At the IKGF, Agostino Paravicini Bagliani has worked on the possibilities and methods of life prolongation at the papal court. In his interview with Klaus Herbers, he illustrates the functions and aims of his home institution, SISMEL, in Florence, and elucidates the transformation of humanities to deal with topics like alchemy, divination and astrology. Naturally, the then upcoming conference on divination and practical sciences in Arabic sources (January 2014) in cooperation with International Union of Academies is envisioned.