uni.news

Camouflage or communication: how birds use odour

uni.news — Mon, 14 Mar 2022 08:30:36 +0100

Biologists have investigated the purpose of changes in preen oil

What senses do birds use? Obviously, they use hearing and sight—after all, they sing and often have colourful plumage. But what about the sense of smell? For a long time, it was thought that olfaction played no role in birds. In recent years, however, a number of papers have emerged that refute this assumption—including research that looks at the secretion from the preen gland that birds smear on their feathers several times a day. Scientists, including some from Bielefeld University, have investigated what changes there might be in the composition of the secretion and what role smell plays in this. Their study was published on 6 February in the journal Biological Reviews.

Almost all bird species have a special gland at the base of their tail: the uropygial or preen gland. It secretes an oil that birds spread on their feathers several times a day using their beak. Some of the functions of the gland’s secretion are to maintain the feathers, to make them greasy and water-repellent—and it could have other uses about which little is known so far.

The composition of this secretion differs not only between different bird species, but often also within a species itself. ‘One observation was pivotal for us: seasonal changes occur in almost all bird species,’ says Marc Gilles, a doctoral student in the Behavioural Ecology research group at Bielefeld University’s Faculty of Biology.

Professor Dr Barbara Caspers and Marc Gilles have been working on the preen oil of birds. They screened 187 studies to find out more about why composition of the oil changes throughout the year. Photos: Bielefeld University/S. Jonek

Changes in preen oil during the breeding season
Together with other researchers, Gilles reviewed a total of 187 studies and analysed 55 of them that investigate preen oil composition. ‘We wanted to find out why changes occur and what their significance is.’ The researchers detected sex differences in 47 per cent of the species studied. ‘When we found differences between the sexes, they occurred mainly during the breeding season,’ says the biologist.

Camouflaging their offspring through smell
Why does the composition of the secretion change? ‘One hypothesis is that preen oil has a protective function during the breeding season,’ says Gilles. It could serve to camouflage a nest by smell and thus better protect it from those predators that use olfactory cues when hunting. This assumption is supported by the fact that differences can be found chiefly during the breeding season—and primarily in the incubating sex. Such seasonal differences were particularly evident in ground-nesting birds, such as shorebirds. ‘Ground-nesting birds are especially vulnerable to predators such as foxes, which hunt by using their sense of smell, because their nest is so easily accessible,’ says Gilles. ‘Olfactory camouflage here would mean higher chances of survival for the young.’

Olfactory communication in reproduction
Another possibility is that preen oil in its altered composition has a social function: for example, the secretion could signal to a bird the sex of a conspecific—and whether it would be a suitable partner to reproduce with. The composition could therefore provide information about how genetically compatible two animals are to produce healthy offspring. ‘It is also conceivable that olfactory cues serve parent-offspring recognition,’ says Gilles.

Birds use the oil from their preen gland for grooming. It not only helps to maintain their plumage, but also serves the animals with a number of other functions: it could, for example, serve to camouflage nests better and attract reproductive partners. Photos: Hayley Crews (left), Oliver Krüger (right)

‘The findings indicate that existing studies support these hypotheses,’ says Professor Dr Barbara Caspers, who supervised the study. She heads the Behavioural Ecology research group and has been investigating olfaction in songbirds for several years. In her studies, she was able to show that at least some birds have a well-developed sense of smell and actually use it to communicate with each other. The study, which has now been published, suggests that it may be a more general phenomenon. ‘However, unfortunately, there is currently not enough data to test the hypotheses further.’ The researchers have therefore made recommendations in order to improve the data situation.

There are not enough studies on the abilities of predators to recognise different compositions of the oil in order to test the assumption that an altered secretion serves as protection during the breeding season. Moreover, most studies so far have only revealed that there are differences between the sexes—but not the precise essence of these differences. ‘Additional information about the nature of the differences could help to separate the two hypotheses,’ says Caspers. Furthermore, it is not yet clear to what extent parents also transfer the secretion to their offspring. ‘More research is also needed on this,’ says Barbara Caspers. In many cases, it is also unclear in which breeding stages changes occur and whether birds are able to distinguish the sex of conspecifics by smell.

In the current study, the scientists point out what to look out for in future studies on preen gland oil. ‘In the studies we reviewed, it is rarely stated which gender shows changes. Moreover, it is seldom specified precisely what the changes are,’ says the scientist. If sex differences are of interest, researchers should take samples during the breeding season and also record the different breeding stages from pair formation to brood care. It would also be important to include more bird orders in the studies: for example, mainly shorebirds have been studied so far regarding the hypothesis on olfactory camouflage. ‘In this way, we would gain deeper insights into the role of chemical masking and chemical signalling in birds,’ says Caspers.

Original publication:
Leanne A. Grieves, Marc Gilles, Innes C. Cuthill, Tamás Székely, Elizabeth MacDougall-Shackleton and Barbara A. Caspers (2022), Olfactory camouflage and communication in birds. Biological Reviews, https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12837, published on 6 February 2022.

Further information:

• Website of the Behavioural Ecology research group
• Website of Professor Dr Barbara Caspers

Contact:
Marc Gilles, Bielefeld University
Faculty of Biology
Telephone: +49 521 106-2193
Email: marc.gilles@uni-bielefeld.de

Seeing through blood with a microscope

uni.news — Sat, 5 Mar 2022 00:02:59 +0100

Research network develops technology to fight bacterial contamination

Inflammation of the middle ear is often triggered a cholesteatoma, an aggressive form of chronic otitis media. In order to detect cholesteatomas and bacterial biofilms and to remove them safely, the new collaborative project ‘BetterView’ is working on a special surgical microscope. This so-called SWIR microscope system uses short-wave infrared light. The aim is to illuminate blood, bacterial biofilms, cartilage, and soft tissue; display them spatially; and make them distinguishable from each other. The seven partner institutions cooperating in the project include Bielefeld University and Klinikum Bielefeld, one of the hospitals forming the University Hospital OWL. The research is coordinated by the medical technology company Munich Surgical Imaging. A total of 4.1 million euro will be spent on the project. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research is funding the new research.

Physicist Professor Dr Thomas Huser from Bielefeld University is working in the new project to ensure that the surgical microscope delivers high-resolution spatial images and, for example, uses colour to differentiate bacterial biofilms from body tissue. Photo: Bielefeld University/M.-D. Müller

Minimally invasive surgery works with the smallest of skin incisions—so that there is hardly any injury to tissue during operations. Optical microscopes help surgeons to examine the area they will be operating on. They illuminate the surgical field and transfer a high-resolution image to a screen. Until now, however, surgical microscopy has worked almost exclusively with light from the visible spectral range. Currently available microscopes reach their limits when a surface is covered by bleeding or contaminated by bacteria. To give surgeons a clear view in such situations, the new "BetterView" project is developing the new SWIR surgical microscope. SWIR stands for Short-Wave InfraRed.

Sensors for short-wave infrared light have only recently become readily available
‘An advanced generation of image sensors now makes it possible to equip surgical microscopes with a new function: to process and display images in the short-wave infrared light spectrum in real time,’ says Professor Dr Thomas Huser from the Faculty of Physics at Bielefeld University. Huser is a specialist in biomedical photonics, which deals with the development of novel microscopy methods. Together with his team, he is constructing and using high-resolution microscopes while developing the software for image processing.

Microscopes with sensors such as the SWIR surgical microscope first have to analyse and process the recorded image signal automatically.

So that the surgical microscope can display the short-wave infrared signals, Huser and his team are developing their own software that filters out light outside the short-wave infrared spectrum and calculates a three-dimensional view of the image. ‘In addition, the software needs to produce colour contrasts. Such coloured markings make it easy to distinguish between, for example, nerves and soft tissue,’ Huser explains. The software has to display the video image in real time so that surgeons in the operating theatre can work precisely and face no delay in seeing what their intervention is doing to the surgical field.

Study with the new microscope in the University Hospital OWL

Professor Dr med. Dr Holger Sudhoff is conducting research at the University Hospital OWL. He will use the new surgical microscope at Klinikum Bielefeld. Photo: Bielefeld Hospital/S. Behrmann

In order to test the SWIR surgical microscope in practice, the project will initially use it to treat cholesteatoma—a chronic pus-producing inflammation of the middle ear. The microscope will be tested at the University Hospital OWL’s Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head, and Neck Surgery at the Klinikum Bielefeld. The clinic performs the most cholesteatoma operations nationwide—650 procedures annually.

‘If a cholesteatoma remains untreated, it can lead to serious damage,’ says Professor Holger Sudhoff, MD, PhD, FRCS, FRCPath, Director of the University Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head, and Neck Surgery at Klinikum Bielefeld and member of the Medical Faculty OWL. ‘In such cases, the chronic inflammation will destroy the three auditory ossicles so that the affected person will become hard of hearing in that ear,’ Sudhoff explains. In later stages, the inflammation can also lead to facial palsy, meningitis, and intracranial abscesses. Cholesteatoma, generally accompanied by severe bone destruction, can be caused by a middle ear infection or by the tympanic membrane retractions extending into the middle ear.

Common surgical microscopes at their limits

The microscope will initially be tested in the treatment of cholesteatoma—an inflammation of the middle ear. This illustration shows the surgical exposure of a cholesteatoma. Picture: Holger Sudhoff

Surgical microscopes, which work only with the light range visible to humans, are normally used for diagnosis, surgery, and follow-up care. ‘They help us determine whether a bacterial biofilm has formed,’ says Sudhoff. If a cholesteatoma becomes inflamed by bacteria, it will grow faster and damage the adjacent bones more severely. However, the extent to which bacterial colonization has spread is often not visible with standard microscopes because, for example, bleeding that obscures the biofilm.

In addition to microscopy, specialists also use computer tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to diagnose cholesteatoma. However, this cannot distinguish possible fluid in the middle ear from a cholesteatoma. Magnetic resonance imaging is also used to prepare for surgery. Although it provides a higher resolution than CT, the disadvantage is that it cannot show the details of the ossicles precisely enough.

Using the microscope to completely eliminate bacterial infestation
The project team expect a number of advantages from the new SWIR microscope. Its ability to see through blood and distinguish bacterially infested tissue, bone, nerves, and soft tissue is particularly important. ‘Already during the operation, this will enable surgeons to see where remaining bacterial colonization is still present in the middle ear,’ says project coordinator Dr Hans Kiening from the medical technology company Munich Surgical Imaging (MSI). ‘This allows them to completely remove infected areas that could otherwise lead to the development of a new cholesteatoma.’ MSI is providing a surgical microscope that is already used in surgery and provides high-resolution images. The new project is building on this development.

Development of the short-wave infrared microscope in the project is based on the Arriscope surgical microscope from the company Munich Surgical Imaging. The device is approved for all applications in ear, nose, and throat surgery. Photo: Munich Surgical Imaging

Compared to conventional microscopes, the future SWIR microscope will also be able to see through soft tissue. This will make it possible to examine optically hidden areas as well. Then, surgeons will be able to see whether bone material in the inner ear has been colonized or damaged by bacteria. In addition, the microscope should increase patient safety. If surgeons can see and distinguish the inner ear precisely, there is less risk of damaging sensitive structures such as the facial nerve or the labyrinths of the inner ear.

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research is providing 2.73 million euro of funding to the BetterView joint project as part of the funding initiative ‘Photonic methods for detecting and combating microbial contamination’ (Funding number: 13N15827). Of this amount, 374,000 euro is going to Bielefeld University and 478,000 euro to Klinikum Bielefeld. The project is running from January 2022 to December 2024 and is being coordinated by the medical technology company Munich Surgical Imaging (MSI). Alongside Bielefeld University and Klinikum Bielefeld, other members of the cooperation project are the Helmholtz Pioneer Campus at Helmholtz Zentrum München, Leibniz University Hannover, the camera system manufacturer PCO AG, and the laser manufacturer Omicron-Laserage Laserprodukte GmbH.

Chronic diseases play a significant role in research at the Medical School OWL. These are diseases that persist over a long time and are often difficult to treat or not completely curable. Chronic diseases are among the most common health problems in Germany and other industrialized countries. The Medical School OWL is dealing with them as part of its research profile ‘Medicine for People with Disabilities and Chronic Diseases’.

Further information:

Project profile in the Photonikforschung Deutschland portal
Website of Professor Dr Thomas Huser’s research group
Website of the University Hospital OWL’s Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head, and Neck Surgery
Research profile of the Medical School OWL

Contact:
Professor Dr Thomas Huser, Bielefeld University
Faculty of Physics
Phone: +49 521 106-5451
Email: thomas.huser@physik.uni-bielefeld.de

Statement of the Rectorate of Bielefeld University on the war in Ukraine

uni.news — Fri, 25 Feb 2022 09:26:13 +0100

"We are deeply saddened by the news reaching us from Ukraine. It is depressing that another war is taking place on European soil. Our thoughts are with the people - among them many students and scientists. The entire Bielefeld University is under the impression of this terrible event. Many relatives are worried about their family members, cooperation partners and fellow students. At this time, we as a university are also called upon to contribute our competencies - we are convinced that many academics are observing and evaluating the developments from within their disciplines and are making a contribution to ensuring that a well-founded and fact-based social debate is conducted."

The Rectorate of Bielefeld University

Bielefeld University maintains a partnership with the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. Currently, 25 students from Ukraine are enrolled at Bielefeld University.

Cell division in microalgae: mitosis revealed in detail for the first time

uni.news — Tue, 15 Feb 2022 11:23:28 +0100

Bielefeld University researchers identify cell structures involved

Cell division ensures growth or renewal and is thus vital for all organisms. However, the process differs somewhat in animals, bacteria, fungi, plants, and algae. Until now, little was known about how cell division occurs in algae. Researchers at Bielefeld University have used confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) to capture the very first high-resolution three-dimensional images of cell division in live cells of the microalga Volvox carteri, and have identified new cellular structures involved in the process. Professor Dr Armin Hallmann from the Faculty of Biology is leading the study. The findings have now been published open access in the journal The Plant Cell.

The multicellular, spherical green alga Volvox carteri serves the researchers as a model organism. The image shows a parent organism with 16 daughter organisms inside. Photo: Bielefeld University/A. Hallmann

The cell is the smallest organisational unit of life. It contains the necessary building blocks of life in a compact form and is the place where vital biochemical reactions take place. With the help of enzymes, substance and energy transformations take place, which are processes also known as metabolism. The cell interior is separated and thus protected from the environment by the cell membrane. Genetic material, the cell’s information store, is often located in the cell nucleus as DNA. When a cell divides by mitosis, it first divides its nucleus into two identical daughter nuclei with the same genetic material. Then the rest of the cell divides and two identical daughter cells are produced. The complex, genetically determined process of mitosis in particular must take place very precisely: the entire genetic material, divided into chromosomes, must be segregated accurately into the two daughter cell nuclei.

