Citizen Science
Stargazers discover new comets, fish lovers observe unknown behavioural patterns of their fish in the aquarium and bird watchers count the bird species in their garden – “Citizen Science” is hardly a new concept in research, but it has been experiencing something of a renaissance over recent years thanks to the Internet. It is a form of science that allows non-professionals to participate in scientific projects. They observe, carry out measurements and evaluate data.
This is especially true for animal observations. The many animal lovers and conservationists worldwide who are connected via the Internet can form an observation network that can complement technical systems such as Icarus well. The Icarus researchers have therefore built a platform for interested laymen, through which they can feed their findings directly into the scientists’ database.
MaxCine
Children and adolescents can also participate in the outreach center of the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Konstanz, called MaxCine. MaxCine focuses on informing about science, experiencing research, travelling digitally in nature and actively shaping the future on our planet. They make the work of our scientists accessible to a broad public in a variety of ways.
The Young Scientists program brings together a select group of inquisitive young people, including many nature and animal lovers, who meet like-minded people at MaxCine and learn from our scientists. In return, our scientists get new ideas and other perspectives from them.
For schools, MaxCine offers lectures, guided tours and workshops onsite. Also, schools can have a piece of MaxCine come to them. With the FlightCase 1.0 schools get an interesting insight into the exciting work of the scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior.
Finally, visitors can explore MaxCine in Radolfzell, immersing themselves in the Hennhaus, the BeeMarie, and tours.
