Honours and music by the “Comedian Harmonists”: Around 550 guests, including Lower Saxony’s Minister for Science, Björn Thümler, enjoyed an inspiring evening at the New Year’s reception hosted by the University and the University Society (UGO).
Impressive a cappella singing and the moving story of the “Comedian Harmonists” captivated the guests on Thursday evening. Earlier, Lower Saxony’s Minister for Science and Culture, Björn Thümler, paid tribute to the university’s major achievements in 2018: “Particularly noteworthy here is certainly the research into hearing, with the cluster of excellence ‘Hearing4all’ and the new Collaborative Research Centre ‘Hearing Acoustics’,” he said in his welcoming address.
University President Prof. Dr Dr Hans Michael Piper also honoured five individuals that evening for their outstanding services to the University of Oldenburg. In front of an audience of around 550 guests, Piper presented the President’s Medal 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 Klaus Peter Kohse, who head the Dean’s Office of the School of Medicine.
“It gives me great pleasure, on this festive occasion – and in the presence of the Minister for Science – to honour five individuals who have rendered outstanding service to the University of Oldenburg with the utmost dedication and in a truly exceptional manner,” emphasised Piper.
The physicist and physician Prof. Dr Dr Birger Kollmeier received the award in his capacity as spokesperson for the “Hearing4all” (“Hearing for All”) cluster of excellence, which has once again secured funding. The cluster has been recognised under the federal and state governments’ Strategy for Excellence and will receive funding for a further seven years. Piper explained that it is the flagship of Oldenburg’s renowned hearing research, which Kollmeier has consistently and strategically built up since 1993.
Hearing researcher Prof. Dr Volker Hohmann was also honoured for his exceptional commitment to research: as spokesperson, he was responsible for the successful acquisition of funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG) for the Collaborative Research Centre ‘Auditory Acoustics: Perceptual Principles, Algorithms and Applications’, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The project opens up a new dimension for electroacoustic communication systems, said Piper. This lays the foundations for novel hearing aids that can actively adapt to changing acoustic environments.
Prof. Dr Henrik Mouritsen has also rendered outstanding services to Oldenburg as a centre of research: the biologist is the spokesperson for the recently secured DFG Collaborative Research Centre “Magnetic Reception and Navigation in Vertebrates: From Biophysics to Brain and Behaviour”. Piper said that Mouritsen had thus succeeded in establishing a new focus for biological research in Oldenburg. 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 exceptional commitment to University Medicine Oldenburg. As heads of the Dean’s Office for Academic Affairs at the School of Medicine, they are responsible for establishing and expanding the model degree programme in human medicine. Both had also made a significant contribution to preparing the School exceptionally well for this year’s review by the German Council of Science and Humanities, Piper said.
Minister Thümler had also previously commented on the current developments at University Medicine Oldenburg: “By doubling the number of first-year places at the EMS for the coming winter semester, a milestone has been reached in the creation of new medical degree places in Lower Saxony. In doing so, the University of Oldenburg is 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 drama “Comedian Harmonists”. The guests, who had previously been welcomed by Lower Saxony’s Minister for Science 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 enjoyed such success in the 1920s and 1930s. The performance was followed by the traditional ‘after-show chat’.
By purchasing their tickets, guests at the New Year’s reception once again supported the “Deutschlandstipendium” programme, which provides funding for particularly talented and committed students.