Cell division of the alga Volvox carteri combines animal and plant characteristics
‘Cell division is one of the most fundamental processes in living organisms. It has basically been preserved over countless millions of years of evolution and can be found in all organisms,’ says Professor Dr Armin Hallmann, head of the Cellular and Developmental Biology of Plants research group at Bielefeld University. Yet the mechanisms of cell division in animals, fungi, plants, and algae each have characteristic features. The multicellular green alga Volvox carteri is a particularly interesting case in point. ‘It exhibits both animal and plant features in mitosis,’ says Hallmann. The researchers have now been able to clarify this phenomenon in their study. ‘Until now, researchers knew very little about the exact process of mitosis in this green alga.’

Professor Dr Armin Hallmann from Bielefeld University led the research on mitosis in the microalga Volvox carteri. Photo: Bielefeld University/S. Jonek

Mitosis in the microalga Volvox carteri
With their analyses, the scientists have been able to identify five characteristics that are crucial for mitosis in the microalga Volvox carteri.

The first two features concern the envelope of the microalgal nucleus. ‘The nuclear envelope does not disintegrate at the beginning of mitosis, as is often the case, but remains in place until shortly before nuclear division is completed,’ says Armin Hallmann. ‘Instead, it becomes porous and permeable, so that cellular components are exchanged between the inside of the cell nucleus and the cytosol—a fluid that surrounds the cell nucleus. Hence, for a certain period of time, the cell nucleus loses its typical property as a confined reaction space, although the nuclear envelope is still present.’

The third feature is related to the centrosomes of the cell. These are cell structures that play a central role in the organisation of the mitotic spindle here. The mitotic spindle arranges the chromosomes in such a way that they can be segregated accurately into the two newly forming cell nuclei. ‘We have been able to show that the centrosomes play a crucial role in the mitosis of Volvox carteri even though they are located outside the nuclear envelope. They form the basic structure for organising the precise division of the genetic material with the help of the nuclear division spindle within the nuclear envelope. Until now, we only knew about an organisation of the spindle by centrosomes from cell division in animals,’ says Hallmann.

A fourth feature is the formation of a specific filamentous structure, the phycoplast, at the end of mitosis. After the cell nucleus has divided, the rest of the cell must also divide so that the newly formed cells can finally separate from each other. The dynamic phycoplast is the basis for the formation of a cleavage furrow which ultimately divides the cell, whereas plants form a different structure which ultimately leads to the formation of a separating, solid cell wall. ‘The special thing about algae is that the phycoplast is formed directly by recycling the nuclear division spindle, which is then no longer required,’ explains the scientist.

Finally, the researchers were able to detect an enormous dynamic of the entire inner architecture of the cell as well as of the nuclear envelope during cell division.

Biology postdoc Eva Laura von der Heyde published the research results on microalgal mitosis as first author. She is also a researcher at Bielefeld University. Photo: Bielefeld University/S. Jonek

Making molecular processes visible
The researchers were able to record the cell division processes by producing fluorescent proteins (proteins that glow when exposed to light) and tracking them in the cell using confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). For the first time, scientists have succeeded in imaging the mitosis of microalgae in three dimensions in live cells and characterising it in detail, using Volvox carteri as an example.

‘The question we posed ourselves was: how exactly does cell division work in green algae? Which structures are involved in mitosis and what role do they play in the process?’ says first author Dr Eva Laura von der Heyde. She previously conducted research in Hallmann's research group as a doctoral student and is now a postdoc. In order to be able to localise important proteins involved in cell division in the cell, their genes are linked to the gene of a fluorescent protein using molecular biology techniques. The proteins involved in cell division thus become fluorescent, which makes them distinguishable from all other proteins in the cell. ‘We used a special laser to excite different fluorescent proteins to glow. Using a confocal laser scanning microscope, we were able to detect the yellow-green glow of the microstructures formed by the proteins in live cells,’ says Eva Laura von der Heyde.

The researchers also recorded on video how the proteins move during cell division, how they form microstructures, and how these structures are rebuilt. In a time-lapse video, which condenses 30 minutes of mitosis to nine seconds and shows it simultaneously in ten optical section planes, it becomes clear how the centrosomes organise the formation of the nuclear division spindle and how the nuclear division spindle finally transforms into the phycoplast after the chromosomes have separated.

Insights into evolution
In the long term, Armin Hallmann and Eva Laura von der Heyde hope to be able to build on these new findings to learn more about the evolution of cell division. How did the different variants of cell division that are found today in animals, fungi, plants, and algae come about? ‘In evolution, the first land plants developed from primordial green algae. This is why the green alga Volvox carteri also possesses properties that it has in common with land plants growing today. However, it is striking that Volvox carteri also possesses properties that can be found in animals living today. Other of their characteristics are again only found in green algae. These special characteristics also make this model organism so important for our understanding of the evolution of cell division,’ says Hallmann.

Original publication:
Eva Laura von der Heyde, Armin Hallmann: Molecular and cellular dynamics of early embryonic cell divisions in Volvox carteri. The Plant Cell, https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koac004, published online on 9 January 2022.

Further information:
Website of the research group

Contact:
Professor Dr Armin Hallmann, Bielefeld University
Faculty of Biology
Telephone: +49 521 106-5592
Email: armin.hallmann@uni-bielefeld.de

Study shows people with migration background are as health literate as the general population

uni.news — Wed, 2 Feb 2022 10:29:01 +0100

First comprehensive survey of first-generation migrants and subsequent generations

Health literacy plays a decisive role in reaching old age in good health. Low health literacy contributes to behaviors like being sedentary and not exercising, eating a less nutritious diet, taking more medications, and using healthcare services more often. Even though individuals with a migration background now comprise almost a quarter of the entire population of Germany, there has not previously been comprehensive research on their health literacy. Researchers from Bielefeld University and the University of Cologne are now, for the first time, analyzing the health literacy of people with a migration background. The key finding: contrary to the prevailing view, health literacy among people with a migration background is similar to that of the general German population – and even tends to be slightly higher.

Based on their findings, the research team has concluded that when it comes to health literacy, people with migration background should not be categorically labelled as a vulnerable group, but instead viewed with greater nuance.

First survey specifically on individuals with a migration background and their health literacy
Researchers at Bielefeld University have been regularly collecting data on the status of health literacy among residents of Germany. The new study, entitled “Health literacy among people with migration background in Germany” (HLS-MIG), has a new focus. “With this study, we have, for the first time, been able to collect detailed data on the extent, causes, and consequences of health literacy among people with a migration background in Germany,” explains Bielefeld University’s Prof. Dr. Doris Schaeffer, who heads the study together with Dr. Eva-Maria Berens, also of Bielefeld University.

The study surveyed the two largest migrant groups in Germany: individuals with a migration background in Turkey and in the states of the former Soviet Union. Together, these two groups represent 30 percent of all individuals with a migration background in Germany.

Professor Dr Doris Schaeffer of Bielefeld University led the new study on health literacy in individuals with a migration background. She has been heading largescale studies on health literacy in Germany since 2014. Photo: Universität Bielefeld/S. Roth

Few differences to the general population
The study, which was funded by the Robert Bosch Stiftung, demonstrates that more than half (52 percent) of individuals with a Turkish or former Soviet migration background have low health literacy; the other half (48 percent), however, have high health literacy. Levels of health literacy in people with a migration background are thus similarly aligned to those of the general population. The researchers explain this finding with the fact that many migrants have lived in Germany for a long time: “the group of ‘people with a migration background’ includes both those who have migrated to Germany in the first generation, but also their children. They have often been living in Germany for decades,” says Eva-Maria Berens.

One important point to keep in mind, as Berens notes, is that health literacy among people with a migration background is unevenly distributed in social terms. In the study, low educational attainment, low socioeconomic status, older age, and chronic disease were all factors found to be associated with lower health literacy – similar to the situation in the general population. Their own migrant experience and limited German language skills can also impact health literacy.

“The study’s findings suggest that migration status, unlike socioeconomic status or low educational attainment, is not closely correlated with health literacy. This is good news for our multicultural society and underscores the importance of developing interventions,” says Dr Ingrid Wünning Tschol, who serves as the director of the division of health at the Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH.

Widespread use of health information in foreign languages
According to the study, people with a migration background have a great deal of interest in health information. A large share of the individuals surveyed rely on health information in multiple languages. More than half (64 percent) of those surveyed with a migration background in the former Soviet states obtain health information partially or exclusively in Russian. 45 percent of the survey respondents with a Turkish migration background also get their health information in Turkish. “First-generation migrants and those with limited German skills in particular are the ones who frequently turn to health information in the language of their country of origin. But even second-generation survey respondents with strong German language skills also make use of multilingual resources,” says Eva-Maria Berens.

Public health researcher Dr Eva-Maria Berens is co-lead on the new study. Dr Berens works at Bielefeld University’s Interdisciplinary Centre for Health Literacy Research (ICHL). Photo: Bielefeld University

Being listened to is not a given at the doctor’s officeOne significant difference to the general population that the researchers were able to ascertain deals with communicating with doctors. The study demonstrated that people with a migration background find it especially difficult to get doctors to listen to them without being interrupted. Approximately one third of the survey respondents from both the former Soviet states and Turkey found this to be challenging – and this rate is considerably higher than in the general population. Specialized health terminology is another challenge.

The researchers see this as an urgent call to action in both policy and public life. “As a society, we need to invest more in the promotion of health literacy among the entire population,” says Doris Schaeffer. “In addition to this, the general image of people with a migration background as a homogenous category needs to be revised – this group must be viewed in a more differentiated manner.” According to the researchers, different approaches could be used to facilitate and promote health literacy. Improving the quality and accessibility of health information is essential, along with placing a greater focus on low health literacy and diversity. Specific measures aimed at target groups to strengthen health literacy are also very important.

Background of the Study
This study was conceptualized based on the model set forth in “Health Literacy Survey Germany” (HLS-GER), a representative study conducted in 2014 and 2020 to determine health literacy of the general German population. For this survey, questionnaires were modified with respect to the special characteristics of individuals with a migration background. Some 1,000 interviews were carried out and analyzed. The project, which will run through September 2022, has been provided with 650,000 Euro in funding from the Robert Bosch Stiftung. Health literacy encompasses the ability to locate, understand, evaluate, and apply information on health topics. Previous studies have shown that the lower a person’s health literacy, the more likely they are to go to the doctor or hospital, and use emergency medical services.

Original publication:
Eva-Maria Berens, Julia Klinger, Monika Mensing, Sarah Carol, Doris Schaeffer: Gesundheitskompetenz von Menschen mit Migrationshintergrund in Deutschland: Ergebnisse des HLS-MI. Bielefeld: Interdisziplinäres Zentrum für Gesundheitskompetenzforschung (IZGK), Universität Bielefeld, https://doi.org/10.4119/unibi/2960131, published on 17 January 2022.

Further information:

Project Website: Health literacy among people with migration background in Germany (HLS-MIG)
Press release on the second German Health Literacy Survey

Contact:
Dr Eva-Maria Berens, Bielefeld University
School of Public Health
Telephone: 0521 106-4818
Email: eva-maria.berens@uni-bielefeld.de

Longitudinal study confirms religious styles change in adulthood

uni.news — Tue, 18 Jan 2022 13:28:43 +0100

International Research Cooperation receives 1.2 million euros in new funding

Development of religion and worldview is the focus of a longitudinal study at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, USA and Bielefeld University, Germany. The researchers mainly distinguish four religious styles that indicate how faith, spirituality, and worldview shape an adult person’s life. In a recent analysis, researchers of the project have demonstrated how religious styles change during an adult’s lifespan. They have also identified predictors of such development. Now, this research network is continuing with new funding as of this month to the tune of 1.2 million euros (1.35 million US dollars).

The German Research Foundation (DFG) has funded this international research project since 2002. In 2014, also the Philadelphia-based John Templeton Foundation became involved as a third-party funder. Now, both foundations have approved joint funding of a further project phase from 2022 to 2024.

Professor Dr Heinz Streib from the Department of Theology at Bielefeld University heads the German sub-project of the research cooperation on religious development. Photo: Bielefeld University

Their studies allow the researchers in this project to document how people’s religious views and worldviews change during their lifetime. The extensive data base created in this project with the information gained from surveys and interviews makes it possible for them to analyse how faith develops. “In the past, knowledge about religious development was based primarily on theoretical and partly speculative assumptions. Now we seek empirical evidence from longitudinal research,” says Professor Dr Heinz Streib, head of the Research Center for Biographical Studies in Contemporary Religion at Bielefeld University. The professor of theology and researcher in the psychology of religion Heinz Streib is head of the research project together with psychology professor Ralph W. Hood PhD, Jr., LeRoy A. Martin Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. “While for a long time there was the assumption that religious development comes to an end with childhood faith and the transition into adulthood,” says Streib, “from our analyses over the years we have been able to confirm that people’s religious style also changes in adulthood.”

The team consists of researchers from psychology, religious studies, sociology, linguistics, and mathematics. At the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga: Christopher F. Silver PhD, assistant professor in Learning and Leadership Programs and instructor in psychology, Matthew C. Durham and Daimi Shirk, doctoral students. At the University of North Carolina at Charlotte: Zhuo Job Chen, associate professor of psychology. At Bielefeld University: Dr. Barbara Keller, senior post-doctoral researcher and licensed psychoanalyst, Dr. Ramona Bullik, post-doctoral researcher, and Anika Steppacher, doctoral student.

Data on religious and worldview development spanning two decades
The researchers interview adults from a wide variety of religious, spiritual or other preferences, including non-theistic and non-religious worldviews. The methods used take the form of online questionnaires and personal interviews. The questionnaires assess, for example, dimensions of personality, mystical experiences, and psychological well-being and growth. For the personal interview, the researchers use the Faith Development Interview format as developed by James Fowler. It includes questions on life history, relationships, values and religious commitment or worldview. The interviews undergo a narrative and content analysis, and are also evaluated for religious style. Based on these interview evaluations and the questionnaire data, the researchers have produced and published a large number of case studies, including in their recent book, Deconversion Revisited.

In the past two decades, several thousand people have answered the questionnaire, and the researchers have completed Faith Development Interviews with more than a thousand participants in the USA and Germany. 250 of these participants agreed to a second interview, and 75 completed a third interview. These two groups of interviewees are particularly valuable for the study, because longitudinal investigation allows the documentation of change and development in their individual faith journeys over time. In the new project phase 2022-2024, the researchers will increase the number of longitudinal participants by several hundred in the USA and Germany.

Findings show: majority of participants move to a higher religious style
The researchers work with a selection of four religious styles that are ordered in a hierarchy: a fundamentalist-ethnocentric, a conventional, an individuative-reflective, and a dialogical style. These styles indicate how faith, spirituality, and worldview structure a person’s life story and their practical actions in their lifeworld and society. In a study recently published in the journal Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, the researchers analysed how the religious styles of the triple respondents had developed over a period of about ten years. Their findings indicate that the majority developed a higher religious style, for example moving from the individuative-reflective to the dialogical style, or from the conventional to the individuative-reflective style. Factors that support this progression are higher scores on openness to experience or a low level of agreement with the truth of text and teachings of their own religion.

