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.
They form when hot solutions heated by igneous magma escape from the earth's crust in the deep sea and encounter cold seawater: Hydrothermal plumes are enriched in many compounds, supplying the oceans with nutrients and metals. In an area not far from the Azores in Portugal, Researchers at Jacobs University Bremen want to investigate exactly which geochemical processes take place within these clouds in a detailed study. The three-member team is led by Andrea Koschinsky, Professor of Geosciences at Jacobs University. Also on board the research vessel FS Meteor is bachelor student Vignesh Menon, who will be taking samples and blogging about the cruise together with PhD student Lukas Klose and postdoctoral researcher Sandra Pöhle.
Areas like this do not exist on Earth: Cracks, ridges, valleys, large and small angular blocks characterize them. Hence the name, chaotic terrains. How these peculiar regions on Mars were formed has long been a subject of debate among experts. Water, either liquid or as ice, played a central role in this process, according to the common theory. A study led by Erica Luzzi, a doctoral student at Jacobs University Bremen, is now published in the journal “Geophysical Research Letters”. It suggests a different cause of formation: volcano-tectonic processes.
They are smaller than five millimeters and are almost everywhere: In the river Weser, in the Wadden Sea, in the North Sea. The pollution of waters with microplastic particles is a major environmental problem. The microplastics are deposited in the sediment, marine life ingests them and, through the food chain, so do humans. How widespread are these particles actually in our marine environment? And how toxic are they? These are some of the questions that scientists at Jacobs University Bremen are currently researching – across different disciplines.
Some call it the "oil of the future." This is because demand for scandium is growing, especially due to its potential as a material for lightweight construction of aircrafts and cars, but also for fuel cells. Concurrently, the supply of this critical raw material in Europe is not secure. Therefore, new ways of extracting the high-tech metal are being intensively sought out. In a recently published pilot study, scientists from Jacobs University Bremen and the German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources have now investigated an unusual source of scandium: industrial garnet sand and its waste products.
Severe back pain and joint inflammation are some of the symptoms of ankylosing spondylitis, also referred to as Bekhterev's disease, which is an inflammatory rheumatic autoimmune disease that still has no cure. In a project funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), researchers from the Springer Group at Jacobs University Bremen will spend the next three years trying to identify the causes of ankylosing spondylitis, and what can be learned from them for the treatment of the disease.
Fluorinated compounds are present in many everyday items, for example as non-stick coatings on kitchen utensils. In addition, the element fluorine plays an important role both in pharmaceutical ingredients and in medical diagnostics. In a textbook which has been published recently, Axel Haupt, postdoctoral fellow at Jacobs University Bremen, provides a comprehensive overview of synthesis protocols for organic and inorganic fluorinated compounds.
Rare Earth Elements are urgently needed for enabling technologies such as electro mobility or wind energy, but they also end up in the environment in ever-increasing quantities. With the interdisciplinary project PANORAMA, the European Union is funding research and the training of experts on this highly topical subject with 3.8 million euros. At a three-day online workshop from April 21 to April 23 at Jacobs University, scientists will discuss the properties, use and distribution of these critical metals. Guests are invited to participate in the workshop.
They won silver four times in a row, and now they won a gold medal again. Bibek Bhujel from Nepal, Fahrudin Delic from Bosnia-Herzegovina and Carmelo Ortiz from the Philippines secured first place for Jacobs University Bremen at the University Physics Competition (UPC). The trio prevailed against strong international competition. A total of 346 teams took part in the contest, which the English-speaking University already won in 2014. It is the only German university to have won gold medals at the UPC so far.
They wanted to contribute to the fight against the coronavirus with the help of a Bremen-based institution that is strong in research, because they themselves are at home in the Hanseatic city. At Jacobs University, the young HAORI Foundation has funded its first major project – a research project investigating the significance of nerve cell antennas as a possible entry point for viruses such as the coronavirus.
First a few days of quarantine, then the research vessel "Meteor" takes off to the North Sea as well as to the rivers Weser, Ems and Elbe – even over Christmas. A team of scientists from Jacobs University Bremen and the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) is carrying out its work under pandemic conditions over the holidays. Their goal is to study the spread and impact of metals in water. Those interested in the journey are able to follow the research trip through a blog.
The international, English-speaking Jacobs University welcomes over 450 new students from 82 nations to its campus in northern Bremen, Germany, for the academic year 2020/21. With the start of the new academic year, 362 young people started their undergraduate studies in the 15 bachelor's programs at Jacobs University. Although the number of new students is slightly lower than in 2019/2020, President Loprieno sees the high demand for study places in view of the current coronavirus pandemic as an extraordinary confirmation of the educational concept of the international university. In total, more than 1,550 people from over 110 countries are studying at Jacobs University.
In order to receive, process and filter signals, nerve cells have various extensions. These include cilia, which act as sensors of the environment. In a pilot project at Jacobs University, Klaudia Brix, Professor of Cell Biology, and her team research whether they also serve as entry points for viruses. The project is funded by the Bremen HAORI Foundation, which supports scientific projects in the fields of brain research, neuroscience and rare diseases.
Antibiotic resistance poses a major challenge for medicine. Many substances that could potentially kill bacteria are known. However, the question of how they can penetrate the pathogens in order to render them harmless is often unresolved. Dr. Ulrich Kleinekathöfer, Professor of Theoretical Physics at Jacobs University Bremen, is working on improving a method for identifying successful antibiotic molecules in a new research project. It is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) with 200,000 euros over a period of three years.
Thinking beyond national borders is important – especially in science. Every year, renowned scientists from abroad decide to spend a research stay at Jacobs University. According to the recently published Humboldt Rankings, the international university in Bremen is one of the most popular universities among researchers from abroad. The English-speaking Jacobs University ranked an outstanding seventh place in the Germany-wide comparison.
233 million years ago, a series of massive volcanic eruptions in present-day Canada provoked a climate change. These events led to the creation of new ecosystems, such as coral reefs, and favored the rapid spread of dinosaurs. This is the conclusion drawn by an international, interdisciplinary team of scientists in a new study comprising researchers from Jacobs University Bremen and the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT).