Fakultät für Gesundheitswissenschaften

The School of Public Health is delighted that a funding agreement was concluded in May 2026 to establish an endowed professorship in rehabilitative healthcare research. It would like to thank the German Pension Insurance Fund for Westphalia and the Rhineland, as well as all other donors – the Medical Centre for Health in Bad Lippspringe, the Johanniter-Ordenshäuser in Bad Oeynhausen, the MEDIAN Group, Salus-Klinik GmbH, the Association of Private Clinics in North Rhine-Westphalia and the Dr Becker Clinic Group – for providing the financial resources to support scientific research in the field of rehabilitation science. The new professorship has already been advertised. We look forward to hearing from you.

Contact:
Dr Ines Vitic: geschaeftsfuehrung.gesundheit@uni-bielefeld.de

We are delighted to announce that the new Bachelor’s degree program in Public Health at the School of Public Health will commence this winter term. Its creation is the result of an intensive, multi-year development process, underpinned by specialist expertise, dedicated collaboration and the shared aim of responding to current and future societal challenges in the healthcare sector.

The idea for the degree program arose against a backdrop of far-reaching changes in the health sector: demographic change, social inequalities in health outcomes, global health crises, digitalisation and climate change. The basis for its development has always been a shared focus on equity in health. These developments in the health sector require professionals who approach health not merely from an individual, medical perspective, but from a population-based, interdisciplinary and preventive one. This is precisely where the new Bachelor’s program comes in.

We would like to express our special thanks to all internal and external contributors who were involved in the program’s design. Within the faculty, numerous colleagues from various fields of work have contributed their expertise. We would also like to thank representatives from the professional field and partner institutions who have provided valuable insights drawn from real-world professional experience and other higher education institutions. Internal and external students and alumni have shared their perspectives and provided us with important feedback on the program structure and its practical relevance. This broad participatory approach was a key priority for us – because public health thrives on interdisciplinary dialogue.

With this new degree program, we are responding specifically to societal needs whilst simultaneously strengthening our faculty’s profile.

In terms of content, the degree program is innovative in several respects. The fundamentals of health sciences are systematically linked with methodological and practice-oriented content. We place great emphasis on research-based learning and early integration into project-based activities. Students not only acquire theoretical knowledge but also learn to analyse data critically, evaluate studies and develop their own research questions. Through placements, project modules and collaborations with regional and national partners, the transfer of theory into practice is ensured from the very first semester. We also specifically address current topics such as digitalisation in healthcare, planetary health and health equity, and embed them within the curriculum.

Another distinctive feature of the degree program is the three specialist profiles that can be chosen during the course of study, enabling students to focus on specific areas. The ‘Health Behaviour and Health Determinants’ profile focuses on individual, social, economic, political and environmental factors influencing health. Students learn to identify, analyse and critically reflect on these factors, and, on this basis, to derive and implement courses of action. Key topics within this specialisation include prevention and health promotion, social and health inequalities, as well as health reporting and monitoring. The ‘Health Communication’ specialisation centres on knowledge and research into the significance of communication and (digital) media for health and illness. This includes topics such as strategic health communication, health-related counselling, and health-related science and risk communication. Students are equipped to analyse, critically reflect upon, appropriately design and implement communication in various health contexts in a goal- and audience-oriented manner, based on theories and models. In the Healthcare and Health Systems specialisation, the focus is on problem definition, the formulation of objectives and strategies, implementation, and the evaluation of healthcare measures and care models. Students are equipped to critically reflect on the challenges facing health systems and to derive potential solutions, drawing on the substantive and methodological knowledge they have acquired. The overarching themes of this specialisation are financing, governance and management in health systems; access, distribution and quality in healthcare; and social and technical innovations in the health system.

The Bachelor’s degree in Public Health provides, over six semesters, a sound academic grounding in public health and offers the opportunity to specialise. Through this program structure, we combine a solid common foundation with individual subject specialisation, opening up a wide range of career prospects.

The aim is to train graduates who can analyse health challenges in an evidence-based manner, reflect on the social context and act responsibly.