“Religious development, however, does not follow a unilinear upward development trajectory,” says Streib. “Rather, religious development appears as progression and regression; it can move to a lower or to a higher level. And in a substantial number of our sample, we see regression. This finding contradicts assumptions in developmental psychology that religious styles—or morality, for example—can only move up progressively.”

The new phase of the research project began on 1 January 2022 and ends on 30 September 2024. The John Templeton Foundation is providing about 850,000 euros in funding and the German Research Foundation about 350,000 euros. A new focus of this research phase will be an assessment of how religious and worldview development results in changes in the image of God or transcendence. A second new focus regards the effects of religious and worldview development on reducing prejudice and xenophobia—thus on one of the urgent problems in our societies.

Original publications:

Heinz Streib, Zhuo Job Chen, Ralph W. Hood: Faith development as change in religious types: Results from three-wave longitudinal data with faith development interviews. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000440
Heinz Streib, Barbara Keller, Ramona Bullik, Anika Steppacher, Christopher F. Silver, Matthew Durham, Sally B. Barker, Ralph W. Hood: Deconversion Revisited. Biographical Studies and Psychometric Analyses Ten Years Later. Brill Germany/Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, https://doi.org/10.13109/9783666568688

Further Information:

Website of the project.

Contact:
Professor Dr Heinz Streib, Bielefeld University
Faculty of History, Philosophy and Theology
Email: heinz.streib@uni-bielefeld.de
Phone: +49 521 106-3377

Making artificial intelligence more natural through evolution and development

uni.news — Fri, 17 Dec 2021 10:21:33 +0100

New Humboldt Professor Yaochu Jin is doing research on nature-inspired artificial intelligence at Bielefeld University

How can artificial intelligence (AI) draw on principles from nature to solve complex problems? When it comes to recognizing patterns in large amounts of data, AI is faster and more capable than humans. However, it has difficulties when it has to make connections or deal with uncertainties and fuzziness. Through evolution, development, and learning, nature has developed much more practical problem-solving solutions. Professor Dr.-Ing. Yaochu Jin, the Alexander von Humboldt Professor of Artificial Intelligence at Bielefeld University since the autumn, is looking at how such principles can be transferred to AI.

Humboldt Professor Dr.-Ing. Yaochu Jin is doing research on nature-inspired intelligent technological systems that organize themselves in a changing environment. Photo: Bielefeld University/S. Jonek

The Humboldt Professor will be continuing his previous research on nature-inspired artificial intelligence at Bielefeld University and looking for applications of nature-inspired and self-organized AI. ‘My goal is to understand and borrow successful mechanisms from nature and transfer them into artificial intelligence for problem-solving,’ says Jin. The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation is supporting Yaochu Jin's research with prize funds amounting to 3.5 million euros over a period of five years.

The scientist, who comes from China, is currently setting up his research laboratory at the Faculty of Technology and building up his research team. Having a team with an interdisciplinary orientation is particularly important to him, because it enables him to bring together approaches from different disciplines such as computer science, biology, and medicine. He also emphasizes the need for international cooperation in his research. For example, he is looking forward to research visits from international scientists such as former students from China and researchers from the University of Surrey, UK where he worked before moving to Bielefeld. He is driven by his thirst for knowledge and his curiosity: ‘I want to do something that is currently not the main approach to AI,’ he says. ‘And I want to find out more about possible applications that have yet to be explored sufficiently.’

Enabling technical systems to organize themselves
There are quite a few areas in which AI is reaching its limits. ‘AI is designed to work very precisely,’ says Jin. ‘But when uncertainty comes into play or things are not completely clear, it gets into difficulties.’ In addition, AI usually focuses concretely on a specific question or task. Using it becomes a challenge when it has to organize itself in order to, for example, make connections or find a solution to a task that is not well defined.

Nature, on the other hand, is perfectly capable of dealing with various degrees of uncertainty. ‘When we are born, our basic equipment can draw on millions of years of evolution,’ says Jin. For example, the structure of the brain has long been tried and tested in nature. ‘But, at the same time, we change and adapt to the demands of our environment,’ the professor says. Our brain is neuroplastic and capable of constantly rewiring itself, so it can adapt. When you learn a foreign language or play a new sport, for example, your brain changes accordingly. ‘You can also see this if you let twin cats grow up in different environments. You’ll find differences in their neural systems, even though their genetic makeup is practically identical.’

Artificial intelligence that works according to the principles of nature
Hence, nature is capable of reacting and adapting flexibly to the greatest variety of problems and requirements, whereas AI is usually rigidly oriented towards concrete issues. Jin, who was previously involved in a research collaboration within the Bielefeld University’s CoR-Lab when he was at the Honda Research Institute Europe, and most recently worked as a Distinguished Chair Professor at the University of Surrey, UK and as a Finland Distinguished Professor at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, is therefore looking at how to orient AI in a way that mimics these basic principles of nature, thereby making it significantly more flexible. He has done pioneering work in the field of nature-inspired optimization and self-organization and will continue to work on evolutionary and developmental systems in Bielefeld.

At Bielefeld University, Jin will devote himself to understanding and simulating intelligence in nature—in particular, the co-evolution and development of neural systems and body plans.

Using secure and privacy-preserving evolutionary learning for healthcare

Wie kann Künstliche Intelligenz auf eine große Bandbreite von realen Problemen angewendet werden, bei denen Datenschutz und Sicherheit wichtig sind? Das ist ein weiteres Thema in der Forschung von Humboldt-Professor Dr.-Ing. Yaochu Jin in Bielefeld. Photo: Bielefeld University/S. Jonek

Jin’s future research will also focus particularly on the application of privacy-preserving AI to healthcare. ‘My main concern at the moment is how to make use of data while effectively protecting its privacy and security,’ he says. ‘Especially in healthcare, data are very sensitive and need to be as secure as possible.’ That’s why this requires not only adaptive but also particularly robust systems that can withstand attacks from outside.

Jin also has one big dream for his research: he would like to use AI to conduct research on understanding the genetic mechanisms underlying heart failure. ‘I would like to be able to determine which genes are involved and which interactions between genes increase the risk of heart problems,’ he says. ‘It's a very complex topic, of course, but I’d like to find out more about it.’

The Humboldt Professor is expected to give his inaugural lecture in March 2022. The event will be organized by the Faculty of Technology at Bielefeld University and the Joint Artificial Intelligence Institute that belongs to both Bielefeld and Paderborn universities. The lecture will be held in a hybrid format. When it will take place depends on how the coronavirus pandemic continues to develop.

Research award helps to attract top international researchers
The Alexander von Humboldt Professorship has been offered since 2008. It is the most highly endowed research award in Germany—it grants 5 million euros for academics doing experimental and 3.5 million euros for those doing theoretical research. The award is granted by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. With the Humboldt Professorship, the Foundation wants to enable German universities to raise their own profile in the global competition. It gives universities the opportunity to offer top researchers internationally competitive conditions. At the same time, the award includes an obligation to offer the new Humboldt Professors a long-term perspective for their research in Germany.

The first Humboldt Professorship at Bielefeld University was awarded to the mathematician Professor Dr William Crawley-Boevey in 2016. He is considered a luminary in his field—the representation theory of algebras. He moved to Bielefeld from the University of Leeds (UK).

Further information:

Professor Dr.-Ing. Yaochu Jin in the dossier on the Alexander von Humboldt Professorship
‘Humboldt Professorship for Artificial Intelligence for Bielefeld University’ (press release from 1 July 2021)
Website of the Joint Artificial Intelligence Institute with the latest information on the inaugural lecture

Contact:
Professor Dr.-Ing.Yaochu Jin, Bielefeld University
Faculty of Technology, Research Group Nature-Inspired Computing and Engineering
Phone: +49 521 106-6998
Email: yaochu.jin@uni-bielefeld.de

International Digital Teaching Opens Up New Perspectives

uni.news — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 13:28:44 +0100

Within the partnership of four universities in OWL and the region of Alberta

Collaborative teaching and learning across national borders: Bielefeld University (project lead), Paderborn University, Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences, and OWL University of Applied Sciences showed how international online learning and teaching can be implemented successfully. Within We CAN virtuOWL, the German-Canadian project partners developed joint digital teaching and learning formats and gave their students access to international experience without travelling. The project was funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and has now ended.

The core of the project were nine international online courses of the four universities in OWL in collaboration with the University of Alberta, MacEwan University, Concordia University of Edmonton, and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. These collaborative teaching projects ran from winter term 2020/2021 to this winter term 2021/2022 and covered various subjects from economics, social work, chemistry, education, English studies, and computer science to gender studies. In a kick-off meeting, two lecturers of a pilot project reported on their experiences with their first collaborative online course. The courses were based on the concept of Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL): the aim of the collaboration was to provide students and lecturers with international experience within their career.

During the project period, monthly virtual exchange meetings of a “Community of Practice” were held to create an interdisciplinary exchange for the lecturers and staff of the project on topics such as digital tools, evaluation, and further funding opportunities for transatlantic cooperation.

“Especially now, it is important to stay in touch with partners worldwide and to build up sustainable relationships for international learning and teaching”, says Prof. Dr. Angelika Epple, Vice-rector for Research and International Affairs. “Without your commitment and enthusiasm for international teaching, We CAN virtuOWL would have not been possible”. After the end of the project period, several collaborative teaching formats will be continued.

Prof. Dr. Torsten Meier, Vice President for International Relations at Paderborn University, also emphasizes the importance of international communication: “Intercultural competencies and the early establishment of international contacts and networks are part of good qualification profile for lecturers and students. That is why I am very pleased that we were able to offer our students another opportunity for exchange across national borders with this project.”

And Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schäfermeier, Vice President for International Affairs and Digitalization at Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences, is also appreciative of everybody involved and says: “Only globally networked science and teaching can meet today’s requirements. This is a treasure that we are in the process of unearthing with many partners, which we have been working on for years. We CAN virtuOWL shows impressively that all this is possible even under the conditions of the pandemic.”

To enhance the intercultural exchange beyond the classroom, We CAN virtuOWL offered a Digital Student Exchange and an E-Tandem program for students interested in German-Canadian exchange. Combined with the teaching formats, students had the opportunity to gain an international perspective on their subject and to build a social and professional network beyond their own university. The virtual opportunities for exchange were well received by the students: At the end of the project, they were thankful for this low-threshold and free opportunity to see the world – or at least Canada and Germany.

“It is an important concern of the Ostwestfalen-Lippe University of Applied Sciences and Arts to enable its students to engage in intercultural exchange. We are all pleased that they can build international relationships and competencies through the We CAN virtuOWL project, even in these times,” says Professor Dr. Yvonne-Christin Knepper-Bartel, Vice President for Education and Internationalization at TH OWL.

The focus of the Alberta-OWL partnership has been on the exchange of students and interns as well as on joint research. In OWL, apart from Bielefeld University, the Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences, Paderborn University, and the OWL University of Applied Sciences are members of the consortium. The partnership as well as the project We CAN virtuOWL are supported by the New York office of Campus OWL.

Further information:
We CAN virtuOWL
Alberta-OWL partnership

More targeted treatment of muscular dystrophy in future

uni.news — Fri, 26 Nov 2021 15:17:36 +0100

Bielefeld University researchers identify causative gene

For the targeted treatment of a disease, information is needed about the course of the disease at molecular and cellular level. This is also true for the group of muscle diseases that include congenital muscular dystrophies (CMD). Bielefeld scientists have been able to identify a crucial gene that triggers CMD when it ceases to function. The principal collaborator is the research group of Carsten G. Bönnemann, M.D., of the National Institutes of Health in the USA; numerous other international partners were involved in the research project. The collaboration is financed by third-party funds from the German Research Foundation (DFG). The results were published in the EMBO Molecular Medicine journal on 15 November 2021.

Impaired vesicular transport in congenital muscular dystrophy CMD. Image: Donkervoort et al. (EMBO Mol Med (2021) DOI: 10.15252/emmm.202013787) Foto: Donkervoort et al. (EMBO Mol Med (2021) DOI: 10.15252/emmm.202013787)

Congenital muscular dystrophies encompass a group of diseases whose main feature is the degeneration of muscles: progressive muscle weakness and muscle wasting. Symptoms appear at birth or early during infancy. Children’s motor development—such as head control, sitting freely or crawl-ing—is delayed or not completed. In some cases, muscle weakness is so severe that no movement against gravity is possible. Depending on the type of CMD, muscle weakness also affects organs such as the lungs or the heart and leads to a shortened life expectancy. In some types, the central nervous system is affected.

The various types of CMD have different causes. The disease can be triggered by rare variants in genes. Scientists distinguish between variants of the disease according to which gene sequences are affected and what the corresponding consequences are at molecular and cellular level.

The authors have now been able to identify a ‘new’ gene as causative: the BET1 gene. It plays an important role in transport within the cell. ‘There is a lively exchange in our cells,’ says PD [senior lecturer] Dr Michael Schwake, supervisor of the collaborative research. ‘Proteins that function as messengers or building blocks, for example, have to be moved from where they are produced to where they are needed. There is a separate transport system in the cells for this purpose: the vesicles.Imagine it as being like trucks shuttling cargo. Vesicles are self-contained structures—little bubbles—that capture materials, transport and deliver them to their destinations.’

PD Michael Schwake supervises the collaborative research. Photo: Bielefeld University Foto: Bielefeld University

The BET1 gene is involved in this cellular transport system. ‘The vesicles are composed of different building blocks. One of them is encoded by the BET1 gene that is produced according to its genetic instructions,’ says the researcher. This process is impaired in the CMD patients in the study. ‘We have been able to show that the BET1 gene loses its transport mechanism function when a certain mutation occurs. This has enabled us to identify what is known as a loss-of-function mutation for the BET1 gene that triggers CMD. Until now, this gene has not been linked to disease in humans.’

CMD is often diagnosed by genetic testing, but not all relevant gene sequences have yet been identified. At present, a differential diagnosis is often made—physicians rule out other conditions that cause similar symptoms. ‘A lot of patients suffer from CMD without having received a genetic diagnosis,’ says Schwake. ‘This is partly because we still know too little about the genetic causes and their molecular consequences. Yet, they can form the basis for a clear, individual diagnosis and targeted treatment.’

A person's genetic disposition—in other words, the hereditary characteristics they were born with—can be decisive and may be the reason why a drug does not necessarily work for particular patients: ‘The genetic cause of CMD is very complex, but it points to which cell mechanism is affected. The mechanism varies greatly between the different types of CMD. A targeted drug acts on a defined mechanism, which is why the same drug cannot be equally effective for everyone,’ explains Schwake.

At the same time, the scientists’ pure research provides a perspective. ‘Hopefully, this knowledge can be used to develop new drugs. In the long term, it could then be possible to see where therapy has to start in the cell for a particular person. That’s the basic idea of personalised medicine: drugs that exactly match the genetic disposition of the individual person.

So far, there are no therapies for most types of CMD that are effective in helping patients. Instead, the symptoms are treated—often involving physiotherapy, for example, to maintain mobility.

