Quantum Power for International Women’s Day: Exhibition RETHINKING PHYSICS at Technische Sammlungen Dresden

Overview

On International Women's Day 2025, Technische Sammlungen Dresden will shine a spotlight on female quantum physicists. Starting at 10:30 a.m., the traveling exhibition “RETHINKING PHYSICS. A Century of Quantum Mechanics – Time for a Female Perspective!” will open with portraits of established and emerging female researchers. The launch event will include a keynote speech exploring diverse perspectives on gender equality in science. Designed by the Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat at the Universities of Würzburg and Dresden to mark the UN’s International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, the exhibition will travel to destinations across the globe, including in Australia and the US.

 

“The portraits of female physicists showcased at Technische Sammlungen Dresden in collaboration with ct.qmat stand for a vision of science that’s free from social labels, stereotypes, and biases. International Women’s Day – celebrated this year for the 114th time – once again calls attention to the ongoing fight for gender equality, recognizing both progress made and challenges that remain,” says Roland Schwarz, Director of Technische Sammlungen Dresden.

 

“RETHINKING PHYSICS amplifies the visibility of women in science, promotes role models, and challenges the cultural structures within the scientific community. Equal opportunity is the foundation of diversity, fair career prospects, and work-life balance in research,” adds Professor Matthias Vojta, Dresden spokesperson for the Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat – Complexity and Topology in Quantum Matter. “We’re thrilled to be continuing our successful collaboration with Technische Sammlungen Dresden, which previously led to the creation of the ‘Kitty Q – A Quantum Adventure’ escape room.”

 

A Day Dedicated to Equal Opportunity 

The hour-long opening event for RETHINKING PHYSICS will start at 10.30am on March 8, 2025, at Goldberg Hall (5th floor), Technische Sammlungen Dresden (Junghansstrasse 1–3, 01277 Dresden). Doors open at 10am – admission free.

 

Program

Welcome remarks by Roland Schwarz and Matthias Vojta 

Keynote: “Gender Equality in Science” by Professor Monique Ritter, Professor of Gender and Social Work at Landshut University of Applied Sciences, and Bernadette Rohlf from the European Science Foundation junior research group “Promoting Women Through Individual and Organizational Skills in Education and Careers” at Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences 

Exhibition tour of RETHINKING PHYSICS in the “Research Showcase” (5th floor), including networking opportunity with speakers and scientists

 

The RETHINKING PHYSICS traveling exhibition will be on display at Technische Sammlungen Dresden’s “Research Showcase” until May 18, 2025 (Junghansstrasse 1–3, 01277 Dresden).

Open Tuesday – Friday: 9am – 5pm; Saturday/Sunday/public holidays: 10am – 6pm

As part of the Quantum2025 initiative, RETHINKING PHYSICS will travel to over 50 locations worldwide, including in Australia, Austria, Germany, and the United States.

 

Historical Context of RETHINKING PHYSICS

The quantum revolution began over a century ago when German physicist Max Planck introduced his quantum hypothesis. By discovering the concept of the quantum leap, he shattered the framework of classical physics. In 1925, quantum mechanics was given its mathematical foundation, marking the birth of modern physics – a new way of understanding the world that paved the way for high-tech innovations like lasers, computer chips, and solar panels. But at the dawn of this revolution, it was mostly men who led the charge. Women faced significant barriers to entering the field and had to fight long and hard for recognition.

 

In Germany, it wasn’t until 1900 that women were even allowed to enroll in universities as regular students, moving beyond the role of passive observers. It would take nearly two more decades before the first female scientists in Germany were allowed to qualify for university teaching positions.

 

This explains why the hall of fame in physics includes so few “great women” – notable exceptions being double Nobel Prize laureate Marie Curie, and Lise Meitner, Germany’s first female professor of physics. Yet, many remarkable contributions have been overlooked. Take Grete Hermann, for example – a mathematician, physicist, and philosopher whose groundbreaking work on the principles and interpretation of quantum mechanics in the 1930s was largely unknown by her contemporaries. Around thirty years later, a physicist from Northern Ireland arrived at similar conclusions and used them to develop Bell’s theorem. Hermann was ahead of her time and her work was only later rediscovered. Today, an international network of female researchers based at the Würzburg-Dresden Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat proudly bears her name.