Every time I enter the University of Vienna, I am immersed in an aura that has shaped my life. It was not only at the Alma Mater Rudolphina that I received my academic consecration. There, I was able to get to know a scientific community that has been and continues to be shaped by brilliant minds over the centuries. Through the university, I also got to know and appreciate the city of Vienna—and there was no shortage of partying in student life in the Austrian capital.

The parties in the student dorms, the Christmas celebrations in the various institutes, the group hikes through the Vienna Woods, the sports activities on the Danube Island—there was always something going on. A number of researchers have repeatedly assured me that life in this city is one of the reasons why they love living here. A ball in honor of science is a charming occasion to bring things together. Only Vienna can do that.Let’S dance, let’s do  science. Let’s look forward to a dance of molecules that will have a wide-reaching impact.

Günther Mayr, who studied communication, has been a science editor at ORF since 1996. He became known to a wide audience as an (almost) nightly TV explainer during the Covid pandemic. Since 2021, he has been presenting the ORF science magazine “Mayr’s Magazine – Knowledge for All.” In 2025, his latest book in the popular science genre, “The Frog That Learned to Fly,” was published by Carl Ueberreuter Verlag.