At the end of May, the Knowledge Forum at the University of Göttingen will open its doors, but again there is disagreement about the ambitious project, which wants to present science to the public in a new way.

University President Metin Tolan publicly commented disparagingly on the resignation of Marie Luisa Allemeyer, the director of the forum.

Tolan does not want to admit, at least publicly, that her departure to the Westfälisches Freilichtmuseum in Detmold could be the result of a fundamental conflict about the content of the forum.

The dismissal of the Forum's Scientific Advisory Board at the beginning of the year was also "proper", according to the university at the request of this newspaper.

The Advisory Board's term of office would have expired anyway.

In his “thank you” to its members, Tolan justified his step with a “reorganization” of the forum bodies, for which the advisory board is probably no longer needed.

He hopes, according to Tolan, "to be able to meet the former members there one day".

In any case, we will probably not meet at the opening ceremony of the forum, as the members of the advisory board have not yet been invited to do so.

If it stayed that way, it would be called shabby.

But the plans are not yet complete, according to the university.

Don't shut yourself off from the process of knowledge

What knowledge does the forum need in order to be a success?

Especially an audience.

Allemeyer and her team's concept would also be a challenge for a city with greater appeal.

The paths of knowledge that the forum wants to open up are intricate.

In constant exchange with the objects stored in the university's treasury, they are intended to make the fabrication of knowledge tangible.

In Göttingen, however, the aim is not only to appeal to the academic specialist audience, but also to laypeople who are hungry for experience.

It cannot be ruled out that they do not want to question so much, but want to check their scientific skepticism against the successful results of scientific research.

For understandable reasons, the university management is more convinced of the latter and must therefore put up with the accusation that they cultivate a positivistic understanding of science from the nineteenth century, to which they want to subject the forum.

Allemeyer justifies her move to Detmold with the possibility of "translating virulent social topics... into exhibitions from a cultural-scientific point of view".

Fortunately, whether the audience at the Göttingen Forum would also like to see such exhibitions is an empirical question.

It can certainly be answered.

All you have to do is enter into an intensive exchange with him.

The management of the university should not ignore this process of knowledge.