uni.news

» Published on 14. März 2022

Camouflage or communication: how birds use odour

Biologists have investigated the purpose of changes in preen oil

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» Published on 5. März 2022

Seeing through blood with a microscope

Research network develops technology to fight bacterial contamination

Inflammation of the middle ear is often triggered a cholesteatoma, an aggressive form of chronic otitis media. In order to detect cholesteatomas and bacterial biofilms and to remove them safely, the new collaborative project ‘BetterView’ is working on a special surgical microscope. This so-called SWIR microscope system uses short-wave infrared light. The aim is to illuminate blood, bacterial biofilms, cartilage, and soft tissue; display them spatially; and make them distinguishable from each other. The seven partner institutions cooperating in the project include Bielefeld University and Klinikum Bielefeld, one of the hospitals forming the University Hospital OWL. The research is coordinated by the medical technology company Munich Surgical Imaging. A total of 4.1 million euros will be spent on the project. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research is funding the new research.

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» Published on 25. Februar 2022

Statement of the Rectorate of Bielefeld University on the war in Ukraine

"We are deeply saddened by the news reaching us from Ukraine. It is depressing that another war is taking place on European soil. Our thoughts are with the people - among them...

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» Published on 15. Februar 2022

Cell division in microalgae: mitosis revealed in detail for the first time

Bielefeld University researchers identify cell structures involved

Cell division ensures growth or renewal and is thus vital for all organisms. However, the process differs somewhat in animals, bacteria, fungi, plants, and algae. Until now, little was known about how cell division occurs in algae. Researchers at Bielefeld University have used confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) to capture the very first high-resolution three-dimensional images of cell division in live cells of the microalga Volvox carteri, and have identified new cellular structures involved in the process. Professor Dr Armin Hallmann from the Faculty of Biology is leading the study. The findings have now been published open access in the journal The Plant Cell. 

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» Published on 2. Februar 2022

Study shows people with migration background are as health literate as the general population

First comprehensive survey of first-generation migrants and subsequent generations

Health literacy plays a decisive role in reaching old age in good health. Low health literacy contributes to behaviors like being sedentary and not exercising, eating a less nutritious diet, taking more medications, and using healthcare services more often. Even though individuals with a migration background now comprise almost a quarter of the entire population of Germany, there has not previously been comprehensive research on their health literacy. Researchers from Bielefeld University and the University of Cologne are now, for the first time, analyzing the health literacy of people with a migration background. The key finding: contrary to the prevailing view, health literacy among people with a migration background is similar to that of the general German population – and even tends to be slightly higher.

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» Published on 18. Januar 2022

Longitudinal study confirms religious styles change in adulthood

International Research Cooperation receives 1.2 million euros in new funding

Development of religion and worldview is the focus of a longitudinal study at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, USA and Bielefeld University, Germany. The researchers mainly distinguish four religious styles that indicate how faith, spirituality, and worldview shape an adult person’s life. In a recent analysis, researchers of the project have demonstrated how religious styles change during an adult’s lifespan. They have also identified predictors of such development. Now, this research network is continuing with new funding as of this month to the tune of 1.2 million euros (1.35 million US dollars).

 

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» Published on 17. Dezember 2021

Making artificial intelligence more natural through evolution and development

New Humboldt Professor Yaochu Jin is doing research on nature-inspired artificial intelligence at Bielefeld University 

How can artificial intelligence (AI) draw on principles from nature to solve complex problems? When it comes to recognizing patterns in large amounts of data, AI is faster and more capable than humans. However, it has difficulties when it has to make connections or deal with uncertainties and fuzziness. Through evolution, development, and learning, nature has developed much more practical problem-solving solutions. Professor Dr.-Ing. Yaochu Jin, the Alexander von Humboldt Professor of Artificial Intelligence at Bielefeld University since the autumn, is looking at how such principles can be transferred to AI.

 

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» Published on 13. Dezember 2021

International Digital Teaching Opens Up New Perspectives

Within the partnership of four universities in OWL and the region of Alberta

Collaborative teaching and learning across national borders: Bielefeld University (project lead), Paderborn University, Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences, and OWL University of Applied Sciences showed how international online learning and teaching can be implemented successfully. Within We CAN virtuOWL, the German-Canadian project partners developed joint digital teaching and learning formats and gave their students access to international experience without travelling. The project was funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and has now ended.

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» Published on 26. November 2021

More targeted treatment of muscular dystrophy in future

Bielefeld University researchers identify causative gene

For the targeted treatment of a disease, information is needed about the course of the disease at molecular and cellular level. This is also true for the group of muscle diseases that include congenital muscular dystrophies (CMD). Bielefeld scientists have been able to identify a crucial gene that triggers CMD when it ceases to function. The principal collaborator is the research group of Carsten G. Bönnemann, M.D., of the National Institutes of Health in the USA; numerous other international partners were involved in the research project. The collaboration is financed by third-party funds from the German Research Foundation (DFG). The results were published in the EMBO Molecular Medicine journal on 15 November 2021.

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» Published on 27. Oktober 2021

Towards the Detection of the Nanohertz Gravitational-wave background

 How do galaxies evolve? The European Pulsar Timing Array provides a significant step forward

The European Pulsar Timing Array collaboration reports on the outcome of a 24 year observing campaign with five large-aperture radio telescopes in Europe, resulting in a candidate signal for the since-long sought gravitational wave background due to in-spiraling supermassive black-hole binaries. The collaboration brings together teams of astronomers around the largest European radio telescopes, as well as groups specialized in data analysis and modelling of gravitational wave signals. Among them are astrophysicists from the research group of Professor Dr. Joris Verbiest from the Faculty of Physics at Bielefeld University.Although a detection cannot be claimed yet, this represents a significant step in the effort to finally unveil gravitational waves at very low frequencies in the Nanohertz regime.
The results are presented online as refereed publication in the “Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society”.

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