Designing solutions for a healthier world has always been one of the great challenges of science. The goal is to make a healthy life possible for each human being and for the growing world population as a whole. Food, plants and marine algae can have a positive effect on health similar to that of conventional medicine. However, scientists first have to identify and isolate bioactive substances and explore their safe application through transdisciplinary cooperation between geo science, life sciences, physics and chemistry.
Computer simulations of biological systems can help to understand molecular processes in detail. For example, they make it possible to simulate the transport of molecules through biological membranes. An important area of research is the transport of antibiotic molecules through bacterial membranes so that they can exert their healing effect. The comprehension of these processes is very important for the development of new antibiotics. To better understand them is one of the goals of Dr. Kalyanashis Jana, who is a fellow of the renowned Humboldt Foundation spending two years researching in the group of Dr. Ulrich Kleinekathöfer, Professor of Theoretical Physics at Jacobs University.
Electric cars should not only absorb energy as easily as possible but should also be able to release it again when needed and feed it into the power grid – this is the vision of the "FeedbacCar" research project. Jacobs University Bremen with Dr. Alexander Lerchl, Professor of Biology and Ethics in Natural Sciences and Technology, is part of the research consortium. The scientist is investigating the possible biological effects of the technology, which is based on an inductive charging system.
Research generates a large volume of heterogeneous data. Resources for accessing and processing them are often limited, though. A project funded by the European Commission wants to change this. On a joint cloud, marine, atmospheric and planetary researchers will share their findings and thus generate new knowledge and new innovative services. Jacobs University headed by Prof. Dr. Angelo Pio Rossi contributes to the international project with its expertise in planetary science research.
It deals with the transport of sediment in river networks, of stimuli in the brain, of information in groups of people and of environmental influences in metabolic networks: If a system consists of many parts that interact, self-organize and jointly generate an action, it is considered to be "complex". A transdisciplinary project funded by the European Union is dedicated to explaining these complex systems with the help of connectivity research. The project involves seven disciplines and 13 partners, including Jacobs University and Dr. Marc-Thorsten Hütt, Professor of Computational Systems Biology.
The conversion of sunlight into chemical energy is essential for life. In one of the largest simulations of a biosystem worldwide, scientists have mimicked his complex process for a component of a bacterium - on the computer, atom by atom. The work, which has now been published in the renowned journal "Cell", is an important step towards a better understanding of photosynthesis in some biological structures. Headed by the University of Illinois, a team from Jacobs University Bremen was also involved in the international research cooperation.
The car windows freeze over and ice crystals decorate the trees. The kale season in Northern Germany begins always after the first frost has come. But why is that so? Though chefs from Northern Germany know, that kale simply tastes better then, there has been no scientific answer to this question, yet. However, Professor Nikolai Kuhnert of Jacobs University Bremen and Professor Dirk Albach of the University of Oldenburg, have now found an answer to this question together with their working groups. The findings were published in the journal “Food Research International”.
Its target is to enable autonomous driving or intelligent factories: The introduction of the 5G mobile communications standard next year is associated with high expectations, but also with concerns regarding the health consequences of the technology. A team of Jacobs University scientists led by Dr. Alexander Lerchl, Professor of Biology and Ethics, will now examine the effects of 5G on human cells. The project is funded with 1.1 million euros by the German Federal Office for Radiation Protection. It entails the creation of three new scientific positions at the private university.
Record growth at Jacobs University: At the beginning of the semester 2019/2020, the English-medium university welcomes over 610 new students to its campus in Bremen, the largest group of freshmen in its history to date. The high demand for the coveted study places is brought forward by the excellent international reputation of Jacobs University: According to the recently published Times Higher Education (THE) World University Ranking 2020, Jacobs University ranks among the 25 percent of the best universities worldwide.
Organic semiconductors are an attractive technology. They enable the inexpensive production of solar cells, sensors or LEDs, for example. However, their efficiency and service life are lower than those of inorganic semiconductors. Improving their properties is a goal of Dr. Supriya Ghosh, who, as a fellow of the renowned Humboldt Foundation, will spend two years researching at Jacobs University in the research group of Dr. Arnulf Materny, Professor of Chemical Physics.
