The TUM Garching Open Day 2026 will take place at the Garching Research Campus on Saturday, October 3, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The event brings TUM together with more than 30 institutions for a day of talks, hands-on activities, guided tours and stage formats, giving families, students, staff and external visitors a chance to encounter research directly.
Key facts
- The open day is scheduled for Saturday, October 3, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Garching Research Campus.
- More than 30 institutions are expected to open their doors, including TUM, Max Planck institutes and Fraunhofer institutes.
- The programme includes lectures, participatory activities, tours, science shows, a Science Slam and family lectures.
- Research themes range from quantum and supercomputers to artificial intelligence, robotics, autonomous driving, lasers and space.
What the open day means for students, families and visitors
The event is open to students, employees and external guests, and it is designed as a family-friendly day at the research campus. For prospective students and others interested in research, the programme offers opportunities to see TUM schools, institutes and research facilities through demonstrations, talks and guided visits.
Visitors can use NavigaTUM’s interactive map and room search to orient themselves on the campus. With activities spread across participating institutions, planning around the published 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. timetable can help visitors choose the formats and research areas that interest them most.
What can visitors experience at the Garching Research Campus?
Visitors can experience research through a mix of explanations and participation: the programme lists lectures, hands-on activities and tours, alongside live science presentations. Family lectures will explore how gaming, algorithms and GPS shape everyday life, while interactive science shows invite participants to experiment with chemistry and physics.
The programme also includes the science escape room Escape from Carbonia, presented by the e-conversion Cluster of Excellence. A Science Slam will put researchers on stage to present their subjects in an entertaining and understandable format.
Guided tours are intended to provide inside views of facilities including the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Research Neutron Source, known as FRM II, and the ZEITlab. The event’s listed research subjects also include quantum and supercomputers, artificial intelligence, robotics, autonomous driving, high-power lasers and space.
Which TUM institutions and research areas are participating?
TUM’s listed participants include the School of Computation, Information and Technology; the School of Engineering and Design; and the TUM School of Natural Sciences. The Munich Data Science Institute, FRM II, the Munich Institute for Robotics and Machine Intelligence and the Walter Meißner Institute are also among the TUM-side selection named for the day.
Several research clusters are listed as well. They include e-conversion, MCQST – Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology, ORIGINS, SyNergy – Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology, BioSysteM, NUCLEATE and TransforM. Their fields span energy conversion, quantum systems, the universe and life, neurological disease, molecular and cellular systems, nucleic acids, and the social effects of new technologies.
The participating institutions reflect the campus-wide approach of the event: visitors can move between digital technologies, engineering, natural sciences and broader research questions in one day.
How can visitors plan their day?
The confirmed practical details are the venue, date and hours: the event is at the Garching Research Campus on Saturday, October 3, 2026, from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. NavigaTUM is identified as an interactive campus map and room-search tool for finding locations during the open day.
Families may want to prioritise the family lectures, interactive science shows and the escape room, while visitors looking for a closer view of research facilities can focus on the guided tours. The broad subject range also makes it possible to build a visit around interests such as computing, AI, physics, energy or space.
Frequently asked questions
When and where is the TUM Garching Open Day 2026?
It is scheduled for Saturday, October 3, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Garching Research Campus.
What activities are planned for the open day?
The programme includes talks, hands-on activities, guided tours, family lectures, interactive chemistry and physics science shows, the Escape from Carbonia science escape room and a Science Slam. More than 30 institutions will open their doors.
