Research

A team of researchers from FAU has created a web portal which determines the movement of ice in all glaciers outside the major ice sheets, and has provided it free of charge for use by the entire academic community and anyone else who is interested.

Around the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, rhodoliths made up of coralline red algae provide ecological niches for a wide variety of organisms. A team of researchers from FAU, the University of Bayreuth and Senckenberg Research Institute in Wilhelmshaven has recently discovered a large quantity of microplastics in this ecosystem.

The amygdala plays a central role in the brain. It influences emotions such as anger and joy as well as sexual drive and reproduction. Researchers at FAU have now investigated the influence of certain neurons in the amygdala on the representation of pain in other regions of the brain.

A new DFG research group led by Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU) is investigating ultra-high energy jets. Two astrophysicists from FAU are also involved. The research group will be funded with a total of 3.6 million euros over the next four years.

The Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) 1270 ‘Electrically Active Implants – ELAINE’ (coordinated by Universität Rostock) is researching electrically active implants capable of regenerating bones and cartilage or stimulating the brain in the hope of treating motor disorders, caused for example by Parkinson’s disease. In the interdisciplinary research collaboration, researchers from FAU are designing the necessary electrically active biomaterials. The Collaborative Research Centre has received a second round of funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG) lasting until 2025 and worth approximately 12.4 million euros.

The DFG has approved funding for two research training groups. Researchers in the new research training groups will be investigating defence mechanisms against pathogens in body tissues and new radar imaging techniques.

The research building of the Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg for Renewable Energy (HI ERN) is the latest address for cutting-edge research in Erlangen. The Free State of Bavaria has invested roughly 35.5 million euros in the new headquarters of the Institute in recognition of the fact that research into sustainable energy technology is indispensable for the future and affects us all.