Made in Science – The official podcast of the University of Stuttgart

In this episode, host Wolfgang Holtkamp sits down with Professor Leonie Fischer, Director of the Institute of Landscape Planning and Ecology at the University of Stuttgart, to talk about urban ecology and what it means to build the city of tomorrow, one green idea at a time.

An episode about climate, equity, and the quiet power of bringing nature back into everyday city life.

In this episode, host Wolfgang Holtkamp sits down with Professor Jens Anders, Director of the Institute of Smart Sensors at the University of Stuttgart, to talk about quantum sensing and what it means to measure the impossible.

In this episode, host Dr. Wolfgang Holtkamp sits down with Professor Michael Resch, director of the High-Performance Computing Center Stuttgart, to talk about supercomputers like Hunter and their impact on science, industry, and society.

How does a technology travel from the lab into real-world traffic? In this episode, Wolfgang Holtkamp talks with Prof. Nejila Parspour from the University of Stuttgart about inductive charging, autonomous buses, and why even the most promising innovations can stall. She explains the role of patents and risk-taking in advancing new technologies and why universities are indispensable as a bridge between research and real-world application. From electromobility to medical engineering: wireless power transfer is reshaping entire industries. A conversation about courage, patience, and the engineers of tomorrow.

In this episode of Made in Science, host Wolfgang Holtkamp sits down with Professor Marco Aiello - Head of the Service Computing Department at the Institute for Architecture of Application Systems (IAAS) at the University of Stuttgart - to explore how artificial intelligence is transforming not just computer science, but every facet of research and daily life.

Together, they dive into the metaphor of AI as a tsunami, trace the rapid rise of large language models, and examine the challenges of interdisciplinary collaboration and an ever-expanding volume of scientific publications. The conversation also tackles the energy demands of modern data centers, the evolving role of software in the automotive industry, and the urgent need for green IT, before turning to curiosity-driven research, the risks and promise of humanoid robotics, and why understanding technological history matters now more than ever.

What is marketing really about and why are we all more influenced than we think? In this episode, Prof. Christina Kühnl, Chair of Marketing at the University of Stuttgart, explains why marketing goes far beyond advertising and how digital communication, customer experience and leadership are reshaping the field. We talk about interdisciplinary research, data-driven insights from social media, and her current work on gender bias in top management communication. A conversation about visibility, value creation and the future of marketing in the age of AI.

Companies shape our world: economically, politically, and culturally. In this episode of Made in Science, Dr. Wolfgang Holtkamp talks to Prof. Boris Gehlen, Endowed Professor of Business History at the University of Stuttgart, about the role of corporations in modern societies.

What can business history explain that other disciplines cannot? How do companies make decisions under uncertainty? What responsibilities have they carried – historically and today – in contexts such as democracy, globalization, and regulation?

Prof. Gehlen also shares his personal journey as a first-generation student who entered academia without a clear career plan – and why curiosity and courage matter more than certainty.

An episode about corporate power, social responsibility and the value of studying history.

Few people know that George Orwell once walked across a small footbridge in Stuttgart and that the experience may have shaped one of the most influential dystopias ever written. In this episode of Made in Science host Wolfgang Holtkamp talks to Dr Geoff Rodoreda, literary scholar and former journalist, about Orwell’s little-known three months as a war correspondent in 1945 and his visit to Stuttgart just after its “liberation”.

Rodoreda explains how archival work, field trips to Paris, London and the Neckar riverbank, and even a surviving footbridge helped him reconstruct Orwell’s time in Germany and why he sees echoes of these experiences in "1984".

What if machines could learn from the softness of human skin? In this episode of Made in Science, we talk to Junior Professor Aniket Pal from the Institute of Applied Mechanics at the University of Stuttgart. He leads a cutting-edge research group exploring soft robotics – machines made entirely of soft materials like rubber or polymers.

Whether you're curious about the future of robotics, interdisciplinary research, or how to get started as a PhD student in Germany – this episode is for you.

🎧 Listen now to find out why insight must precede application.