Immunological research lies the foundation of public health and is thus of great interest to society. Working at the very frontier of development and innovation, scientists are irrefutably obliged to pass knowledge on to others. As scientists, we can guide society and teach unbiased, evidence-based decision making. And in a world permeated by science and its products, these skills become ever more important.
In order to inform the interested public about current developments in the biomedical sciences, especially immunology, we organize public events on a regular basis. Every spring, we celebrate the annual Day of Immunology and bring scientists to the Bonn city center, presenting immunological topics and explaining biomedical research on a basic level.
Our engagement is backed by public scientific talks, which are provided on site and streamed online. Also, we actively inform about current scientific news from ImmunoSensation2 on our social media channels on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
Furthermore, ImmunoSensation2 has signed a cooperation contract with Museum Alexander König and and is preparing an exhibition under the theme of "one health" in a leading role.
Day of Immunology
2024 - How smart is my immune system?
April 29th is the worldwide "Day of Immunology". Every spring we celebrate this on a Saturday at the market place in Bonn. The last event took place on Saturday, April 27th, 2024.
How can the immune System be trained to fight cancer? How do cells distinguish between their own and viral nucleic acids? How do mRNA vaccines work? How does western diet induce constant inflammation in the body? Every year, scientists from the Cluster of Excellence ImmunoSensation2 report on their research at the Bonn Marketplace and answer your questions. In parallel, public lectures by scientists of the Cluster of Excellence on various topics have recently taken place in the Bonn City Library. In case you missed the event, you find a selection of scientific talks from the recent years here (in german language).
Find more information on our celebration of the day of immunology 2023 here.
Science education
ImmunoSensation2 is engaged in several projects and cooperations, supporting scientific education at an early age.
We support the annual Jungend Forscht regional competition Bonn/Cologne, with a special award in Biomedicine and invite the winners to visit one of our labs for a day. In 2023, three students from regional schools visited the Institute for Experimental Oncology at the University Hospital Bonn and learned how cells are grown in culture and tissues can be analyzed using various staining techniques and microscopes..
We participate in local science rallyes where we teach students the basics of immunology and guide kids to playfully engage with scientific topics, using games and quizzes. In 2023, our focus was on diseases eradication, hygiene and vaccination.
We actively participate in the Europe-wide "open-schooling" project MULTIPLIERS. The goal of MULTIPLIERS is to help students understand the relevance of science to everyday life and to strengthen their ability to make fact-based decisions.
Science is one of the pillars of modern society and as such is closely intertwined with societal and environmental challenges. Ubiquitous examples of this are climate change and the advancing loss of biodiversity. In schools, however, science is often presented to students in an abstract way and without practical relevance. To make science more tangible and attractive, the MULTIPLIERS Horizon 2020 project is establishing Open Science Communities (OSCs). Representatives from schools, universities, informal education providers, museums, local associations, industry, civil society, policy makers and the media are joining forces in OSCs to jointly expand opportunities for science learning. This is being implemented in parallel in six European countries.
Scientists of the Cluster of Excellence ImmunoSensation2 are part of the OSC Bonn. Together with our partners, we develop concepts for teaching scientific content at schools in Bonn.
In 2022 and 2023, we focus on the topic of vaccinations in the MULTIPLIERS project. We focus especially on the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), which has a high relevance for teenagers. Students will be guided to learn about different perspectives, including the two often conflicting goals of public health protection and individual autonomy. To this end, scientists visit the classroom and students are invited into the labs of the Excellence Cluster. Together they collect, evaluate and discuss data. Overall, students are guided to develop a fact-based and multi-layered picture of the benefits and effects of vaccination.
art@immunosensation
The art project art@immunosensation adds a new level of reflection to the exchange between scientists and the public. Together with scientists from the Cluster of Excellence, artists from the Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences Alfter, under the direction of Prof. Willem-Jan Beeren (architecture) and Prof. Paul Petry (sculpture), are creating a so-called WALL-laboratory (WANDlabor) in the foyer of the Biomedical Center II (BMZII) at the University Hospital Bonn.
It is a joint creative process that arises, from the interaction among the scientists and artists. The result of the productive exchange is a constantly changing work of art that reflects the content of the research carried out in the laboratory into the foyer of the building. The wall that separates the public area of the building from the laboratory wing thus becomes a membrane between science and society, the medium being art. In the future, too, the artwork will direct the gaze of passers-by into the building and initiate an interaction between science and the public.
Spot on Science - the ImmunoSensation Publicast
Lead authors introduce their current publications on immunological topics - that is "Spot on Science - The ImmunoSensation Publicast".
Within three minutes, junior researchers of ImmunoSensation2 give a short introduction to their latest work.
Reading abstracts was yesterday - There is no easier way to get an adept impression of current, first-class research at the research location Bonn. In addition, get to know promising young scientists directly. Find out which figure of the respective publication is most central to the them and how the junior researchers see their finding in the overall scientific context
Interested in current research in immunology? Whatch Spot on Science now.