Tiny parts of a greater whole

What do the oceans, the Earth’s interior and the human gut have in common? Well, these are all biotopes colonized by vast numbers of tiny organisms. And, while they may be small, these organisms form highly complex communities and are utterly essential for life on Earth. They uphold global food webs and material cycles, produce oxygen and fix atmospheric carbon dioxide. In the process, they support the health of plants, animals and humans—so long as the equilibrium between microbial cooperation partners is not disrupted,
and subject to a healthy balance between microorganisms and their hosts.

In this issue of LICHTGEDANKEN, we join researchers from the University of Jena’s Cluster of Excellence »Balance of the Microverse« on a journey into the world of these tiny organisms. They are investigating what happens when microbiomes reach »tipping points« and how to restore balance in systems that have lost their stability. In our LICHTGEDANKEN interview, Kirsten Küsel—the spokesperson of the Cluster of Excellence—provides insights into ongoing research and outlines the target topics for research in the years ahead. The Cluster of Excellence secured funding through the Excellence Strategy of the German federal and state governments in 2019 and is currently competing for an extension. The outcome of this round will be announced on 22 May.

In a double interview, the President of the Technion in Haifa, Uri Sivan, and the President of the University of Jena, Andreas Marx, detail how the war in Gaza is impacting day-to-day life at universities in Israel. They also discuss the role of universities as forums for discourse and free speech. Jens-Christian Wagner, Professor of History in the Media and Public Sphere at the University of Jena and Director of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation, has written a guest article warning of the dangers of historical revisionism which is particularly rampant on social media. Also in this issue of LICHTGEDANKEN, we follow in Goethe’s footsteps during a visit to the refurbished »Inspektorhaus«.

After nine years of reporting for you, our readers, this issue of LICHTGEDANKEN will be our last. We plan to
launch a new magazine in the autumn of 2025, appealing to both the university community and external target groups with reports on current topics and developments at Friedrich Schiller University Jena. You can still access all previous issues of LICHTGEDANKEN online in our archive.

I hope you enjoy reading this issue. As always, I would welcome any feedback, comments and critiques you have. You can contact me and the editorial team at: presse@uni-jena.de