uni.news

» Published on 1. Oktober 2018

Bielefeld University seals strategic partnership with Universidad de Guadalajara/Mexico

Vice-Rector Angelika Epple: “One of our most important international strategic partners”

Bielefeld University has a new strategic partner in Mexico: the Universidad de Guadalajara. The partnership was sealed in Mexico at the beginning of September by Rektor Professor Dr.-Ing. Gerhard Sagerer and the Vice-Rector for International Affairs and Diversity, Professor Dr Angelika Epple, with the Rector General of the Universidad de Guadalajara, Dr Miguel Ángel Navarro Navarro, and the Rector of the CUCSH (University Centre of Social Sciences and Humanities), Dr Héctor Raúl Solís Gadea. “This institutionalises our cooperation beyond the long-standing contact of individual faculties. Guadalajara is one of our most important international strategic partners,” says Angelika Epple.

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» Published on 14. September 2018

A Robot to Be Fond Of

Friendly robot being developed in new project

How can robots enrich people’s private lives? A research team is investigating this question in the context of the VIVA project, in which the researchers aim to develop a strongly expressive social robot that is perceived as trustworthy and friendly. Researchers from Bielefeld University’s Cluster of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC), the University of Augsburg, and the University of Applied Sciences Bielefeld are working together on this project with three companies from the IT sector. From 19–21 September, a kick-off conference will be held in the CITEC Building, where project members will come together to discuss the research work ahead.

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» Published on 12. September 2018

Bielefeld researchers to attend first German–Canadian workshops in Edmonton

Next step in the cooperation with the Canadian province of Alberta  

Bielefeld University’s Faculty of Educational Science and Faculty of Health Sciences are taking the lead: Their representatives are travelling to the province of Alberta from the 14th to the 19th of September for the first two binational workshops with Canadian partners. They will also be discussing future cooperation plans and the exchange of students and interns between educational institutions in both regions – and cooperation with further faculties and academic institutes.

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» Published on 10. September 2018

Bending Without Breaking – How Insects Feel Around Their Environment

Researchers publish findings on insect antenna flexibility and structure

For hundreds of millions of years, insects have used specialized antennae to explore their surroundings. For this tactile exploration, the antennae have to stiff enough to allow for active, controlled movement, while at the same time compliant enough to prevent damage when coming into contact with objects. How do insects solve this problem? And can the solution be used for biologically inspired robots? In an interdisciplinary project, researchers from Kiel University, Bielefeld University, and the Hochschule Bremen City University of Applied Sciences are working together to get to the bottom of this question.

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» Published on 7. September 2018

Refugees: 120th certificate awarded for passing the DSH-Prüfung (German language exam for admission to a university)

47 certificates for successful candidates in the current year

Passing their DSH-Prüfung is a major milestone for refugees wishing to take up university studies. The 120th DSH certificate gained since the start of preparatory German language courses for refugees at Bielefeld University in 2016 will be awarded at a small ceremony today (07.09.). Eleven of this year’s successful candidates intend to use their certificates to start studying at Bielefeld University or Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences. 

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» Published on 3. September 2018

Limited reception of emails from September 7th until September 10th

Exchange of email server

The email server of Bielefeld University will be exchanged from Friday September 7th noon until Monday morning September 10th.

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» Published on 29. August 2018

Bielefeld University creates more than 800 teaching places

Design of the new lecture hall building unveiled

A lecture hall and three seminar rooms housed in a new building, spread over more than 1,000 square metres of main usable floor area, will complement the campus in future. Today (29 August), Bielefeld University presented the winner of the competition for the new lecture hall building. The design features a bright spacious foyer, a lecture hall with daylight, and a façade in which wood is a distinctive feature. The building on “Konsequenz” road is to be completed in 2020.

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» Published on 16. August 2018

Children Put on by Robots

“Science Robotics” journal: Study by CITEC researcher and international colleagues

Can robots induce the same social influence and peer pressure as humans do? A new study shows that children adopt a false claim when this is expressed by a group of robots. Conducted by computer scientist Anna-Lisa Vollmer of the Cluster of Excellence Cognitive Interaction Technology (CITEC) at Bielefeld University as well as her colleagues from Plymouth University (United Kingdom), the Max Planck Institute for Human Development (Berlin) and Ghent University (Belgium), this study appeared on Wednesday (15.08.2018) in the scientific journal “Science Robotics.”

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» Published on 31. Juli 2018

Aphids manipulate their food neu

Scientists at Bielefeld studying niche construction

Aphids – who hasn’t been bothered by these little insects at one time or another? Why do they reproduce on plants so successfully? These are among the questions that Professor Dr Caroline Müller and her research team are addressing at Bielefeld University’s Faculty of Biology. They have found out that aphids are able to influence the quality of their food, and that this may enable them to construct a niche on their own host plants. Müller’s research team is located in the Transregio Collaborative Research Centre ‘NC3’ that is studying animals and their ‘individual niches. Today (25.07.2018), they have published their findings in the journal ‘New Phytologist’.

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» Published on 27. Juli 2018

Bielefeld sociologist awarded EU science prize

ERC Starting Grant for Professor Dr Minh Nguyen

How much welfare and social assistance do the millions of migrant workers in China’s and Vietnam’s global factories receive? What does this tell us about the welfare systems of these rapidly developing nations? The Bielefeld scientist Minh Nguyen has been awarded an ERC Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) for her social anthropological research on Eastern and Southern Asia at the Faculty of Sociology. These grants aim to promote excellent and promising young academics. Minh Nguyen’s research will receive a total of approximately 1.5 million euros funding over a period of five years. She is the third researcher at Bielefeld University to receive one of these major EU prizes to promote science.

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