Original publication:
Sandra Donkervoort, Niklas Krause, Mykola Dergai, Pomi Yun, Judith Koliwer, Svetlana Gorokhova, Janelle Geist Hauserman, Beryl B Cummings, Ying Hu, Rosemarie Smith, Prech Uapinyoying, Vijay S Ganesh, Partha S Ghosh, Kristin G Monaghan, Seby L Edassery, Pia E Ferle, Sarah Silverstein, Katherine R Chao, Molly Snyder, Sara Ellingwood, Diana Bharucha-Goebel, Susan T Iannaccone, Matteo Dal Peraro, A Reghan Foley, Jeffrey N Savas, Véronique Bolduc, Dirk Fasshauer, Carsten G Bönnemann, Michael Schwake: BET1 variants establish impaired vesicular transport as a cause for muscular dystrophy with epilepsy. EMBO Molecular Medicine, https://doi.org/10.15252/emmm.202013787, published on 15 November 2021.

Contact:
PD [senior lecturer] Dr Michael Schwake
Faculty of Chemistry | Biochemistry III
Telephone: +49 521 106-2091
Email: michael.schwake@uni-bielefeld.de

Towards the Detection of the Nanohertz Gravitational-wave background

uni.news — Wed, 27 Oct 2021 14:19:37 +0200

How do galaxies evolve? The European Pulsar Timing Array provides a significant step forward

The European Pulsar Timing Array collaboration reports on the outcome of a 24 year observing campaign with five large-aperture radio telescopes in Europe, resulting in a candidate signal for the since-long sought gravitational wave background due to in-spiraling supermassive black-hole binaries. The collaboration brings together teams of astronomers around the largest European radio telescopes, as well as groups specialized in data analysis and modelling of gravitational wave signals. Among them are astrophysicists from the research group of Professor Dr. Joris Verbiest from the Faculty of Physics at Bielefeld University. Although a detection cannot be claimed yet, this represents a significant step in the effort to finally unveil gravitational waves at very low frequencies in the Nanohertz regime.
The results are presented online as refereed publication in the “Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society”.

Artistic impression of the European Pulsar Timing Array experiment. A coordinated network of European radio telescopes observed an array of pulsars distributed across the sky. The measured variation in the arrival time of the emitted pulses on Earth allows astronomers to study tiny variations in spacetime. These variations, called gravitational waves’, still propagate the Universe from a distant past, when galaxies merged and the supermassive black holes in their centre orbited each other with a period of a few years to produce them.Credit: Michael Kramer/MPIfR

The European Pulsar Timing Array is a scientific collaboration bringing together teams of astronomers around the largest European radio telescopes, as well as groups specialized in data analysis and modelling of gravitational wave signals. It has published a detailed analysis of a candidate signal for the since-long sought gravitational wave background due to in-spiraling supermassive black-hole binaries. Although a detection cannot be claimed yet, this represents another significant step in the effort to finally unveil gravitational waves at very low frequencies, of order one billionth of a Hertz. In fact, the candidate signal has emerged from an unprecedented detailed analysis and using two independent methodologies. Moreover, the signal shares strong similarities with those found from the analyses of other teams.

The results were made possible thanks to the data collected over 24 years with five large-aperture radio telescopes in Europe (see Fig. 2). They include the 100-m Radio Telescope of the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy near Effelsberg in Germany, the 76-m Lovell Telescope in Cheshire/United Kingdom, the 94-m Nançay Decimetric Radio Telescope in France, the 64-m Sardinia Radio Telescope at Pranu Sanguni, Italy and the 16 antennas of the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope in the Netherlands. In the observing mode of the Large European Array for Pulsars, the telescopes of the European Pulsar Timing Array are tied together to synthesize a fully steerable 200-m dish to greatly enhance the sensitivity of the array towards gravitational waves.

Radiation beams from the pulsars’ magnetic poles circle around their rotational axes, and are observed as pulses when they pass our line of sight, like the light of a distant lighthouse. Pulsar timing arrays are networks of very stably rotating pulsars, used as galactic-scale gravitational wave detectors. In particular, they are sensitive to very low frequency gravitational waves in the billionth-of-a-Hertz regime. This will extend the gravitational wave observing window from the high frequencies (hundreds of Hertz) currently observed by the ground-based detectors LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA. While those detectors probe short lasting collisions of stellar-mass black holes and neutron stars, Pulsar Timing Arrays can probe gravitational waves such as those emitted by systems of slowly in-spiraling supermassive black-hole binaries hosted at the centres of galaxies. The addition of the gravitational waves released from a cosmic population of these binaries forms a gravitational wave background.

“We can measure small fluctuations in the arrival times of the pulsars’ radio signal at Earth, caused by the spacetime deformation due to a passing-by very low frequency gravitational wave. In practice, these deformations manifest as sources of a very low frequency noise in the series of the observed times of arrival of the pulses, a noise which is shared by all the pulsars of a Pulsar Timing Array”, explains Dr. Jun Wang, who recently completed his PhD on this topic at Bielefeld University.

However, the amplitude of this noise is incredibly tiny (estimated to be tens to a couple of hundreds of a billionth of a second) and in principle many other effects could impart that to any given pulsar in the Pulsar Timing Array.

To validate the results, multiple independent codes with different statistical frameworks were then used to mitigate alternate sources of noise and search for the gravitational wave background. Importantly, two independent end-to-end procedures were used in the analysis for cross-consistency.

The European Pulsar timing Array analysis with both procedures found a clear candidate signal for a gravitational wave background.
Dr. Nicolas Caballero, researcher at the Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Beijing and co-lead author explains: “The European Pulsar Timing Array first found indications for this signal in their previously published data set in 2015, but as the results had larger statistical uncertainties, they were only strictly discussed as upper limits. Our new data now clearly confirm the presence of this signal, making it a candidate for a gravitational wave background “.

Radio telescopes of the EPTA network. Clockwise from upper left: Effelsberg 100-m Radio Telescope (Germany), Nançay Radio Telescope (France), Jodrell Bank Telescope (UK), Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT, The Netherlands), Sardinia Radio Telescope (SRT, Italy).Credit: Norbert Tacken/MPIfR (Effelsberg), Letourneur and Nançay Observatory (Nançay), Anthony Holloway (Jodrell Bank), ASTRON (WSRT), Gianni Alvito/INAF (SRT).

Einstein’s General Relativity predicts a very specific relation among the spacetime deformations experienced by the radio signals coming from pulsars located in different directions in the sky. Scientists call that as the spatial correlation of the signal, or Hellings and Downs curve. Its detection will uniquely identify the observed noise as due to a gravitational wave background. Dr. Siyuan Chen, researcher at the Laboratoire de Physique et de Chimie de l'Environnement et de l'Espace in Orleans, co-lead author of the study, notes: “At the moment, the statistical uncertainties in our measurements do not allow us yet to identify the presence of spatial correlation expected for the gravitational-wave background signal. For further confirmation we need to include more pulsar data into the analysis, however the current results are very encouraging.”

The European Pulsar Timing Array is a founding member of the International Pulsar Timing Array. As analyses of independent data performed by the other partners in the International Pulsar Timing Array (i.e. the NANOGrav and the PPTA experiments) also indicated similar common signals, it has become vital to apply multiple analysis algorithms to increase confidence in a possible future detection of the gravitational wave background. The members of the International Pulsar timing Array are working together, drawing conclusions from comparing their data and analyses to better prepare for the next steps.

Prof. Dr. Joris Verbiest, group leader at Bielefeld University and one of the leading members of the European Pulsar Timing Array Consortium, summarizes: “It is really satisfying to finally see the first hint of a signal. This confirms the expectation that we will soon be able to open up a new part of the gravitational-wave spectrum and use it to study the formation and evolution of galaxies throughout cosmic time in detail.”

The authors of the paper are S. Chen, R. N. Caballero, Y. J. Guo, A. Chalumeau, K. Liu, G. Shaifullah, K. J. Lee, S. Babak, G. Desvignes, A. Parthasarathy, H. Hu, E. van der Wateren, J. Antoniadis, A.-S. Bak Nielsen, C. G. Bassa, A. Berthereau, M. Burgay, D. J. Champion, I. Cognard, M. Falxa, R. D. Ferdman, P. C. C. Freire, J. R. Gair, E. Graikou, L. Guillemot, J. Jang, G. H. Janssen, R. Karuppusamy, M. J.Keith, M. Kramer, X. J. Liu, A. G. Lyne, R. A. Main, J. W. McKee, M. B. Mickaliger, B. B. P. Perera, D. Perrodin, A. Petiteau, N. K. Porayko, A. Possenti, A. Samajdar, S. A. Sanidas, A. Sesana, L. Speri, B.W. Stappers, G. Theureau, C. Tiburzi, A. Vecchio, J. P. W. Verbiest, J. Wang, L. Wang and H. Xu.
Authors with affiliated with Bielefeld University include Ann-Sofie Bak Nielsen, Joris Verbiest and Jun Wang.

Original Paper
S. Chen et al: Common-red-signal analysis with 24-yr high-precision timing of the European Pulsar Timing Array: Inferences in the stochastic gravitational-wave background search, 2021, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab2833 or
https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/508/4/4970/6410749).

Further Information:
European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA)
http://www.epta.eu.org/

International Pulsar Timing Array (IPTA)
http://www.ipta4gw.org/

Local Contact:
Prof. Dr. Joris Verbiest
Bielefeld University
Tel: +49 521 106 3184
E-mail: verbiest@physik.uni-bielefeld.de

Celebrating five years of Bielefeld University’s higher education programme for refugees

uni.news — Tue, 26 Oct 2021 08:43:42 +0200

Goal: Study programme – over 1,000 refugees supported

This year marks the fifth anniversary of the higher education programme for refugees. Since winter semester 2016/17, Bielefeld University has been mentoring refugees on their journey to university studies. The range of services is diverse: German courses, counselling, orientation and preparation courses make it easier for prospective students to get started. More than 1,000 refugees have been supported since the programme started in 2016. Over the past five years, the programme has received around 3.5 million euros in funding.

Refugees wishing to study in Germany are faced with a lot of questions that have to be clarified: is my school certificate from home sufficient to take up studies in Germany? Will academic achievements obtained abroad be recognised? What language level must I have to be able to study in a foreign language? How can I prepare for the German exam?

The higher education programme for refugees offers guidance and support with these questions and challenges: ‘For us, it is important that those seeking protection can complete their education,’ says Professor Dr Angelika Epple, vice-rector for Research and International Affairs. ‘We want to help them with this comprehensive programme. We hope that in the long term this will also help integrate refugees into academia. Academia, academic studies and teaching thrive on the diversity of perspectives and the people who enter into dialogue about them. This is how innovation is born. The programme is therefore also an opportunity for the university.’

Since the beginning of the project, more than 1,000 refugees in all have received support for their studies through the higher education programme. This comprises four groups of people: refugees who have participated or are currently participating in preparation courses; 144 refugees who have completed preparation courses with the TestDaf German language exam, qualifying them to study at a German university; refugees who have gained admission to a university or college in Germany; and finally, a group of around 50 who have remained at Bielefeld University to study.

Preparing for the German language exam
The first pillar of the higher education programme is the German language course: only the exam “Deutsch als Fremdsprache” (TestDaF) entitles the student to study at a university in Germany. By passing the exam, students prove that they have mastered the foreign language at C1 level. They are prepared for this at PunktUm, Bielefeld University’s own German learning centre. What is special about this is that parallel to the German courses, participants can take workshops that are geared to their practical everyday issues. They can also learn how to apply for a place at university as well as for a scholarship and how to formulate a letter of motivation for the master’s degree pro-gramme.

‘I was worried whether my German language skills would be sufficient to study at university,’ says a participant in the higher education programme for refugees. The coronavirus pandemic has meant that the courses of the higher education programme for refugees have also had to be held online since April 2020. ‘Learning the language of academia within such a short time and without direct contact was quite a challenge.’ In the meantime, the participant has successfully completed the TestDaF. She prepared for the exam for a total of two and a half years.

Orientation study course
Another pillar of the higher education programme for refugees is the Natural Science Orientation Studies (NaWiOs) preparation course. Prospective international students with and without a refugee background can use it to prepare for their studies. The programme covers various points: subject-specific German courses, preparation courses and the opportunity to take part in selected first-semester lectures. This gives prospective students an insight into the degree programme even before they apply.

‘When I came to Germany, I was disoriented,’ says the participant. ‘I didn't know what I had to do to be able to study here. At home, I had already studied medicine for one semester. It was clear to me that I also wanted to study medicine in Germany.’ After the orientation phase in NaWiOS, however, the decision regarding which study programme to embark on changed. ‘In the end, I decided to do a bachelor’s degree in molecular biology. It was an important and defining decision for me, and the counselling helped me a lot.’

NRWege scholarship
A third pillar is the financial support for refugees. Bielefeld University supports people with a refugee background through the NRWege scholarship. Depending on their needs, they can be supported during the individual phases of their studies: the start, studies and graduation.

‘The NRWege scholarship has given me the chance to realise my dream. Thanks to the scholarship, I can dedicate myself exclusively to my studies and concentrate on learning,’ says the participant.

She started studying molecular biology in winter semester 2021/22. After completing her bachelor’s degree, she would like to do a master’s degree in interdisciplinary biomedicine at Bielefeld University. In the long term, she would like to go into research.

The higher education programme for refugees has received around 3.5 million euros in funding over the past five years from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the Mercator Foundation, the Ministry of Culture and Science of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, to name just a few.

Application for the next semester is possible again for all three pillars as of December 2021:

Website on preparing for the German language exam
Website on the orientation study course NaWiOS
Website on the NRWege scholarship

Contact:
Daniela Stender
International Office
Telephone: +49 521 106-67542
Email: refugees@uni-bielefeld.de

Study identifies Sars-CoV-2 variant with a deletion in its genome

uni.news — Mon, 25 Oct 2021 16:25:19 +0200

Existing analysis software fails to detect missing gene building blocks

Automated gene analyses of Sars-CoV-2 samples consistently miss gene segments in the virus genome that have undergone deletion due to mutations. This is revealed in a new study by researchers at Bielefeld University’s Center for Biotechnology (CeBiTec) and the Evangelical Hospital Bethel (EvKB), one of the supporting hospitals of Medical School OWL. The research team was able to show that a large part of the ORF8 gene segment was missing in the samples it analysed. This gene region is thought to contribute to delaying defensive reactions in the human body. If it is missing, there is a chance that the virus will become less pathogenic, meaning that it will cause less serious disease. The research team has published its findings in the journal ‘Viruses’.

They have shown that automatic gene analyses of Sars-CoV-2 systematically overlook gene segments that have disappeared due to mutations. From left to right: Dr Christiane Scherer from the Evangelical Hospital Bethel; Prof. Dr Jörn Kalinowski and Prof. Dr Alexander Sczyrba, both from Bielefeld University. Foto: Bielefeld University/S. Jonek

‘When both hospitals and schools carry out routine tests to see whether people have caught the virus, their main aim is to contain further infections,’ says lead investigator Professor Dr Jörn Kalinowski, a geneticist at CeBiTec. When laboratories analyse samples with the widely available PCR tests, they are not just aiming to determine whether an infection is present. If they find a case of infection, they also investigate which variant of the virus is involved. ‘To do this, it is sufficient to identify individual characteristic gene sections that are typical for the common virus variants.’ Currently, such analyses usually produce the same result throughout Europe: the delta variant—it is far more infectious than other variants.

