Workshops

From 18 till 19 March the first U4 Workshop 'Extra-retinal influences on vision: vistas, methods, and current controversies' took place at the Paulinerkirche in Göttingen.

Twelve internationally renowned experts in Neurophysiology, Psychology, and Neuroscience presented and discussed recent evidence and models pertaining to brain mechanisms of visual perception, and their modulation by attention, awareness, and emotion. In addition to these oral presentations, exchanges and discussions between participants were fostered during an extended poster session, where senior undergraduate and doctoral students, and postdoctoral fellows were presenting their current research projects.

On the 18th of February the GOEvol/U4 Symposium on Evolutionary Biology took place at the Ernst-Caspari-Haus of the GZMB at the University of Göttingen. Of the total 40 participants, 10 delivered oral presentations and 15 presented their work during an extended poster session.

The main part of the meeting started on Wednesday, February 18th with a short summary of the previous activities of the GOEvol group in Göttingen.

During the morning session Ann Huysseune from Ghent University presented her work on the evolution of teeth and jaws in vertebrates. This talk was followed by a story about fossil carnivorous plants found in baltic amber by Eva-Maria Sadowski from the Göttingen University.

After a short coffee break Elvira Hörandl and her PhD student Susanne Gramlich from the Göttingen University presented work on various aspects of sexual and asexual reproduction in plants.

From 27 November to 2 December the first PhD-workshop 'Sustainability and Resource Efficiency' took place in Göttingen.

13 PhD-students from seven Universities of four different countries were invited to the Chair of Production and Logistics at Georg-August-University in Göttingen. Several issues from different areas of research on current topics of resource efficiency and sustainability were discussed during the workshop. Prof. Dr. M. Schumann, Dr. L.P. Lauven und Prof. Dr. J. Geldermann reported on scientific and practical solutions.

Aside from visual insights into the operating practice and the particularities of a local German energy supplier, Dr. Rappenecker gave a speech on 'Resource Efficiency and Sustainable Production for a Local Utility' and answered many questions of the participants.

From 18 till 19 March the U4 Workshop 'Extra-retinal influences on vision: vistas, methods, and current controversies' will take place in Göttingen. The Workshop is a part of the DAAD project 'U4 Strategic University Network'.

In four thematic sessions, twelve experts in Neurophysiology and Neuroscience will present and discuss recent data and models pertaining to brain mechanisms of visual perception, and their modulation by attention, awareness and emotion. These sessions will be organized in such a way to foster discussions and exchanges between the audience and the speakers. To this aim, two specific poster sessions will be included, alongside the oral presentations.

The workshop is intended for senior undergraduate students, doctoral students, and first- or second-year postdoctoral fellows in Psychology, Medicine, Biology, or Neuroscience, who will be trained and gain new insights into brain mechanisms of visual perception, and how they are dynamically shaped by extra-retinal influences.

In the modern world, political as well as religious leaders make use of ideological messages to legitimize and advertise their power. Especially during periods of transformation and change, it is important for leaders to demonstrate their strengths and capacities in order to unify their subjects. By presenting themselves as the right persons in the right place, they could win their subjects' loyalty and thus legitimize and safeguard their own positions. This practice is however not a modern invention, it is rooted in ancient traditions and habits.

Our summer school focuses on ideological messages communicated by leaders in the ancient world (Ancient Near East, Greece and Rome, c. 3000 BC – AD 600) during periods of religious change. The latter can be understood as periods in which new religions, specific religious factions, sects or cults rose, expanded or gained a position of dominance, thereby causing changes in or threatening existing social, religious and/or power structures.

This two-day workshop, organized within the framework of the U4 Network, will bring together researchers interested in the following subjects:

International Trade, Foreign Direct Investment, Production Fragmentation, Productivity, Economic Growth, Foreign Aid and Development, Regional Integration Agreements, World input-output tables and International Agreements.

The workshop was opened to anyone affiliated with any of the U4 universities, who is also involved in economics and finance issues, including young and experienced researchers, post-doctoral students and professors.

From 13 till 16 May about 35 students from all U4 partners took part in the 3rd U4 Student Network meeting. For the first time all partner universities could send a full student delegation.

Within the framework of the U4 Student Network visits to the various student facilities of Groningen (student houses, meal services, sports infrastructures) were organized. In addition, several aspects of student participation were discussed, such as student elections, student events, as well as the different structures of student participation at the respective partner universities. The meeting opened several new prospects for further exchange on best practices and for cooperation between the U4 student nations.

Emmius the Student Network meeting was organised at the start of the festivities of the 400th anniversary of the University of Groningen ('For infinity'). The students were invited to the official opening celebration attended by His Majesty King Willem-Alexander.

During the opening ceremony on 15 May, Prof. Ulrike Beisiegel, President of the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen was awarded the Ubbo Emmius medal by Rector Magnificus Prof. Sterken, for her merit in the field of cardiovascular diseases and her views on integrity and ethics.

Ph.D. students are often struggling with ways to relate theoretical perspectives in their field of expertise with methodological and empirical perspectives. While it often proves difficult to operationalize theoretical perspectives or insights, it is for empirical researchers often also difficult to incorporate and address theoretical concerns.

This workshop is intended to deal in detail with the relation between theoretical and methodological perspectives. Given the expertise of the staff members who will participate, the emphasis will be on social network theory. During this two-day workshop, we will work with a bottom-up approach.

The aim of the workshop is to give PhD students and young researchers a state-of-the-art overview of business management methods key to ensuring sustainability and resource efficiency.

The workshop will provide comprehensive insights from various disciplines (quantitative methods of operational research, operation management, managerial environmental information systems, and marketing) addressing interdisciplinary research questions.

The main focus of the workshop is to give students the chance to exchange ideas and research possibilities. Participants will familiarise themselves with techno-economic optimisation and process integration in the context of the conversion of renewable resources.

The University of Groningen and UMCG organize a U4 symposium 'The Ageing Brain' on Thursday 31st of March and Friday 1st of April 2011.

The aim of the Groningen symposium is to develop a joint research programme (8 joint research projects) and to define a research focus. Potential focus areas are: early detection and monitoring, treatment and basic pathology. Potential research topics include a.o. neuroimaging, neuroimmunology, neurodegeneration, protein aggregation, telomeres, tracers, delirium, e-health, imaging, biomarkers, neurophysiology, cognitive testing, neuropsychology, pharmaceuticals, neural stimulation, stem cells, animal models etc.).