25.11.2025 CZS Network CZSconnect | Meeting of endowed professors in Mainz

Networking² - this motto probably best describes the two-day meeting of Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung professors in Mainz. One topic in particular united the 25 or so professors: how knowledge is disseminated and how it can be made accessible.

The Gutenberg MOVED exhibition at the Gutenberg Museum took the participants directly to the origins of modern knowledge dissemination. The printing demonstration impressively demonstrated the social transformation that Gutenberg's invention triggered - knowledge became reproducible, disseminable and accessible to many.

This historical perspective provided an ideal transition to the impulse from Prof. Dr. Heinz Pampel from HU Berlin on the topic of "Open Science / Open Access". While the printing press revolutionized society in the 15th century by providing easy access to knowledge, open science today stands for the same basic idea in the digital space: openly sharing research, promoting transparency and strengthening collaboration. The participants then discussed how existing obstacles to open science practices can be overcome.