In a large-scale study with almost 400 partners, researchers worldwide have collected data on tree species. Scientists from Bayreuth have contributed their knowledge about the Kilimanjaro region. The study, which has now been published in the journal Nature Plants, improves our understanding of the different leaf types of trees and thus enables us to draw conclusions about ecosystems and the CO2 cycle.
In a ground-breaking study led by the University of Bayreuth researchers, in collaboration with scientists from the University of Edinburgh, UK, and the University of Linköping, Sweden, the mysteries of nitrogen’s solid phases were solved, shedding light on its complex behaviour. Their findings, published in the journal Nature Communications, provide unprecedented insights into the gradual molecular-to-polymeric transformation of nitrogen and the formation of amorphous nitrogen. This paves the way for advances in materials science and high-pressure physics.
In order to give pupils impulses for a sustainable life, teachers need new competences and innovative teaching methods. Within the framework of the Green Call, material on the topic of "sustainability" is particularly in demand. This is now being developed by the international EU project SYNAPSES under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Franz X. Bogner from the University of Bayreuth. New concepts for sustainable citizenship are to be developed by 2026.
They were formed on the Moon more than three billion years ago, brought back to the Earth about 50 years ago, and recently arrived on the campus of the University of Bayreuth: samples of Moon rocks collected by NASA Apollo missions 16 and 17. The US national space agency has made them available to the Bavarian Research Institute of Experimental Geochemistry and Geophysics (BGI) of the University of Bayreuth for scientific investigations.
Under the direction of Dr Sofia Rüdiger, the role of language on the internet is being analysed at the Department of English Linguistics at the University of Bayreuth. A new project focuses on videos that showcase excessive food consumption. The German Research Foundation is funding the project with around 500,000 euros over a period of three years.
The University of Bayreuth has moved up in "THE World University Rankings 2024" (WUR): In the area of "Research Environment", it is ranked 236th out of around 1,900 universities evaluated worldwide, and in the area of "Industry Cooperation" it is even ranked 222nd. It also did very well in the area of "Teaching", where it is ranked 361st internationally among the top 20% of universities in the WUR.
The project BioMagnetix aims to revolutionize the usage of magnetic nanoparticles in biomedicine. It has now received EXIST start-up funding from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action.With a grant of approx. 150,000 Euros, first steps to commercialize the idea can now be taken from the laboratory at the University of Bayreuth towards the market.
The decline of insects threatens many ecosystems worldwide. While the effects of pesticides are well researched, there has been a lack of knowledge about the effects of other anthropogenic pollutants. Animal ecologists at the University of Bayreuth have now studied the effects of diesel exhaust particles on bumblebees for the first time. In two new studies, they show that these fine dust particles can significantly damage the organism of bumblebees if they are permanently ingested through food. The Bavarian State Ministry for the Environment and Consumer Protection funded the research work as part of the BayÖkotox project network.
What makes people particularly susceptible to disinformation and how can we prevent falling for it? These questions are the focus of the new research project on innovative communication strategies for intervention and prevention in disinformation campaigns (IKIP), coordinated by Prof. Dr. Friederike Herrmann, who is a Professor of Journalism and Communication Studies at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt (KU). The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
In power engineering and space technology, the lubrication of moving machine elements is a particular challenge: the usual greases or oils have the disadvantage here that they evaporate in a vacuum and at high temperatures, while they lose their lubricating effect at very low temperatures. Therefore, solid lubricants are often needed. A new project at the University of Bayreuth aims to make a fundamental contribution to optimisation in this field, which has been little researched so far. Bayreuth’s Engineering Design and CAD research group is cooperating with the Institute of Materials Engineering at the University of Kassel and the Computer Chemistry Centre at FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg.