Great success for a joint project of Jacobs University and the University of Bremen: The German Research Foundation (DFG) has approved funding for a Research Training Group at the jointly operated Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences (BIGSSS). Within the framework of the research and qualification program, 14 young academics in the disciplines of psychology, sociology and political science can earn their doctorates. The first seven doctoral candidates will start their training in 2020, with a second group expected to follow in 2021. The DFG will finance the research training group with around three million euros over a period of four and a half years.
Jacobs University has gained an internationally experienced and worldwide respected university leader, lecturer and researcher as its new President. On 1 December 2019, Professor Dr. Antonio Loprieno, President of the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities (ALLEA) and former Rector of the University of Basel, will assume office. Prof. Loprieno succeeds Professor Dr. Michael Hülsmann, who, in August of this year, announced his forthcoming departure from the private, international University after six successful years.
Down in the ocean, at a depth of 3,000 to 6,000 meters, manganese nodules are harvested in order to supply industrial countries with critical raw materials. Jacobs University Bremen is now participating in an international research project aimed at keeping the expected negative environmental impact of the marine raw material extraction low. The project is funded by the European Union.
The chemical industry is an important driver of innovation and growth in the German economy and an important employer. Like other industries, it faces elementary strategic and structural challenges. Dr. Henrik Meincke, Chief Economist of the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI), will talk about what these challenges are, how they can be overcome and where growth opportunities lie in his lecture "Chemistry 4.0 - the transformation of the German chemical industry" at Jacobs University on 14 November at 5 p.m. Guests are very welcome.
An internationally renowned scientist and science manager strengthens Jacobs University’s management board. On November 1st, 2019, Prof. Thomas Auf der Heyde, PhD, will take up his post as Provost and thus as Head of Academic Operations at the private university. Auf der Heyde has a wealth of experience in science and university administration. Most recently, he was Deputy Director General of the South African Department of Science and Technology.
Out of the lecture hall, into nature: on the Italian volcanic island of Vulcano, researchers from Jacobs University Bremen and the German Aerospace Center taught students practical science.
They teach and do research in different subject areas and come from different countries. All of them share a very similar motivation however: they want to teach and do research at an international, English-medium university, with students from over 100 nations and small learning groups. The team at Jacobs University Bremen is strengthened by a whole series of professors and university lecturers.
Innovative and groundbreaking new ideas for future higher education were sought: In an international competition, the Jacobs Foundation and Jacobs University invited scientists from all disciplines to participate. The Jacobs Foundation provided 650,000 euros to support groundbreaking research projects following the "B3 - Bildung Beyond Boundaries" symposium. The third, and final project, has now been approved.
Their work sets standards, they are scientifically excellent: At the beginning of its academic year, as is tradition, Jacobs University awarded the Deans Prize to graduates who wrote outstanding bachelor and master theses. In addition, at the suggestion of the students, the university teachers of the year were chosen and the prize of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) was awarded.
Instead of going to swim or for ice cream with their friends, students from Germany and all over the world used their free time during the summer holidays to study – and that even voluntarily. Summer Camps, educational programs for young people, have long been established in an international context and typically take place during the summer holidays. Jacobs University, together with the Association of German Engineers (VDI), Germany's largest engineering association, has organized an English-language Summer Camp on the campus in Bremen for the fourth year running.
In the treatment of cancer, the most promising innovation in the last years has been tumor immunotherapy. In the immunotherapy approach, which is now being tested in clinical trials, scientists and doctors ‘train’ the immune system of the patient to recognize the tumor and eliminate it, using – instead of drugs or surgery – the body’s own defenses to overcome the disease. A Jacobs University workgroup, led by Prof. Sebastian Springer, professor for Biochemistry and Cell Biology, has recently published two papers in the journal Science Immunology in collaboration with scientists from Germany and Denmark. In these papers, they introduced revolutionary new methods to accelerate tumor immunotherapy, to customize it to the individual patient, and to decrease the costs out of the procedure.