We are convinced that this degree program not only represents a professional advancement of our academic offering but also makes an important contribution to the further development of a health-promoting society.

We look forward to supporting our students on this journey – and to actively shaping public health together with them.

Author:
Lena Schumann: lena.schumann@uni-bielefeld.de

On 25 June 2026, the book *Health Literacy in Times of Crisis – Findings and Analyses* was published by Beltz Juventa – both as a print edition and as an open-access publication.

Health literacy is a key prerequisite for navigating an increasingly complex healthcare landscape and making informed decisions. But what is the state of health literacy in times of multiple crises, constant digital innovation, a growing flood of information and social uncertainty? This question lies at the heart of the book.

In addition to new empirical findings from the third study on health literacy in Germany (HLS-GER 3), the book contains numerous commentaries and contributions from experts in academia and practice, who contextualise the development of health literacy and offer in-depth perspectives.

Further information is available at:

https://beltz.de/fachmedien/soziologie/gesundheitskompetenz-in-krisenzeiten/BEL449622

Contact:
Dr Lennert Griese: lennert.griese@uni-bielefeld.de

Since 25 June 2025, the anthology *Mehr als ein Viertel* (More than a Quarter), edited by Dr Hanna Lütke Lanfer (AG4), has been available from Beltz Juventa Verlag, both as a printed edition and as a free open-access e-book.

The book is the result of a participatory research project on oncological care for people with a migration background, funded by German Cancer Aid. In this project, co-researchers with their own migration backgrounds were involved in developing research questions, conducting interviews and analysing the findings. This collaborative process gave rise to a desire to make the findings visible beyond academic publications, in a form that is relevant to their own communities and does justice to the complexity of the issues.

This anthology represents such an attempt. It brings together subjective experiences at the intersection of migration and healthcare, set against a broader social context. The contributions are organised into four thematic sections: interactions within the healthcare system, language mediation and communication, racism and discrimination, and systemic perspectives on care provision. The book is aimed at professionals in the healthcare sector, care organisations and administration, as well as students of public health, social work and nursing science.

Further information is available at:
To ensure the content is widely accessible across different languages, selected chapters are available in English, Pashto, Farsi, Arabic and Turkish, and can be accessed free of charge at:
www.uni-bielefeld.de/fakultaeten/gesundheitswissenschaften/ag/ag4/projekte/mehr-als-ein-viertel/

Contact:
Hanna Lütke Lanfer: hanna.luetkelanfer@uni-bielefeld.de

Event tip:
The book will also be presented by many of the contributing authors on 26 September at 2 pm at the Wissenswerkstatt in Bielefeld.

The “European Population Conference” (EPC) is one of the most important events in the field of demographic research and attracts researchers at all stages of their careers from across Europe. It is organised by the “European Association of Population Studies” (EAPS) and takes place every two years. The EAPS is a non-profit professional organisation dedicated to promoting population research. As a unique international and interdisciplinary forum, the EAPS places a particular emphasis on Europe. The first EPC took place in 1987 in Jyväskylä, Finland. This year, it was held in Bologna, Italy, home to one of the world’s oldest universities.

The full spectrum of the AG8 agenda was reflected in our contributions to the scientific program, including research on e-health, the health of sexual minorities, mobility and its relationship to family dynamics, and commuting to work and health:

• Patrik Harnisch – Trends and Heterogeneity in the Use of eContacts in Denmark: A Register-Based Study from 2005 to 2019.
• Sofie Quermann – Health Reporting Heterogeneity across Sexual Identities in the U.S.: Evidence from the National Health Interview Survey
• Estelle Knoblauch – The Widowhood Effect across Diverse Partnerships: Mortality Risk after Partner Loss in Same-Sex and Mixed-Sex Unions (see also https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2026.119053)
• Gijs Westra – The spatial scale of white avoidance: Processes reconstituting ethnic segregation in Sweden
• Weiwen Lai – Changing Roles of Marriage and Family Status in Labour Migration? The Case of Rural China (forthcoming in *Demographic Research*)
• Felix Lux – Passive commuting and partners’ mental health: an analysis of the UK Household Longitudinal Study
• Further information can be found in the EPC 2026 program.

