“Learning from bees – bee democracy” is the first title of the new city lecture that Hof University of Applied Sciences is inviting interested members of the public to attend on April 11 at 5.30 pm in the center of Hof. “Yes, absolutely”, Prof. Dr. Jürgen Heym immediately agreed to the idea and will talk about bees. With this series of events, Hof University of Applied Sciences would like to share the secrets of its researchers. The focus can also be on more private topics such as bee research.
How do bees act?
Bee colonies have been around for 45 million years. It may sound strange, but the queen bee has relatively little to say in a bee colony. “It’s the worker bees that make decisions democratically,” says Prof. Heym, whose field of study is actually networked systems and network technology. Bees are his hobby. They communicate facts, for example a newly discovered food source, have to convince other bees of its quality, give them the opportunity to test the new food source, they will have their say in order to finally make a decision democratically in the colony. How do bees communicate? What language do they speak? What tools do they use? How do bees make decisions? Using several examples, the basic democracy of bees will be presented, compared with democracy in the human environment and differences discussed.
University wants to appeal to the public
For several years now, Hof University of Applied Sciences has been tasked with having an impact on society as part of its so-called “third mission”. This third pillar stands directly alongside the other two, namely teaching and research. “Particularly in today’s increasingly flattened and brutalized public debate, we as a university want to bring complex and reflective ideas back to the public,” says Prof. Dr. Valentin Plenk, Vice President for Research and Development. The aim is to show that a serious, scientific discourse does not necessarily have to be boring and incomprehensible.
For this reason, Hof University of Applied Sciences invites you to a “City Lecture Series”, which is explicitly aimed at the city of Hof and the surrounding districts. The venue is the student café “Zur Auszeit”, so that here too there is a link between “up in the university” and “down in the city”.
A maximum of 60 people can take part, the order of registration applies. The event is free of charge, drinks are self-pay. To the registration.
Further dates
Two more lectures will take place in the student café in the summer semester:
- Prof. Dr. Cynthia Sende “Factors influencing the development of intelligence and the decline of cognitive abilities in old age”, May 8, 2024
- Prof. Dr. Andreas Wagener “Of cyborgs and digital creatures: How generative AI and virtual realities are changing human life (and death)”, June 26, 2024, time each day: 5.30-7.00 p.m., all in the student café “Zur Auszeit”, Hof, Karolinenstraße 30
