After a forced two-year break, the joint RIGeL Day/Fakultätsfest took place on June 30 this year. The weather was kind to us (perhaps a bit too kind), because during the official opening in the afternoon we worked up quite a sweat while listening to the presentations of the various initiatives and groups in the forecourt of the biology building.

After the short welcoming remarks of the dean of the faculty, RIGeL's managing director, Prof. Gernot Längst, gave a brief overview of the graduate school and the structured PhD program.

After his presentation, Dr. Monika Mügschl-Scharf introduced FUTUR and FUTURstart-up and informed the audience on funding and support options for founding a start-up company. The MINT-Labs, a cooperation between UR, OTH, the city of Regensburg und several companies in Regensburg, also introduced themselves briefly and promoted new projects and ideas for the public laboratory in the RUBINA house. After the short presentations of the RIGeL activity groups and the btS - Life Sciences Student Initiative e.V., the board of the student council officially opened the festival.

The student council already heated up the grills during the presentations of the groups and institutions, so that everyone could be provided with fresh grilled food and cold drinks immediately after the opening. Although the rush was quite large (ca. 150 people were present), the student council had the bar and food distribution under control and fed the hungry and thirsty crowd.

For the evening, RIGeL and the student council organized a big surprise for the audience. Two years ago, Michael Röhrl, former student council member and fire artist, already delighted the audience with his fire show. This year, he went one step further and enchanted the people with a breathtaking, artistic show. Staying at the party for a longer time was definitely worth it. ;-)

It was a very nice party, which we really enjoyed, especially after the long time of the Covid pandemic. At this point, a big thank also to the student council, without whom this party would not have been what it was!

To be continued next year! ;-) We are looking forward to it!