We also took part in the pre-conference workshops, including ‘Introducing QueerDem: A research community for Queer Demography’, ‘Lifecourse Dynamics: Insights from Sequence Analysis’, and ‘Beyond the Chatbox: LLM Coding and Research Agents for Academics’. EPC 2026 in Bologna was once again an outstanding conference featuring inspiring presentations, stimulating discussions and, of course, plenty of pasta and gelato.

A big thank you to the University of Bologna and the EAPS for organising this wonderful event. The next EPC will take place in Tallinn in 2028. Visit the EAPS website so you don’t miss the next ‘Call for Submissions’.

Contact:
Prof. Dr Anna Oksuzyan: anna.oksuzyan@uni-bielefeld.de

Our article was published in the journal *Demography* during the European Population Conference 2026 in Bologna, Italy. *Demography* is published every two months and is the leading journal in this field; it has one of the widest readerships in demographic research circles worldwide. Since its foundation in 1964, it has published original research findings from a wide range of disciplines, including anthropology, biology, economics, geography, history, psychology, public health, sociology and statistics.

In this study, Anna Oksuzyan, Maciej Danko, Jennifer Caputo, Mine Kühn and Yana Vierboom challenge prevailing stereotypes about gender differences in self-reported health status. Using data from the 2016 ‘Health and Retirement Study’ and the ‘Venous Blood Study’ add-on module, we investigate whether ‘sensitive’ women overestimate their poor health and ‘stoic’ men underestimate it.

We find no evidence of gender differences in how optimistically or pessimistically individuals assess their health status. Instead, self-assessed health appears to be age-dependent, with younger men and women rating their health pessimistically and older individuals optimistically.
Our findings support research that challenges traditional views suggesting that women overestimate health problems whilst men underestimate them, and highlight the diversity of gender-specific differences in self-rated health across different ethnic groups. Taking into account and building upon similar observations from the European context, we argue that both the research community and the medical profession should abandon traditional views that women overestimate their poor health and men overestimate their good health. Symptoms such as general weakness should be regarded equally in men and women as signs of a slowly progressing, potentially fatal condition.

This publication has been selected to be featured as one of three articles on the Population Association of America’s homepage over the next two months (see https://www.populationassociation.org/home).

Further information is available at:
https://read.dukeupress.edu/demography/article/doi/10.1215/00703370-12652744/410840/Challenging-Prevailing-Stereotypes-About-Gender

Contact:
Prof. Dr Anna Oksuzyan: anna.oksuzyan@uni-bielefeld.de

Under the theme ‘Resilience in Care’, the BIBB Care Congress took place in Bonn on 7 and 8 May 2026. Representatives from academia, politics and the care sector discussed current challenges and future prospects in the care sector. As part of the congress, Emma Schlegel (PhD student at the Graduate School “Health Policy and Systems in Uncertainties”, Working Group 6) and Andreas W. Gold (Heidelberg University Hospital, PhD student, Working Group 2) led a workshop on advanced nursing roles and resilience in primary healthcare.

Internationally, nursing professionals in advanced practice roles (Advanced Practice Nurses, APNs) are deployed in primary care, amongst other settings, to ensure high-quality care for all people. In Germany, the German Professional Association for Nursing is currently discussing the implementation of Community Health Nurses (CHNs) in particular as specialised APNs.

The focus was on the question of which advanced nursing competencies are required to help shape primary care in a way that is responsive to needs and resilient in the face of demographic change. APNs can make a significant contribution, particularly in underserved regions and in the care of people with limited access to regular healthcare services. At the same time, Germany has so far lacked a clear legal framework and role definitions for these expanded nursing tasks. Against this backdrop, the workshop also discussed the as-yet-unimplemented establishment of Community Health Nurses (CHNs) as a possible avenue for the further development of primary care.

