Ahmad Milad Karimi, born 1979 in Kabul, studied philosophy and Islamic Studies at the University of Freiburg and earned his Ph.D. in 2012 with a thesis on Hegel and Heidegger. He is full professor for Kalām, Islamic Philosophy and Mysticism at the University of Münster. Karimi is deputy director of the Centre for Islamic Theology at the University of Münster, head of the Research Centre on Theology of Artificial Intelligance (FSTKI), and head of the international Muhammad Iqbal Research Centre

Silke Lange is an accordionist and synthesist. She studied accordion at the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin. She is interested in contemporary classical music and cross-genre projects. She is co-founder of the LUX:NM contemporary music ensemble, whose debut album “LUXUS” was longlisted by the German Record Critics’ Award. Since 2018, she has been a member of the Lange//Berweck//Lorenz trio for live electroacoustic music. Besides contemporary music, she is also interested in musical improvization and sound art. She has performed at major festivals worldwide and as a musician and performer has contributed to various international theater productions.

Juliane Baruck studied philosophy and political science. Since 2019, she has led political participation projects in cooperation with the think & do tank Es geht LOS. Among other things, she designed and implemented the first sortition-based formats at German universities. Since 2023, she has directed the project Hallo Bundestag, where randomly selected residents in an election district meet their Bundestag representatives to discuss pressing national policy issues.

Cornelius Borck is professor of the history, theory, and ethics of medicine and science and has served as director of the Institute for the History of Medicine and Science Research at the University of Lübeck since 2007. He has been spokesperson of the Lübeck Center for Cultural Studies and Research (ZKFL) since 2011. After studying medicine, philosophy, and neuroscience, his career path led him to the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin, Bauhaus University Weimar, and McGill University in Montreal.

The internationally performing Sheng virtuoso Wu Wei has appeared as a soloist with almost all leading orchestras worldwide, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He worked with conductors such as Kent Nagano, Gustavo Dudamel, and Susanna Mälkki, and performed world premieres of more than 400 works, including 20 concerts for Sheng and orchestra by composers such as John Cage, Toshio Hosokawa, and Huang Ruo. In addition, he composes commissioned works for Sheng. He has performed internationally at Royal Albert Hall, Concertgebouw, Théâtre du Châtelet, and many more. Wu Wei has won many awards at competitions and for his recordings, including the International Classical Music Award. As an innovative soloist, he combines East and West and ranges across a wide musical field spanning classical music, jazz, improvization, and contemporary music.