The Excellent Pub Quiz at LNDW 2025: Science gets personal

By: Maria Ott

What happens when Berlin’s top research clusters join forces for a quiz night? The answer played out on 28 June during Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften at TU Berlin. The “Excellent Pub Quiz” drew an enthusiastic crowd, with so many people wanting to participate that the event was quickly just booked out! The demand speaks for itself.

Collaboration that works

The quiz is a joint format by Berlin’s seven Clusters of Excellence: MATH+, NeuroCure, SCRIPTS, UniSysCat, Science of Intelligence, Matters of Activity, and Temporal Communities. Each year, they bring their research into a shared public space in a format that is direct, engaging, and fun to take part in. This kind of cooperation across disciplines and institutions is rare, and it shows how science communication can thrive when researchers break out of their silos.

A Format that has grown

The quiz is no longer a one-time experiment. It’s become a known format with its own rhythm and following. Besides the annual event during the Lange Nacht der Wissenschaft, the Clusters now also run a smaller monthly quiz series. Many audience members came back because they already knew the quiz. Others discovered it for the first time and stayed for the atmosphere, the questions, and the chance to talk about science in an unusual setting.

Questions that spark reactions

The quiz is more than just a list of facts. From laughter and debate to the occasional gasp of surprise or heated whispering over a question, you could feel the audience thinking. The audience challenged their own assumptions, learned about research topics they’d never heard of, and talked with strangers about the brain, politics, AI, or literature. Some teams kept debating the questions long after the round was over.

This is what makes the format work. It creates a setting where science is not just something to learn about, but something to respond to.

A night to remember

Held in two rounds, both in German, the quiz covered a wide mix of topics drawn from the Clusters’ research areas. From climate-friendly chemistry to social dynamics and algorithmic logic, each question gave a glimpse into the kinds of problems researchers in Berlin are tackling.

There were prizes, yes, but most people came for the challenge and the chance to be surprised.

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