Two practical examples served as the basis for discussion: nursing experts from the ‘HandinHand’ project, who were involved in caring for patients during the 2021 Ahr floods, and nursing professionals working as ‘Refugee Health Nurses’. Building on this, the discussion centred on how such existing roles could be recognised in future and how their expertise could be incorporated into potential statutory regulations. The focus was also on the question of what content future training programs should cover in order to specifically prepare participants for expanded nursing activities in primary care.

Around 20 people from the fields of education, research, practice and politics took part in the workshop. Among other things, it became clear that the distinction from other healthcare professions, such as physician assistants, remains unclear; that existing roles are carrying out important pioneering work; and that future training pathways should encompass both generalist and specialist components. The discussion highlighted the high relevance of the topic for research, teaching and clinical practice and provided important impetus for further professional exchange.

Author:
Emma Schlegel: emma.schlegel@uni-bielefeld.de
Andreas W. Gold: andreas.gold@med.uni-heidelberg.de

This year’s Robert Koch Colloquium, which took place in Berlin on 8–9 June 2026, was entitled “Navigating Public Health in Times of Global Uncertainties” – an ideal opportunity to organise a ZiG Talk (ZiG: Centre for International Health Protection) in collaboration with the Research Training Group “Health Policy and Systems in Uncertainties” (GRASP) to organise a ZiG Talk (ZiG: Centre for International Health Protection) as a joint pre-event.

Led by Brogan Geurts (GRASP PhD student, Working Group 2; and the Robert Koch Institute), the pre-event on the morning of 8 June focused on how uncertainty is conceptualised and addressed in public health policy and systems. Moderated by Prof. Johanna Hanefeld (Vice-President of the Robert Koch Institute), Prof. Kayvan Bozorgmehr (Head of Working Group 2), Christian Franz (PhD student at GRASP, Working Group 2), Emma Schlegel (GRASP PhD student, Working Group 6) and Brogan Geurts discussed project-related practical examples and policy approaches to dealing with uncertainty. The discussion highlighted various levels affected by and interacting with uncertainty, ranging from individual healthcare providers through organisational units to entire health systems. The examples ranged from the day-to-day uncertainty in primary healthcare in Madagascar, through the management of natural disasters such as the Ahr flood, to health policy decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The panel discussion and questions from participants highlighted the broad understanding of uncertainty and its close links to related concepts, such as resilience. Uncertainty is understood and communicated in a context-dependent manner, and managing it should go far beyond ‘risk assessments’.

With over 100 participants (online and in person), it was evident that the topic of uncertainty in public health is both topical and highly relevant. We would like to thank the Robert Koch Institute for the opportunity to present aspects of GRASP’s work and to have been enriched by new insights from the participants.

Contact:
Kerstin Schmidt: kerstin.schmidt1@uni-bielefeld.de

Authors:
Emma Schlegel: emma.schlegel@uni-bielefeld.de
Brogan Geurts: brogan.geurts@uni-bielefeld.de
Christian Franz: c.franz@uni-bielefeld.de
Prof. Dr Kayvan Bozorgmehr: kayvan.bozorgmehr@uni-bielefeld.de
Dr Kerstin Schmidt: kerstin.schmidt1@uni-bielefeld.de

So, what are you going to do with your degree later on? Which area within the health sciences is right for me? What should I be looking out for whilst I’m still studying? Should I go straight into a career after my bachelor’s degree, or do a master’s? These are questions many students ask themselves. This is precisely where Dr Marina Böddeker comes in with the event ‘Career Guidance in the Health Sciences’ at the School of Public Health. The event has been running at the Faculty since 2010: over four days, students can gain first-hand insights through a compact program featuring practical workshops – clear, accessible and immediately applicable.

The format involves consultants from the professional world sharing their experiences in the mornings – many of whom are graduates of the faculty. They speak in concrete terms about their career paths, their areas of responsibility and the decisions, both big and small, that shaped their journeys. Afterwards, there is time and space for questions and discussion. Among other things, questions are answered which students have researched and prepared in advance regarding the individual consultants. These are often questions about specific entry-level opportunities, the skills required, experiences with the application process, salary or career development opportunities. In the afternoons, the focus is on skills-based workshops covering individual profile development, career planning and practical application techniques.

