Honours Day in the winter term

An look into Honours Day
Image: Dr. Dörte Goldenstein

The Honours Day: A safe space for interdisciplinary exchange

Honours Day is held twice a year as part of the Honours Programme, once at the start of the summer and winter term.

On this day, Honours Students can present their projects, report on conferences they have attended or visited, or display their scientific posters.

High table with decorations for Honours Day on 25 October 2025
Image: Dr. Dörte Goldenstein

It also enables research-oriented Honours Programme students to practise presenting to a group. For some, it may be their first presentation on their own research project, while others may already have experience of speaking at specialist conferences or presenting to larger groups.

On Honours Day, students present their research projects to a group of peers: other programme recipients from all university faculties. The focus of this gathering is interdisciplinary exchange. This interdisciplinarity also presents a challenge to the Honours Students, who must present the complex content of their subject in a language that is understandable to a wider audience in order to engage all listeners. At the same time, interdisciplinarity provides an opportunity for students to engage with questions and discussions from a variety of perspectives. This provides a fresh perspective on the issues addressed in their research projects.

Light vegan lunch buffet on Honours Day
Image: Dr. Dörte Goldenstein

Overview of the Honours Day programme

Participants in the Honours Day, part of the Honours Programme, were treated to a total of seven exciting contributions, reports and poster presentations by active Honours Students, as well as testimonials from Honours alumnae. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who prepared contributions for this day, shared their experiences and made themselves available to answer questions.

Three lectures and a poster presentation were scheduled for the first half of the day. After the lunch break, which featured a vegan buffet, participants enjoyed two more lectures, a report on a self-organised workshop and an experience report from an Honours Alumna.

The full programme for Honours Day can be found herepdf, 540 kb · de.

Reports and contributions of the day

Lecture „Strukturelle Hirnbildgebung zur Ermittlung neuer Autismustypen durch Clusteranalyse in ABIDE-Daten“, Vivien Werner

Vivian Werner has been supported by the Honours Programme since 2024 and is currently studying for a master's degree in psychology. Vivien Werner presented her research project entitled ‘Structural brain imaging to identify new types of autism through cluster analysis in ABIDE data’.

Poster Presentation „A Nanotube-based Delivery System for Plants“ion by by Jonathan Heitmann
Image: Dr. Dörte Goldenstein

Lecture: "Lehrerinnenhandeln im postkolonialen Raum. Wie gehen Lehrerinnen an einer neuseeländischen Schule mit der Kolonialgeschichte und deren bleibenden Auswirkungen um?“, Anna Oberhauser

Anna Oberhauser has also been in the Honours Programme since 2024. She is studying for a Master's degree in Education, Culture and Anthropology. She presented her project entitled ‘Teacher behaviour in the postcolonial space. How do teachers at a New Zealand school deal with colonial history and its lasting effects?’ vor.

Poster presentation „A Nanotube-based Delivery System for Plants“, Jonathan Heitmann

Jonathan Heitmann was accepted into the Honours Programme this year. He is studying Molecular Life Science at the Faculty of Biosciences at Master's level. Jonathan Heitmann presented his scientific poster on his research project entitled ‘A Nanotube-based Delivery System for Plants’ at Honours Day.

Honours student's presentation on his research project
Image: Dr. Dörte Goldenstein

Lecture: "Charakterisierung des Wirkmechanismus eines neuartigen Antidepressivums bei behandlungsresistenten Depressionen", Philip Müller

This year, Philip Müller was also accepted into the programme. He is studying for a master's degree in biochemistry and presented his research project entitled ‘Characterisation of the mechanism of action of a novel antidepressant in treatment-resistant depression’ to the participants of the Honours Day.

Research project presentation by Thurid Lauf
Image: Dr. Dörte Goldenstein

Lecture: "Die Aktivierung des nicht-kanonischen Inflammasoms in respiratorischen Virusinfektionen“, Thurid Lauf

Thurid Lauf's presentation explored a project entitled ‘The activation of the non-canonical inflammasome in respiratory viral infections’ and showed images of her work in the laboratory. Thurid Lauf was accepted into the Honours Programme this year. She is studying human medicine.

Report from the workshop „Freiheit der Feder versus Forderung der Moralität“ - Zum Verhältnis von ästhetischer Autonomie und ethischer Praxis, Laura Bella Theis

Laura Bella Theis has been in the Honours Programme since 2023 and is studying for a Master's degree in Literature, Art and Culture. She is researching a project entitled ‘Confrontational Art? On the Formation of an Active Attitude Towards the World in the Context of Friedrich Schiller's Aesthetics’. As part of her research project, she organised a workshop entitled ‘Freedom of the Pen versus the Demand for Morality – On the Relationship between Aesthetic Autonomy and Ethical Practice’, which took place on 20 October 2025 and which she reported on at Honours Day. The workshop programme can be found here.

Lecture: "Studie zur Analyse subtiler affektiver Signale in Fotografien des Gesichts", Helene Schaefermeyer

Helene Schaefermeyer, who was accepted into the programme for Future researchers in 2023, studied human medicine. As part of her dissertation, she conducted research on a project entitled ‘Study on the analysis of subtle affective signals in photographs of the face’.

Interaction and networking among Honours students
Image: Dr. Dörte Goldenstein

Report on experiences, Paulina Floriane Ebmeier

Paulina Ebmeier was accepted into the Honours Programme last year. She studied for a Master's degree in ‘Literature – Art – Culture’ until August and conducted research on a project entitled ‘Sprach-Mauer(fall)’ (Language Wall (Fall)). Transgenerational discourse on the GDR in German-language “post-reunification children” literature." Paulina Floriane Ebmeier reported on her participation in two conferences, at each of which she gave a presentation, and provided insights into the workshops she attended as part of the Honours Programme.