‘Because only a few gene segments are required to identify a common viral variant, laboratories usually simply accept that they cannot identify other gene segments,’ says Kalinowski. One reason why the genome cannot be determined completely is, for example, inadequate preparation of the sample. In addition, however, it is often the case that analysis software does not optimally recognize individual nucleotides—the gene building blocks of the viral genome. Instead of the letters A, T, G, and C, which are used to represent the gene building blocks of the viral genome, the software then writes the letter N into the gene sequence.

Existing software documents missing gene segments in a misleading way
The Bielefeld research team’s study found that this makeshift approach can lead to a far-reaching problem. ‘Mutations can lead to variants of Sars-CoV-2 in which longer gene segments are deleted,’ says bioinformatician Professor Dr Alexander Sczyrba from CeBiTec, co-author of the study. ‘We found that the commonly used standard software enters placeholders in the gene sequence even when an entire gene segment is not present at all.’ Then the letter N is written in rows in the gene sequence.

‘This is a systematic error,’ says Jörn Kalinowski, ‘because such a deletion in the genome is an important clue when it comes to future exposure to the coronavirus.’ When there is a deletion in a gene segment, properties stored in the affected gene also disappear. As the virus replicates, these properties are no longer passed on. ‘In addition, mutations that make the virus more dangerous for humans can no longer develop within such deletions in the genome.’ According to Kalinowski, such missing gene segments can be one of the reasons why Sars-CoV-2 adapts to humans as its hosts. This would then make the virus more infectious, but, at the same time, less dangerous. ‘The virus would then become endemic. In other words, it would appear regularly in different regions, as is the case with other, long-known coronaviruses that nowadays give us only harmless colds.’

Knowing the virus variant helps in reconstructing infection chains
The researchers discovered the gene deletion in the virus when analysing virus samples from the EvKB. There, medical staff and patients are tested continuously for infections with the coronavirus. Kalinowski’s research group has been analysing samples from the hospital since April 2020. For their analyses, they receive extracts containing the genetic material of the virus. These come from swabs of positively tested patients. ‘Detailed analysis of the samples enables us to reconstruct infection chains when cases occur,’ says senior physician Dr Christiane Scherer, head of microbiology at the EvKB and also co-author of the study. At the peak of the second wave of infections in January and February 2021, Scherer and her team identified a cluster of infections. They managed to contain these through extensive screening and contact tracing. The viral variant B.1.1.294 was unable to spread further on the wards.

The CeBiTec analyses confirmed that the isolation measures on the affected wards were successful. ‘We were able to state this so precisely because we discovered a special feature of the virus variant: there are 168 nucleotides missing in its genetic code,’ reports Jörn Kalinowski. The gene building blocks were missing in the gene region ‘Open Reading Frame 8’ (ORF8). This genetic information is presumably responsible for the fact that the virus succeeds in delaying the immune response of infected individuals.

Function added to analysis software
The scientists were able to detect the missing nucleotides because—in contrast to the standard PCR testing—they also applied nanopore sequencing. Compared to the usual sequencing machines, these special instruments make it possible to determine longer gene segments. The researchers also added a further function to freely available gene analysis software that correctly detects and labels missing nucleotides in gene sequences. ‘This was the only way we could determine that part of the ORF8 gene region had disappeared,’ says Kalinowski.

Geneticist Prof. Dr Jörn Kalinowski and his team at the Center for Biotechnology are using the latest nanopore sequencing to sequence the longest possible gene segments and identify deletions in the genome of Sars-CoV-2 variants. Foto: Bielefeld University/S. Jonek

‘This analysis allowed us not only to determine the cluster in our hospital,’ says Christiane Scherer, ‘but also to ensure that the viral variant had reached a dead end with us and that no one else would contract it after it had been contained.’

Evolutionary dendrogram shows related variants of the investigated virus mutant
The CeBiTec researchers wanted to know the origin of the virus variant with the deleted gene segment. To do this, they took raw data from the central database of coronavirus variants and evaluated it using their own specially developed software. ‘We were thus able to determine where other predecessors of the variant we were investigating had emerged and where similar variants could be found,’ explains Alexander Sczyrba. The scientists illustrate the result in a dendrogram of Sars-CoV-2. This shows, for example, that a precursor of the virus variant was previously discovered in Denmark.

The CeBiTec researchers also want to enable other scientists to precisely identify missing gene segments in Sars-CoV-2 variants. To this end, they are making their further development of the analysis software, including the source code, available for downloading on a relevant platform.

‘If we want to clarify what are the functions of individual genes in the virus and how it evolves, it is important for us to be able to search for further variants with deleted gene segments,’ says Jörn Kalinowski, ‘but this would require access to all the raw data from analysed coronavirus samples nationwide. Unfortunately, rigid data protection regulations currently prevent this,’ he laments.

Original publication:
David Brandt, Marina Simunovic, Tobias Busche, Markus Haak, Peter Belmann, Sebastian Jünemann, Tizian Schulz, Levin Joe Klages, Svenja Vinke, Michael Beckstette, Ehmke Pohl, Christiane Scherer, Alexander Sczyrba, Jörn Kalinowski: Multiple Occurrences of a 168-Nucleotide Deletion in SARS-CoV-2 ORF8, Unnoticed by Standard Amplicon Sequencing and Variant Calling Pipelines. Viruses, https://doi.org/10.3390/v13091870, accessed September 18, 2021.

Contact:
Professor Dr Jörn Kalinowski, Bielefeld University
Center for Biotechnology (CeBiTec)
Tel: 0521-106 8756
Email: joern@cebitec.uni-bielefeld.de

Joint signing of Data Literacy Charter

uni.news — Mon, 25 Oct 2021 16:10:15 +0200

Bielefeld University, Paderborn University and Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences advocate teaching data literacy

The Data Literacy Charter highlights data literacy as an essential part of general education. Its signatories share a common understanding of data literacy and its importance for educational processes. Bielefeld University, Paderborn University and Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences have now jointly signed the Data Literacy Charter. The two universities and the University of Applied Sciences have been involved in the DataLiteracySkills@OWL project to teach data literacy since 2019. By signing the charter, the two universities and the University of Applied Sciences commit to taking measures to spread the understanding of data literacy and to strengthen the associated competencies.

Empowering students and academics in the use of data: this is what the Universities of Bielefeld and Paderborn and the Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences are committed to as signatories of the Data Literacy Charter. Photomontage: Bielefeld University

The charter was initiated by the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft [Donors' Association for the Promotion of Science and the Humanities in Germany] The Data Literacy Charter builds on the German Federal Government’s data strategy and the Berlin Declaration on the Digital Society.

The definition of data literacy is the ability to work with and use data in the proper context. Data literacy comprises the skills of gathering data carefully with a critical eye, and managing, evaluating and using it to make informed decisions.

‘Our world is marked by increasing digitalisation,’ says Professor Dr Reinhold Decker, vice-rector for Information Infrastructure and Business Relations at Bielefeld University. ‘By backing the charter, Bielefeld University is demonstrating its ongoing commitment to empowering students and academics from all disciplines in their use of data. The fact that two other universities from the region are explicitly supporting the charter together with us sends a powerful signal.’

‘Data literacy is not only essential for individual educational biographies, but for successful participation in all areas of life, both personally and professionally,’ says Professor Dr René Fahr, vice-president for Knowledge and Technology Transfer at Paderborn University. Paderborn University is therefore actively committed to firmly anchoring the guiding principles of the charter and promoting the corresponding skills at all levels.

Commenting on the signing of the Data Literacy Charter, Professor Dr Ulrich Schäfermeier, vice president for International Studies and Digitalisation at Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences, explains: ‘As a university, we recognise the importance of this future skill and are not only raising awareness of data literacy among our students, academics and staff, but also want to empower them to consider how they use data and to use it purposefully in both social and professional contexts.’

According to the charter, data literacy is the key to systematically transforming data into knowledge. Data literacy enables people to handle their own and third-party data confidently and responsibly. It empowers people to use new drivers and technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence or the Internet of Things to meet individual needs. Today, however, data literacy is also necessary for tackling societal challenges and solving global problems.

The charter defines five guiding principles associated with data literacy:

Data literacy must be accessible to all people.
Data literacy must be taught throughout life in all areas of education.
Data literacy must be taught as a transdisciplinary competence across all subjects.
Data literacy must systematically cover the entire process of insight and decision-making with data.
Data literacy must include knowledge, skills, and values for a conscious and ethically sound handling of data.

The universities of Bielefeld and Paderborn and Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences are pursuing the goal of anchoring data literacy as a teaching and learning objective across the university in a series of projects. With the project DataLiteracySkills@OWL (DaLiS@OWL) in particular, which was launched in 2019, the universities and the University of Applied Sciences are working to prepare students for an increasingly data-driven academic world, working world and society. The project also includes the introduction of a certificate of competence for data-literate graduates developed in collaboration with the industry and academia of the region. The project is funded by the Ministry of Culture and Science in North Rhine-Westphalia. It is part of the nationwide data literacy networking initiative of the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft.

Further information:

Website of the Stifterverband on the Data Literacy Charter
Project overview on DataLiteracySkills@OWL (in German)

Contact:
Dr Juliane Theiß, Bielefeld University
DataLiteracySkills@OWL coordinator
Email: juliane.theiss@uni-bielefeld.de
Telephone: +49 521 106-67140

Stigmatization prevents lessons from the HIV pandemic

uni.news — Fri, 24 Sep 2021 20:22:19 +0200

Bielefeld researchers look at the consequences for Covid-19 in ‘Science’

The HIV pandemic hit the LGBTQI+ community particularly early: people who were already stigmatized. This stigmatization prevented the lessons of the HIV pandemic from being adopted by broader parts of society—with consequences for dealing with the Covid 19 pandemic, argue researchers from the School of Public Health at Bielefeld University. In the journal Science, they show how society could learn better from the experiences of stigmatized communities. Their contribution is part of a project at the Research Institute Social Cohesion (FGZ) funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

Professor Dr Oliver Razum and Dr Yudit Namer are conducting research on pandemics and societal cohesion. Photo left: Bielefeld University/M.-D. Müller, Photo right: Bielefeld University

‘The consequence of stigmatization is to discredit the knowledge that certain people have acquired and the experiences they have gained,’ says Professor Dr Oliver Razum. He heads the Department of Epidemiology and International Public Health at the School of Public Health. ‘This was the case during the HIV pandemic: because people from the LGBTQI+ community were stigmatized, their experiences with AIDS and the pandemic were devalued.’ LGBTQI+ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, and intersex.

This is why stigmatization results in many lessons from the HIV pandemic not reaching society. ‘The knowledge is there, but it's not accessible,’ says Dr Yudit Namer, who co-authored the letter with Razum in the journal Science and is also a researcher in the same department. ‘This has implications for the Covid 19 pandemic. For example, with protective measures: HIV-affected communities have learned how to increase the acceptance of barrier methods—such as condoms. But these lessons were lost to broader society and had to be learned all over again when it came to wearing masks as a protective measure.’

Moreover, stigmatization endangers societal cohesion: because it keeps social groups small or excluded, it helps to marginalize these groups—to push them to the edge—and thus perpetuate inequalities. The newly published letter by Namer and Razum is embedded in their project ‘Health Care for Marginalized Groups as an Indicator of Societal Cohesion’, a sub-project of the Research Institute Social Cohesion (RISC).

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research supports the FGZ

The FGZ is an association of eleven universities and research institutes including Bielefeld University. Since 2020, it is being funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research for an initial period of four years. In their sub-project, Namer and Razum are investigating how different marginalized groups experience access to healthcare and how this strengthens or jeopardizes cohesion in society.

The ideas the researchers presented in Science were developed while preparing this project. ‘The collective experiences of marginalized groups are often overlooked, even in research. Both the HIV and Covid 19 pandemics show how important it is to include their perspectives explicitly in research,’ says Razum.

In order to learn from the experiences gained by the LGBTQI+ community during the HIV pandemic, the scientists propose using various research methods. These include, for example, digital ‘archives of survivorship’ in which existing text or film material, but also interviews with those affected, are collected. In participatory action research, members of the affected community are even involved in studies as researchers themselves by developing their own research questions or conducting surveys.

Research must go hand in hand with combating stigmatization
Namer and Razum stress that this is not about demanding that marginalized groups should learn more from their experiences. ‘Instead, its the non-marginalized groups that need to learn the lessons from the experiences of those affected. Moreover, this can only be a first step, and must go hand in hand with combating marginalization and stigmatization,’ says Namer.

In other research projects, the scientists are also focusing on the experiences of marginalized groups. Razum is the spokesperson for the PH-LENS research group, which is using the example of the health of refugees to investigate broader health inequalities in Germany. The German Research Foundation (DFG) will continue to fund this research group until 2022.

‘Our research serves as a magnifying glass: its goal is not just to learn about the experiences of marginalized groups—but also, to draw general conclusions about health and society from their experiences,’ Razum says.

Original publication:
Yudit Namer, Oliver Razum: Collective agency transforms societies. Science, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abl7621, published on 3 September 2021.

Further information:

„Zusammenhalt in der Corona-Pandemie und anderen Krisen“ [Cohesion in the Corona Pandemic and Other Crises] (press release, 30 March 2020).
„Flüchtlingsgesundheit als Vergrößerungsglas für Ungleichheiten“ [Refugee health as a magnifying glass for inequalities] (Press release, 7 May 2019).
Website of the research project at the Research Institute Social Cohesion

Contact:

Professor Dr Oliver Razum, Universität Bielefeld

School of Public Health

Telephone: +49 521 106-3837

Email: oliver.razum@uni-bielefeld.de

Tiny nanoparticles improve charge transport

uni.news — Tue, 21 Sep 2021 12:08:33 +0200

Bielefeld researchers publish study on topological insulators

Three-dimensional topological insulators are materials that can conduct electric current without resistance—but only on their surface. However, this effect is difficult to measure. This is because these materials usually have little surface area in relation to their volume, which means their transport properties are dominated by bulk charge carriers. Bielefeld University physicists have now succeeded in developing topological insulators based on tiny nanoparticles and have thus been able to demonstrate charge transport on the surface. The study was conducted in cooperation with researchers from the University of Duisburg-Essen and the Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden. The scientists have published their results today (21.9.2021) in the journal Small. The European Research Council ERC funded the study with a Consolidator Grant.

Sepideh Izadi (left) and Professor Dr Gabi Schierning (right) are conducting research in nanoparticle-based quantum materials. Photo: Bielefeld University

Topological insulators have properties that can only be described by quantum physics. What is special about these quantum materials is that their bulk does not conduct electricity at all or only very poorly, while charge carriers can move without interference in protected transport channels on their surface. The compound bismuth telluride is a material with such protected transport channels.

