uni.news

» Published on 8. August 2011

Gaining energy from waste heat

Online edition of the journal Nature Materials publishes research findings from a physics consortium

A consortium of scientists from the universities in Bielefeld, Gießen, and Göttingen has obtained their first findings in the pioneering research field of 'spincaloritronics'. These are now being published in the online edition of the specialist journal Nature Materials. Together with their colleagues, the Bielefeld scientists Professor Dr. Günter Reiss and Dr. Andy Thomas are working on thermoelectric components that can be used to control, for example, waste heat usefully.

» Published on 5. August 2011

Alexander von Humboldt scientists at Bielefeld University's Faculty of Physics

Currently, two researchers with the highest international reputations in the field of magneto- and spinelectronics are working together with Professor Dr. Günter Reiss and Professor Dr. Andreas Hütten in Bielefeld University's Faculty of Physics. The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation's sponsorship programmes are enabling the research stay of Professor Dr. Arunava Gupta and Professor Dr. Yalcin Elerman. The scientists are conducting research on promising materials with special magnetic and conductor properties.

» Published on 3. August 2011

Therapy for former child soldiers in Uganda

Publication of a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association

Child soldiers in Uganda have gone through terrible experiences through being kidnapped and forced to fight and kill other people. As a result, many of them are suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD): they are continuously living through situations in their minds without being able to process them. They cannot access the information that an event is long past and no longer a threat to them. After being freed, some of these former child soldiers took part in a therapy study run by Bielefeld University's Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy Department. This study is being published on Wednesday 3 August in one of the leading medical journals, the Journal of the American Medical Association.

» Published on 3. August 2011

Studying molecular biology in Bielefeld

Bachelor degree programme starting in the winter semester 2011/2012

What makes yeast dough rise? What is the difference between a skin cell that protects us against UV radiation and a liver cell that eliminates toxins? Everyday questions, but demanding ones. The answers are to be found in processes on the molecular level. Molecular biology deals with the understanding of genes and proteins, with the processing and transmission of information in living beings, and with molecular explanations for biological processes. It forms the basis for numerous applications in biotechnology, genetic engineering, and biomedicine, and no area of the life sciences is conceivable without it. Starting in the winter semester 2011/2012, the university will be offering a Bachelor degree programme in molecular biology.

» Published on 3. August 2011

US-American philosopher Martha C. Nussbaum receives an honorary doctorate from Bielefeld University (Nr. 96/2011)

The US-American philosopher Martha C. Nussbaum is one of the founders of the Capabilities Approach – an internationally acclaimed theoretical model designed to point out what people need to have in order to live a good and successful life. She developed the approach together with the economist and Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen.  Professor Martha C. Nussbaum is being awarded an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Educational Science for her work. The public ceremony will be held on Monday 27 June at 3.30 p.m. in Lecture Hall 7 at Bielefeld University. This award ceremony will be proceeded by an international conference on 'Human Development Perspectives' on Sunday 26 and Monday 27 June.

» Published on 7. Juli 2011

The English Drama Group presents: Leave My Family Life Alone!

From July 18 until July 23 always at 8 pm in Bielefeld University

The family – who does not love them? That this is not always an easy task will be proved by the Bielefeld University’s English Drama Group at the end of this summer term.

» Published on 15. Juni 2011

New extension for Bielefeld University: One more step towards Campus Bielefeld

Laying the foundation stone of the new extension for Bielefeld University/Joint project of the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Bau- und Liegenschaftsbetrieb NRW, and Bielefeld University/Cost: approximately 130 million Euros

All good things come in threes. It's the third time this year that Svenja Schulze, Minister of Innovation and Science, Research, and Technology of North Rhine-Westphalia, has come to Campus Bielefeld. This time, the occasion was the laying of the foundation stone for the new extension of Bielefeld University. Heinrich Micus (Head of the Bielefeld department of the BLB NRW) was able to welcome not only the Minister but also Prof. Dr.-Ing. Gerhard Sagerer (Rektor of Bielefeld University), Hans-Jürgen Simm (Chancellor  of Bielefeld University), Detlef Helling (Mayor of Bielefeld), Dr. Reginbert Taube (Senior Vice President of the BLB NRW), and a host of further representatives of science, politics, and industry. In her address, the Minister emphasized how North Rhine-Westphalia is investing particularly strongly in Bielefeld. ‘I am delighted by the exciting concept of merging the University, the University of Applied Sciences, and research work all together at one location. This is a good example of the way institutes of higher education are growing together both physically and intellectually – and Bielefeld is pointing to the future here.’ Following the tradition of the building industry, the  foundation stone document was read out loud, placed in a copper cassette together with the construction plans, the day's newspapers, and some currently valid coins. It was then cemented in and the foundation stone laying ceremony was completed with three strokes of a hammer.

» Published on 31. Mai 2011

From heterogeneities to social inequalities

German Research Foundation (DFG) grants 8.7 million Euros funding over the next four years for a new Collaborative Research Centre at Bielefeld University

Whether fat or thin, male or female, young or old – people are different. Alongside their physical features, they also differ in terms of nationality and ethnicity; in their cultural preferences, lifestyles, attitudes, orientations, and philosophies; in their competencies, qualifications, and traits; and finally in their professions. However, how do such heterogeneities lead to social inequalities? What are the underlying social mechanisms? These are the questions being pursued by the new Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) “From heterogeneities to social inequalities” at Bielefeld University that was approved by the German Research Foundation (DFG) on 25 May.

» Published on 24. Mai 2011

Japanese Week at Bielefeld University

Science, Culture, Sport, and Culinary Specialities

With numerous events and celebrations in both countries, Japan and Germany are celebrating 150 years of friendly relations. Bielefeld University has been maintaining good contacts with Japanese universities for many years, and will also be participating in these festivities with a "Japanese Week" from 6-10 June. The Japanese Week should  strengthen these relations – particularly against the background of the recent catastrophe – and provide a framework for building up new contacts. It will be opened by Rektor Professor Dr.-Ing. Gerhard Sagerer on the 6th of June at 10.30 a.m. in the University's Main Hall.

» Published on 23. Mai 2011

Particular nanoparticles

Science publication on how nanoparticles behave when they assemble

Birds of a feather flock together, is what they say about human beings. Up to now, the same seemed to apply to nanoparticles. However, a research group headed by the Bielefeld chemist Professor Dr. Achim  Müller together with colleagues in the United States has been able to confirm that such particles can be rather particular: even just the small change of dissolving them in water leads the originally equal-sized and identically shaped particles to no longer merge together when they meet, but to form two separate blackberry-like  structures. The scientists published the results of this research in the  prestigious journal Science, Vol. 331, at the end of March 2011.