The first international symposium of the Collaborative Research Centre "Magnetoreception and Navigation in Vertebrates" attracted many international guests. The programme ranged from how moths navigate to exotic quantum materials and robots that fly like birds.

"We want to show the world the cool things we do in our Collaborative Research Centre. At the same time, we want to exchange ideas with brilliant researchers from other disciplines, discuss results and hypotheses, and develop new ideas to explore possible new research avenues together". This is how Prof. Dr Henrik Mouritsen, spokesperson of the Oldenburg-based CRC "Magnetoreception and Navigation in Vertebrates", describes the goals he and his colleagues are pursuing with the first international symposium of the CRC, which has been funded since 2019.

The topics of the conference, which took place in Oldenburg from 18 to 20 February, went far beyond the CRC's central themes: in one session, the 110 or so participants looked at quantum effects at room temperature, while in another they discussed how the flight of birds could inspire new types of flying robots. The programme also included the latest findings in animal navigation, such as the magnetic sense of pigeons and the navigation of Bogong moths in Australia. Another focus of the conference was the conservation of migratory species. Topics ranged from krill in Antarctic waters to how light pollution affects bird migration and insect navigation.

Renowned international guests included Prof Dr Eric Warrant from Lund University in Sweden, an expert in insect navigation and sensory perception; Prof Dr Barbara Webb from the University of Edinburgh, who uses insect robots to study how the little crawlers find their way; and Prof Dr David Lentink from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, who works on biologically inspired design.

The scientific organisers of the conference were Dr Pauline Fleischmann, Prof. Dr Miriam Liedvogel and Prof. Dr Ilia Solov'yov from the University of Oldenburg.