‘Macroscopically large samples of these three-dimensional topological insulators, however, have a very high volume compared to their surface area. As a result, there are a lot more bulk charge carriers, which means their poor charge transport dominates over the charge transport on the surface,’ says Professor Dr Gabi Schierning from the Thin Films and Physics of Nanostructures research group at Bielefeld University. ‘Even though the special transport properties of three-dimensional topologi-cal insulators are predicted in theory, it is difficult to examine them in experiments.’

To get around this problem, the scientists are using nanoparticles. Nanoparticles are tiny—one nanometre is one millionth of a millimetre. Because these particles are so small, they have a large surface area in relation to their volume. Schierning and her colleagues have now compressed nano-particles of bismuth telluride into pellets five millimetres wide and 0.5 millimetres thick—and produced a three-dimensional topological insulator made up of nano units.

Macroscopic material samples with numerous interfaces

‘With this trick, we managed to create macroscopic material samples with a high number of interfaces and surfaces. Our study shows that the protected charge carriers on these surfaces can be examined and that electric current is conducted very well there,’ says Sepideh Izadi, a doctoral student in Schierning’s research group and lead author of the study. Schierning adds: ‘Our special material design has made it possible for us to tease out properties that we know from theory but could not see before. That’s what makes the work so special for me.’

The study was conducted in close cooperation with scientists from the University of Duisburg-Essen and the Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden. First, the material samples were prepared in the research group of Professor Dr Stephan Schulz from the University of Duisburg-Essen. This required a lot of work: the nanoparticles need to have very clean surfaces, for example, and not react with the environment. ‘They also have to be brought together so that they stick to each other—like building a sandcastle—but at the same time, they must not be compacted so much that the protected transport channels on the interfaces are lost,’ says Schierning.

The researchers then used various methods to investigate the charge transport on the interfaces and surfaces. Together with colleagues from the Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research in Dresden, for example, the Bielefeld scientists measured how well the material sample conducts current under different conditions, such as at different temperatures or with different magnetic fields. ‘The findings are a clear indication of transport mechanisms of a three-dimensional topological insulator,’ says Schierning.

The investigations were rounded off by terahertz spectroscopy, for which the research team of Professor Dr Martin Mittendorff from the University of Duisburg-Essen was responsible. In this process, the sample is excited with electromagnetic waves in the terahertz range and the reflected radiation is measured. Here, too, special phenomena were observed that only occur in three-dimensional topological insulators—and even at temperatures as low as about minus 70 degrees Celsius, quite high temperatures for such an effect.

A major step in fundamental research

‘Our study shows that three-dimensional topological insulators can be realised on a macroscopic scale and show their properties at comparatively high temperatures. This is a significant step in fundamental research, and one which could also be important for potential applications—but we are still a long way from that,’ says Schierning. Three-dimensional topological insulators could be used in quantum computers, for example.

The work is part of the Matter research project, which the European Research Council (ERC) is supporting with two million euros in funding. In 2019, Schierning received an ERC Consolidator Grant for this purpose; the funding runs until 2025. With this award, the Research Council supports researchers consolidating their own independent research team. Gabi Schierning, who previously worked at the Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden, has been professor of experimental physics at Bielefeld University’s Faculty of Physics since October 2020.

Original publication:

Sepideh Izadi, Jeong Woo Han, Sarah Salloum, Ulrike Wolff, Lauritz Schnatmann, Aswin Asaithambi, Sebastian Matschy, Heike Schlörb, Heiko Reith, Nicolas Perez, Kornelius Nielsch, Stephan Schulz, Martin Mittendorff, Gabi Schierning: Interface-dominated topological transport in nanograined bulk Bi2Te3. Small, https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202103281, published on 21 September 2021

Further information:

“Mit Wärme Strom erzeugen, ohne seltene Elemente zu nutzen“ (press release, in German, dated 22/2/2021)

Contact:

Professor Dr Gabi Schierning, Bielefeld University

Faculty of Physics

Telephone: +49 521 106-2661

Email: gabi.schierning@uni-bielefeld.de

How genetic islands form among marine molluscs

uni.news — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 10:54:27 +0200

International study appears in the research journal Science Advances

Usually, the individuals of a population of marine species that have the potential to disperse over long distances all share a similar genetic composition. Yet every now and then, at small, localised sites, small groups of genetically different individuals suddenly appear within populations for a short period of time. A new study explains how this chaotic formation of genetic islands can occur in marine molluscs. Scientists from Bielefeld University and the British Antarctic Survey collaborated on the research. Their study has appeared in Science Advances.

When reproducing, limpets climb on top of each other so that eggs and sperm are in close proximity when they are released into the water. Photo: BAS

By studying the limpet Nacella concinna, the researchers have managed to attribute the genetic divergence of animal groups within a population to two factors. Using genomic data, data from drift buoys, and computer simulations they were able to prove that, in the case of the limpet, an entire generation of offspring had descended from an extremely limited number of parents and that the current had carried the larvae together to one location. ‘We have succeeded in bridging the gap between theory and how things are in reality,’ says molecular biologist Professor Dr Joseph Hoffman from Bielefeld University, who is one of the authors of the study.

First evidence for theoretical assumptions on the formation of genetic islands

Dr David Vendrami from Bielefeld University helped develop a computer simulation that reconstructs the formation of genetic islands. Photo: Elena Fissenewert

Whether or not chaotic island formation occurs often depends on coincidences. ‘The dispersion of these types of organisms can be geographically limited and unstable over time,’ says Dr David Vendrami, Joseph Hoffman’s colleague and lead author of the study. ‘There are a great many theories that try to explain how these genetic islands occur,’ he says. ‘In practice, however, it has so far not been possible to attribute this to a concrete mechanism.’

The study is a collaboration between the Bielefeld researchers and colleagues from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), the UK’s polar research programme, who collected the data on site. Professor Lloyd Peck PhD from BAS collected limpet samples while diving in Antarctica and together with Joseph Hoffmann came up with the idea for the study. ‘The limpet Nacella concinna is one of the creatures that densely inhabit the shallow waters in Antarctica. Almost 500 animals live there per square metre in some places,’ says Peck. Every year, the females release millions of eggs into the water, from which larvae develop. Analysis of the genetic samples from Antarctica clearly showed a genetic island was present and suggested that genetic islands are likely to occur and disappear relatively frequently among these limpets. ‘We discovered genetic structures in which the animals in the populations are closely related to each other, so that brothers and sisters, and cousins are very dominant in a small area.’

Methodology allows the reconstruction of further cases of genetic island formation

Limpets inhabit the shallow waters in Antarctica. Photo: BAS

The research data are from 1999 and 2015 and were collected from nine locations in Antarctica. The researchers analysed the genomic data and combined them with data from drift buoys, which provided information about ocean currents. ‘We also developed computer simulations in which we recreated the life cycle of limpets to understand what events might lead to the appearance of a genetic island,’ says David Vendrami. The findings were conclusive: the entire generation of limpets in one place descended from a tiny number of parents. The larvae had also moved in unison with the ocean current and thus settled in the same place.

However, this does not mean that all other theories regarding genetic island formation are wrong. ‘An entirely different theory may apply in other cases,’ says Vendrami. ‘Our research design makes it possible to reconstruct genetic islanding in other cases as well and to narrow down the possible causes.’

‘In order to understand how marine populations evolve, it is essential to comprehend the mechanisms that influence their genetic diversity,’ says David Vendrami. This is important, for example, to be able to better assess the impact of man-made interventions or for managing protected areas and fishing grounds. ‘Our findings provide a basis for better understanding and managing marine populations.’ Anyone managing a protected area, for example, may be concerned if a lot of individual animals in one place are genetically very similar. ‘But it could also just be the formation of a short-term genetic island,’ says the scientist. ‘If this can be verified, it is easier to assess, for example, whether it makes sense to intervene because a population is at risk, or whether it is possibly just a short-term and random event.’

Original publication:
David L. J. Vendrami, Lloyd S. Peck, Melody S. Clark, Bjarki Eldon, Michael Meredith, Joseph I. Hoffman: Sweepstake reproductive success and collective dispersal produce chaotic genetic patchiness in a broadcast spawner. Science Advances, https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abj4713, published on 10 September 2021

Further information:

Website of the Hoffman Lab
Website of the British Antarctic Survey

Contact:
Dr David Vendrami, Bielefeld University
Faculty of Biology / Behavioural Science
Telephone: +49 521 106-2725
Email: david.vendrami@uni-bielefeld.de

How turbulence from a tidal turbine structure affects terns

uni.news — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 09:28:14 +0200

Drones used for the first time to map tidal currents and foraging flights

Tidal energy converters use strong tidal currents to power underwater turbines in much the same way as wind turbines. Hardly any research has so far been conducted on how their turbulent wakes may impact the marine environment. A recent international study shows: the wake of a tidal energy structure influences how terns search for food. Researchers from Bielefeld University, Queen’s University Belfast (Northern Ireland), and the University of Plymouth (England) collaborated for the study. For the first time, drones have been used to simultaneously track the movements of terns and the turbulent wake of a tidal turbine structure. The research team presents their analysis of the extensive data in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

The study shows how the SeaGen tidal power plant (pictured in the back) in a strait in Northern Ireland affects foraging by Sandwich Terns and other tern species. Photo: Lilian Lieber

In their study, the researchers focused on the turbulent wake of a tidal turbine structure set in the Narrows tidal channel, Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland, where the flow reaches speeds of up to 18 kilometres per hour.

When tidal currents flow around the turbine monopile structure, powerful whirlpools of water form, also known as a von Kármán vortex street. The turbulent wake was previously identified in a study as a foraging hotspot for the terns breeding on the scattered islands across Strangford Lough: Common, Arctic and Sandwich Terns. Most terns were seen foraging in areas of pronounced turbulence in the water.

These slender-looking seabirds feed mainly on small fish near the water surface. Being plunge divers, they first inspect the water surface in a slow search flight. Characteristically, a tern hovers over the water and when it discovers a fish or other small prey items, it performs a shallow plunge-dive to pick up its prey.

The wake of the tidal power plant makes it easier for terns to catch fish

They collaborated for the interdisciplinary research (from left): Professor Dr Roland Langrock from Bielefeld University, Dr Lilian Lieber from Queen’s University Belfast, and Dr Alex Nimmo-Smith from the University of Plymouth. Photo left: Bielefeld University, photo centre: Queen’s University Belfast, photo right: University of Plymouth

For this new study, the researchers used drones to record this search behaviour over different near-surface turbulent features (upwellings and vortices) in situ and subsequently analysed it in unprecedented detail. To track the terns’ foraging movements in the video analysis, the researchers used a combination of artificial intelligence and advanced statistical modelling. They also mapped the underlying evolving turbulence using Particle Image Velocimetry tech-niques.

‘With our analysis, we were able to show that tern foraging movements were associated with specific turbulent features in the wake,’ says Dr Roland Langrock from Bielefeld University, who is professor of statistics and data analysis and co-author of the study. He is a member of Bielefeld University’s Center for Statistics and supports scientists in various disciplines—especially biology—in the analysis of extensive data.

‘Thanks to this fantastic collaboration, we are able to show how the wake of the tidal turbine structure provided a foraging opportunity for terns,’ says marine ecologist Dr Lilian Lieber, who led the study as a research fellow at the Bryden Centre at Queen’s University Belfast (Northern Ireland). ‘We found that terns were more likely to actively forage for prey over vorti-ces. The wake, characterized by upwellings and vortices can disorientate fish and other po-tential prey, bringing them to the surface and trap them there—making prey more accessi-ble to terns in these places.’

Impact of tidal power plants on animal populations so far unclear

Turbulent wake builds up behind the tower of the SeaGen power plant, providing a ‘conveyor belt of prey’ for the local terns. Photo: Alex Nimmo-Smith

‘The drone provided a true bird’s eye view, allowing us to map dynamic turbulence features, while tracking tern foraging behaviour from a great distance without disturbing their behav-iour,’ says Dr Alex Nimmo-Smith, co-author and associate professor in marine physics at the University of Plymouth. He led the development of automatic and reliable tern tracking using artificial intelligence. Roland Langrock adds: ‘Thanks to the extremely high-resolution animal movement data, we can show and study behavioural and decision-making processes in ex-treme detail. The project presented some statistical challenges and, in my view, is a valuable contribution to the field of movement ecology, especially because of its strongly interdiscipli-nary character.’

Research to date has found that marine renewable energy structures can change how marine animals use such areas, leading to either avoidance or attraction, with as yet unknown im-pacts on population consequences. ‘Tidal turbine structures can change the occurrence, ex-tent, and intensity of turbulent features downstream—and this can influence the behaviour of seabirds,’ explains Lilian Lieber. ‘Therefore, it is important to observe and analyse potential wake interactions and the drone provided an excellent tool to understand the behavior of surface-foraging terns.’ For example, tidal and wave power plants, as well as offshore wind farms, can be preferred sites for marine life, but can also act as barriers or pose a collision risk. ‘Insights gained with the methods we are now using can provide a more holistic under-standing of the potential ecological impacts on marine life,’ says Lilian Lieber.

Original publication:
Lilian Lieber, Roland Langrock, W. Alex M. Nimmo-Smith: A bird's-eye view on turbulence: sea-bird foraging associations with evolving surface flow features. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.0592, published on 28 April 2021.

Further information:
Video clip with results of the study (‘A bird's eye view on turbulence’)

Contact:
Professor Dr Roland Langrock, Bielefeld University
Faculty of Business Administration and Economics
Telephone: +49 521 106-4879
Email: roland.langrock@uni-bielefeld.de

THE Ranking: Bielefeld University among the world’s best 200 universities

uni.news — Fri, 10 Sep 2021 14:45:41 +0200

The ranking includes more than 1,600 institutions across 99 countries

The British academic magazine ‘Times Higher Education’ (THE) has published its World University Ranking 2022, which lists Bielefeld University among the top 200 universities in the world. In Germany, it is one of the 20 best-rated universities.

Bielefeld University has been ranked 166th in the new Times Higher Education (THE) ranking. Photo: Bielefeld University

Bielefeld University is placed 166th overall. In a comparison of German universities in the ranking, Bielefeld University takes 17th place. Eleven universities from North Rhine-Westphalia are included in the ranking—at federal state level, Bielefeld University comes third behind the RWTH Aachen University and the University of Bonn.

The World University Ranking 2022 looks at 13 performance indicators across five areas: teaching, research, citations, international outlook, and third-party funding from industry. The analysis was based on more than 108 million citations from over 14.4 million research publications, interviews of around 22,000 academics across the world, and statistical surveys provided by the universities. Comparisons were made between 1,662 research-intensive universities from 99 countries for the ranking.

As in previous years, the University of Oxford in the UK heads the current international ranking. In an international comparison, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) Munich (32nd place) is the best German university.

Further information:

The ranking in detail

New study: Lack of consideration of sex and gender in Covid-19 clinical studies

uni.news — Thu, 8 Jul 2021 15:26:09 +0200

Publication in Nature Communications

Although Covid-19 affects men and women differently, the large majority of current clinical studies of SARS-CoV-2 and Covid-19 makes no mention of sex/gender. Indeed, only a fraction, 4 percent, explicitly plan to address sex and gender in their analysis, concludes a new analysis of nearly 4,500 studies. 21 percent only take this variable into account when selecting participants while 5.4 % go as far as planning to have sex-matched or representative subgroups and samples. The article is published in Nature Communications. The study is conducted by researchers at at Bielefeld University, Nijmegen's Radboud University Medical Center, Aarhus University, and University of Copenhagen.

