Public Engagement of the SFB/TRR 393

Below, you can get some impressions on how we make our research accessible to the general public.

Hallo Neuron/Hola Neurona! Wissenschaftler für einen Tag (May 06, Münster)
On May 06, Marta Méndez (B02, Münster) and others organized the neuroscience workshop Hallo Neuron/ Hola Neurona! for kids in Münster, whose curiosity absolutely made the day. Two workshops in German and Spanish took place, where the little scientists discovered the wonders of the brain, from observing mutations in fruit flies to measuring their own brain electrical activity with an EEG.

Wie KI die Medizin verändert (May 02, Münster)
Interview with the director of the newly established Institute for Machine Learning in Medicine, Tim Hahn (S03, Münster), about the opportunities and risks associated with using AI in modern medicine. (Westfälische Nachrichten; Münstersche Zeitung)

Hands-on booth at the Long Night of University Medicine in Münster (September 12, Münster)
Researchers of the SFB/TRR 393 participated in the Long Night of University Medicine with hands-on activities related to the topic of "Building bridges between the brain and mental health".

TV-interview with Tilo Kircher regarding an Instagram video by the Hessian CDU (July 03, Marburg)
The CDU fraction in the Hessian State Parliament has caused outrage with an Instagram video regarding a draft law that would require certain patients to be reported to the authorities after their release from psychiatric care. Tilo Kircher (A02/Z/speaker of the SFB/TRR 393, Marburg) explains why he, like the DGPPN (German Society for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychosomatics, and Neurology), opposes such an approach.

Hallo Neuron/Hola Neurona! Wissenschaftler für einen Tag (June 28, Münster)
Children aged 6 to 10 participated in neuroscience workshops in Spanish and German, where they discovered what a neuron looks like, how to extract DNA, and what their brain electrical activity looks like. The event was organized by Marta Méndez (B02, Münster) and others.
Video on the occasion of the University Society of Münster's 2025 Research Promotion Award for Susanne Meinert (June 25, Münster)
Susanne Meinert (A04, Münster), junior group leader at the Institute of Translational Psychiatry at the University of Münster, received the University Society´s Research Promotion Award for her research on how mental disorders such as depression emerge, how they affect the brain, and how risk factors shape mental health trajectories across the lifespan. A central focus of her work is child and adolescent mental health.

Pint of Science Festival 2025 (May 21, Marburg)

Photo: Sebastian Meller

Tina Meller giving her talk at the Pint of Science Festival.

Pint of Science is an international organization that hosts festivals bringing scientists to your local pub for discussing their latest research findings and discoveries with you. Entitled "Jesus auf Tost" Tina Meller (RTG, Marburg) demonstrated why we are studying healthy people in order to learn more about mental diseases.

Public lecture series on the topic “What Is Normal?” (April 29, Mittweida)
In her lecture entitled “The Opposite of Mentally Ill Is Healthy, Not Normal,” Nadine Bernhard (B02/B06, Dresden) explained that mental disorders such as depression, schizophrenia, and addiction arise from a combination of biological, genetic, as well as environmental factors, and discussed the role that different life stages play in this process.

Inclusion of the first participant (March 26, Marburg)
Report on the inclusion of the first participant in the study and the research activities of the SFB/TRR 393 (Oberhessische Presse; Wetzlarer Zeitung; Dill-Zeitung).
Video on the occasion of the University of Münster's 2024 Research Award for Udo Dannlowski (January 10, Münster)
Udo Dannlowski (A02/S02, Münster), director of the Institute for Translational Psychiatry at the University of Münster and the Section for Transition Psychiatry at Münster University Hospital, received the University of Münster´s 2024 Research Award for his excellent and internationally recognized research focussing on functional and structural imaging, as well as affective disorders such as depression.

Night of Biosignals (November 15, Münster)
Joachim Gross (B07/C04, Münster) and Markus Junghöfer (A04, Münster), as well as other members of the Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignalanalysis participated in the first Night of Biosignals by giving talks and offering an on-site tour.