Dr. Rodrigo Pérez-García | Brain City Berlin

©S. Eickelmann, Potsdam-SciencePark, 2019

11.02.2020
Dr. Rodrigo Pérez-García | Polyhedra.eu

Brain City Berlin

Brain City Berlin Ambassador Dr. Rodrigo Pérez-García is a nanotechnology consultant and co-founder of the platform Polyhedra.eu, where he is committed to projects that combine art and science. He is also a researcher at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam. His work and interests are highly interdisciplinary.

„Berlin has it all. History, culture, style, fun, entertainment, good food, charming traditions, science and creativity in every corner and, as if that were not enough, outstanding landscapes around every corner.“ Dr. Rodrigo Pérez-García was born in Spain. More precisely, in Leon. He came to Berlin on purpose: “As a scientist I did travel around for a bit. But after my MSc I wanted to move to a capital with a creative atmosphere and also high quality scientific institutions.“ What immediately excited Rodrigo Pérez-García about the Brain City was the international mentality of Berlin. But he was also fascinated and motivated by the interdisciplinarity of the local scientific landscape: “I see mixing Arts, Science and Humanities as a more effective way to deal with current issues defining the world we and our kids will live in – like the challenges that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) present to society.”

Berlin’s universities are of excellent quality and together with Potsdam they create a prosperous ground to develop ideas and grow. Berlin is the perfect city for both experienced and young professionals who will dominate the businesses of our transdisciplinary future.

In addition to his research activities at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam, where Rodrigo Pérez-García provides advice in the context of nanotechnology projects and evaluates and writes funding applications for European Commission initiatives as well as for the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT), the young scientist is also active in the start-up scene. He is one of the co-founders of the Rome and Berlin based platform Polyhedra.eu. “Polyhedra is a node for trans-disciplinary debate and creation arising from the need to identify a point of reunion from which, and through which, a myriad of perspectives are directed towards highlighting and exploring scientific and artistic developments of our present time. We delve into cultural fragments of inquiry and seek to interweave or cross-pollinate the artistic-scientific sectors by inciting and promoting encounters and dialogues,” explains Rodrigo Pérez-García. The objective of Polyhedra.eu: “to promote and motivate innovative curiosity-driven research and education“

Rodrigo Pérez-García's high expectations of the ArtSci community in Berlin were quickly met: “The artistic scene is very active and it links often with social issues that resonate a lot with my ethos. There are some super interesting initiatives in Berlin dealing with Art, Science & Society, for example those of the interdisciplinary cluster of the Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Art Laboratory Berlin, Schering Stiftung, STATE Studio or the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, to mention just a few”, says Rodrigo Pérez-García and adds: “For the Max-Planck Foundation, Polyhedra.eu ideated and curated the Artist-in-Residence-Programme ‘Knowledge Link through Art & Science’(KLAS). Now we are re-structuring KLAS as a ‘disruptive research enterprise’ as a whole, connecting different institutes and initiatives with world leading players in the Art & Science realm.”

Rodrigo Pérez-Garcías is also full of plans for the future. He wants to create a transdisciplinary agroforestry playground near Berlin and Potsdam, which will be open to the surrounding communities. “I would like to stimulate necessary chance-makers to take action to tackle UN SDGs within the upcoming noetic turn.”