The kind of accommodation given to refugees may impact on their health. But it is not just housing conditions that are important, says public health scientist Oliver Razum, it is also freedom of movement and being able to make one's own decisions. Excessive controls, in contrast, could turn the time spent in the host country into a torment and a health risk.  Oliver Razum repeatedly returns to one pivotal sentence: ‘Refugees must have the chance to shape their lives themselves.’ Any assistance that is ultimately a disempowerment is not really help at all: it paralyses and frustrates. The scientist also calls for refugees to be granted the same access to healthcare as the majority population. 

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German Research Foundation (DFG) approves five million euros in funding

The International Research Training Group ‘Searching for the regular in the irregular: Analysis of singular and random systems’ (IRTG 2235) is being funded by the German Research Foundation for another four and a half years. The German Research Foundation is thus investing an additional five million euros in academic training and the exchange of doctoral students between Bielefeld University and Seoul National University.

 

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Researchers at Bielefeld University present accelerated procedure

 

Currently, it takes more than two hours to perform and evaluate a test for SARS-CoV-2—meaning that a laboratory can test only a very limited number of people per day. In a study with several cooperation partners, cell biologists at Bielefeld University have now developed a method that delivers results around ten times faster. ‘The test takes only about 16 minutes,’ says Professor Dr Christian Kaltschmidt from Bielefeld University’s cell biology research group. ‘The method is also cheaper than conventional tests.’

 

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The question is answered by a researcher, a staff member and a student at the university

Innovative research and teaching in a network of six young European universities away from the big metropolises: With this vision, the university, together with five partner universities, is applying to become a "European university". What does Europe mean for research, studying and working at university? The question is answered by a researcher, a staff member and a student at the university. 
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Bielefeld University coordinating programmes in computer science and economics

The European Commission has funded two new doctoral training networks for early career researchers at Bielefeld University. Over the next four years, doctoral researchers in computer science will be investigating how genomes can be sequenced and analysed, and doctoral researchers in economics will be developing computer-assisted methods of political analysis for the areas of climate change and innovation. Both programmes have been awarded close to eight million Euro in funding. In addition to this, two more doctoral training networks in which Bielefeld University is participating have also been approved: one in personalised service robotics, and the other in social work.

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Bielefeld University, together with five other universities, is applying for the title "European University". The decision will be made in July. In an interview, Professor Angelika Epple, Vice Rector for International Affairs and Diversity, explains the background.

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Researchers develop biotechnological production process 

Plants produce the hormone jasmonic acid as a defence response when challenged. This is how they ensure that their predators no longer like the taste of their leaves. Biologists want to find out whether biological precursors and other variants of jasmonic acid lead to similar or different effects. But such derivatives of the hormone have so far been too expensive for experiments and difficult to come by. Researchers from the Faculties of Chemistry and Biology at Bielefeld University have now found a method that might make the production of a biologically significant precursor of jasmonic acid more efficient and cheaper. Their innovation: they imitate how plants produce the hormone. The result is 12-OPDA, a central precursor of jasmonic acid. In the long term, it could also be a potential precursor for high-quality perfume. The researchers present their method today (29.05.2020) in the research journal Advanced Science.

 

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Fibre laser microscopy to be used in clinical applications

When investigating how tumors grow, or how pharmaceuticals affect different types of cells, researchers have to understand how molecules within a cell react – and interact. This is possible with modern laser microscopy. Until now, however, molecules in cell specimens had to be labelled with fluorescent substances in order to make them visible, and this can distort the very behavior of the molecules. Research groups from Bielefeld University and the University of Hong Kong have developed a laser microscope that works without having to label the molecules. For this, the researchers innovated a unique compact fibre laser instead of the solid-state lasers that had previously been used. The new microscope generates far less noise when in use than customary designs, making it suitable for use in operating rooms. The researchers presented their innovative technology in the journal ‘Light: Science and Applications,’ which is published by Springer Nature.

 

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New ZiF research group on the effects of digital media

Social media is changing communication just as much as the dissemination of news. Radical positions that used to be voiced in the private sphere can now reach a worldwide audience. The research group "Multimodal Rhetoric in Online Media Communications" at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research (ZiF) at Bielefeld University will investigate how sub-communities and other interested parties create, manage and disseminate information across media platforms. The researchers will focus specifically on the role of language, images and videos in this process. The group starts on May 18, with a virtual opening conference. The aim is to develop analysis tools that will allow us track the development and flow of different kinds of information, particularly false information, across media platforms.[Weiterlesen]

Cooperation among Bielefeld University, University of Applied Sciences Bielefeld & v. Bodelschwingh Foundation Bethel

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