After twelve years, the last funding period of the Collaborative Research Centre 944 will end in December 2022. Now the members came together once again for a conference. Originally planned as an online-only event, the declining incidence of corona and a corresponding hygiene concept made it possible to hold a hybrid event at short notice: around 70 vaccinated participants came together in the Bohnenkamphaus in the Botanical Garden to discuss their research topics, and another 40 joined online.
The organisational team led by Dr Florian Fröhlich was able to win the Berlin biophysicist Prof. Dr Peter Hegemann for the opening lecture - who was awarded the renowned Lasker Award just a few days later. Hegemann had accompanied the review of the Collaborative Research Centre during the first two funding periods in the Senate of the German Research Foundation (DFG) and championed the Osnabrück location. He was also one of the initiators of the construction of the CellNanOs research building and was very impressed during a guided tour.
In the course of the symposium, a total of 25 speakers presented their results in talks, 10 of which were online and 15 on site. In addition, there were poster presentations by 30 PhD students associated with the Integrated Research Training Group (IRTG) of the Collaborative Research Centre.
Feedback on the symposium was extremely positive, according to those responsible. Above all, the long-awaited return to scientific discourse in presence was emphasised.
