We have come up with a special location for the traditional meeting between Mayor Dr. Michael Ludwig and City Councilor for Science Mag.a Veronica Kaup-Hasler with the ball ambassadors at City Hall: the flower shop of the Vienna City Gardens in City Hall. As a special gift, here is an overview of the highlights of the program on January 24, 2026. And as of Monday, 22 December, 12 noon the last 150 tickets in the web shop. Enjoy!

Enormous appetite for science

On January 24, 2026, the Science Ball will celebrate a festival of inspiring science communication through sensory experiences at City Hall. The last batch of tickets will go on sale before Christmas.

Vienna (OTS) – The 11th Vienna Science Ball on January 24, 2026, at Vienna City Hall was virtually sold out after just five days. As a special Christmas present, the organizing committee is releasing a final batch of 150 ball tickets in the web shop. Participation in events is still possible for the supporting program that complements the ball.

During a photo shoot in the flower shop of the City Garden Office in City Hall, the highlights of the ball were presented, along with the participants:

• Physicist Fabrizio Olmeida from the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) and his colleagues were awarded the Ig Nobel Prize in 2025 for their perfect recipe for Cacio e Pepe pasta sauce. At the Science Ball, Olmeida will cook up a storm together with the head chef of the legendary pasta manufacturer Garofalo from near Naples and reveal the secret of the perfect sauce. The audience is cordially invited to taste the results of this experiment.
• Making complex science accessible in a sensory way is an enormous challenge, which visualization expert Liuhuaying Yang from the Complexity Science Hub (CSH) has mastered in an impressive manner. At the ball, she will give insights into her skills, which combine aesthetic standards with empirical accuracy, on a mega screen.
• The darling of the last Science Ball returns: once again, the axolotl from the IMBA laboratories will be dancing in the town hall as an Instagram-worthy photo backdrop.
• This year’s floral decoration is the parrot tulip, a culturally and botanically colorful flower that also has interesting roots in economic history.
• One highlight of the packed music program on five stages, featuring waltzes, swing, world music, tango, and hip-hop, is the performance by Volksoper star Juliette Khalil. The soprano is also at home on unusual stages, whether in Spielberg at the Formula 1 race or in the Praterstadion with Seiler und Speer. At the Science Ball, Khalil will rave about Eliza Doolittle: “I danced tonight…”. Sofie Royer will perform late in the evening at the Radio Wien Disco. Like Khalil, the Viennese singer with roots in California and Iran completed a classical education at the MUK before turning to advanced pop.

Scientists from Vienna and around the world are expected to attend the ball. The ball ambassadors give a good impression of the diversity and competence of research and science communication: cognitive biologist Alice Auersperg (VetMed/ÖAW), Hedy Lamarr Prize winner Georgia Avarikioti (TU Vienna), writer and classical philologist Amira Ben Saoud, physicist and celebrity chef Jing Chen (University of Zurich/Sopherl am Naschmarkt), political scientist Anna Durnova (University of Vienna), KHM Director General Jonathan Fine, Buddhism researcher Birgit Kellner (Austrian Academy of Sciences), geneticist and science communicator Christine Marizzi (LBG-SOAP/MedUni Vienna), science editor Günther Mayr (ORF) and computer scientist and Insta influencer @thesciencyfeminist Elka Xharo (FH Vienna WKO).

The official organizer of the ball is the Wolfgang Pauli Institute. Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen will once again be the patron of the event, Mayor Dr. Michael Ludwig will be the chairman of the honorary presidium, and Deputy Mayor Bettina Emmerling and City Councilor Veronica Kaup-Hasler will be members. Guests of honor expected to attend include the new Minister of Science Eva-Maria Holzleitner and Minister of Justice Anna Sporrer. The ball is supported by the honorary committee, which includes all rectors, presidents, and managing directors of Vienna’s scientific institutions.

Mayor Dr. Michael Ludwig: “Progress only works if it serves the people. The application for the AI Gigafactory location shows that we are ready to move up into the top league of technology development. It would be a boost for the job market, for companies, and for Vienna’s entire innovation landscape. We want to be a European research metropolis that is committed to humanism, openness, and social cohesion. The Science Ball illustrates this intention in a wonderful way.”

City Councillor for Science, Veronica Kaup-Hasler: “Science only builds trust when it is in constant dialogue with the public and people can participate. Citizen science opens up research processes, makes them transparent, and encourages the public to become actively involved. At the same time, promoting women in science and research is a key priority for us. The Vienna Lecture on Science Communication on the eve of the ball, with Sir Peter Ustinov Visiting Professor Astrid Séville, excellently combines both of these goals.”

Even though the ball is sold out, it is still possible to participate in these events:

Vienna Ball Gown Exchange of Sciences

Want to swap your ball gown or tuxedo? Borrow a vintage model or even buy one at a bargain price? No problem: the dress swap at the Vienna BioCenter offers an impressive collection of tried and tested models. Registration: www.wissenschaftsball.at/ballkleidertausch-26/

Date: January 12, 2025, 4:00-7:00 p.m.
Location: Biology Center of the University of Vienna, Djerassi-Platz 1, 1030 Vienna

Vienna Lecture on Science Communication 2026 with Astrid Séville

German political scientist Astrid Séville on strategies for positioning science in conflict with populism. In 2022, Séville was the Sir Peter Ustinov Visiting Professor at the University of Vienna. An event organized by the organizing committee in collaboration with the Austrian Academy of Sciences. First come, first served. Registration required: www.wissenschaftsball.at/vienna-lecture-26/

Date: January 23, 2026, 4:00 p.m.
Location: Festive hall of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Dr.-Ignaz-Seipel-Platz 2, 1010 Vienna