uni.news

» Published on 3. Dezember 2019

How physics and mathematics profit from randomness

15th Brunel–Bielefeld Workshop at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research

What are the characteristic features of randomness? Mathematicians and physicists are working together to explore this issue at the 15th Brunel–Bielefeld Workshop on ‘Random matrix theory and applications’ from 5 to 7 December. Random matrices are arrangements of numbers in the form of tables whose values are selected at random. They help to solve major mathematical problems or to better understand physical systems. The workshop is being financed by the Center for Interdisciplinary Research (ZiF) and the Collaborative Research Centre ‘Taming uncertainty and profiting from randomness and low regularity in analysis, stochastics and their applications’ (CRC 1283). Professor Dr Gernot Akemann from the Faculty of Physics at Bielefeld University is organizing the workshop together with scientists from Brunel University and Imperial College London (Great Britain).

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» Published on 29. November 2019

Democratic education in populist times

Work starts for a Europe-wide network of laboratory schools

How do children learn co-determination in their schools and how do they cope with all the diversity of opinions, abilities, and cultural differences? This is just one of the questions being addressed by the new project LabSchoolsEurope. It is being coordinated by Bielefeld University that initiated the project together with Bielefeld’s Laborschule [laboratory school]. Researchers and teachers are cooperating in the project to develop innovations in democratic education for dealing with heterogeneity in primary schools. Universities and schools are working together at five locations—in Austria, the Czech Republic, England, France, and Germany. The project is being funded by Erasmus+, the European Union programme for education, youth, and sport.

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» Published on 6. November 2019

Have the Great Theories Become Obsolete?

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» Published on 29. Oktober 2019

Availability of health data for refugees and migrants in Europe

A new study commissioned by the World Health Organization (WHO) and conducted by researchers at the University Bielefeld and University Hospital Heidelberg shows data gaps and policy options for the 53 Member States.

The WHO Regional Office for Europe has commissioned a new report reviewing evidence on the availability and integration of data for health and health care among refugees and migrants in health information systems across the WHO European Region. Results are in-tended to support the 53 Member States by informing national policies and international cooperation activities to improve refugee and migrant data. The research was conducted under the leadership of Professor Dr. Kayvan Bozorgmehr, Department of Population Medi-cine and Health Services Research and research group leader at the University Hospital Heidelberg.

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» Published on 18. Oktober 2019

Meeting Artificial Intelligence

Conference to be held at Cluster of Excellence CITEC from 24–25 October

Artificial intelligence attempts to emulate human problem-solving abilities. That said, “thinking” technical systems are not automatically able to put themselves in other people’s shoes and interact with them according to the particularities of the situation. With the establishment of the Cluster of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology 12 years ago, researchers began working on developing technology that adapts to the human user. At the 2019 CITEC Conference from 24–25 October 2019, re-searchers will present the fruits of their research and discuss how their approaches can contribute to future advancements in the field of cognitive interaction technology. The conference, which will be held at the CITEC Building, is called “Cognitive Interaction Technology Meets AI.” Renowned robotics researchers Professor Dr. Hiroshi Ishiguro from Japan and Dr. Guilio Sandini of Italy will deliver the keynote lectures. Both talks will be open to the public.

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» Published on 11. Oktober 2019

Science Cinema with Robotics Expert Hiroshi Ishiguro

Japanese researcher on campus for 2019 CITEC Conference at Bielefeld University

The science fiction drama “Sayōnara” is considered to be the first film with an android as an actor. “Geminoid F” portrays a faithful robot who stays at the side of young, sick woman after a nuclear contamination. The Geminoid F robot was developed by Japanese robotics researcher Professor Dr. Hiroshi Ishiguro, who became known worldwide after having constructed a robot doppelgänger of himself. “Science Cinema Special” will screen “Sayōnara” on Wednesday, 23 October, which will then be accompanied by a discussion with Dr. Hiroshi Ishiguro. The film will be shown at 7pm the Kamera Filmkunsttheater in Bielefeld as part of the pre-program of the CITEC Conference 2019.

 

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» Published on 11. September 2019

Research on the good life

ZiF conference on late socialist societies 

In recent decades, the centrally planned socialist economy in countries such as Laos, China, and Vietnam has been replaced by a market economy that remains under the political rule of the Communist party. The resulting changes to society have had profound implications on the idea of the good life—from deliberations on housing to those around religion. This is the topic of the conference entitled ‘The Good Life in Late Socialist Asia: Aspirations, Politics, and Possibilities’ to be held from 16 to 18 September at Bielefeld University's Center for Interdisciplinary Research (ZiF). The conference also marks the launch of the ‘WelfareStruggles’ project for which the social anthropologist Professor Dr Minh Nguyen is receiving an ERC Starting Grant from the European Research Council—one of the most important EU research grants.

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» Published on 3. September 2019

European research grant for Bielefeld mathematician

ERC Starting Grant for highly promising young scientists goes to Dawid Kielak

The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded an ERC Starting Grant to the Bielefeld mathematician Dr Dawid Kielak for his innovative approaches to research on geometric group theory, a field of mathematics. The European Union uses this award to promote early-career scientists with an excellent scientific track record who also show great promise. Dawid Kielak’s research will receive roughly 1.5 million euro over a period of 5 years. He is the second young academic at Bielefeld to be awarded this special grant within a year and the fifth researcher at Bielefeld University to receive an ERC grant - one of the most important lines of EU research funding.

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» Published on 24. Juli 2019

A peek at the birth of the Universe

University researchers publish study on new telescope

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is set to become the largest radio telescope on Earth. Bielefeld University researchers together with the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (MPIfR) and international partners have now examined the SKA-MPG telescope—a prototype for the part of the SKA that receives signals in the mid-frequency range. The study, published today (24 July) in the journal ‘Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society’, shows that the telescope is not only a prototype to test the SKA design, but can also be used on its own to provide insights into the origin of the Universe. The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is funding the work on the SKA-MPG through a joint research project coordinated by Bielefeld University.

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» Published on 11. Juli 2019

From climate change to earthquakes: Calculating uncertainties

Bielefeld University participates in Helmholtz Association project

How will the climate change, how certain is our energy supply, and what are the potentials of molecular medicine? Through statistical analyses, large amounts of data on the greatest variety of issues can be processed in ways that permit new knowledge and predictions. Nonetheless, predictions are always accompanied by uncertainty. The new project ‘Uncertainty Quantification’ is applying methods from probability theory to integrate uncertainty into analyses appropriately in order to calculate the reliability of predictions. The project is headed by Professor Dr Christiane Fuchs from Bielefeld University and Professor Dr Martin Frank from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. A total of four million euros is being invested in this research, and it is receiving funding from the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers.

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