Topping-out ceremony: New NeSSy research building on the Wechloy campus

Topping-out ceremony on the Wechloy campus: the shell of the "NeSSy" research building is complete. The University of Oldenburg's Research Centres Neurosensory Science and Safety Critical Systems will be able to move in here in a few months' time.

Dr Josef Lange, State Secretary in the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science, Friedhelm Seier, Head of Ems-Weser State Construction Management, and Gabriele Nießen, Oldenburg City Planning Councillor, were among the guests at the topping-out ceremony.

"The new research building offers 80 new workplaces and enough space for highly exciting cutting-edge research. The University of Oldenburg is bringing together two research centres in the building, where neurobiologists, physicians, psychologists, physicists and computer scientists will work together. I am convinced that the recent success in the Excellence Initiative and the newly constructed research building will reinforce the forward-looking orientation of the University of Oldenburg," emphasised State Secretary Dr Josef Lange.

"The research focuses of neurosensorics and safety-critical systems enjoy high national and international recognition - this has also been impressively confirmed by the success of the cluster of excellence 'Hearing4all' in the Excellence Initiative," explained University President Prof. Dr Babette Simon. NeSSy offers excellent opportunities for further interdisciplinary research work.

The research focus is represented by the physicist and physician Prof Dr Dr Birger Kollmeier, the neurobiologist Prof Dr Reto Weiler and the computer scientist Prof Dr Werner Damm. Kollmeier, spokesperson for the "Hearing4all" Cluster of Excellence, is Head of the Department of Medical Physics, spokesperson for the Centre for Hearing Research and the HörTech Center of Competence for Hearing Aid Systems Technology (HörTech). Weiler, Managing Director of the Research Centre Neurosensory Science, heads the Neurobiology working group. Computing Science expert Damm, Director of the research centre Safety Critical Systems, is also spokesperson for the Transregional Collaborative Research Centre "Automatic Verification and Analysis of Complex Systems" (AVACS).

In the new building, the scientists will continue to advance both interdisciplinary basic research and applied research. The focus will be on innovative developments in medical technology and human-machine communication. Half of the floor space in the approximately 2,200 square metre research building will be used for laboratories: These include acoustics and hearing laboratories as well as neurophysiology laboratories. A conference centre is also planned to support communication between scientists. "Cutting-edge research requires excellent equipment," emphasised Nikolas Lange, Vice President for Administration and Finance. With NeSSy, scientists will have a state-of-the-art research centre at their disposal in the future that takes their complex research topics into account.

The building was designed by Stuttgart-based architects Heinle, Wischer und Partner. The total costs, including initial equipment, amount to around 15 million euros, half of which will be borne by the federal government and half by the state. The building will be ready for occupancy next year.

In the photo (from left): Friedhelm Seier, Head of Ems-Weser State Construction Management, Nikolas Lange, Vice President for Administration and Finance, Gabriele Nießen, Oldenburg City Planning Councillor and Dr Josef Lange, State Secretary in the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science.