This year, the event kicked off with sessions on digital and career topics. The presentations were entitled: “From e-prescriptions to AI – The digital transformation of outpatient healthcare”, “Ever thought about psychiatry? The trainee program at the LWL Psychiatry Network Westphalia” and “Negotiating your salary strategically”, which offered practical tips on how to structure your arguments during salary negotiations. The subsequent workshop focused on practical tutorials for profile development and addressed the question: “How can I identify my skills?”. During this, participants refined their profiles using tutorials from the Bielefeld Skills Logbook (www.kompetenzlogbuch.de).

The second day was entirely dedicated to the perspectives of alumni, as the speakers on this day were all female graduates: a statutory health insurance (GKV) care specialist gave a talk on working at the intersection of care data, health economics and federal policy. A start-up founder presented an AI platform for sustainability in the healthcare sector and spoke about her transition from academia to running her own start-up. Furthermore, the final talk of the day, ‘Building Bridges to Health’, focused on healthcare services for people who are unemployed – ranging from addiction prevention to stress management. This was followed in the afternoon by the workshop “Career Planning for Health Scientists” with the higher education team from the Federal Employment Agency of Germany – a productive, interactive afternoon offering plenty of inspiration.

“Five years ago, I was sitting exactly where you are sitting today.” – with this sentence, a graduate on the third day, in her talk ‘Between patient information, crisis communication and course planning: my day-to-day work in corporate communications & the health centre’, bridged the gap between her time as a student and her daily work in hospital communications. Further talks on the third day included: “Shaping Care Rather Than Just Managing It” on care management at a health insurance provider, and the presentation “Lifelong Learning in the Context of Social Development – Studying Health Communication as an Exceptional Way to Expand Your Skills”, which provided insights into the role of a consultant at the Diakonisches Werk Rheinland-Westfalen-Lippe. In the afternoon, the “World Café – Public Health” workshop format opened up international perspectives and facilitated networking.

For the first time, the fourth day took place entirely online – with consultants joining from Bonn, Berlin and Siegen. The topics were “Strengthening global health – how does development policy consultancy work?”, regional differences in morbidity and healthcare provision, with the presentation “Understanding Health at a Regional Level: How the Healthcare Atlas Highlights Differences in Morbidity and Provision”, and “A Career in Science?” with insights into academic career paths spanning research, teaching and strategic planning. The day – and with it the week’s program – concluded with the Career Service’s job application workshop: “Tailoring application documents to the recipient – creating a CV and cover letter that are perfectly suited to the role”.

Highlights of the event:

• Direct communication – as an exchange of theory and practice – between graduates and industry experts and students, featuring first-hand information, honest accounts of career journeys including ‘graceful failures’ and the celebration of successes, is a great asset and a genuine network.
• It’s lovely to see that graduates are happy to return to their ‘old uni’ to talk about their individual career paths.
• No career path is straightforward, even if it often appears that way from the outside. Every twist and turn in a career can be recounted in hindsight, and that is what matters.

A heartfelt thank you goes to all the consultants, the workshop leaders, the dedicated students – and to the research assistant Anna-Christina Leder for her organisational support. The event impressively demonstrated just how vibrant career guidance becomes when professionals and students engage directly with one another.

Contact:
Dr Marina Böddeker: marina.boeddeker@uni-bielefeld.de

On 1 June 2026, students on the Master’s in Public Health program, as part of the seminar ‘MPH 24: Environment and Health – Advanced Studies’, visited the Bielefeld sewage treatment works together with the teaching staff from Working Group 7.
The City of Bielefeld’s Environmental Services Department operates three sewage treatment works within the city – in Heepen, Brake and Sennestadt – where it treats around 20 million cubic metres of wastewater annually. During the guided tour, the participants gained an insight into the multi-stage wastewater treatment process: from mechanical treatment – including screening, grit removal and grease traps – through to the biological treatment stage, in which bacteria break down carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus compounds, and finally to flocculation filtration. The entire treatment process takes 10 to 14 hours before the treated water is returned to the natural water cycle.
For the students, the excursion offered the opportunity to experience the links between the environment and health – as discussed in the seminar – first-hand and in a practical setting, for example with regard to water protection, effluent quality and the importance of a functioning municipal infrastructure for public health. The direct exchange with staff at the sewage treatment works complemented the seminar’s theoretical content by providing a practical perspective on environmental issues relevant to public health.

