The University of Oldenburg and the University Society of Oldenburg (UGO) celebrated the start of the new academic year with a ceremony in the university's main lecture hall. The traditional “Auftakt” event brought together around 500 invited guests from the worlds of science, politics, business, administration, and culture. The keynote speaker was Prof. Manuel Hartung, CEO of the ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS, a long-standing journalist, and author.
“Our university is now ‘50 plus’ – and thus at an age when one typically rethinks one's role. Especially when major changes are on the horizon. These include social challenges that require universities to take a clear stance, but also, for example, our success in the Excellence Strategy, which also means change.” With these words, University President Prof. Dr. Ralph Bruder and UGO Chair Wiebke Schneidewind welcomed the guests to the program.
High recognition
Lower Saxony's Minister of Science, Falko Mohrs, who addressed the audience via video message, picked up on this: "The fact that all three clusters of excellence in the fields of hearing research, marine research, and animal navigation have received funding is a great achievement on your part, one that has also made headlines nationwide. Based on the fundamental idea of Carl von Ossietzky University, it is always important to you to work on issues that are relevant to society in order to have a positive impact. That is anything but a matter of course."
Mayor Jürgen Krogmann was also among the guests on stage. In his speech, he emphasized: “The Carl von Ossietzky University has long been one of Germany's top universities. This is also demonstrated by its great successes in the Excellence Strategy. Thanks to the reliable and direct cooperation between the city and university management, we are jointly advancing important issues for the future. We are proud of the development and international success in research and science – made in Oldenburg.”
The role of universities in a democratic society
The focus of the evening was a lecture by Prof. Manuel Hartung, Chairman of the Board of the ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS, who previously worked as a journalist for over 20 years, including as editor-in-chief of ZEIT CAMPUS. He spoke on the topic of “The combative university: Why universities must help defend the freedoms of our society.” Hartung demanded: “Universities must remain an active part of our democratic society. To prevent them from being marginalized in Germany, as in other countries, dialogue and communication are needed – even if this is often difficult and sometimes painful. If this succeeds, universities can provide guidance for public dialogue.”
Connecting people and topics
In his speech, University President Prof. Dr. Ralph Bruder emphasized what the university has stood for for more than 50 years and will continue to stand for in the future: “Our goal is to connect people and topics. Social responsibility and research excellence go hand in hand at our university—that is our claim,” Bruder emphasized. The fact that the university made it into the high-profile Excellence Strategy competition offers a historic opportunity to be recognized as a network of excellence together with the University of Bremen. “We are using this opportunity to position ourselves as a university, to rethink things and to build on our lived values. We are working on this with all our might in this academic year, which is a special one for us.”
Awards for outstanding female scientists
The university's research strength was also evident at the UGO Awards ceremony. Chairwoman Wiebke Schneidewind presented the “Award for Excellent Research,” worth €5,000 each, to psychologist Prof. Dr. Mandy Roheger and art educator Prof. Dr. Michaela Kaiser. Dr. Antonia Wallbraun from the Department of Chemistry Education received the doctoral prize, which is endowed with €2,000. ICBM biologist Dr. Maren Striebel was awarded the prize for outstanding doctoral supervision. This prize is also endowed with €2,000.
The evening was accompanied musically by members of the Institute of Music. Students from the “Schlagwerk Ossietzky” ensemble, conducted by Gereon Voß, set the mood for the start of the ceremony with their acoustic performance. On stage, students from the University of Oldenburg and alumni from the University of the Arts Bremen, conducted by Volker Schindel (musical rehearsal: Joaquín Alem) performed excerpts from the tango opera “María de Buenos Aires” by Astor Piazzolla (music) and Horacio Ferrer (libretto) from 1968. The vocal part of María was performed by singer Marija Jokovic. The evening was hosted by Nils Prior, who recently completed his studies at the University of Oldenburg and is now a research assistant.