With a joint ceremony attended by numerous guests, the University of Oldenburg and the Oldenburg University Society (UGO) kicked off the winter semester and, with it, the academic year. The keynote speaker at the ‘Auftakt 18/19’ event was the renowned economist Hans-Werner Sinn.
Even before the main event began, the evening got off to a flying start in the Lecture Theatre Centre: students from the Trombastik trombone quartet performed at the reception in the foyer. A percussion ensemble then led the approximately 800 guests from the city, the region and the university into the festively lit Audimax. No sooner had everyone taken their seats than the atmosphere continued with the ‘Nicest kids in town’ – a piece from the student musical theatre project ‘Alias Alice’.
The highlight of the evening, following speeches by University President Prof. Dr Dr Hans Michael Piper and UGO Chairman Hon. Prof. Dr Werner Brinker, was the keynote address by Prof. Dr Hans-Werner Sinn. The former president of the Munich-based ifo Institute addressed the question of the global economy’s development: “Trump, Brexit, the euro crisis. What will become of Germany?” Sinn: “These are turbulent times once again. Political decisions beyond our control are threatening Europe’s economic balance.” Europe must now stand together to finally get its economy back on track. This cannot be achieved through wishful thinking, but only through policies that face up to economic realities, Sinn continued. The economist concluded his lecture with a quote from Carl von Ossietzky, which he felt was once again highly relevant: “There is only one alliance that would have developed well and organically: the Franco-German one. That would be the first and only one among all old and new alliances that is not directed against a third party. It would be the alliance for Europe.”
In his speech, President Piper looked back on the university’s major achievements over the past year and on the challenges that the future holds. “These undoubtedly include continuing to conduct innovative research with fresh approaches, establishing the still-young School of Medicine, and training our students to become professionally competent, critical-thinking and responsible members of our society,” explained Piper. In doing so, he raised the question of how excellence in science is achieved in the first place. He emphasised that solutions to unresolved questions are not found through consensus-building between social groups – they almost always also rely on the courage to overturn outdated doctrines.
In his speech, UGO Chair Brinker underlined the importance of scientific discourse. “As the University Society, we are committed to open, critical dialogue and the professional exchange of ideas between scientists from different disciplines, and we want to give scientists the opportunity to present their work to the public,” said Brinker.
Once again this year, the opening event provided a platform to honour outstanding individuals. Piper honoured the long-serving President of the University of Groningen, Prof. Dr Sibrand Poppema, with the University Medal. In his laudatory speech, he highlighted the achievements of Poppema, who had played a key role in advancing the joint European degree programme in human medicine. This year, the UGO awarded the “Prize for Excellent Research”, worth 5,000 euros, on two occasions: to the physicist Dr Antonietta De Sio and the biologist Dr Maren Striebel. Dr Stefanie Mallon, a cultural studies scholar, received the ‘Prize for an Outstanding PhD’, worth 2,000 euros.
The musical programme was provided by students under the direction of Axel Fries, Peter Janßen and Volker Schindel from the Institute of Music. In addition to the trombone quartet and excerpts from “Alias Alice”, the university’s soul band also helped set the mood later in the evening – as the ceremony drew to a close with a reception in the foyer of the Lecture Theatre Centre. Young entrepreneurs also presented their business ideas to the guests.