Representatives from 25 universities learn about the RPTU's teaching experiments
Lecture Assistants from Across Germany Visit the Department of Physics in Kaiserslautern
From September 14 to 16, 2026, the Department of Physics at RPTU in Kaiserslautern hosted a workshop for lecture assistants from German universities. Approximately 25 universities were represented. The focus was on professional exchange and the question of how physical phenomena can be conveyed in a clear and engaging way through experiments in university teaching—and what ideas and innovations the RPTU is leading the way with in this area.
To this end, the RPTU lecture series team presented a hand-picked selection of approximately 35 experiments from various fields of physics: The demonstrations ranged from a fire tornado to numerous experiments newly developed by the RPTU and the Kapitsa pendulum, highlighting the high priority given to experiments in physics education at the Kaiserslautern campus. The experiments were presented in detail, discussed, and evaluated in terms of their use in teaching. Another focus was on the technical implementation of modern experimental lectures. The RPTU’s lecture hall technology provides a modern, well-designed, and time-tested foundation for this purpose. The requirements are particularly high when it comes to presenting physics experiments: The experiments must be presented in a way that is visible and understandable even in large lecture halls, while at the same time being able to be integrated directly into the lecture and live streams via cameras, projectors, and other technology. The technical equipment developed at the RPTU for this purpose therefore also generated great interest among the representatives from the other universities.
The program was complemented by guided tours of the extensive lecture collection and selected laboratories, as well as insights into current research.
In his talk, Prof. Dr. Widera provided insight into the latest advances toward a universal quantum computer, thereby demonstrating how closely current research topics are linked to the education of future physicists.
A special highlight of the program was the keynote lecture by Prof. Dr. Beigang, featuring his magic show “Physik mal anders”. Physics topics and phenomena were presented in a magical context and conveyed in an entertaining way. The unusual combination of magic and physics generated a great deal of enthusiasm among the participants.
The numerous positive responses from the participants showed that the conference was very well received, both in terms of its academic content and its supporting program, and left a very positive impression of the RPTU in Kaiserslautern as a center for physics.