Contact:
Annabell Duda: annabell.duda@uni-bielefeld.de

On 25 February 2026, Dr Angelika Augustine led the workshop ‘A Quick Start to Positive Psychology’ for members of the School of Public Health. During this interactive workshop, participants shared their own strategies for greater happiness. The three core categories of happiness – namely social connections, positivity and resilience – as defined by Dacher Keltner and Emiliana Simon-Thomas were discussed, and tutorials relating to each of these categories were tried out and subsequently discussed. In addition, the Dutch concept of ‘niksen’ (which translates as ‘doing nothing’) was explored as a way of creating brief moments of relief. A few tutorials from the book *Niksen – How to Find Happiness in Doing Nothing* by Annette Lavrijsen were tried out straight away and reflected upon together. Many of the ideas presented can be integrated directly into everyday life and demonstrate that one’s own well-being can be actively shaped.

Contact:
Angelika Augustine: angelika.augustine@uni-bielefeld.de

As part of the summer open-air party for staff held in early July, the traditional running event was, of course, a must. The aim was for a team of 10 to complete as many laps as possible in 45 minutes. A fantastic sporting challenge that requires not only stamina but, above all, team spirit.

Under the tried-and-tested name ‘Health Angels’, our faculty took to the starting line once again this year. The team consisted of Theresa Altmiks, Sandra Böhner, Simon Hirch, Stefanie Neudecker, Niklas Nutsch, Odile Sauzet, Tonio Vavra, Angelika Augustine, Owen Callahan and Carl Beneke. With warm temperatures and a fantastic atmosphere along the route, all the runners gave it their all. Lap after lap, they ran together, cheered each other on and shared in the excitement – truly embodying a strong team spirit.
Even though, in the end, the focus was not just on the laps but, above all, on the shared experience, one thing became clear: the Health Angels combine sporting ambition with good humour and genuine team spirit – a combination that is certainly something to be proud of.

Contact:
Carl Beneke: carl.beneke@uni-bielefeld.de

How often do students experience discrimination, and what impact does this have on their studies? These questions were investigated in a joint project by the decentralised Equal Opportunities Commissions of the Schools of Public Health and Educational Science, as well as the Department of Psychology within the Faculty of Psychology and Sports Science. During the winter semester of 2024/2025, 218 students from the participating faculties and department were surveyed via an online questionnaire. Experiences of discrimination were recorded across ten categories: gender identity, age, educational background, (attributed) migrant background, BIPOC identity, chronic illness/disability, caregiving/support roles, parenthood, non-parenthood, and religious affiliation/worldview.

Key findings

Over 60 per cent of the students surveyed have personally experienced discrimination during their studies, with more than a third having experienced it in more than one category. The most frequently reported experiences of discrimination were based on parenthood, chronic illness/disability and BIPOC identity. Over 70 per cent of students also stated that they had witnessed others being discriminated against at some point.
Looking at the number of categories out of the ten in which students have experienced discrimination, the following emerges: 37.6 per cent of respondents reported no personal experiences of discrimination, whilst 26.6 per cent experienced discrimination in exactly one category. Among the remaining students, the experiences are more widespread: 19.3 per cent reported discrimination in two categories, 9.2 per cent in three, 5.5 per cent in four and 1.8 per cent in as many as five of the categories surveyed. A significant proportion of students are therefore exposed not just to one, but to several potentially overlapping forms of discrimination.
The survey reveals a clear link between experiences of discrimination and well-being during their studies: the more frequently students experienced discrimination, the lower their well-being and the more frequently they reported thoughts of dropping out of their studies, as well as expectations that their studies would take longer. In the open-ended text responses, participants described, amongst other things, derogatory remarks, social exclusion, the perpetuation of prejudices and stereotypes in teaching, and structural barriers.
Particularly striking: almost 75 per cent of students were unaware of the support services offered by Bielefeld University that they could use if they experienced discrimination. Almost 95 per cent had never made use of such a service – yet at the same time, almost two-thirds expressed a willingness to do so in future.

