Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research at the Science Market 2025 in Mainz

Nanocapsule role-playing game inspires scholars in Mainz

The 23rd Mainz Science Market attracted numerous visitors to Mainz city center last weekend. Organized by the Mainz Science Alliance, this year's event offered a new highlight: on Friday morning, there were already over 70 activities specifically for school classes on the program. The Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPIP) participated with a special role-playing game: “The long journey of a nanocapsule – past the liver, lungs, and phagocytes!”. Schoolchildren slipped into the roles of organs and blood cells, while a narrator guided them through the exciting journey of the nanocapsule. This made science come alive in a playful way – a trial balloon that met with great interest.

On Saturday and Sunday, the Science Market opened as usual to all interested parties. Forty-five stands invited visitors to participate, experiment, and engage in dialogue. The MPIP presented hands-on activities on PET recycling and showed how bioplastics can be easily produced from starch.

“The event is a wonderful platform for getting young people excited about science and also for bringing parents, grandparents, and friends into contact with our research,” emphasized Prof. Katharina Landfester, director at the MPIP.

A big thank you goes to Susanne Egler, Managing Director of the Science Alliance, and Tanja Labs from artefont, who made the Science Market possible with their great commitment.
All in all, it was a thoroughly successful three-day event that impressively demonstrated how science can be communicated in a lively way.