The Distinguished Lecture with Anelis Kaiser Trujillo is now online in full length. Although AI has increasingly dominated scientific research, neuroscience continues to captivate both academic and public interest. A central question remains: how does biological ‘sex’ influence behavior, cognition, and communication?
Professor Kaiser Trujillo’s talk provided a compelling overview of the intersections between neuroscience and gender studies. Drawing on her long-standing work at the interface of these disciplines, she addressed the enduring scientific and political question of how a biological understanding of sex relates to cognition, communication, and behavior. The lecture critically examined how sex and gender are operationalized in neuroimaging studies (particularly fMRI) and how these practices shape, and often constrain, the ways in which human diversity is understood in brain research.
Der UK Supreme Court, das höchste britische Gericht, hat am 16. April 2025 geurteilt, dass im britischen Gleichstellungsgesetz (Equality Act von 2010) unter „Geschlecht“ das “biologische Geschlecht“ gemeint sei, welches ausschließlich männlich oder weiblich bedeute. Entsprechend dürfen in Frauenquoten trans Frauen nicht mitgezählt werden. Trans Männer dürfen nicht in Männerabteilungen von Krankenhäusern liegen und auch andere „single sex spaces“ wie Toiletten oder Umkleideräume seien für Angehörige des jeweiligen Geburtsgeschlechts reserviert. Für Angehörige von geschlechtlichen Minderheiten, also für trans, inter und nichtbinäre (TIN*) Personen, die in dem Gerichtsverfahren offenbar gar nicht angehört wurden, schafft das offensichtlich Probleme.
Another event in the Distinguished Lecture Series took place in the week before the major CRC 1665 meeting, the scientific retreat, with Professor Sigrid Schmitz from Humboldt University Berlin as guest speaker.
The public lecture NeuroGenderings: Approaches for gender-equitable brain research took place on Thursday, 13 February 2025 in the Institute for History of Medicine and Science Studies (IMGWF) in Lübeck and simultaneously via Webex. Sigrid Schmitz’s lecture focused on the transdisciplinary NeuroGenderings network, which facilitates collaboration between experts from the neurosciences, gender, queer and feminist studies, as well as science and technology studies.
Der SFB ist in drei Projektgruppen gegliedert, die die vielfältigen Perspektiven auf den Forschungsgegenstand Geschlecht aufzeigen. Die Projektgruppen werden anhand von ausgewählten Teilprojekten folgend vorgestellt.
The annual iRTG summer school fosters an atmosphere of lively academic exchange. The program aims to provide excellent scientific training and a mutually supportive environment for a successful career development for all enrolled PhD candidates in all fields across natural sciences and humanities, MD candidates, and junior postdocs. In this blog post Leonie Blöbaum, a molecular neuroscientist, writes about her experiences of this year’s installment.
