uni.news

» Published on 9. Februar 2011

Bielefeld University acquires and indexes Niklas Luhmann's unpublished works

Promising basis for a Luhmann Archive

Many consider the sociologist Niklas Luhmann (1927–1998) to be one of the most important social theorists of the 20th century. In 1968, he became the first ever professor at Bielefeld University where he taught until his retirement in 1993. Even just in terms of size, Luhmann's exceptionally challenging scientific work is enormous, encompassing a good 50 of his own books and hundreds of articles in which he comprehensively developed his theory of social systems. One secret behind Luhmann's productivity is certainly his legendary "card box".

» Published on 1. Februar 2011

Making the "dream material" graphene fit for industry

Advanced nanophysical research at Bielefeld University

Graphene is a material made up of one-atom thick sheets of carbon atoms arranged in hexagonal honeycomb lattices. It is not just the thinnest but also the strongest material that human beings have ever manufactured. In 2010, the physicists Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov (University of Manchester) were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their basic research on graphene. However, Bielefeld University also has two physicists, Prof. Dr. Armin Gölzhäuser and Dr. Andrey Turchanin, who are carrying out intensive research on this promising nanomaterial with its special electronic properties. They are being funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF). Although there are still no products containing graphene, the material makes it possible to develop fast transistors (above 100 gigahertz) that would be much faster than the silicon transistors used in today's computer chips. Hence, graphene has enormous economic potential. In future, millions of graphene-based products could be used in computers, solar cells, or displays.