Annual Conference Ideenforum
The Bionicum is a fascinating museum for interested visitors as well as educators, researchers and innovators.
The goal of the annual conference Bionicum Ideenforum is to gather all these relevant players under one roof and bring them into an exchange with each other.
The conference takes place annually in spring and communicates changing, yet current research topics at the Bionicum – with direct contact to nature in the Zoo Nuremberg.
ArtoPod BioCraze 2025: Symposium Kunst & Biowissenschaften
The interdisciplinary symposium took place at the Academy of Fine Arts Nuremberg (AdBK) and Nuremberg Zoo and was organised in cooperation with the AdBK Nuremberg, the Archaeology Centre at the Chair of Microbiology at the University of Regensburg (UR), the Bionicum, Nuremberg Zoo and the Bavarian State Natural History Collections (SNSB).
Lectures, discussions, diverse workshops and art performances
Ideenforum 2024: Klimawandel – past present future
How species can survive: Zoos as beacons of hope
Dr Lorenzo von Fersen, Nuremberg Zoo / YAQU PACHA e.V.
Was everything better in the past? Climate and the evolution of fossil mammals
PD Dr Gertrud Rößner, Bavarian State Collection for Palaeontology and Geology/SNSB
Plants on the run: Changes for plants in climate change
PD Dr Andreas Fleischmann, Bavarian State Botanical Collection Munich/SNSB
Panel discussion and ‘Mission Earth’
Film screening at the Nuremberg Planetarium
Ideenforum Bionicum 2023
Workshops for schools:
Escape game with robot grippers / Zoo rally Bionics challenge
Astronauts and robots in space
Adrian Bauer, German Aerospace Centre
My view of space
Dr Suzanna Randall, astronaut in training, ESO (European Southern Observatory)
Stars on the run
Prof. Dr Ulrich Heber, Dr Karl Remeis Observatory, Astronomical Institute
Ideenforum Bionicum 2022 digital
Workshop for schools:
Time travel challenge in the classroom
Lecture:
The eternal lure of nectar! How plants communicate with bats. A model for self-driving cars?
Dr Ralph Simon, Nuremberg Zoo
→ YouTube: Recording of lecture
Ideenforum Bionicum 2021 digital mit bayern innovativ
Pecha Kucha presentations & Ask a scientist:
Teresa Walter and Salvatore Chiera, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg
Matthias Weichselgartner, Deggendorf Institute of Technology
Sarah Haase, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg
Martin Reimer, Technical University of Munich Campus Straubing
Kai Mayer, University of Bayreuth
Robin Löffler, Georg Simon Ohm University of Applied Sciences Nuremberg
→ YouTube: Recording lectures
Ideenforum Bionicum 2020
Workshop for schools:
Upcycling and paper making from rhino dung / Ideas workshop: how much resource conservation is there in bionics / Walk-On – Children.Zoo.Research
Learning from living nature for sustainability strategies
Prof. Dr. Ilse C. Gebeshuber, Vienna University of Technology
In top form as if by magic – sustainable surfaces
Matthias Weichselgartner, Deggendorf Institute of Technology
High-tech optics from nature
Kai Mayer, University of Bayreuth and Martin Reimer, Technical University of Munich, Straubing Campus
Ideenforum Bionicum 2019
Workshop for schools:
Up close and personal: The disgust challenge at Bionicum / Hands-on bionics from the Melanchthon Gymnasium P-seminar
Among leeches and snakes
Dr Sebastian Lotzkat, Stuttgart Natural History Museum
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder
Dr Olga Speck, University of Freiburg / Biomimetics Competence Network
Where to put all the manure? Dung beetles in the savannah
Dr Dag Encke, Nuremberg Zoo
Image: Jürgen Otto
Ideenforum Bionicum 2018
Workshop for schools:
‘How do bats and dolphins communicate in the zoo?’
From barking piranhas to sneezing wild dogs: comparing human and animal communication
Prof. Dr Sonja Zeman, University of Bamberg
Microbionics: when sensors get small
Dr Siegfried Steltenkamp, Ophardt-Hygiene Technik
The fascinating world of waving frogs – communication in noisy environments
Dr Doris Preininger, Schönbrunn Zoo, Vienna
Image: Anthony Robbins
Ideenforum Bionicum 2017
Workshop for schools:
Building like nature / Folding makes things beautifully stable / Minimal surfaces / As little material as possible
Light into darkness: How do you bring sunlight into rooms without windows?
Prof. Dr Hans Poisel, Michael Lippenberger and Philipp Dengler, Nuremberg Tech
From sequoia trees to earthquake-proof buildings
Dr Georg Bauer, Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg
Stable and light – building like nature
Johannes Höning, Saarland University of Applied Sciences
Image: ICD/ITKE, University of Stuttgart
Ideenforum Bionicum 2016
Animals and technology – what we can learn from nature
Dr Nina Gaissert, Festo AG & Co. KG
How robots are becoming more user-friendly – intuitive human-robot interaction
Dr Ivo Boblan, Technical University of Berlin
Open Bionic Innovation – how biologists and engineers find common ground
Stefan Landkammer, Nuremberg Tech
Innovation at the frontier of knowledge: evolution as a driving force behind scientific progress?
Prof. Dr. Stephan Wolf, FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg
Poster session Bionicum research
Impressions from the Ideenforum in 2019