uni.news

Bielefeld University students participating in MIT competition

A biological filter to remove estrogens from waste water and drinking water. The 15 Bielefeld students submitting this project to the ‘international Genetically Engineered Machine competition’ (iGEM) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston, USA are setting their sights high. They are persuading internationally active companies and associations in the biotechnology and chemistry sector to contribute several ten thousands of Euros to cover the costs of entering this rapidly expanding global competition in synthetic biology. Since May, they have been spending their free time in the laboratory making new DNA building blocks, reproducing them, and producing enzymes. First results give reason for optimism. [Weiterlesen]

Cluster and Graduate School to receive further funding

Bielefeld University is celebrating! The Cluster of Excellence on Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC) and the Bielefeld Graduate School in History and Sociology (BGHS) have been granted a further five years of funding. The announcement came today (15 June) from the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the German Council of Science and Humanities (Wissenschaftsrat).[Weiterlesen]

220 European partner universities for student exchange

Standing on one’s own feet in a different country, expressing scientific ideas in a foreign language, getting to know a country and its people – that is the essence of Erasmus, the mobility and exchange programme for European universities. Bielefeld University has been awarded the Erasmus E-Quality Label for its outstanding implementation of the programme. Karin Kruse, who has been Erasmus coordinator at Bielefeld University’s International Office for 23 years, accepted the award at the annual conference in Bonn yesterday (14 June). Erasmus is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year and Bielefeld University has been involved from the start. During this time, over 3,000 Bielefeld students have spent one or two semesters studying at a partner university in Europe and 2,250 European students have visited Bielefeld University.[Weiterlesen]

The Bielefeld biochemist Thomas Dierks and his team establish the cause and develop a treatment concept

An international research team headed by Professor Dr. Thomas Dierks at Bielefeld University has discovered a hereditary enzyme deficiency. It is a subform of the mucopolysaccharidosis syndrome and has been termed MPS IIIE or – after its discoverer – ‘Dierks’s disorder’. It leads to a progressive loss of mental abilities in mice, particularly to learning and coordination difficulties along with forgetfulness. The biochemist Dierks and his team have not only identified the disorder but also developed a treatment concept. Their findings are being published this week (CW 24) in the renowned journal ‘Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA‘ (PNAS).  [Weiterlesen]

Promoting graphene research

Privatdozent [senior lecturer] Dr. Andrey Turchanin, a member of the Physics of Supermolecular Systems and Surfaces research group at Bielefeld University’s Faculty of Physics, has been awarded a Heisenberg fellowship from the German Research Foundation (DFG). The physicist Andrey Turchanin is engaged in research on the new two-dimensional carbon material graphene. Among its many potential applications, this new material could well revolutionize computer technology, because it can be used to manufacture components that are many times faster. With Heisenberg fellowships, the DFG supports young academics who are already qualified for professorships and have proven themselves by carrying out particularly outstanding research. The fellowship will initially enable the physicist to pursue his research freely for 3 years with Bielefeld University providing the infrastructure. The DFG awards about 50 scholarships each year, each paying 4,500 Euro per month.[Weiterlesen]

Results of the Times Higher Education Rankings

An international ranking by Times Higher Education (THE) set out to identify the ‘rising stars of the global academy’ and found Bielefeld University. The ‘100 under 50’ rankings list universities throughout the world that are less than 50 years old. Bielefeld University, founded in 1969, gained 42nd place, profiting particularly from the work of its scholars being cited so frequently.[Weiterlesen]

German Research Foundation (DFG) funds Bielefeld project on the love life of locusts

In the animal world, it is not always the strongest that prevails – sometimes, it is the most beautiful. A well-known example is the peacock. The peahen chooses the partner with the most attractive tail fan. A research team at Bielefeld University headed by the evolutionary biologist Dr. Holger Schielzeth is now studying how far a comparable mechanism is involved in mate choice among locusts. The male Siberian locust (Gomphocerus sibiricus) has swollen front legs. The scientists are now studying how far female locusts prefer the male with the most powerful swellings and select their mates accordingly. The German Research Foundation is funding the project for five years as part of its Emmy Noether Programme.[Weiterlesen]

Blue Identity – filming the refugee problem in Germany

The prospective media researcher Emrah Turan and the linguistics student Kristin Nahrmann have produced a short film Nasnameyek Hêşîn (The Blue Identity, Der Blaue Pass) on the status of refugees in Germany directed by Mümin Baris. The film has now been accepted for the Short Film Corner in Cannes, and will be shown to a large audience of film experts on 16 May. Both students have been active in the film industry since 2011.[Weiterlesen]

Russian alumni of Bielefeld University meet up in St Petersburg

St Petersburg in spring. Ice floes are still floating on the Neva, but the spring sunshine is beginning to spread its warmth. As part of the German Week in St Petersburg, Bielefeld University sent out its first ever invitation to its foreign alumni, inviting them to a meeting at Saint Petersburg State University’s Centre for German and European Studies (ZDES). Dr. Thomas Lüttenberg, Head of the International Office, informed former students about current developments at Bielefeld University. The Bielefeld alumni also included Dr Michael Kleineberg, who is currently supervising the DAAD Information Centre in St Petersburg. In his welcoming speech, Professor Nikolai Skvorzov, Vice-President of Saint Petersburg State University, emphasized the great importance of academic ties with Bielefeld.[Weiterlesen]

Alexander von Humboldt Foundation publishes its rankings

Bielefeld University has gained one of the top places in the 2012 Humboldt Rankings. It has taken third place in the popularity scale for researchers from abroad in the natural sciences. The University is also a good address for engineers. Bielefeld University came 13th. In the overall ranking of German higher education institutes, Bielefeld came eleventh out of a total of 79 universities. The ranking is based on the number of guest researchers for every 100 professorships.[Weiterlesen]