Looking at our origins

The University of Münster Foundation (Universitätsstiftung Münster) awards Citizens Science prizes to two research projects, each of which receives 7,500 euros. The awards ceremony is due to take place on April 10. The University newspaper wissen|leben presents short portraits of the award-winners.

 

DNA tests: a commodity and a popular pastime

DNA analyses, freely available for purchase on the market, promise to provide information on how to find distant relatives or discover your own ethnic origins and bio-geographical background. Such offers have also been available in Germany for some years now. However, there has not so far been any scientific documentation or analysis of how this high-level technology is used at home. “We don’t know enough about how non-specialists – who often have extensive knowledge of dealing with historical sources – actually deal with this new availability of genetic data for family research,” says Prof. Elisabeth Timm from the Institute of Cultural Anthropology/European Ethnology at the University of Münster.

This is where the Citizens Science project kicks in which is entitled “Do your genes tell you your history? DNA tests as a commodity and a popular pastime”. The project, which has been awarded the Citizens Science Prize by the University of Münster Foundation, is analysing and documenting the everyday usage as well as the motives for, and the criticisms in, using genetic analyses in genealogy. The reason why the project is being carried out is that up to now any lively and critical discussion of the issues involved takes place above all within the popular family research scene – in mailing lists and in digital forums. All this is now to be presented to anyone from the public who is interested – at the LWL Natural History Museum on Sentruper Höhe, where a special exhibition entitled “Genes – Diversity of Life” has been open since June 2024. “We are very much looking forward to the planned Citizens Science workshop and the events in our exhibition,” says the museum’s Director, Dr. Jan Ole Kriegs.

“Amateur genealogists often have a great deal of experience in structuring and interpreting data from historical sources,” says Georg Fertig, the chairman of the Computer Genealogy Association. The Director of the Westphalian Genealogy and Family Research Society, Uwe Standera, adds that the involvement of his Society puts the project on a regional citizens science footing. Using qualitative ethnographical methods, the people involved plan to conduct and evaluate 20 interviews relating to how those who use such DNA tests handle the data. The exhibition in the Natural History Museum acts as a platform for information and as a forum for public events with guided tours and discussions as well as being a location later for presenting results. In addition, the team plans to publish its results on the project’s homepage and on the freely accessible GenWiki platform, as well as in specialist journals.

 

‘Home’, as reflected in migration and colonialisation

What is ‘home’? Where is it? And what is the role played by the legacy of colonisation and migration in this context? These questions are at the centre of the Citizens Science Project entitled “Homes: Postcolonialism, Narratives, Photography”. Following an appeal from the University Curator in Spring 2024, a small team was formed consisting of international students of colour and headed by Yash Gupta, an undergraduate in English Studies; the team is using a many-faceted research design to illustrate the migration stories of students from postcolonial contexts. “Colonialism isn’t an historical episode that is now over: it is a long-lasting structure which has impacted on the lives of many people, over generations and right up to the present day,” says Gupta, 25, an Indian by birth who works not only as a student assistant to Prof. Mark U. Stein in the Department of English but also in the Cultural Office.

The project is participatory in nature: the students are interviewees and, at the same time, co-curators who are continuously involved in the thinking and decision-making processes. As citizen scientists they generate and interpret data and look after the project management. Historical family photos and personal memories flow into the project just as much as narratives from a variety of African, American and Asian countries. “The aim,” says Gupta, “is to find out how Münster’s imperial past overlaps with students’ personal experiences, and how colonial histories still leave their mark on everyday life today and on our understanding of where we belong.” Curator Dr. Eckhard Kluth adds, “The project traces a new concept of ‘home’ by focusing on the people themselves with their personal experiences and stories.”

There was a milestone last autumn: a one-week pilot exhibition with a wooden installation in the form of a house in which transcribed stories, photos and artistic artifacts had been collated and which has constantly evolved since then. The prize money of 7,500 euros awarded by the University of Münster’s Citizens Science Competition will be used by the team to fund an exhibition which will tour North Rhine-Westphalia and, it is planned, make stops at Cultural Centres and Educational Institutions; it will be accompanied by talks and a publication. This means that it will serve as a basis for further exchanges because, as Yash Gupta says, “although people with a migration background often integrate into society in many towns and cities, they are often seen more as guests than as integral members of the community.” The interactive exhibition fills a gap, he adds, by bringing science, art and the public together to engage in a dialogue on the meaning and the function of ‘home’.

 

Save the date:

The Innovation Office (AFO) and the University of Münster Foundation invite anyone interested to come to an afternoon dedicated to citizens’ engagement in science and research, entitled “mitmachen – mitdenken – mitforschen” (“join in – contribute your ideas – take part in some research”). The event kicks off on Thursday, April 10 at 4 pm at Studiobühne, Domplatz 23. Appropriately for the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, there will be exciting hands-on experiments going on until 7 pm, providing fascinating insights into quantum mechanics. From 5 pm, the main highlight will be the awards presented by the University of Münster Foundation to the winning projects in the 2024 Citizens Science Competition. The keynote address in the ceremony will also be taking up the theme of quantum mechanics, with Prof. Iris Niehues from the Institute of Physics giving lively insights into the subject: “Quantum materials conquer the world: the enormous impact of the tiniest materials”. Admission is free, registrations can be made online.

Author: Julia Harth

This article is from the University newspaper wissen|leben No. 2, 2 April 2025.

Further information

• Universitätsstiftung Münster
• Arbeitsstelle Forschungstransfer (AFO) – Citizen Science
• Project „Homes|Heimat“
• The April issue of the Unizeitung as PDF (only in German)
• All issues of the university newspaper at a glance (only in German)