies in Learning Abstract Scientific Concepts
Ministry for the Future Episode 2: Extinction
The Art and Science of Liquid Interfaces
Contemplating (Dis)Comfort in Humanitarian Spaces
Cyclic Liquefaction in Granular Soils: Engineering and Science From Earthquakes to Micromechanics
Delimiting Medicine in Limitless Times
Can Beauty Save the World? Part of the Literature Festival “Poor and Rich”
Drivers and Constraints in the Emergence of Multilevel Societies Toward a Unified Theory in the Animal Kingdom
Ministry for the Future Episode 1: Geoengineering
Sharing with the Devil The Story of Appropriation in an Indonesian Coffee Plantation, 1830s–2000s
Navigating Generative AI in Education Risks, Rewards, and the Role of Explainability
Uncertainties in Climate and Weather Predictions From Modeling to Visualization
Challenging Dichotomies in the Cultural and Social Aspects of Development Cooperation MAS Student Conference
Decoding Zurich’s Art Scene Unraveling Institutional Impact on Artistic Career Development
Terrestrial Ecosystems at Risk Exploring the Critical Nexus of Land Use and Climate Change
Visual Aspects of Political Communication and Digital Platforms
Quantifying the Impact of Microbiome Dynamics on Antimicrobial Resistance
Can We Dissociate the Work from the Author? A Conversation with Gisèle Sapiro
Repair, Prepare The Transformative Potential of the Arts and the Operationality of their Temporality
Manipulating Microbiomes Microbiota-based Interventions for Pathogen Control
Lange Nacht der Museen Zurich’s Long Night of Museums
O Encontro das Partes Partidas The Encounter of Broken Parts
The Observatory Remnants of Explorations on Lost, Marginal, and Possible Realities
Walking Festival of Sound
Grete Steffin und Brecht und Du A VR production
Movement Analytics in the Era of Big Data and Open Science
IMAMOU In the Beginning There Was Water
Integrating Science, Physiotherapists, and Robots in Rehabilitation
Radio-Activities Architecture and Broadcasting in Cold War Berlin
Generative AI, Social Media, and the Super-Election Year of 2024
Planetary Health It Takes More Than a Village to Find a Solution
Continuity and Change Reflecting on over a Decade of Platform-Mediated Gig Work
Affective Dimensions of Urban Places
Inclusive Cities New Methods to Understand Informal Infrastructure Access
Urban Lighting Realities 4D Virtual Settlements from Cape Town to Sarajevo
The Past and Future of Global Tax Justice
A Virologist’s Look Back on COVID-19 Ludwik Fleck Lecture 2024 by Christian Drosten
The Curriculum Vitae Recording, Constructing, and Evaluating Authorship
Drivers of Ethical Consumption in Switzerland and Japan
Ghostly Currency The Afterlife of Celebrity
Acapulco Working in Progress or First Cut
The Role of Culture in the Exploration of Post-Trauma Suffering
La Zattera (the Raft) A Performative Archive of Forgotten Memories, Marginal Realities, and Lost Futures of Modern Rome
Real-Life Impacts of Security Vulnerabilities
Developing Effective Climate Policy
Politics in Proximity On Inequality and Local Governance
Climate Crisis and the Humanities With Nayanika Mathur
Digital Money and Digital Futures for Value Exchange
Can We Be Smarter than the Phytoplankton? A Perspective on the Global Climate and Sustainability
Ukrainian Chamber Music An Autobiography
Docu & Demo Archiving Programmed Media Art
Accelerating Replacement Toward Animal-Free Science Research at Swiss Universities
Docu & Demo Condensed Knowledge Formats
In Between Performance and Documentation
The Global Tax Evasion Report 2024 A Panel Discussion with Gabriel Zucman
Bespoke Artificial Cells and Tissues for Drug Discovery
SustainAgro Strengthening Economic Growth, Sustainability, and Innovation in Agriculture
I Prefer Not To Hito Steyerl in Conversation
Structural Media
Structural Media
Structural Media
Corpses, Casts, and Copyrights Displaying Human Remains
Working the Image Exch W/ Turkers and Other Collective Experimentations
Sample Delivery Methods For In-Situ Studies and Serial Crystallography
Rise of Atmospheric Drought Integrating Across Scales and Disciplines to Boost Plant Resilience
Dense + Green Cities Architecture as Urban Ecosystem
Politics and Poetics of Exile by Didier Fassin
Brauchen wir kurze Bücher? Do We Need Short Books?
