Curiosity Cube 2025: Merck’s Mobile Science Labs Tour Globally to Bring STEM Education to Students

News Release

• Curiosity Cube tours North America, Europe, and for the first time, Africa
• Mobile science lab aims to reach 60,000 students in 19 countries
• Interactive lessons on artificial intelligence designed to spark students’ curiosity in STEM

Burlington, Massachusetts, April 24, 2025 — MilliporeSigma, the U.S. and Canada Life Science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, today launched its global 2025 Curiosity Cube tour in Darmstadt, Germany. The solar-powered mobile science labs will bring hands-on STEM experiences to communities across North America, Europe, and for the first time, Africa. In 2025, the tour aims to reach 60,000 students worldwide. The initiative underscores the company's commitment to inspiring enthusiasm for science and technology.

“With technological advances and scientific breakthroughs reshaping the world, it has never been more important to inspire early interest in STEM careers and prove that science can be fun,” said Tim M. Jaeger, Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer for the Life Science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. “With the Curiosity Cube, we are breaking down barriers to science education by bringing hands-on experiments directly to students in their local communities. This year, our new AI-focused lessons offer students a glimpse into the future of technology, while making science accessible and showing children that science is exciting.”

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to transform daily life and work, it’s crucial that students understand how it functions – and how to use it responsibly. These early, hands-on experiences foster critical thinking and equip young people with the digital fluency they need to thrive in the future. In 2025, the Curiosity Cube introduces lessons on AI using a variety of learning tools and technologies, allowing students to explore:

• Differences between AI-generated images and real photos to better understand digital authenticity.
• How AI learns through experience and pattern recognition – just like the human brain.
• Mechanics behind AI-powered self-driving cars through hands-on activities in machine learning.

The Curiosity Cube will make its debut in Africa on June 10, 2025, with 100 events planned across Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa. This expansion complements Merck’s ongoing efforts to make science education more accessible and provide students around the world with interactive STEM learning experiences.

The seventh North American tour with 140 scheduled events will include visits to major cities across the U.S. and Canada, including Austin, Boston, Cleveland, Houston, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Seattle, St. Louis, Toronto and more.

The Curiosity Cube’s European tour will include more than 130 events, travelling to Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and the U.K. The Curiosity Labs™ STEM Center, which opened today in Darmstadt, Germany, builds on the Curiosity Cube initiative. The permanent facility provides local students with 11 interactive science lessons they can experience throughout the year and helps build the foundation for the next generation of scientists.

To learn more about the Curiosity Cube and view the 2025 tour schedule, visit TheCuriosityCube.com and follow @curiositycube_milliporesigma on Instagram.

About Merck

Merck, a leading science and technology company, operates across life science, healthcare and electronics. More than 62,000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of people’s lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. From providing products and services that accelerate drug development and manufacturing as well as discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices – the company is everywhere. In 2025, Merck generated sales of € 21.1 billion in 65 countries.

Scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to Merck’s technological and scientific advances. This is how Merck has thrived since its founding in 1668. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed company. Merck holds the global rights to the Merck name and brand. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the business sectors of Merck operate as MilliporeSigma in life science, EMD Serono in healthcare, and EMD Electronics in electronics.

All Merck press releases are distributed by e-mail at the same time they become available on the Merck website. Please go to www.merckgroup.com/subscribe to register online, change your selection or discontinue this service.