Traditional reception organised by the University and University Society with the Minister of Science

Oldenburg. "2018 was a year of great success for the University of Oldenburg. Hearing research with the 'Hearing4all' cluster of excellence and the new 'Hearing Acoustics' Collaborative Research Centre certainly deserve special mention," said Lower Saxony's Minister of Science and Culture, Björn Thümler, at the traditional New Year's reception of the University and University Society of Oldenburg e.V. (UGO) at the Oldenburg State Theatre.

On this evening, University President Prof. Dr Dr Hans Michael Piper honoured five individuals for their outstanding services to the University of Oldenburg. In front of around 550 guests, Piper awarded the President's Badge of Honour to the physician and physicist Prof. Dr Dr Birger Kollmeier, the psychoacoustician Prof. Dr Volker Hohmann, the biologist Prof. Dr Henrik Mouritsen as well as Dr Kirsten Gehlhar and Prof. Dr Dr Dr Klaus Peter Kohse, who are responsible for the Dean of Studies at the School of Medicine.

"It is a great pleasure for me to honour five personalities in this festive setting - and in the presence of the Minister of Science - who have rendered outstanding services to the University of Oldenburg with the highest level of commitment and in an extraordinary manner," emphasised Piper.

The physicist and physician Prof Dr Dr Birger Kollmeier received the award as spokesperson for the newly acquired cluster of excellence "Hearing4all" ("Hearing for All"). The cluster scored highly in the Excellence Strategy of the federal and state governments and will be funded for a further seven years. It is the flagship of Oldenburg's renowned hearing research, which Kollmeier has consistently and strategically built up since 1993, explained Piper.

Hearing researcher Prof. Dr Volker Hohmann was also honoured for his extraordinary commitment to research: as spokesperson, he was responsible for the successful acquisition of the Collaborative Research Centre "Hearing Acoustics: Perceptive Principles, Algorithms and Applications" funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The project opens up a new dimension for electro-acoustic communication systems, said Piper. This lays the foundations for new types of hearing aids that can actively adapt to changing acoustic environments.

Prof. Dr Henrik Mouritsen has also rendered outstanding services to Oldenburg as a research location: the biologist is the spokesperson for the recently acquired DFG Collaborative Research Centre "Magnetic Reception and Navigation in Vertebrates: from Biophysics to Brain and Behaviour". Mouritsen has thus succeeded in establishing a new focus of biological research in Oldenburg, said Piper. Placing the topic of animal navigation at the centre of an interdisciplinary scientific project is unique worldwide.

Piper paid tribute to Dr Kirsten Gehlhar and Prof. Dr Dr Klaus Peter Kohse for their extraordinary commitment to University Medicine Oldenburg. As heads of the Dean of Studies at the School of Medicine, they are responsible for the development and expansion of the model degree programme in human medicine. Both had also made a special contribution to preparing the School excellently for this year's review by the German Council of Science and Humanities, said Piper.

Minister Thümler had also previously commented on the current development of University Medicine Oldenburg: "By doubling the number of first-year places at EMS for the coming winter semester, we have set a milestone in the creation of new medical study places in Lower Saxony. The University of Oldenburg is thus making a significant contribution to improving healthcare provision in rural areas," said Thümler.

The cultural highlight of the evening at the State Theatre was the musical play "Comedian Harmonists". The guests, who had previously been welcomed by Lower Saxony's Science Minister Björn Thümler, Lord Mayor Jürgen Krogmann, University President Piper and UGO Chair Hon. Prof. Dr Werner Brinker, were able to immerse themselves in the music of the group that was so successful in the 1920s/1930s. The performance was followed by the traditional "chat afterwards".

With the purchase of their tickets, guests at the New Year's reception once again supported the "Deutschlandstipendium" programme, which supports particularly talented and committed students.

[Text/Photo: University press release from 10 January 2019]