A research team led by the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover (TiHo), in cooperation with the Bundeswehr, the Hannover Medical School and the University Medical-Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf, has carried out a study with eight specialised sniffer dogs from the Bundeswehr to sniff out people infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The dogs were able to distinguish between samples from infected (positive) and non-infected (negative) individuals with an average sensitivity of 83 percent and a specificity of 96 percent. Sensitivity refers to the detection of positive samples. The specificity designates the detection of negative control samples.

The Master's programme is aimed at Bachelor's graduates in biology, biochemistry and related fields, lasts four semesters and concludes with the title of Master of Science. There are three main areas of teaching: evolution, biodiversity and behaviour; cell biology, developmental biology and neurobiology and infection biology. Kathrin and Robert, two students of the Master's program, give us 10 good reasons why this study program at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Hannover is the right choice.

The Hannover Graduate School (HGNI) offers three PhD programs with different disciplines and emphases. For aspiring scientists, the HGNI is ideal entry into the scientific career. The young doctoral students are well looked after, work in an interdisciplinary team and learn to present their research results in international forums. Students, graduates and teachers from the three possible disciplines tell why exactly this kind of research is so unique.

Veterinary pathologists have varied tasks: they determine the causes of diseases and death in pets, zoo animals, and livestock, and also perform research on the emergence and course of diseases. They acquire their basic skills for this purpose during necropsy exercises in the seventh semester of their veterinary education.

Regular necropsies are also performed at the Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW) at the TiHo in Büsum, for instance in order to determine potential causes of reducing inventories or the stranding of marine mammals. Here you can look over Professor Dr. Ursula Siebert’s shoulder while the Head of the ITAW performs the necropsy of a porpoise.