Friedrich Schiller University Jena is strengthening dialogue in the region with a new initiative: together with the Ernst Abbe Foundation and the Carl Zeiss Foundation, it is launching the ?MitmachFORUM on Tour?. The aim of the project is to promote mutual exchange between people, science, local authorities and business in rural areas, as University President Prof. Dr Andreas Marx emphasises: ?The University of Jena sees itself as a university in the midst of society. With the ?MitmachFORUM on Tour?, we want to get into conversation with the people of Thuringia outside the Centres and shape science together.?

In future, a mobile science bus will serve as a platform for co-creative dialogue formats, cultural events, workshops, pop-up labs and exhibitions. From 2027, the bus will initially be travelling around Eastern Thuringia. Citizens, researchers and students will work together on regional topics such as healthcare, sustainability, structural change or discuss issues of coexistence.

?The university is an open place and with the ?MitmachFORUM? we are making this openness tangible for everyone by leaving the lecture theatre and coming directly to the people?, emphasises Dr Dana Strau?, Head of the Network and Cooperation Management Office. Marvin Rosé, Coordinator for Networks and Public Engagement, adds: ?Innovation and research are created through participation and togetherness. In the ?MitmachFORUM? we invite everyone to contribute their perspectives?. Together they have initiated the ?MitmachFORUM on Tour?.

The participating foundations also see potential for the region in this approach. ?With the ?MitmachFORUM on Tour?, we bring science to places where it is particularly important for social cohesion: to rural areas. As the Ernst Abbe Foundation, we support this project because it enables dialogue, strengthens trust and actively involves people in scientific processes. Especially in times of social challenges, we need a resilient, democratic and cosmopolitan scientific culture. By bringing research and the population together as equals, we are creating a stable environment for education and innovation in Thuringia—and strengthening trust in science in the long term?, says Christian Gerlitz, Managing Director of the Ernst Abbe Foundation.

Dr Felix Streiter, Managing Director of the Carl Zeiss Foundation, emphasises the importance of such dialogue-oriented formats for the future: ?With this funding, the Carl Zeiss Foundation is building on its more than 100-year history of science communication in Jena and Thuringia. More than ever, personal encounters with researchers and active participation in scientific topics are needed to promote curiosity and interest in science and research. This is exactly what the MitmachFORUM on Tour aims to achieve.?

The ?MitmachFORUM? itself has been established at the University of Jena as a central format for dialogue with society since 2025. With the ?MitmachFORUM on Tour?, this concept is now being expanded—both in terms of location and content. The project is initially scheduled to run for three years until the end of 2028 and is jointly funded by the Ernst Abbe Foundation and the Carl Zeiss Foundation. A total of around 476,000 euros is available for the project