uni.news

» Published on 22. Oktober 2012

Bielefeld Chemist receives top EU science award

Professor Dr Achim Müller awarded Advanced Grant by the European Research Council

Dr Achim Müller, Professor at Bielefeld University's Faculty of Chemistry, has received the European Union’s most prestigious science award. The European Research Council has honoured him with an Advanced Grant under the 2012 funding scheme. Müller is one of the world’s leading scientists in nanochemistry and the ERC will support his scientific work with €1.2 million for three years. “We are proud that this highly prestigious prize has been awarded for the first time to a Bielefeld scientist and congratulate Professor Müller on this fabulous result," says Professor Dr-Ing. Gerhard Sagerer, Rektor of Bielefeld University.

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» Published on 16. August 2012

Burning passion for science

Professor Dr. Kohse-Höinghaus elected first woman president of the international Combustion Institute

Bielefeld’s Professor Dr. Katharina Kohse-Höinghaus has been elected to the

Presidency of the International Combustion Institute. This makes her not only the first woman President but also the first European President of this international association for combustion research. After a series of almost exclusively American presidents, the Board of Directors elected her to a 4-year term of office during their meeting in Warsaw at the beginning of August. Professor Kohse-Höinghaus has already been Vice President of the Institute since 2008.

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» Published on 25. Juli 2012

Cyberbullying: one in two victims suffer from the distribution of embarrassing photos and videos

Researchers at Bielefeld University questioned schoolchildren on cyberbullying attacks through the Internet and by mobile phone

Embarrassing personal photos and videos circulating in the Internet: researchers at Bielefeld University have discovered that young people who fall victim to cyberbullying or cyber harassment suffer most when fellow pupils make them objects of ridicule by distributing photographic material. According to an online survey published on Thursday, 19 July, about half of the victims feel very distressed or severely distressed by this type of behaviour. 1,881 schoolchildren living in Germany took part in the survey conducted by the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence (IKG) and commented on their experiences with cyberbullying as a victim, offender or witness.

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» Published on 25. Juni 2012

Removing estrogen from drinking water

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.

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» Published on 15. Juni 2012

Bielefeld University still twice excellent

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).

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» Published on 15. Juni 2012

Bielefeld University receives Erasmus Quality Label

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.

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» Published on 11. Juni 2012

Researchers discover hereditary enzyme deficiency

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).  

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» Published on 11. Juni 2012

Heisenberg fellowship for the physicist Dr. Andrey Turchanin

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.

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» Published on 4. Juni 2012

Bielefeld: Among the best young universities in the world

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.

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» Published on 25. Mai 2012

A mating dance with Popeye arms

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.

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