Throwback to the European Researcher’s Night 

The faculty of Life Sciences Engineering contributed to the European Researchers’ Night with two hands-on exhibitions promoting scientific research in an accessible way. The participants were encouraged to ask questions and experiment with research outputs over the course of the entire evening.

The attendees could witness the processes causing and accompanying physiological breathing of a human being first-hand. The active mechanical lung simulator xPULM was utilised to simulate sinusoidal breathing providing a unique inside into inflation and deflation of primed porcine lungs. In this manner, an alternative approach to animal testing was presented and awareness of this problematic raised. Furthermore, rehabilitative games and exercises using inexpensive or commonly owned devices and sensors were introduced to the participants. They could try out clinically tested bookshelf game that was developed to help patients suffering from neurological diseases or recovering after stroke regain mobility.
At the Tissue Engineering and Ecotoxicology station participants were able to see various biomaterials (silk-based implants, etc.), custom-made bioreactors (e.g. muscle-bioreactor) as well as observe the different developmental stages of Zebrafish larvae and other organisms used as biological indicator for environmental pollution (e.g. substances that act as endocrine disruptors).

The European Researchers’ Night was overall a great success putting the faculty of LSE into a positive spotlight. Many adults, adolescents and children approached our stands to gain further knowledge about the areas of research we are active in and to get to know study possibilities at our faculty. We have excited the participant with our interactive exhibitions and distributed advertising materials and advice to all interested attendees.