Research

Ein Forschungsteam der FAU hat eine neuartige Methode entwickelt, mit der Oberflächen auf der Nanoskala absolut sauber werden. Durch mechanische Kräfte werden dabei auch kleinste Kontaminationen bis zur atomaren Skala entfernt.

A type of video monitoring could help us get the better of coronavirus: Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Light and FAU are trying to observe how cells become infected with Sars-CoV-2 in real time. They are hoping to achieve this by installing a particularly powerful microscope in a high-security virology laboratory.

How can rural areas be developed so that they offer a culturally attractive place to live for young people? And how can libraries as a place of culture make a contribution? These are the questions the ‘Libraries, Digitalisation, and Cultural Education in Peripheral Areas’ project hopes to answer.

Universitätsklinikum Erlangen has been granted official permission to produce therapeutic plasma to treat critically ill COVID-19 patients. Current scientific data suggest that COVID-19 immune plasma could significantly mitigate the life-threatening progression of the disease.

Prof. Dr. Peter Hommelhoff, Chair of Laser Physics at FAU, has received an ERC Advanced Grant. The grant provides funding of 2.5 million euros over five years. The funded project aims to develop minute particle accelerators using photon chips. Research in this field will enable innovation in imaging methods and materials analysis, allow new approaches in medical radiation therapies and help to answer fundamental questions in quantum physics.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV has analysed the sensory properties of post-consumer shopping bags made of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and originating from different collection systems. More than 60 odorous substances were identified using combined chemo-analytical methods. The information gained provides a targeted strategy for preventing off-odours.

A team including researchers from FAU has succeeded for the first time in taking high-resolution images of an alpha adrenergic receptor. Decoding the structure of receptors such as these can then be taken as the basis for developing special selective medicines.

Researchers at FAU have been recording the vital functions of patients in a study for monitoring heart sounds using radar. The data enables conclusions to be made about heart sounds, pulse and breathing. To facilitate further research, the scientists have now published the data in a database.

Propolis, also known as ‘bee glue’, is a popular natural ingredient that is available as a food supplement and is often found in ‘natural’ cosmetics and skincare products. However, the number of skin allergies to propolis has more than doubled since 2007. This is the result of a study at FAU that has now been published in the British Journal of Dermatology.

Can artificial intelligence (AI) provide useful advice to students for their further academic careers? How can universities introduce AI-based support systems that are easily accepted and that support students’ diversity? The FAU research project ‘Individually recommended? – How AI-based advisory sy...