Graduation Day 2012
The annual highlight of the IGSN calendar, Graduation Day took place on December 7th and saw this year's graduates honoured by a degree conferring ceremony, as well as the winners of the IGSN annual schools' competition receive their prizes.
The day began with the annual meeting of our Advisory Board. The chairman of the Advisory Board Prof. Dr Dr Gerhard Roth (University of Bremen) and members Dr. Klaus-Dieter Bremm (Bayer AG), Christopher Onkelbach (WAZ), Prof. Dr Andreas Faissner (Dean Biology and Biotechnology), Prof. Dr Elmar Weiler (Rector of the Ruhr-University Bochum) and Prof Dr Oliver T. Wolf (Vice-Dean Psychology) were all present and discussed the development of the IGSN during the past year.
That was followed by the welcome speech of our new speaker Prof. Dr Michael Hollmann to our Advisory Board, students and members, who, in the meantime, had gathered to listen to the scientific presentations from five of our current students, Naima Rüther, Karina Eckey, Christiane Reick, Ramakrishnan Sureshbabu and Fabian Schöner on the subject of their PhD projects. The morning session was rounded off with poster presentations before everybody adjourned for lunch.
In the afternoon, accompanied by their teachers and families, pupils from Bochum's primary schools, who had submitted winning entries to our annual schools' competition "A fit brain – but how?" made their way into the "Veranstaltungszentrum".
In the presence of our gown-wearing graduates and faculty members they listened to Prof. Manahan-Vaughan's laudationes, after which the Vicerector of the Ruhr-University awarded the prizes to the pupils.
The next highlight of the afternoon was the degree-conferring ceremony for this year's PhD graduates. Following fascinating laudations from their supervisors, our speaker Prof. Dr. Michael Hollmann together with the Vicerector of the Ruhr-University Prof. Dr. Ulf Eysel awarded our graduates their PhDs in Neuroscience.
The day was brought to a very pleasant close in "Cigo's", where everybody was able to eat and drink their fill amid agreeable company.
Many thanks to all those who made this day so lively and such a wonderful success!