“Most clinical studies on coronavirus and the associated disease ignore the fact that women and men are affected differently,” says study author Professor Dr med. Sabine Oertelt-Prigione from Bielefeld University. Photo: Bielefeld University

During the corona pandemic, differences can be observed between men and women. Men are more vulnerable to a severe course of Covid-19; more men are hospitalized, and more men die from the effects of the virus. Why that is, we do not know exactly yet, but the consequence of the difference may be that men and women might need different therapies. At the same time, gender is connected to the risk of infection, for example because women more commonly are employed in positions with client or customer contact, or as care-givers, increasing the risk of exposure. This calls for attention to both dimensions in the conduction of clinical trials and planning public health measures.

Still, only a minority of 4,420 registered clinical studies on Covid-19 mention sex/gender in the study registration, a new analysis published in Nature Communications shows.

According to the last author of the article, Sabine Oertelt-Prigione from Radboud University and at the Medical School of Bielefeld University, the lacking consideration of sex and gender is problematic: “We have seen from the beginning that the disease does not have an identical course for women and men. The differences in rates of hospitalization and death point to this. This means that our care, such as medicines or other interventions, could also have a different outcome depending on whether the patient is a woman or a man.”

Only 4 percent of studies registered plan to explicitly include sex as a variable in their analysis

The researchers looked at 4,420 Covid-19 studies registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, a U.S. database of more than 300,000 studies from 200 countries. In the Covid-19 sample, 1,659 were observational studies, and 2,475 were intervention studies.

Of these 4,420 registered studies, 935 (21.2%) explicitly addressed sex/gender solely as a recruitment criterion and only 178 (4%) mentioned sex/gender as a planned analytical variable. A further 237 (5.4%) planned sex-matched or representative samples (65) or emphasized sex/gender reporting (172). 124 studies (2.8%) focused solely on one sex, with 100 recruiting only female participants and 24 only male ones. Female-only studies mostly focused on the relation between Covid-19 and pregnancy outcomes.

Research under time pressure

A reason for not including data on sex and gender may be that the studies are conducted under high time pressure. Sabine Oertelt-Prigione: “Researchers are sometimes worried that analyzing sex differences in a study might mean more participants and longer recruitment times to reach their targets. Especially in the early phases of the pandemic, they were working under lots of time pressure ”.

Emer Brady, first author of the study and working at the Danish Center for Studies in Research and Research Policy at Aarhus University supplements with: “On the subject of time pressures, we did hope that as the pandemic wore on and more awareness was raised about the sex and gender disparities we would see more of a focus on sex and gender in the study protocols being registered on ClinicalTrials.gov, but that turned out not to be the case. We also looked at the published trials, where the attention to sex and gender was higher, but still only one in four trials accounted for or reported sex or gender in their analyses.”

Oertelt-Prigione emphasizes the importance of sex and genders role in clinical research: “We increasingly see that men and women respond differently to pharmacological interventions. Ignoring this in trials might lead to serious unwanted side effects later. Looking at sex differences has helped us understand the infection better and it will help us understand our treatment options better. Taking into consideration sex differences is an essential step toward more personalized healthcare.”

Original publication:

Emer Brady, Mathias Wullum Nielsen, Jens Peter Andersen, Sabine Oertelt-Prigione: Lack of consideration of sex and gender in COVID-19 clinical studies. Nature Communications, https://www.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24265-8, published on 6 July 2021

Further information:

Press release on the appointment of Professor Dr med. Sabine Oertelt-Prigione (in German)

Kontakt:

Professor Dr med. Sabine Oertelt-Prigione, Bielefeld University

Medical School OWL

Telephone: +49 521 106-86621

E-mail: sabine.oertelt-prigione@uni-bielefeld.de

The reproductive advantages of large male fish

uni.news — Wed, 7 Jul 2021 11:27:58 +0200

Bielefeld University researchers publish systematic review and meta-analysis on mosquitofish

In mosquitofish, of the genus Gambusia, male fish are smaller than females – sometimes only half the size. Biologists had previously assumed that smaller male mosquitofish had at least some reproductive advantages. Researchers from the transregional collaborative research centre NC³ at Bielefeld University have shown in a systematic review and meta-analysis that larger mosquitofish are actually more successful at reproduction: they can, for instance, better challenge their rivals; they produce more sperm; and they are preferred by female fish. The researchers are presenting their findings today (07.07.2021) in the Journal of Animal Ecology.

Prof. Dr. Klaus Reinhold (l.) and Dr. Alfredo Sánchez-Tójar from the transregional collaborative research centre NC3 studied large male mosquitofish in a systematic review and meta-analysis. Photo: Bielefeld University

Mosquitofish are small fish with nondescript coloring of the genus Gambusia, which contains some 45 species. While female mosquitofish can be up to 7 centimetres long, males are often just about 4 centimetres long. Their sizes, however, do vary and these fish are therefore often used to study sexual selection based on body size. “Even though there have been many studies on whether body size in males confers reproductive advantages, the findings have been mixed,” says Alfredo Sánchez-Tójar, a biologist who is working in the transregional collaborative research centre NC³ (SFB-TRR 212) in a subproject investigating the behavioural ecology of individualised niches using meta-analyses (subproject D05).

Studies have indeed shown that larger male fish are better at driving off rivals, and that females prefer larger males when it comes to mating. Male mosquitofish, however, usually circumvent the cooperation of the female by forcing copulation. Because male fish are smaller, they are more agile and are better at lying in wait, making them more successful in these forced mating strategies.

For their systematic review and meta-analysis, the NC³ researchers evaluated 36 different studies that had investigated the correlation between body size and reproductive performance in male Gambusia fish. ‘Our work demonstrates that larger male Gambusia fish actually have greater reproductive success than their smaller counterparts. This correlation is surprising – we had assumed that the advantages of small male fish would carry greater weight,’ says Sánchez-Tójar.

‘This meta-analysis brings together many years of research on this topic and enables biologists to study additional questions in this field in the future. Such systematic reviews and meta-analyses are becoming ever more important, in part because the scientific literature is constantly increasing,’ says Professor Dr. Klaus Reinhold, a member of Bielefeld University’s Faculty of Biology and the head of the Evolutionary Biology research group as well as the NC³ -Subproject D05. Reinhold and Sánchez-Tójar conducted the systematic review and meta-analysis together with two other researchers: Dr. Nicholas Patrick Moran, from the National Institute of Aquatic Resources (DTU Aqua) at the Technical University of Denmark, and Bora Kim, from the Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna. Moran and Kim both previously participated in the collaborative research centre NC³ .

A male mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki) attempting to mate with a female. Photo: Andrew Kahn

In their meta-analysis, the researchers included studies in which the correlation between body size and reproductive performance was not part of the study’s research question, but data on this was still collected. Using pre-registration, the researchers documented their hypotheses and methods in advance before performing the actual analysis. ‘Such strategies are important for a review to be meaningful – and for the results to be as unbiased as possible,’ says Sánchez-Tójar.

The studies under review had measured reproductive performance in many different ways: data had been collected, for example, on which males were preferred by female Gambusia, whether copulation was successful and whether it resulted in paternity, or on the quality and quantity of sperm. ‘Our work shows that the positive correlation between reproductive performance and body size is robust in all of these areas,’ says Sánchez-Tójar. The largest effect size is seen in mate selection by females: the larger the male fish, the more likely it is for female fish to mate with him. ‘This is particularly interesting because the influence of female mate selection in mosquitofish had previously been neglected in the literature, as the focus was often placed on coercive mating,’ explains Sánchez-Tójar.

The scientists hope to make a mark on future research with their study. ‘In some categories of reproductive performance, the findings are very heterogenous, which also has to do with study design. In some cases, the experimental environment is not complex enough because, for example, vegetation is missing or temperatures and periods of light exposure are unrealistic,’ says Kim, who is the lead author on the study. Moran adds: ‘This systematic review and meta-analysis provides a solid foundation upon which to further refine research questions and methods.’

The aim of subproject D05 is to produce these types of meta-analyses on the topics under investigation in the NC³ transregional collaborative research centre. NC³ stands for ‘Niche Choice, Niche Conformance, Niche Construction.’ This collaborative research centre includes locations at Bielefeld University, the University of Münster, and the University of Jena and investigates ecological niches at the individual level, bringing together behavioral biology, ecology, and evolutionary biology with theoretical biology and philosophy. The German Research Foundation (DFG) has been funding NC³ since January 2018, initially for a period of four years, with a total of 8.5 million Euro.

Original publication:
Bora Kim, Nicholas Patrick Moran, Klaus Reinhold, Alfredo Sánchez-Tójar: Male size and reproductive performance in three species of livebearing fishes (Gambusia spp.): a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Animal Ecology, https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13554, published on 7 July 2021.

Contact:
Dr. Alfredo Sánchez-Tójar, Bielefeld University
Faculty of Biology
Telephone: +49 521 106-2727
Email: alfredo.sanchez-tojar@uni-bielefeld.de

Humboldt Professorship for Artificial Intelligence for Bielefeld University

uni.news — Thu, 1 Jul 2021 12:21:22 +0200

Computer scientist Yaochu Jin receives Germany’s highest international research award

Bielefeld University has been awarded its second Alexander von Humboldt Professorship. This time, it goes to the computer scientist Professor Dr Yaochu Jin. He is one of the world’s leading experts on evolutionary algorithms—a form of artificial intelligence (AI) that optimizes its own capabilities. In autumn 2021, Jin will move from the University of Surrey (UK) to Bielefeld University. The Humboldt Professorship enables researchers who have previously been working abroad to take up a professorship at a German university where they can conduct pioneering research. It is the most highly endowed international research award in the country. Yaochu Jin will receive 3.5 million euros in prize money over a period of five years. It was announced today (01.07.2021) that a total of six new Humboldt Professorships have been selected. Jin is one of three award winners who will be honoured with the award for their research on AI.

Professor Dr Yaochu Jin will start conducting research as a Humboldt Professor at Bielefeld University in October 2021. As part of the research award, he will receive 3.5 million euros. Photo: Pei An

‘We are delighted that the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation is honouring the university’s previous research achievements on human-centred artificial intelligence with this award and ensuring that Yaochu Jin will enrich our research in this field with his expertise,’ says Professor Dr Gerhard Sagerer, rector of Bielefeld University. Yaochu Jin will take up his professorship in the Faculty of Technology. ‘He will play a prominent role in developing new research networks and, in particular, in networking the Faculty of Technology and the Medicine School OWL. This can include, for example, developing self-learning systems for medical analyses and thus creating innovations for personalized medicine,’ Gerhard Sagerer explains.

Evolutionary algorithms as the key to future technologies
Yaochu Jin’s research can be used not only for medical services, but also for numerous other applications such as solving industrially significant problems. These may range from interaction between robots to the design of vehicles.

All these applications are based on evolutionary algorithms that use principles of natural evolution to solve technical problems. One use of Jin’s research results is to apply such principles to multi-objective optimization—for example, to achieve not only accurate but also robust and energy-efficient solutions in the field of swarm robotics and engineering design.

Connected to Bielefeld University for more than a decade
At Bielefeld University’s Faculty of Technology, Yaochu Jin will establish a new working group ‘Nature-Inspired Computing and Engineering’. He and his team will also be setting up a research laboratory equipped with hardware for morphogenetic robotics. In this form of robotics, shaped decisively by Jin, who is viewed as one of the pioneers in the field of swarm robotics, robots evolve in self-organized ways. The morphogenetic self-organization mechanism, inspired from biological morphogenesis, enables robots to self-organize as a group in order to solve a problem that a single robot would not be able to cope with alone.

‘I am looking forward to continuing my work at Bielefeld University in the future and helping to further develop the Bielefeld approach to cognitive interaction technology,’ says Yaochu Jin. He has been associated with the East Westphalian university for a long time. In recent years, he has consulted several Bielefeld doctoral students with their projects. Before that, from 2007 to 2010, he was a lead investigator at the graduate school of the university’s Research Institute for Cognition and Robotics (CoR-Lab) that was run as a partnership between Bielefeld University and the Honda Research Institute Europe (Offenbach). ‘During that time, I experienced how open scientists in Bielefeld are, to cooperative and interdisciplinary research. In addition, there is a continuous collaboration with external companies and research institutions. These provide a perfect environment for creating technical solutions that actually work in practice.’

Innovations in problem solving for complex scenarios
‘One aspect that played a special role when nominating Yaochu Jin for the Humboldt Professorship is that he complements the research profile of the Faculty of Technology, particularly through his focus on the multi-objective optimization of AI systems,’ explains Professor Dr Barbara Hammer, chair of the Machine Learning research group. Hammer was instrumental in preparing Yaochu Jin’s nomination. ‘Expertise in multi-objective optimization is essential for efficient problem solving in complex scenarios. It is thus not only highly relevant in various fields such as modular robotics, medicine, and bioinformatics, but also in economics and machine learning,’ says Hammer, who has collaborated with Jin several times in the past. For example, both are active members of the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society, an international professional association. ‘I am especially looking forward to doing research with Yaochu Jin on innovations in federated learning and online machine learning.’

Professor Dr.-Ing. Yaochu Jin, born in China, began his academic career at Zhejiang University in China, where he worked as an associate professor following his doctorate in 1996. After research stays at the Ruhr University Bochum and the State University of New Jersey, USA, he conducted research at Honda R&D Europe and Honda Research Institute Europe, both in Offenbach, Germany, from 1999 to 2010. In 2010, he moved to the University of Surrey, United Kingdom, as a professor, and became one of 14 Distinguished Chair Professors at Surrey in 2019. He was also Finland Distinguished Professor at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland for three years. Jin’s research has been recognized with numerous awards. For example, he has received five Outstanding Paper Awards from the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society and has been appointed an IEEE Distinguished Lecturer several times. In November 2015, he was elevated to an IEEE Fellow for contributions to evolutionary optimization.

Research award helps to attract top international researchers
The Alexander von Humboldt Professorship has been offered since 2008. It is the most highly endowed research award in Germany—it grants 5 million euros for academics doing experimental and 3.5 million euros for those doing theoretical research. The award is granted by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. With the Humboldt Professorship, the Foundation wants to enable German universities to raise their own profile in the global competition. It gives universities the opportunity to offer top researchers internationally competitive conditions. At the same time, the award includes an obligation to offer the new Humboldt Professors a long-term perspective for their research in Germany.

The first Humboldt Professorship at Bielefeld University was awarded to the mathematician Professor Dr William Crawley-Boevey in 2016. He is considered a luminary in his field—the representation theory of algebras. He moved to Bielefeld from the University of Leeds (UK).

