EXC 3051:  NaviSense: International Cluster of Excellence for the Sensory Basis, Mechanisms, and Impacts of Animal Navigation

• Subject Area: Zoology
• Term: since 2026
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 533653176

One of the most spectacular of all animal behaviours is the ability to precisely navigate over vast distances. Transcontinental flights of tiny insects with minute brains or the global movements of billions of birds, sometimes to destinations never previously visited, are remarkable feats which are still barely understood. The scientific mission of NaviSense is to provide a thorough, interdisciplinary understanding of the senses and mechanisms used by animals to navigate, and how these mechanisms can inspire technology and impact society, ecology, and biodiversity. To achieve its mission, NaviSense unites internationally leading scientists from different branches of biology, physics, chemistry, informatics, and social sciences. As a team, we will carry out novel and uniquely interdisciplinary research providing unprecedented opportunities to understand fundamental mechanisms far beyond what the individual scientists and disciplines could have achieved working alone. Among others, we aim to solve two of the most intriguing and outstanding mysteries of sensory biology: (1) how animals find their way to a distant destination, relying only on their senses, and (2) whether quantum mechanical effects (e.g. spin coherence) at ambient temperature provide the basis of the enigmatic magnetic sense, one of the most important senses used in long-distance navigation. NaviSense is structured into four interconnected research foci (RF): animal navigation mechanisms and their underlying senses (RF1); quantum effects at ambient temperature in model systems and biology (RF2); ecological and conservation related consequences of animal navigation (RF3); linking biological and technical systems through models, algorithms, and devices (RF4). When addressing these topics, NaviSense will link 17 orders of magnitude in length scales and 28 orders of magnitude in time scales, from the spin of single electrons to global migration trajectories and evolution of sensory systems. The acquired knowledge about animal navigation and its underlying sensory mechanisms has never been more relevant for helping to solve major societal questions related, for instance, to the environmental impact of anthropogenic sensory pollution, the biodiversity crisis, GPS independent navigation of human made devices, and quantum sensing at ambient temperature. Over the past decade, substantial strategic investments have been made by the University of Oldenburg (UOL) in people, facilities, diversity, equity and inclusion, support structures, and collaboration across schools at UOL. These investments, in combination with the NaviSense research programme, the requested funding, and our strong focus on supporting early career researchers, will enable UOL to establish a long-term “International Centre for Animal Navigation” and consolidate UOL as an internationally leading institution for decades to come in sensory based animal navigation research and its impacts.

• DFG Programme: Clusters of Excellence (ExStra)
• Applicant Institution: Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg
• Participating Institution: Institut für Vogelforschung - Vogelwarte Helgoland; Universität Bayreuth
• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Henrik Mouritsen
• Participating Researchers: Professor Dr. Bernd Blasius; Professorin Sandra Bouwhuis, Ph.D.; Professor Dr. Jens Christoffers; Professor Dr. Jan Clemens; Professorin Dr. Marie Dacke; Professorin Dr. Karin Dedek; Dr. Pauline Fleischmann; Professor Dr. Martin Fränzle; Professor Dr.-Ing. Andreas Hein; Professor Dr.-Ing. David Lentink, Ph.D.; Professorin Miriam Liedvogel, Ph.D.; Professor Dr. Christoph Lienau; Dr. Oliver Lindecke; Professor Dr. Stuart Mackenzie; Professorin Dr. Bettina Meyer; Professor Dr. Heiko Schmaljohann; Professor Dr. Christian Schneider; Professor Dr. Dirk Schüler; Professor Dr. Bernd Siebenhüner; Professor Ilia Solovyov, Ph.D.; Professorin Dr. Christiane Timmel; Professor Eric Warrant, Ph.D.; Professor Dr. Michael Winklhofer; Professor Dr. Gunther Wittstock