On Friday, November 24, 2023, the BioValley College Day took place for the 19th time in the auditorium of the University of Basel. The event is organized by the BioValley College Network (BCN) for organized by the BioValley College Network (BCN) for high school classes with a focus on biology and natural sciences.
Ilka Diester had the chance to fascinate the about 300 pupils from the Alsace, southern Baden and north-western Switzerland. She gave a talk on "Enlightenment" and how light can be used to understand the brain. Her introduction with a Star Trek analogy and the comparison of our brain with outer space initially picked up the students on a humorous level. She then impressively demonstrated that microbiological, genetic, virological, neurobiological and physical knowledge is required to understand the new method of optophysiology. The IMBIT image video at the end of the presentation gave a tour of the research at IMBIT and emphasized the interdisciplinary research and its applications in practice.