Magnetoreception and navigation in vertebrates: from biophysics to brain and behaviour

Nature paper with SFB participation on the stellar compass of Bogong moths

June 19, 2025 Every spring, billions of Bogong moths (Agrotis infusa) migrate hundreds of kilometres south to the Australian Alps. David Dreyer, former UOL graduate and now in Lund, and his colleagues, supported by the SFB, now report in a Nature study that the butterflies can only find their way with the help of the stars. The Bogong moth is thus the first invertebrate to be observed to use celestial navigation for its long-distance migration. 

Our SFB Research Fellow and ant navigation expert Pauline Fleischmann comments on this in a short radio podcast on NPR media (listen here). Photo: Andrew Waugh. 

New article by our Israeli project partners on the basics of memory consolidation in the hippocampus of fruit bats

June 13, 2025 Our SFB colleagues Nachum Ulanovsky and Shaket Palgi (sub-project Neu05) and their co-workers from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot have found in Egyptian fruit bats that the replay of large environments in the hippocampus is fragmented, which may facilitate memory chunking for hippocampal-neocortical communication. Find the entire study here in Cell press. 

International Year of Quantum Science and Technology

June 11, 2025 This year has been proclaimed the ‘International Year of Quantum Science and Technology’. The University of Oldenburg has set up its own website with lots of information about quantum research at the UOL. There you will also find a summary of the research on “quantum birds” by Henrik Mouritsen's working group. 

NaviSense is funded as Cluster of Excellence

May 22, 2025 Today, the DFG announced its decision on which of the Clusters of Excellences are to be funded. We are delighted that our colleagues' initiative “NaviSense: International Cluster of Excellence for the Sensory Basis, Mechanisms, and Impacts of Animal Navigation” is one of the clusters that will be funded for the next seven years.

Congratulations! We are looking forward to working with you on new perspectives in animal navigation research in the coming years! See also here for more information. 

TV report and blog interview with Research Fellow Dr Pauline Fleischmann

October 25, 2024 The German television channel NDR reported on the research of Pauline and her team - you can find the report here. 

Pauline was also interviewed by the Myrmecological News Blog. Read the article about ‘Navigating through the postdoc career while exploring navigation systems in Cataglyphis desert ants’ (picture by Robin Grob). 

Autumn meeting at the UOL

September 30 & October 1, 2024 At this year's autumn meeting, 60 members and associated scientists presented talks and posters, discussed existing and new collaborations in small groups and at walk & talks - as always in a very stimulating and communicative atmosphere.

The winners of our 2nd poster competition were: 1st Annika, 2nd Baladev, 3rd Chiara, Timo, Nathalie and Jingjing. 

Congratulations on your outstanding posters!

SFB 1372 at Instagram

August 14, 2024 Follow us on our new launched instagram channel! We look forward to keeping you informed about ongoing projects, workshops, publications and other news about our SFB.

New article of our Nav02 researchers

April 17, 2024  With their review on "A conceptual framework on the role of magnetic cues in songbird migration ecology" (Karwinkel et al., Biological Reviews), Thiemo and his co-authors summarise the methodological approaches for assessing magnetic-cue-related hypotheses in migratory songbirds and evaluate their contribution to understanding these processes in the wild. They also present a conceptual framework investigating how magnetic cues might affect migratory decisions from stopovers to active migratory flight towards their destination. 

Collaborative study on "Adaptive evolution and loss of a putative magnetoreceptor in passerines" published.

April 11, 2024 The news portal of the UOL reports on a genetic study that supports the hypothesis that proteins in the eye of migratory birds are responsible for magnetoreception. Six researchers of our SFB are co-authors of this study (Langebrake et al., Proceedings of the Royal Society B). Please find the press release here. 

Spring meeting with poster prize

March 18-20, 2024 Fifty-eight SFB members and associates met, as last year, at the Thülsfelder Talsperre near Garrel for our spring meeting. We enjoyed the research talks and had plenty of time for discussion and interaction during two poster sessions, four small group meetings and a long walk & talk around the lake. For the first time, there was a poster award for the three best posters of the doctoral students and postdocs. Congratulations to Annika, Sascha and Nathalie! We look forward to meeting all of you soon in September at the UOL!

Migratory mosquito bats (Pipistrellus pygmaeus) can perceive the Earth's magnetic field

December 6, 2023 Oliver Lindecke and his colleagues from Bangor University and University of Latvia found that the these bats seem to be sensitive to the inclination angle of the field, similar to birds (published in "Biological Letters" of the Royal Society).

Please find the UOL press release (only in German) and the original article here. 

Picture: Christian Giese

The SFB subsidised bike trailers for Pauline's "For Woman in Science" award

November 2023 The SFB 1372 has increased Pauline's prize money to purchase a total of four trailers. Interested parties from Faculty V of the UOL can contact mobile.gleichstellung.fk5[at]uol.de. Allocation is on a first-come, first-served basis, with female students and doctoral candidates having priority due to their financial means. More information here. 

PhD day in Wilhelmshaven 

July 5, 2023 The PhD Day in Wilhelmshaven was marked by stormy winds and cheerful minds. Highlights for the doctoral students of the SFB 1372 were the team-building activities, the input on mental health and the guided tour of the Wadden Sea Visitor Centre. Unfortunately, due to the weather conditions, we had to forego the trip to the colony of common terns at Banter See.

Kick-off meeting of the second funding period

March 20 & 21, 2023  Our two-day kick-off meeting took place at the Thülsfelder Talsperre near Garrel. We particularly enjoyed the discussions about the newly founded iRTG and a workshop on "Feedback Culture" led by Birgit Keydel (coach for team development). During a "Walk & Talk" along the lake, old and new members were able to get to know each other and exchange.