uni.news

Biologists at Bielefeld University and the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics identify the genome sequence of the sugar beet

Success for researchers at Bielefeld University's Center for Biotechnology (CeBiTec) headed by Professor Dr. Bernd Weisshaar and at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin headed by Dr. Heinz Himmelbauer: They have decoded the genome sequence of the sugar beet. What makes the sugar beet such an interesting case is its only distant relationship to previously decoded plants. This should generate completely new knowledge on plant construction and function.

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Biologists at Bielefeld University make new discovery in zebra finches

The behavioural scientists Dr. Tobias Krause and Dr. Barbara Caspers from Bielefeld University have discovered that songbirds use their sense of smell for social communication and can apply this to distinguish relatives from non-relatives. The scientists' study is being published today (4 January) in the online version of the journal Biology Letters published by the renowned British Royal Society. Only recently, the two biologists were able to confirm that songbirds – in contrast to previous claims in the textbooks – have a sense of smell.

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Bielefeld biologist's research team develop method for isolating and cultivating adult stem cells

A research team headed by the cell biologist Professor Dr. Barbara Kaltschmidt from Bielefeld University has successfully cultivated stem cells from the human nose and transformed them into nerve, bone, fat, and cartilage cells. The researchers report that one advantage of their method is that it can be used to produce large numbers of cells in a very short time. This can lead to new treatments of acute and chronic face injuries. They have now published their findings in the journals "Stem Cells and Development" and "European Cells & Materials".

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Federal and state governments investing 1.1 million Euros

Bielefeld University's Faculty of Physics is getting a new high-performance computer. Researchers will be using it to study strongly interacting matter in order to learn about the properties of matter as it existed in the early universe immediately after the Big Bang.  The supercomputer, costing 1.1 million Euros, is being financed with federal and state government funds. On Wednesday 25 January from 4 p.m. onwards, it will be presented at an inauguration colloquium in the university lecture hall H2.

 

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Results of the longitudinal study on 'Group Focused Enmity'

Germans increasingly claim that politics is unable to handle their problems. Feelings of disintegration increased during times of economic crisis. This negative estimation of their social settings leads to a variety of hostile sentiments against a range of minorities. These are main findings of the ten-year longitudinal study on 'Group Focused Enmity' (GFE, German: 'Gruppenbezogene Menschenfeindlichkeit') published by Bielefeld University's Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence (IKG). On Monday, 12th of December, Professor Dr. Wilhelm Heitmeyer, Professor Dr. Andreas Zick, and their colleagues summarized their research and presented the tenth and final volume of the series 'Deutsche Zustände' [The state of Germany] in which the results are published.

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Joint Science Conference of the German federal and state governments rewards Bielefeld University in the Teaching Quality Pact

The two heads of the Joint Science Conference (GWK - Gemeinsame Wissenschaftskonferenz), Professor Dr. Annette Schavan (German Minister of Education and Research) and Doris Ahnen (State Minister of Education, Science, Further Education, and Culture for the Rhineland-Palatinate), announced on Thursday 13th December in Berlin that Bielefeld University will be granted a total of 12.14 million Euros from now until 2016. The University is receiving this award from the Teaching Quality Pact for its programme 'Richtig einsteigen' [Getting started properly] designed to improve study conditions and the quality of teaching. Rektor Sagerer announced: 'This success permits innovative impulses precisely where they will be particularly effective and sustained: at the beginning of studies and when starting to teach at our university'.[Weiterlesen]

Convenors: Barbara Gentz (Bielefeld), Max-Olivier Hongler (Lausanne) and Peter Reimann (Bielefeld)

Center for Interdisciplinary Research (ZiF) of Bielefeld University November 2 until 4

Stochastic dynamics has become increasingly important in many areas of science and technology. It is an indispensable mathematical tool in the modeling of uncertainty in many biological, physical and chemical systems and in engineering applications.

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University coordinating European Union Tempus Project

Bielefeld University has been granted about 900,000 Euro from the European Union for a new interdisciplinary project in the Western Balkans. In a 3-year project managed by the Faculty of Sociology, researchers will conduct graduate surveys at higher education institutions in Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia–Herzegovina. Numerous partners from seven different countries are participating in this project: 14 universities and universities of applied science and one research institute. The head of the project, which is being funded by the EU Tempus Programme, is Professor Dr. Martin Diewald; the coordinator is Jana Nöller (both from the Faculty of Sociology).

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Concept is based on research at Bielefeld University

Semiconductor thin films with special electronic, magnetic or optical functions are widely demanded for technical applications in increasingly smaller and efficient devices: they are indispensable in high-efficiency solar cells, bright light-emitting diodes and magneto-electronic devices. Especially interesting are nanostructured materials where several crucial functions such as electrical conductivity and optical properties can be precisely controlled. At Bielefeld University, chemists have now developed a modular system for this purpose: their approach enables flexible design and deposition of nanocomposite thin films of metal oxides with embedded metallic nanoparticles, enabling reliable control of their functionality. Their report about this novel approach is published in the renowned journal "Angewandte Chemie International Edition".

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German edition of this international magazine also reports on research at the CITEC Center of Excellence

The humanoid robot Barthoc, developed at Bielefeld University, graces the cover on several international editions of last month's National Geographic magazine including Australia, Great Britain, and New Zealand. In the new month of September, robotics research at Bielefeld University is also reported in the German edition of the National Geographic.[Weiterlesen]