Last December, the traditional "Auftakt" event marked the start of the University of Oldenburg's anniversary year. Now the University and the Oldenburg University Society (UGO) have heralded the end of this special year together with around 800 invited guests from the worlds of science, politics, business and culture at the celebratory "Auftakt 24/25" in the lecture theatre centre. The keynote speaker was the Munich sociologist and sought-after contemporary analyst Prof Dr Armin Nassehi.

"We have had some extraordinary months with many special moments and encounters. We have invited people to our campus and have been overwhelmed by the response to our events and activities. We also deliberately took our programme into the city centre on many occasions - with equally great success, be it with a pop-up store, exhibitions or hands-on activities," said University President Prof. Dr Ralph Bruder. Videos and images provided an impressive retrospective right at the beginning of the ceremony - accompanied live by pianist Olga Riazantceva-Schwarz and Richard Schwarz on the keyboard. "In our anniversary year, students, researchers and staff have shown what our university is all about: openness, diversity and a close connection to the region. I have no doubt that these qualities will also see us through the coming years successfully. Here's to the next 50!" said Bruder.

Lecture on the social performance of science

The focus of the evening was the lecture by renowned sociologist Prof. Dr Armin Nassehi. He spoke about society's current expectations of science - and why these expectations are often disappointed. "Scientific knowledge cannot simply be transferred to areas in which completely different issues prevail, namely political, economic, legal or even everyday issues," he explained. Nassehi therefore warned that the relationship between science and those who accept and benefit from it should be closely monitored.

Nassehi, who was recently appointed to the German Ethics Council, has been researching and teaching at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich since 1998. His main areas of research are sociological theory, cultural sociology, political sociology and the sociology of knowledge. He has published numerous works, including more than 20 books. Among other things, the sociologist is a member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, a member of the University Senate of the German National Foundation and a board member of numerous scientific, educational and cultural organisations.

Speech by the President

In his speech, University President Bruder emphasised the great successes that the university was able to celebrate, especially in its anniversary year: It is in the running for the Excellence Strategy with three proposals for clusters of excellence in the fields of hearing research, marine research and animal navigation. For the first time, University Medicine Oldenburg has planning security for its expansion thanks to important budget decisions by the state government, and in the field of energy research, the university is significantly involved in the new research programme "Transformation of Lower Saxony's Energy System" of the Energy Research Centre of Lower Saxony. These and other successes will be built upon in the future. "We will concentrate on utilising the full potential of our university even better. This includes making our outstanding research in the humanities and social sciences even more visible, building bridges between different subject areas and further strengthening our co-operation with the universities of Bremen and Groningen as well as with the city and the region."

Prizes for outstanding academics

The University's research strength was also evident in the presentation of the UGO awards. Chair Wiebke Schneidewind presented the "Prize for Excellent Research", endowed with 5,000 euros each, to geoecologist Prof Dr Sinikka Lennartz and sociologist Prof Dr Gundula Zoch. Lennartz analyses the global carbon cycle at the Institute of Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment and is particularly interested in the organic material dissolved in water as a carbon reservoir. Zoch conducts research at the Institute of Social Sciences on social inequalities in academic appointments, work and family as well as educational inequalities over the life course. The prize for an outstanding doctorate was awarded to German scholar Dr Martin Sebastian Hammer, who has researched medieval chivalric epics such as "Parzival".

The evening was accompanied by music from members of the Institute of Music. Students of the ensemble "Schlagwerk Ossietzky" under the direction of Gereon Voß acoustically prepared the guests for the start of the ceremony. On stage, concert pianist and composer Olga Riazantceva-Schwarz performed an original composition together with Richard Schwarz (keyboard, flute) as well as the second movement (Scherzo) from Sergei Prokofiev's Sonata for Flute and Piano. The bandoneonist and composer Alem and his New Tango Group performed excerpts from the Shakespeare-inspired cycle "Romeo & Julieta" by Joaquín Alem. Later in the evening, students from the "Brazilian Jazz - Afro Cuban Band" under the direction of Christian Schoenefeldt played in the foyer of the lecture theatre centre to bring the evening to a convivial close.