Sounds of Matter

The developments in material science are the very basis for the rapid progress of the information society as well as all kinds of inventions making our daily lives easier and better e.g. in the health sector, the power industry, materials engineering. This extensive area of modern research lies on the overlap between natural sciences and engineering. It aims at functionalizing new materials, optimizing known materials and operations as well as analyse the core physical properties of materials to better understand their function and composition. Against this background the science communication project aims at conveying current research approaches, methods and findings of material science to a broad public. To reach a wide audience this project has chosen a comprehensive artistic approach. Art formats have shown to be very successful in science communication and enable to promote interest and understanding of complex research results. To be more specific this project will combine two artistic and scientific kinds of media: music and visualisation. Photographs as well as further visual material will be at the centre. Additionally this graphical material will be the basis for all in all three composition competitions. Well established composers as well as early stage composers are invited to use their perception of the visual material to create music and then put this in relation to the research results. The results of this competition as well as the visual material will be made available to a broad public via several events, a project homepage, as well as an open-air exhibition. Additionally pupils of the upper and lower grades will be brought closer to material science with help of the artistic approach. This science communication project is based on seven currently running or shortly completed FWF- projects. The project will be implemented in close cooperation with the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.