uni.news

» Published on 6. Mai 2016

Humboldt Professorship awarded: ‘Excellent mathematician’ coming to Bielefeld

William Crawley-Boevey will be doing research at the university for five years 
 
The 2016 Alexander von Humboldt Professorship – the most highly endowed research award in Germany – was awarded yesterday (03.05.2016) in Berlin, and Bielefeld University was present. The mathematician Professor Dr. William Crawley-Boevey, one of a total of six award winners, will start carrying out research at Bielefeld University in October. He will be moving to Bielefeld from the University of Leeds in Great Britain. The Humboldt Professorship is endowed with 3.5 million Euros over five years for theoretical scientists such as Crawley-Boevey.

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» Published on 27. April 2016

Doing research in the home of Luhmann

Argentinian sociologist as Georg Forster Fellow at Bielefeld University

The Argentinian academic Dr. Santiago Gabriel Calise is spending two years carrying out research at Bielefeld University with the help of a Georg Forster research scholarship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. From February 2016 to January 2018, he will be specializing in the sociology of law and the sociology of regulation at the Faculty of Sociology. More specifically, he is studying how Luhmann’s systems theory can be used to characterize the social structure of Latin America.

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» Published on 21. April 2016

“The countries taking in migrants invariably benefit”

Migration researcher Thomas Faist in research_tv interview

Migration poses challenges for nations, but it also opens up opportunities – especially in the migrants’ destination countries. “In the history of the Federal Republic up to now, migration has always been linked to a net benefit for German taxpayers and especially for German companies.” Expressed in figures for the year 2012: the average migrant paid 3,300 Euro more in taxes than their immigration cost the state. Sociologist Thomas Faist conducts research at Bielefeld University on how international migration affects education and the labour market. In his interview with “research_tv” at Bielefeld University, he speaks about the causes of migration, the challenges it creates, and the impact of where people live on their opportunities in life

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» Published on 11. April 2016

Bielefeld University Ranks among the World's Best Young Universities

23rd place in the international Times Higher Education Ranking   

For the fifth time in succession, Bielefeld University has been rated among the world's best young universities. The East Westphalian university takes 23rd place in the “THE 150 Under 50” ranking, which was published on Wednesday evening (6/4/2016). This is its best ranking ever and a huge improvement over last year’s 57th place. Since 2012, the “Times Higher Education” (THE), a British magazine for higher education, has been comparing the world’s leading universities founded less than 50 years ago.

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» Published on 8. April 2016

How the Index Finger Can Be Fooled

Cognitive scientists at CITEC discover new perceptual illusion 

Fingers are a human’s most important tactile sensors, but they do not always sense accurately and can even be deceived. Researchers at the Cluster of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC) demonstrated this in a new study in which they ‘outwit’ human perception. Test subjects placed their index finger in an apparatus and touched an object whose softness changed at random without the person noticing. While touching the object, the test subjects were under the illusion that it was the position of their finger that changed, not the softness of the object. The curious thing here was that the test subjects felt an “illusory” finger displacement, much larger in extent than the actual, “real” displacement. The researchers published their findings this Thursday, 7 April in the scientific journal “Current Biology.”

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» Published on 24. März 2016

Developing better drugs for asthma and high blood pressure

Volkswagen Foundation funding international research team headed by Bielefeld University  

If a patient is ill and takes drugs for that illness, these drugs often lead to further illnesses and complications. This affects millions of people throughout the world. An international research team from Bielefeld University, universities in Novosibirsk (Russia) and Tomsk (Russia), and from the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in Kiev are studying how to prevent this problem. Starting in May, the Volkswagen Foundation will be funding this cooperation with about 235,000 Euro for the next two years. The project will be coordinated at Bielefeld University by Professor Dr. Ralf Hofestädt from the Faculty of Technology.

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» Published on 23. März 2016

New open source software for high resolution microscopy

Bielefeld physicists report their new development in Nature Communications

With their special microscopes, experimental physicists can already observe single molecules. However, unlike conventional light microscopes, the raw image data from some ultra-high resolution instruments first have to be processed for an image to appear. For the ultra-high resolution fluorescence microscopy that is also employed in biophysical research at Bielefeld University, members of the Biomolecular Photonics Group have developed a new open source software solution that can process such raw data quickly and efficiently. The Bielefeld physicist Dr. Marcel Müller reports on this new open source software in the latest issue of Nature Communications published on 21 March.

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» Published on 4. März 2016

Educational interests and labour market qualifications of refugees

First-ever survey in Germany at Bielefeld University  

It is frequently reported that many of the refugees coming to Germany are well educated. This is not only an opportunity for industry but also for the universities. However, up to now and based on currently available information, there still seems to be no comprehensive database on the level of education and the educational interests of refugees anywhere in Germany. The situation is similar for the labour market. Both could lead to a great loss of human potential. This is why the Bielefeld 2000plus Intercultural Work Group at Bielefeld University has launched a survey to gather data on the topic.

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» Published on 17. Februar 2016

Smart Physical Training in Virtual Reality

Cluster of Excellence CITEC is developing a system to support athletes and patients in physical rehabilitation

A new system in a virtual training room is helping users practice and improve sports exercises and other motor activities: six research groups from the Cluster of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC) at Bielefeld University are working on the ICSPACE project to develop this virtual coaching space. CITEC is funding this large-scale research project with 1.6 million Euro and it will run until 2017. During a project presentation this Thursday (11 February 2016), the researchers showcased what their system is capable of. Using the example of a squat exercise, they presented the new technology, which will help not only athletes, but also physical rehabilitation patients learn movement exercises and correct their mistakes. In a new “research_TV” report from Bielefeld University, the coordinators of the project also explain how their new system works.

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» Published on 15. Februar 2016

Correcting a Misconception: Stick Insect’s Propulsion Joint Discovered

Researchers at Bielefeld University analyze the movement of the six-legged insect

The stick insect is a popular model organism in biological research for gaining a better understanding of insect walking movements. The advantage of the stick insect is that the structure of its body parts and nervous system are comparatively simple. For decades, textbooks have claimed that the force for maintaining body posture and driving movement was controlled independently by different joints. Now, as biologist Chris Dallmann reports, “this is not correct.” The doctoral researcher at the Cluster of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC) at Bielefeld University explains that “actually, one and the same joint is responsible for both functions, and we can show this with our new analyses.” Dallmann presented these findings together with Professors Dr. Volker Dürr and Dr. Josef Schmitz in “Proceedings of the Royal Society,” a prestigious biological research journal. The New York Times also featured the researcher’s work in a video report on Monday, 8 February 2016.       

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