Broad Questions

University research today is compartmentalized in such a complex, differentiated system that it seems almost impossible to address broad, all-encompassing questions. CAS envisions itself as a place where questions can also be discussed that may seem sweeping and simplified from the perspective of specialized research. In the course of exchange that goes beyond the boundaries of distinct disciplines, subjects can be debated which the individual sciences no longer dare to approach. At CAS this semester, the questions of the meaning of life and the origins of the universe will be addressed.

Is this Rubbish?

Bureaucracy has developed a bad reputation. Across all areas of society, there is a consensus that the dismantling of bureaucratic hurdles has become a requirement –  if necessary with a chainsaw, as the saying now goes. The CAS lecture series will examine whether bureaucracies are truly as bad as their reputation. Is it indeed not currently evident, that bureaucratic systems provide important support for our democracies?

These questions will be discussed at CAS by experts including the former federal constitutional judge Gertrude Lübbe-Wolff, the historian Hedwig Richter, the “Wirtschaftsweise” Monika Schnitzer, and Sabine Kuhlmann from the Judicial Review Council. The lecture series provides the starting point for the interdisciplinary Research Focus of the same name at CAS.

What are Black Holes?

In his lecture, the Nobel Prizewinner Reinhard Genzel will outline the discovery and examination of massive black holes in the center of our galaxy and beyond. The event will also mark the conclusion of the CAS Research Focus “New Cosmology”.

3 March 2026, 7 p.m.
CAS Showcase: Prof. Dr. Reinhard Genzel (LMU/MPI)
Galaxies and Black Holes

Is This New?

Femicides have not long been characterized as a distinct form of violence in our society. The Research Group led by Julia Burkhardt is examining the historical dimension of femicides in particular, and is able to show that this is a historically consistent phenomenon.

The second Research Group, led by Nikita Geldhauser, is rooted in mathematics and addresses current questions of motivic algebraic geometry – with a particular focus on the analysis of algebraic groups using oriented cohomology theories. The opening lecture will be held by the internationally renowned mathematician Alexander Merkurjev (University of California, Los Angeles).

Who must not be absent?

At the center of all the CAS program lines stand the visiting fellows: Gisèle Sapiro (Paris) will offer a masterclass as part of the CAS Research Focus “Scales”. The education researcher William Boone (Miami University, Ohio) will address along with Birgit Neuhaus (LMU) the further development of empirical methods for research into scientific teaching-learning processes. Iina Savolainen (Tampere University) and Lena Frischlich (University of Southern Denmark) are working together with Magdalena Obermaier on the subject of digital civil courage and the question of the opportunities and risks that the use of AI in this field brings.

What is the Meaning of Life?

How do the various different sciences understand the “meaning of life”? The Research Focus led by Nikolaos Koutsouleris (Neuropsychiatry) and Christof Rapp (Ancient Philosophy) addresses this broad question initially by attempting to define it more precisely. How can “meaning” be interpreted and is it necessarily bound to a certain direction? Which dimensions of “life” does the question address? Does it refer to individual life, to the human species, or to life in general?

21 October 2025, 7 p.m.
Lecture by Prof. Dr. Christof Rapp (LMU)
Die Sinnlosigkeit des Lebens. Ein Fehlschluss?

What is Represented?

Four postdocs are conducting research at CAS in the winter semester: the political scientist Alexa Lenz is concerned with rhetoric in parliamentary debates. Magdalena Obermaier from the communication sciences is researching the role of so-called “bystanders” online discourses, whose prosocial intervention could be encouraged with the help of AI. The art historian Stefanie Schneider is examining the representativeness of digital images in vision/language models (VLMs). The project of the mathematician Andrei Lavrenov addresses motivic invariants of algebraic groups, particularly the Morava K-theory motives of the corresponding projective homogeneous varieties.

How do You Find a Good Model Choice?

Young Center members Andreas Döpp and Tom Sterkenburg will hold a workshop at CAS in the winter semester on the topic of „Model Choice in Bayesian Inference“. Iván Díaz and Herbert Susmann, CAS Fellows on invitation of YC member Michael Schomaker, give a lecture on „Causal Inference Based on Machine Learning for Complex Longitudinal Exposures“.

23 and 24 March 2026
Workshop Model Choice in Bayesian Inference

Science and Politics

In the blog section “Global Worlds”, the researcher in residence Daniel Sharp reflects on the concepts of citizenship and equality. CAS Fellow Vincent Balnat describes the results of his collaboration with his LMU host Michael Rödel.

Amélie Esterházy – Geometry of Disappearance

In her art, Amélie Esterházy unites mathematical, biological and ephemeral elements in order to explore the relationships between corpus, time, nature and technology. Her works address the field of tension between natural order and artificial structure, thereby visualizing the way in which complexity develops from simple units.

16 October 2025, 7 p.m.
Art at CAS – Vernissage
Amélie Esterházy – Geometry of Disappearance
Introduction: Immanuel Bloch (Physics, LMU)

Hubertus Reichert. Studies on Dante

Following the great success of the last exhibition by Hubertus Reichert at CAS several years ago, more recent works arising from studies on Dante’s Divine Comedy are now being presented .

26 November 2025, 7 p.m.
Art at CAS at Friedrichstraße 22 – Vernissage
Hubertus Reichert. Studies on Dante
Introduction: Florian Mehltretter (Italian Philology, LMU)