Radical Reading
Time to Socialize Does the Timing of Brain Development Predict Prosocial and Play Behavior?
Literatur und Recht in der römisch-griechischen Tradition Literature and Law in the Greco-Roman Tradition
(Re-)Searching for Resonances Contemporary Music at the Collegium
Francesca Melandri im Gespräch mit Zora del Buono Francesca Melandri in Conversation with Zora del Buono
Futures Storytelling Discussion and Workshop with Kim Stanley Robinson
Hidden Deep Demystifying the Coca-Plant for Science and Beyond
How AI is Disrupting Developer Productivity It’s More Complicated Than We May Think
Epistemic Authority
Data Alchemy Observing Patterns from Galileo to Artificial Intelligence
Integrating Diverse Forms of Knowledge in Health Care Research
+/- 1632m: Disturbing the Swiss/African Commons
The Moral Underpinnings of Political Preferences An Interdisciplinary Approach
Die Orte, an denen meine Träume wohnen The Places Where My Dreams Live
The Tragic Case of Cleanliness–Styles (Logics, Worlds) in Tension Ludwik Fleck Lecture 2023 by Annemarie Mol
Metabolism Spiralling Out of Control
Building Blocks for Reuse Art, Ethics, and Engineering
Central Bank Digital Currencies
The Role of Technological Innovation in Environmental and Climate Policy How Can the Energy Transition Succeed?
Bubbles, Droplets, Membranes, and Interfaces Materials Science Meets Visual Arts
Einstein Shock The Making of a Global Celebrity
Rethinking Law beyond Linear Time and the Individual Subject
Rethinking Science in Times of Open Science?
Forests | An Evocation
Ethnography, Economy and Ecology of Pastoralism in Kazakhstan Capitalism and the Future of Central Eurasian Grasslands
Do We Write Differently after Artificial Intelligence? A conversation between Hannes Bajohr, Monika Rinck, and Ann Cotten
Crimea’s Polylinguism Reflections in World Literatures
The Problem with Pseudoscience Ludwik Fleck Lecture 2022 by Michael D. Gordin
Understanding the Challenges of Plant Science: Reflections from the Outside-In Ludwik Fleck Lecture 2020 by Paco Calvo
Wie der Geist in die Natur passt – Mentaler Realismus nach Nagel Ludwik Fleck Lecture 2019 by Markus Gabriel
What is the Source of Nature‘s Moral Authority? Ludwik Fleck Lecture 2018 by Lorraine Daston
Newton als Ästhet. Fallstudie über die Schönheit optischer Experimente Ludwik Fleck Lecture 2017 by Olaf Müller
Formen des Wissens im Wechselspiel Ludwik Fleck Lecture 2016 by Günter Abel
Extracting Meaning from the Past and the Future: The Philosophy of Science and the Philosophy of History Compared Ludwik Fleck Lecture 2015 by Gabriel Motzkin
Slowing Down the Sciences? Ludwik Fleck Lecture 2013 by Isabelle Stengers
Schema and Bias: An Historian’s Reflection on Double Blind Experiments Ludwik Fleck Lecture 2011 by Carlo Ginzburg
Science and Democracy–Learning Our Political Epistemology From Fleck Opening Lecture at the Latsis Symposium 2011 by Bruno Latour
The Epigenetic Turn: 20th-Century Developmental Approaches to Heredity and Evolution Ludwik Fleck Lecture 2009 by Eva Jablonka
Wahrheit und Widerstand Ludwik Fleck Lecture 2008 by Jorge Semprún
