uni.news

» Published on 11. September 2017

Students aim to extend the genetic code

Bielefeld’s project at the international iGEM Competition in Boston  

The genetic code forms the basis for all life on our planet by regulating the formation of proteins. Extending this code makes it possible to form new proteins. This can produce organisms with new functions that can be used in, for example, medicine. Fourteen students attending different courses at Bielefeld University have taken on the challenge of extending the genetic code for this year’s iGEM Competition in Boston, USA.

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» Published on 7. September 2017

Healthy aging: New EU project on the human liver

Bielefeld University to coordinate programme with partners from nine countries

At roughly 3.7 million Euros, the European Commission has now confirmed funding for a new programme in physics and biomedicine. Fourteen young scientists will be studying healthy aging under the microscope: They will be developing new optical procedures to study the liver with high-resolution microscopy. The goal is to find out how medical drugs affect the liver and how the organ changes with advancing age. The project DeLIVER, coordinated by Bielefeld University, will start in January 2018. This is now the seventh Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action (European training network for young academics) at Bielefeld University.

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» Published on 4. September 2017

Bielefeld University popular with international researchers

Twelfth place in the Humboldt Rankings

Bielefeld University holds a leading position in the ‘2017 Humboldt Rankings’. In the full ranking, it is now twelfth among the 79 universities rated. In the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, this now puts it in third place behind the University of Bonn and RWTH Aachen University.

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» Published on 31. August 2017

Start of ‘Lehrkräfte Plus’: New perspectives for refugee teachers

Bielefeld University and the Bertelsmann Foundation offer the first ever programme of its kind in NRW

Twenty-five trained teachers who had to flee from their home countries have started the ‘Lehrkräfte Plus’ programme at Bielefeld University. Over the coming 12 months, 8 women and 17 men from Afghanistan, Armenia, Guinea, Iraq, Pakistan, and Syria will be gaining further qualifications that will potentially qualify them to work in schools in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). ‘Lehrkräfte Plus’ is a joint training programme at Bielefeld University in cooperation with the NRW Ministry of Education and Training and the State Coordination Office for Local Integration Centres in NRW. A further partner in the first ever programme of its kind in the federal state is the Bertelsmann Foundation.

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» Published on 9. August 2017

Study on religious development continues

New funding for project run by Bielefeld University and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
    

With new funding, the psychology of religion teams at Bielefeld University (Germany) and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (USA) are able to expand and deepen their research on religious development over the life-span. The researchers working with Heinz Streib at Bielefeld University and Ralph W. Hood at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga will therefore be able to expand their sample and extend their longitudinal investigation. The John Templeton Foundation  is providing 1.25 million Euro in funding for the new project phase as of 2018.

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» Published on 7. August 2017

Towards environmentally friendly production of active pharmaceutical ingredients with a flow reactor

Chemists at Bielefeld University working on new production methods

Mostly, the chemical industry still follows very extensive procedures when producing active pharmaceutical ingredients and other complex substances. Often, each intermediate has to be produced in a separate fashion within large reactor vessels. Chemists at Bielefeld University are working on an alternative together with international project partners: the flow method. This combines the production stages and proceeds in microreactors in which the desired substance can be produced without intermediate isolations. The European Union’s research programme is funding the project ‘ONE-FLOW’ with a total of four million Euros. Bielefeld University has now succeeded in gaining a scientist from the renowned Keio University (Japan) for the project. Dr. Yasunobu Yamashita has started his work on the project at the beginning of August.

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» Published on 4. August 2017

DAAD award goes to Kiara Fiorella Abad Bruzzo from Peru

Outstanding academic achievements and social commitment

Bielefeld University has given Kiara Fiorella Abad Bruzzo the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) award. Professor Dr. Angelika Epple, Bielefeld University’s Vice-Rector for International Affairs and Diversity, presented the award. Worth 1,000 Euro, it is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office. It honours international students who stand out through their exceptional academic achievements and their remarkable social, cultural, or political commitment.

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» Published on 31. Juli 2017

Leaf beetles: Even a tiny dose of pesticide will impair reproduction

Biologists at Bielefeld University reveal effects of using chemicals

The number of insects in Germany is declining rapidly – in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia alone, it has dropped by three-quarters within only 25 years. In a new study, biologists at Bielefeld University show the effects of pesticides and how even slight traces lead to long-term damage to beetles. One finding is that leaf beetles lay roughly 35 per cent fewer eggs after coming into contact with traces of a frequently used pesticide – a pyrethroid. The researchers also showed that female offspring develop malformations through the poison. The biologists have published their study in the journal ‘Environmental Pollution’.

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» Published on 26. Juli 2017

How a robot is teaching language to preschool children

Team at Cluster of Excellence CITEC present progress made on EU project

Researchers at Bielefeld University’s Cluster of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC) are investigating what a robot needs to be able to do to teach a second language to preschool children. Since 2016, they have been researching whether and how social robots are suitable for teaching language. This research is part of the international project L2TOR, which is funded as part of the European Commission’s Horizont 2020 research program. A preliminary finding, according to the researchers: robots can motivate children to learn, and help them retain more vocabulary. On 13 July 2017, the Bielefeld project team demonstrated how the robot supports preschool kids in their learning.

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» Published on 13. Juli 2017

Bielefeld University Staff News

• Chancellor Dr. Stephan Becker appointed to the board of the Digital University NRW
• Professor Dr. Helge Ritter joins Senate of the German Research Foundation (DFG)
• Professor Dr. Michael Röckner receives honorary doctorate
• Interim Professor Dr. Fabian Wendt awarded Sanders Prize in Political Philosophy
  

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