Ideas worth spreading

The role of human emotions in science and research

1,351,021 views |

Ilona Stengel |

TED@Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany

• December 2017

Do human emotions have a role to play in science and research? Material researcher Ilona Stengel suggests that instead of opposing each other, emotions and logic complement and reinforce each other. She shares a case study on how properly using emotions (like the empowering feeling of being dedicated to something meaningful) can boost teamwork and personal development -- and catalyze scientific breakthroughs and innovation.

Do human emotions have a role to play in science and research? Material researcher Ilona Stengel suggests that instead of opposing each other, emotions and logic complement and reinforce each other. She shares a case study on how properly using emotions (like the empowering feeling of being dedicated to something meaningful) can boost teamwork and personal development -- and catalyze scientific breakthroughs and innovation.

About the speaker

Ilona Stengel

Material researcher

See speaker profile

Ilona Stengel focuses her work on the synthesis of new organic molecules, stemming from her passion for organic chemistry.

| Watch

Star Trek II (1982) + Start Trek III (1984) + Star Trek XI (2009)

In the talk, I am referring to scenes from Star Trek, which appear in those three movies. They tell us a lot about teamwork, friendship, the will to explore and inner motivation.

Erwin Wagenhofer | 2013 | Watch

The movie made me think about how we deal with the gift, the curiosity and the potential of every person.

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