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Council President Weil shakes robot hand

The German Primate Center presented their research at the Federal Council’s open day. 18000 visitors attended the event in Berlin.
[Translate to English:] Bundesratspräsident Stephan Weil (4. von links) am Stand des DPZ beim Tag des offenen Bundesrates in Berlin mit (von links) Alexander Gail, (unbekannt), Stefan Treue, (Junge unbekannt), Hans Scherberger, Michael Lankeit. Foto: Christian Kiel
Das Foto zeigt zwei Kinder
[Translate to English:] Zwei Kinder probieren sich im Umgang mit der Roboterhand der Neurobiologie beim Tag des offenen Bundesrates. Foto: Christian Kiel
Das Foto zeigt einen Jungen am Stand des DPZ im Bundesrat in Berlin.
[Translate to English:] Der sechsjährige Tizian (Mitte) probiert das XBI der Abteilung Kognitive Neurowissenschaft beim Tag des offenen Bundesrates aus. Foto: Christian Kiel
Das Foto zeigt Menschen, die eine Roboterhand ansehen.
[Translate to English:] Sahen sich an, wie die Roboterhand der Neurobiologie des DPZ arbeitete: (von links) Direktor Stefan Treue, Bundesratspräsident Stephan Weil, Geschäftsführer Michael Lankeit, Abteilungsleiter Hans Scherberger. Foto: Christian Kiel

Being able to observe a robotic arm is something that only a very few of the 18000 visitors expected at the Federal Council's open day. Maybe because of the surprise, the attendance at the booth of the German Primate Center was higher than expected in the parliamentary rooms in Berlin on May 17th. While the "Federal Council Quiz" was being played next door in the plenary chamber, neuroscientists and primate biologists from the DPZ explained to visitors, how to successfully design, build and use neuroprostheses or how different primate species communicate with each other.

Together with the other five Lower Saxony institutes of the Leibniz Association, the DPZ's scientists represented research from the Federal State of the current President of the Council, Stephan Weil. In order to find out what is being researched at the DPZ, he personally visited the institute's booth. Alexander Gail and Stefan Treue of the Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory and Hans Scherberger of the Neurobiology Laboratory explained how robotic hands and arms can help paraplegics and why the research must be performed on non-human primates. Even visitors who were not as prominent were impressed with the wide range offered at the German Primate Center: "Primarily, I wanted to inform myself politically but after the third panel discussion room, the exhibition of the DPZ is refreshingly different," said for example Stefan Rombach, a medical student from Berlin. "Such a broad spectrum of research at a single institution is fascinating."

Particularly children were extensively occupied at the DPZ exhibition. The six-year-old Tizian tried the touch screen with tasks for the primates. "I found the robot to be very exciting", said Tizian in conclusion, "I would like to become a civil engineer and build things too!" Also for the management of the DPZ the day was a success. "We constantly had visitors at our booth", said the delighted scientific director Stefan Treue, "during the entire seven hours of the program". The administrative director Michael Lankeit added: "Particularly impressive was the amount of time the visitors invested at our stand."