Further information:

Press release of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
Press release on the first Humboldt Professorship at Bielefeld University

Contact:
Professor Dr Barbara Hammer, Bielefeld University
Faculty of Technology
Phone: 0521 106-12115
Email: bhammer@techfak.uni-bielefeld.de

Signing the 2020 Magna Charta Universitatum

uni.news — Thu, 17 Jun 2021 12:16:43 +0200

At the invitation of the Observatory Magna Charta in Bologna, Italy, Bielefeld University participated in the virtual ceremony for the official signing of the 2020 Magna Charta Universitatum, which took place on June 16th and 17th. Rector Professor Dr.-Ing. Gerhard Sagerer served as signatory in the ceremony. In a video message, Rector Sagerer explained how the values of the Magna Charta Universitatum are put into practice at Bielefeld University. This presentation was selected as an exemplary model of “Best Practices” at the ceremony.

A bit of context: The Magna Charta Universitatum was established in 1988 by the University of Bologna for its 900th anniversary and is founded on the ideals of enshrining academic freedom and institutional autonomy as fundamental values of academic institutions. The charter has since been signed by more than 900 universities in 88 countries around the world.

Bielefeld University’s first signing of the charter took place in 2017 by Professor Dr. Angelika Epple, Vice-Rector of International Affairs und Diversity. The updated version of the charter brings together universities’ commitment to shared principles and values – including institutional independence, freedom of knowledge and expression, tolerance, and the indivisibility of research and teaching – with the global challenges of the twenty-first century.

By signing this new version of the charter, universities affirm their responsibility for creating a sustainable future in which academic institutions will have a positive impact on the world and society. They commit to uphold the autonomy and integrity of scholarship and teaching, and to further advance these academic pillars by strengthening international networks based on ethical principles that create and disseminate knowledge, and promote critical thinking and a plurality of opinions.

The ratification of this charter also upholds diversity as a guiding principle at Bielefeld University and affirms the associated values of inclusion, social responsibility, and critical reflection.

Rector Professor Dr.-Ing. Gerhard Sagerer’s video presentation for the signing of the 2020 Magna Charta Universitatum (in English).

For more information, please visit:
www.magna-charta.org

Collaborative Research Centre on the analysis of uncertainty, randomness and low regularity extended

uni.news — Tue, 1 Jun 2021 09:10:58 +0200

German Research Foundation (DFG) supports network with 10 million euros in funding

Bielefeld University’s maths-oriented Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) 1283 is to be funded for another four years as of July 2021. The CRC bears the title ‘Taming uncertainty and profiting from randomness and low regularity in analysis, stochastics and their applications’. The German Research Foundation (DFG) announced that it will be extending the interdisciplinary research network for an additional period. Around 10 million euros has been approved for the second funding period. The DFG also reported today that two applications for Transregional Collaborative Research Centres, in which Bielefeld University is involved, have also been approved: CRC/TRR 318 will be newly established and CRC/TRR 211 will be extended.

Professor Dr Sebastian Herr becomes spokesperson for the renewed Collaborative Research Centre (CRC 1283) at Bielefeld University. Photo: Bielefeld University

‘This decision by the German Research Foundation means that Bielefeld University will have five Collaborative Research Centres in future. Interdisciplinary collaborative research on today’s big questions plays a major role for our university,’ says Professor Dr-Ing. Gerhard Sagerer, Rector of Bielefeld University. ‘My congratulations to all the academics involved in the three CRC applications on their great success and the excellent evaluation by the external reviewers.’

Collaborative Research Centre 1283 was established in July 2017 and develops mathematical concepts and theories for dealing with uncertainty and randomness. These insights are applied to previously unsolved problems in various fields of economics and natural sciences, especially in biology and physics.

A total of 17 subprojects belong to the interdisciplinary CRC. Most of them are based at the Faculty of Mathematics, while other projects are underway at Bielefeld University’s Center for Mathematical Economics, the Faculty of Physics, and the Faculty of Technology. The CRC’s funding also covers 12 doctoral positions and 15 post-doctoral positions.

‘On the one hand, the CRC wants to tame uncertainty and, on the other hand, profit from randomness, and use it wisely,’ explains future CRC spokesperson Professor Dr Sebastian Herr from the Faculty of Mathematics, who is taking over the office from Professor Dr Michael Röckner.

Sebastian Herr explains that there are uncertainties beyond classical randomness described by probabilitytheory. ‘Such model uncertainties play a major role in financial and insurance markets.’ One of the CRC’s aims is to develop robust methods for these markets and thus minimise model uncertainty.

In other places, however, randomness leads to opportunities: sufficiently strong stochastic influences, that is to say those determined by randomness, have a regularising effect. For example, some differential equations, with which many laws of nature can be precisely formulated in physics, can only be solved by adding stochastic components. ‘Even from a purely mathematical point of view, investigations of random influences lead to fascinating connections between different subdisciplines and require the development of entirely new methods. A whole lot of exciting research work awaits us here for the second funding period,’ says Sebastian Herr.

Professor Dr Frank Riedel, Professor Dr Michael Röckner, and Professor Dr Sebastian Herr make up the executive board which coordinates the CRC. The 17 subprojects are each led by professors from Bielefeld University. The research network’s subprojects are led by 17 researchers from Bielefeld University and 4 researchers from Chinese universities.

Five Collaborative Research Centres at Bielefeld University
The number of Collaborative Research Centres at Bielefeld University has increased from four to five as a result of the new decisions by the German Research Foundation (DFG). This extension means that CRC 1283 on the study of randomness will be funded until mid-2025. The DFG has also announced the extension of Transregional Collaborative Research Centre (CRC/TRR) 211, a collaboration with the Technical University of Darmstadt and Goethe University Frankfurt. Physicists are investigating the interactions of matter under extreme conditions. Transregional Collaborative Research Centre (CRC/TRR) 318 on the explainability of artificial intelligence (AI), for which the universities of Bielefeld and Paderborn are cooperating, has now been newly approved. CRC 1288 at Bielefeld University, which is investigating the historically variable practices of comparison, was already extended at the end of 2020. Another Transregional Collaborative Research Centre (CRC/TRR 212) is examining why animals each choose their own distinctive niche in the ecosystem. The universities of Bielefeld and Münster have been collaborating for the network since 2018.

Collaborative Research Centres (CRCs) are long-term research facilities at universities in which academics work together as part of an interdisciplinary research programme. They are financed by the DFG and enable challenging, complex, and long-term research projects to be carried out. Ideally, funding runs for twelve years, with a funding period lasting four years.

Further information is available online at:

DFG press release (in German) on new Collaborative Research Centres
‘Developing explanations together: New Collaborative Research Centre on Artificial Intelligence at the Universities of Paderborn and Bielefeld‘ (press release in German, dated 25/5/2021)
‘From heavy ion and neutron star collisions to the Big Bang‘ (press release in German dated 25/5/2021)
CRC 1283 Website

Contact:
Dr Claudia Köhler, Bielefeld University
Managing director of the CRC 1283
Telephone: 0049 (0)521 106-4767
Email: ckoehler@math.uni-bielefeld.de

Graphene: Everything under control

uni.news — Thu, 8 Apr 2021 10:46:58 +0200

Research team demonstrates control mechanism for quantum material

How can large amounts of data be transferred or processed as quickly as possible? One key to this could be graphene. The ultra-thin material is only one atomic layer thick, and the electrons it contains have very special properties due to quantum effects. It could therefore be very well suited for use in high-performance electronic components. Up to this point, however, there has been a lack of knowledge about how to suitably control certain properties of graphene. A new study by a team of scientists from Bielefeld and Berlin, together with researchers from other research institutes in Germany and Spain, is changing this. The team’s findings have been published in the journal Science Advances.

Professor Dr. Dmitry Turchinovich of Bielefeld University is one of the two study leads. He investigates how graphene can be used in future electrical engineering applications. Photo: Bielefeld University/M.-D. Müller

Consisting of carbon atoms, graphene is a material just one atom thick where the atoms are arranged in a hexagonal lattice. This arrangement of atoms is what results in graphene’s unique property: the electrons in this material move as if they did not have mass. This “massless” behavior of electrons leads to very high electrical conductivity in graphene and, importantly, this property is maintained at room temperature and under ambient conditions. Graphene is therefore potentially very interesting for modern electronics applications.

It was recently discovered that the high electronic conductivity and “massless” behavior of its electrons allows graphene to alter the frequency components of electric currents that pass through it. This property is highly dependent on how strong this current is. In modern electronics, such a nonlinearity comprises one of the most basic functionalities for switching and processing of electrical signals. What makes graphene unique is that its nonlinearity is by far the strongest of all electronic materials. Moreover, it works very well for exceptionally high electronic frequencies, extending into the technologically important terahertz (THz) range where most conventional electronic materials fail.

In their new study, the team of researchers from Germany and Spain demonstrated that graphene’s nonlinearity can be very efficiently controlled by applying comparatively modest electrical voltages to the material. For this, the researchers manufactured a device resembling a transistor, where a control voltage could be applied to graphene via a set of electrical contacts. Then, ultrahigh-frequency THz signals were transmitted using the device: the transmission and subsequent transformation of these signals were then analyzed in relation to the voltage applied. The researchers found that graphene becomes almost perfectly transparent at a certain voltage – its normally strong nonlinear response nearly vanishes. By slightly increasing or lowering the voltage from this critical value, graphene can be turned into a strongly nonlinear material, significantly altering the strength and the frequency components of the transmitted and remitted THz electronic signals.

When a control voltage is applied to graphene, the frequency conversion of the current can be controlled. Image: Juniks, Dresden, CC-BY

“This is a significant step forward towards implementation of graphene in electrical signal processing and signal modulation applications,” says Prof. Dmitry Turchinovich, a physicist at Bielefeld University and one of the heads of this study. “Earlier we had already demonstrated that graphene is by far the most nonlinear functional material we know of. We also understand the physics behind nonlinearity, which is now known as thermodynamic picture of ultrafast electron transport in graphene. But until now we did not know how to control this nonlinearity, which was the missing link with respect to using graphene in everyday technologies.”

“By applying the control voltage to graphene, we were able to alter the number of electrons in the material that can move freely when the electrical signal is applied to it,” explains Dr. Hassan A. Hafez, a member of Professor Dr. Turchinovich’s lab in Bielefeld, and one of the lead authors of the study. “On one hand, the more electrons can move in response to the applied electric field, the stronger the currents, which should enhance the nonlinearity. But on the other hand, the more free electrons are available, the stronger the interaction between them is, and this suppresses the nonlinearity. Here we demonstrated – both experimentally and theoretically – that by applying a relatively weak external voltage of only a few volts, the optimal conditions for the strongest THz nonlin-earity in graphene can be created.”

“With this work, we have reached an important milestone on the path towards to using graphene as an extremely efficient nonlinear functional quantum material in devices like THz frequency converters, mixers, and modulators,” says Professor Dr. Michael Gensch from the Institute of Optical Sensor Systems of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Technical University of Berlin, who is the other head of this study. “This is extremely relevant because graphene is perfectly compatible with existing electronic ultrahigh-frequency semiconductor technology such as CMOS or Bi-CMOS. It is therefore now possible to envision hybrid devices in which the initial electric signal is generated at lower frequency using existing semiconductor technology but can then very efficiently be up-converted to much higher THz frequencies in graphene, all in a fully controllable and predictable manner.”

Researchers from Bielefeld University, the Institute of Optical Sensor Systems of the DLR, the Tech-nical University of Berlin, the Helmholtz Center Dresden-Rossendorf, and the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Germany, as well as the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2) and the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO) in Spain participated in this study.

Original publication:
Sergey Kovalev, Hassan A. Hafez, Klaas-Jan Tielrooij, Jan-Christoph Deinert, Igor Ilyakov, Nilesh Awari, David Alcaraz, Karuppasamy Soundarapandian, David Saleta, Semyon Germanskiy, Min Chen, Mohammed Bawatna, Bertram Green, Frank H. L. Koppens, Martin Mittendorff, Mischa Bonn, Michael Gensch, and Dmitry Turchinovich: Electrical tunability of terahertz nonlinearity in graphene. Science Advances, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abf9809, published on 7 April 2021.

Further information:
Website of the Terahertz Physics Group

Contact:
Professor Dr. Dmitry Turchinovich, Bielefeld University
Faculty of Physics
Telephone: +49 521 106-5468
Email: dmtu@physik.uni-bielefeld.de

Shaping diversity: Bielefeld University succeeds in Diversity Audit

uni.news — Mon, 22 Mar 2021 15:02:40 +0100

Angelika Epple: ‘Developing talents in the best possible way without failing because of the given structures’.

After an intensive two-year auditing process, the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft [Donors’ Association for the Promotion of Sciences and Humanities in Germany] has now (09.03.2021) awarded Bielefeld University the ‘Shaping Diversity’ certificate. With this award, the Stifterverband recognizes the university’s commitment to developing an organizational culture that takes a critical stance towards discrimination. Professor Dr Angelika Epple, the Vice-rector for International Affairs and Diversity, accepted the certificate on behalf of the university during a digital ceremony.

Professor Dr Angelika Epple was the vice rector responsible for supervising the audit.
Foto: Universität Bielefeld/S. Jonek

The vice-rector explains the background to the audit: ‘We want to understand how we can reduce existing barriers or determine what different people need. This is the only way in which they can develop their personal talents as optimally as possible without failing because of the given structures.’

The list of results of the audit is long and varied: An Accessibility Action Plan, for example, includes a checklist for making events accessible and an online tool for checking the accessibility of teaching materials. In the future, there will be a module on ‘Diversity, Heterogeneity, Inclusion’ especially for student teachers as a specialization on which they can focus and receive targeted further training. In addition, a further diversity-sensitive training course has been designed for young researchers. A new counselling map points the way to various provisions in the field of diversity. Furthermore, a proposal to set up a commission to counter discrimination has been developed. The results are now being pursued in different areas of the university, depending on the topic: for example, in the Central Accessibility Office (ZAB), in the Bielefeld School of Education (BiSEd), and also in personnel development.

The auditor, Dr Daniela de Ridder, praised Bielefeld University for having been particularly successful in integrating diverse perspectives into the auditing process: students, lecturers, researchers, staff from technology and administration, several vice rector’s offices, and a broad spectrum of internal university groups and initiatives contributed to the audit. The starting point for developing strategies and measures was the people who study and work at Bielefeld University and their diverse backgrounds. For example, many students have grown up in a non-academic home, have a migration history, care for children or relatives, or have a disability. These are just a few of the many facets that come into play when addressing the topic of diversity and these need to be taken into account systematically.

‘Diversity is not something that can simply be decided or decreed,’ says Epple, ‘The process, exchanging information about it—that is the core of diversity work.’ The ‘Diversity Mission Statement’ remains a commitment going beyond the auditing process: the university is committed to an explicitly positive understanding of diversity and it understands this as a strength and a mandate to work for an open and diverse society—especially in times when anti-democratic currents are gaining ground. ‘The completion of the audit is therefore only one stage on the path that Bielefeld University wants to take as a diversity-sensitive university,’ says Epple.

The certificate is valid for three years.

Information from the Stifterverband on the Diversity Audit