Where to find support
If you have experienced or witnessed discrimination yourself, there are various points of contact within our faculty and beyond:

• Confidential Advisory Team of the School of Public Health: https://www.uni-bielefeld.de/fakultaeten/gesundheitswissenschaften/faculty/vertrauensteam/index.xml
• Equal Opportunities Commission of the School of Public Health: https://www.uni-bielefeld.de/fakultaeten/gesundheitswissenschaften/faculty/gleiko/
• Anti-discrimination support services in North Rhine-Westphalia: https://www.mkjfgfi.nrw/servicestellen-fuer-antidiskriminierungsarbeit

We would like to thank everyone who took part in the survey and everyone who contributed to this important report.

Contact person:
gleichstellung.gesundheit@uni-bielefeld.de

Equal Opportunities Officer:
Annabell Duda: annabell.duda@uni-bielefeld.de

Whether it was fresh waffles in the university hall, a fun games evening or a summer party – the departmental student representative committee for the School of Public Health has once again organised a number of events for students in the summer semester.
Immediately after lectures began at the start of the semester, the departmental student representative committee ran a waffle stall for two days in the main university hall, where students could enjoy freshly baked waffles with icing sugar, Nutella or homemade jam.

A games evening in May, organised jointly with the departmental student representative committees for Educational Science, Biology, Sociology and German Studies, also provided plenty of fun, games and good conversation. This gave students from different departments the chance to get to know one another and chat in a relaxed atmosphere.

The highlight of the summer was the summer party in June, which brought together a number of students despite the hot weather. A lavish buffet, outdoor games and a water fight made for a lovely evening together. At the same time, the party also provided an opportunity to chat with teaching staff.

A somewhat different highlight of the program was an interview given by Melina Grabbe to the newspaper *Die Glocke*. In it, she spoke about studying at our faculty, provided insights into the structure of the Bachelor’s and master courses, and shared her personal experiences.

Contact:
Health Sciences Departmental Student Representative Committee fachschaft.gesundheit@uni-bielefeld.de

On 1 and 2 October 2026, the symposium “Human Migration and Health Assessments – Practice, Evidence and Policy in a Global Context” will take place in Berlin. The two-day event is organised by the ERC-funded INTER.SECT project of Working Group 2 in cooperation with the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF-FDZ), the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and TMF e.V. (Technology and Methods Platform for Networked Medical Research).

The aim of the event is to create a platform for exchange between national and international stakeholders from the fields of practice, policy and research.

The findings of the symposium will inform recommendations designed to address the identified challenges and pave the way for more consistent, evidence-based and person-centred practices and strategies in the field of health assessments. In addition to keynote speeches by leading experts from research, practice and policy, the focus will be primarily on personal exchange and panel discussions.
If you are interested in the symposium, please contact us at the address below!

Further information at:
Overview – INTER.SECT

Registration:
intersect.study@uni-bielefeld.de

Contact persons:
Prof. Dr Kayvan Bozorgmehr: kayvan.bozorgmehr@uni-bielefeld.de
Bianka Detering: bianka.detering@uni-bielefeld.de

On 26 September at 2 pm, the newly published anthology *More than a Quarter – Migrant Perspectives on Health and Healthcare in Germany* will be presented at the Wissenswerkstatt in Bielefeld. Edited by Dr Hanna Lütke Lanfer (AG4), the book brings together a wide range of perspectives at the intersection of migration and healthcare – the result of a participatory research project funded by German Cancer Aid.
At the event, several of the contributing authors will provide insights into key themes of the book. Professionals from the field and administration, students and anyone else interested are invited to attend.

Further information is available at:
https://wissenswerkstadt.de/veranstaltungskalender/veranstaltungs-details/event-3697

Contact:
Hanna Lütke Lanfer: hanna.luetkelanfer@uni-bielefeld.de