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very hard to explain exactly what I did.” Yet Stiefs explains it.
Something quickly emerges from the theory of mathematical
models. “Various parameters influence the relationship between
predators and prey.” His hands are in the air again. In seconds
Stiefs demonstrates what a parameter range is and what this
has to do with mountain hares and lynxes. He went on to refine
the model at the University of Dresden, this time using parame-
ters to illustrate bone formation and cell metabolism in the hu-
man body. The 33-year-old enjoys explaining things – in the
most unusual way possible.
And that is what got him the ‘Goldene Kopfnuss’ (Golden
Mindbender) award. It was why he was on the stage at the
‘kurz & klug’ Science Slam in Dresden. His topic was ‘Plagues,
Pestilence and Chaos’, for which he won the plastic brain
sprayed in gold. In scientific terms, this involved bifurcations in
dynamic ecological networks. In practice Stiefs used juggling
balls to explain, for example, how rats on an island get eaten by
imported cats, and things go quite well for the cats for a while.
He was on the stage again at the DLR Science Slam – using jug-
gling to explain everything happening in his School_Lab.
Juggling for the Board
Balls, a red cap, a flashlight and an empty picture frame –
the previous night, Stiefs had been on a quick raid in his chil-
dren’s room. Juggling turns the three balls into the flexible
wheels of the Mars rover. The physicist can even use juggling to
mimic the robotic arm on the LAMA facility in the Bremen Insti-
tute of Space Systems. His t-shirt reads ‘Worldsaver’. On weight-
lessness: “Imagine you are standing on a set of scales, then you
jump out of the window with them…” Simple explanations are
the best and they simply spill out of Stiefs. “Mr Wörner, you are
not on the jury today, come on down.” The DLR Chairman is
obliged to participate, but all he has to do is hold his arms be-
hind his back – and the amateur juggler does the juggling for
him. “Ah, but I see the Chairman can still be taught, fascination
has got the better of him.” Dirk Stiefs smiles. He is rarely lost for
words. But in the running for the prize in the Science Slam, he
was forced to admit defeat to DLR Berlin colleague Attilla
Wohlbrandt.
Successful field test – when the rocket flies, theory turns to practice.
The students use a thermal imaging camera to see where their bodies are
emitting large amounts of heat
board or neon sign maker. But careers guidance then set him
on the path that brought him to DLR: “They worked out in a
test that I was particularly good at logical, spatial thinking.” The
result was a career that could hardly have been more linear: sec-
ondary school qualifications, a physics degree in Oldenburg, a
doctorate in Oldenburg and Amsterdam, and scientist at the
Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems in Dres-
den. In the meantime, he qualified as a university lecturer at his
university in Oldenburg. He completed 200 hours of seminars,
lectures and lessons to learn how to disseminate information ef-
fectively. If he had wanted to, he could have taught at a univer-
sity.
Countdown to launch
“But ultimately, the DLR_School_Lab was the right choice,”
says Stiefs with certainty. “No homework, no exams, no mark-
ing! It’s all about motivating and fascinating people.” The ex-
citement mounts among the seventh grade students en route
to the launch pad. Dirk Stiefs looks a little like the cliché of the
mad scientist as he marches through the snow in his white coat,
wearing safety glasses. “You get the air pump, you unclamp it,
and you can launch the rocket.” Stiefs has the lively students
organised in a moment. “Who is going to measure the height
the rocket reaches?” There is giggling and shoving among
those who have not been given a task – but then it gets serious
and the head of the School_Lab starts to count down out loud.
With three loops in the air, the homemade rocket makes its
flight and comes back down again. The wind tugs at his white
coat as Dirk Stiefs runs through the process with two more
groups of students. “It’s exciting when a seventh grade student
understands physics better because he or she has tried it for
him/herself.” Stiefs and his team developed the experiments for
the School_Lab and tried them out with groups of school stu-
dents before the launch in Bremen.
Mountain hares and lynxes
He has always enjoyed looking for odd, unusual things.
“For my doctorate in physics, I studied mountain hares and lynx-
es.” But only abstractly, as is self-evident from the subject. “It’s
With Dirk Stiefs, even DLR Chairman Jan Wörner has a role to play
explaining science through games.
A test drive on the Red Planet is also on the programme at the DLR_School_Lab
in Bremen
Dirk Stiefs uses a telescope to demonstrate the cosmic radiation that
reaches Earth – a very different way of doing physics.
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Some two years earlier, Dirk Stiefs still had no idea
that he would soon be using juggling to bring experiments
to life in his School_Lab. At that time he had just signed his
contract with the University of Dresden. “Following my ac-
ceptance by DLR, I immediately quit my job as a research as-
sistant and vacated my flat there.” It was the right decision,
he thinks. He has never regretted the move. “The School_Lab
was fully booked six months before it had even opened,”
he says with pride. “It’s a dream job for me.”
A smiley for science
Everyone goes from the rocket launch site back to the
Institute. “Don’t forget, me first, the handcart at the back,
and all of you in between,” he announces for the last time.
“Can we launch the rocket one more time?” begs a student.
“Please?” His voice has just the right tone for begging. Dirk
Stiefs smiles indulgently. “No, we have to go back now.” He
tramps purposefully through the snow to the footpath. Chil-
dren need boundaries, he says later. He can practise with his
own kids – two and six years of age. He is now starting to
get the first questions about science. “You can learn a lot
from your own children,” says Stiefs.
In the Institute there is still an evaluation sheet for
each student to complete. Stiefs and his team want to
know whether they have awakened a fascination for sci-
ence. Jackets are put over chair backs and everyone scrib-
bles on the sheets. The School_Lab team has made a per-
sonalised certificate for each student. Anyone who has con-
tributed well in the experiments needs to have something in
their hands when they get home. “Who has had fun to-
day?” Hands go up everywhere. And as an extra reward
they each receive a frisbee from the School_Lab head. The
last student is finally out the door. Nobody has left anything
behind. Eighteen girls and boys now know more about how
weightlessness occurs, how satellites can control their posi-
tion and how rockets work. Silence fills the rooms of the
Lab in Bremen. Dirk Stiefs calmly takes off his white coat.
“Loud? Really, was it loud? I guess I didn’t notice.”
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