Research

Many older people suffer from isolation or loneliness. Several studies have proven that good social contacts and relationships make a decisive contribution to improving health, health behaviour and increased activity. In a new research project, FAU researchers will investigate how to promote social participation and thus also health and well-being in old age. The project is being funded with over 395,000 euros.

The German Research Foundation (DFG) has approved three new Collaborative Research Centres/Transregios (CRC/TRR) at FAU. The topics are quantum cooperation, research into metastases formation and new catalysts.

Covid-19 does not only spread via the respiratory tract, it can also affect other organs. Often, the gastrointestinal tract is affected. A team led by Prof. Dr. Christoph Becker and a team from the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin have discovered that there is a particularly high density of coronavirus docking sites in the gut epithelium.

Researchers from Universitätsklinikum Erlangen and LMU Klinikum Munich investigated the distribution of aerosols while musicians played the trumpet, flute and clarinet. The results indicate that the distance either side of players in an orchestra could be reduced to below what is currently recommended.

Prof. Dr. Christian Bogdan und Prof. Dr. Klaus Überla are members of the Standing Committee on Vaccination at the Robert Koch Institute. In their position as members of the STIKO, the two researchers from Erlangen are involved in drawing up a Covid-19 vaccination strategy for Germany. It may even be finalised this year.

This year, six FAU researchers are among the most highly cited researchers in their field. The Highly Cited Researchers List names almost 6200 of the most influential researchers across the globe in 21 different disciplines.

Babies are capable of moving extremely quickly. This is crucial to the development of the human nervous system. An international team of researchers involving FAU has now developed a method which can be used to quantitatively assess these movements at the level of the individual neurons. In future, this method could be used to detect disorders in the development of motor skills at an early stage.

Palaeontologists at FAU and the University of Calgary in Canada have provided new proof of parallel evolution: conodonts, early vertebrates from the Permian period, adapted to new habitats in almost identical ways despite living in different geographical regions. The researchers were able to prove that this was the case using fossil teeth found in different geographical locations.

The vision of the future of miniaturisation has produced a series of synthetic molecular motors that are driven by a range of energy sources and can carry out various movements. A research group at FAU has now managed to control a catalysis reaction using a light-controlled motor. 

For many students this winter semester is the second semester they have spent studying during the coronavirus pandemic, with virtually all teaching being offered remotely. They often suffer from a lack of motivation when studying from home and there is a lack of structure in their day to day lives. In a study, researchers at FAU have now discovered that mentoring programmes can reduce these problems and help students become more successful during an online semester.