Excellent Research on Animal Navigation

NaviSense – the international Cluster of Excellence for the Sensory Basis, Mechanisms, and Impacts of Animal Navigation is an interdisciplinary research project hosted at the University of Oldenburg.

The scientists of NaviSense aim to provide a thorough, interdisciplinary understanding of the mechanisms used by animals to navigate, and how these mechanisms can inspire technology and impact society, ecology, and biodiversity.

NaviSense is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) from 2026 to 2032 as part of the Excellence Strategy of the German federal and state governments.

Slide1-Monarch butterflies
Monarch butterflies

Insects with remarkable navigational skills

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Current News

We are hiring!

Become part of our team! We are looking for passionate, talented students, scientist and new members for our management team to join us…

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How do migratory birds find their way without a navigation app?

At this year’s Ahoi-MINT Festival in Oldenburg, NaviSense PhD student Timo Bunger explored this fascinating question with a young audience at Schlaues Haus Oldenburg. In his presentation “Vogelzug: Reisen ohne Navi”…

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Inspired by Honeybees

A team, led by Delft University of Technology, has published a new study in Nature, showing that the way honeybees navigate can inspire autonomous flying robots. Our project leader, Dr. Jacqueline Degen, contributed with her…

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NaviGate Receives Official Funding Approval

The Joint Science Conference (GWK) of the German federal and state governments officially approved the funding for NaviGate on 10 July 2026. The new research building…

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How monarch butterflies keep their sense of direction while walking and flying?

Our project leader Basil el Jundi and his team have published a new study in Current Biology. The research team investigated how monarch butterflies maintain a stable sense of direction when…

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More news
NaviSense sponsers- Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg
NaviSense sponsers- The Institute of Avian Research "Vogelwarte Helgoland" (IAR)
NaviSense sponsers- Universität Bayreuth
NaviSense sponsers- Lund University
NaviSense sponsers- The University of Groningen
NaviSense sponsers- University of OXFORD

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