Teilnehmerinnen und Teilnehmer für Online-Umfrage gesucht:
Gentherapie des Innenohres – Ihre Meinung zählt!

Das Else-Kröner-Fresenius-Zentrum für Optogenetische Therapien (EKFZ) führt in Kooperation mit dem Institut für auditorische Neurowissenschaften und der HNO-Universitätsklinik der Universitätsmedizin Göttingen eine wissenschaftliche Online-Befragung zum Thema Gentherapie des Innenohres durch. Ein Aufruf von Dr. Tobias Dombrowski, Prof. Dr. Tobias Moser, Prof. Dr. Dirk Beutner.

Wir möchten erfahren, unter welchen Bedingungen Patientinnen und Patienten bereit wären, an einer künftigen Studie zur Gentherapie teilzunehmen – insbesondere dann, wenn diese Therapie zunächst keinen direkten Nutzen für sie selbst, sondern vor allem einen Beitrag zur Forschung erbringen würde.

Die Umfrage wird in Zusammenarbeit mit der Zeitschrift "Die Schnecke" der Deutschen Cochlea Implantat Gesellschaft durchgeführt und ist hier verfügbar: https://www.schnecke-online.de/themen/Forschung/umfrage-gentherapie

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Ideenexpo 2026

The CRC1690 together with the Cluster of Excellence MBExC and the Else Kröner Fresenius Center for Optogenetic Therapies presents selected research exhibits at the IdeenExpo in Hannover, which runs from 20 - 28 June 2026. The nationwide, successful cooperation between business, science and politics aims to promote next generation careers. It combines sound knowledge transfer with a high fun factor, and invites young visitors and families with more than 720 exhibits to experiment.

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Touch. Hear. Feel. - Between Sound and Silence - Benefit Concert for the German Cochlear Implant Society

The Rotary Club of Göttingen invites you to a benefit concert on Monday, June 1, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium of Georg-August University of Göttingen, which combines musical masterpieces with a scientific perspective on hearing. Göttingen-based artists and Rotarians from our club—including pianist Julia Bartha, cantor Bernd Eberhardt, the Göttingen University Music Department with Antonius Adamske, and guest violinist Nina Karmon—will perform choral and chamber music works by J.S. Bach, L.v. Beethoven, J. Brahms, and C. Debussy. Neuroscientist and fellow club member Tobias Moser will also offer fascinating insights into the interplay between music and perception in his lecture on hearing. DT actor Florian Eppinger will read from Ludwig van Beethoven’s Heiligenstadt Testament, thereby building an impressive bridge between research and music.

Enjoy the evening, let yourself be moved, inspired, and captivated—and support the German Cochlear Implant Society (Deutsche Cochlea Implantat Gesellschaft e.V.) with your donation. This self-help association advocates for the interests of deaf and hard-of-hearing people who participate in the hearing world through modern hearing technology such as cochlear implants.

You can donate here!

Admission is free.

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Tuning Light to Activate the Auditory Brain, Pint of Science Festival 2026

Can we hear light? Not yet—but we can make the auditory nerve respond to it. Using advanced genetic tools, we render the auditory nerve sensitive to light and activate it with precise light pulses. This approach aims to restore hearing through optical cochlear implants. A key challenge is determining how to deliver light in a way that produces natural patterns of activity in the auditory brain. To address this, we use computational models of brain responses to both sound and light, and optimize light patterns to mimic natural auditory activity as closely as possible.

Confirmed Speakers: Dr. Anna Vavakou, UMG

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Reparaturanleitung fürs Hören – Gentherapie im Innenohr, Pint of Science Festival 2026

Was passiert, wenn in unserer Bauanleitung fürs Hören ein Fehler steckt? Manche Formen angeborener Taubheit entstehen durch Veränderungen in nur einem einzigen Gen. Dieses Gen enthält die Bauanleitung für einen wichtigen Bestandteil der Hörsinneszellen im Innenohr. Ist diese Anleitung fehlerhaft, können Geräusche zwar noch von den Sinneszellen wahrgenommen werden, doch die Signale werden nicht mehr korrekt an das Gehirn weitergeleitet. Die Idee der Gentherapie ist daher, eine funktionierende Kopie dieser genetischen Bauanleitung in die betroffenen Zellen zu bringen, um die Signalübertragung wiederherzustellen. Als Transportmittel dienen Adeno-assoziierte Viren – kleine „Gen-Briefe“, die die DNA gezielt in die Hörsinneszellen liefern. Doch wie funktioniert dieser Gen-Brief – und wie findet er seinen Weg ins Innenohr?

Confirmed Speakers: Mara Uhl, UMG

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‘Have you kept your senses? ’ – A contribution to ‘Science goes City 2026’

We experience the world through our five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. Together with the Multiscale Bioimaging Cluster of Excellence and the Else Kröner Fresenius Center for Optogenetic Therapies, we will use hands-on experiments to explain how sensory stimuli are perceived and processed during the "Science goes City" event on April 19th, 2026.

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Science Days at Europa-Park Rust 2025

The Science Days of this year took place from October 23 to 25, 2025 at Europa-Park in Rust. The Confertainment Center in Europa-Park presented itself as a world of experiences. The Science Days took visitors on a journey through the world of mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology. More than 90 exhibitors presented themselves with a diverse program. Among them was the Else Kröner-Fresenius Center for Optogenetic Therapies (EKFZ-OT) and CRC1690 at the information stand of the Bernstein Center.

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Night of Science 2025

We experience the world through our 5 senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. Scientists of the Collaborative Research Centre 1690 participate in the Göttingen-wide "Nacht des Wissens" and use models and hands-on experiments to explain how sensory stimuli are perceived and processed, how they are researched and what happens when our senses let us down.

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