Research

The mathematician and FAU representative Prof. Dr. Dr. hc. Enrique Zuazua has been awarded a Humboldt professorship. The President of the Humboldt Foundation (AvH), Hans Christian Pape, awarded the prize during a ceremony on 9 May in Berlin. Zuazua is the fifth Humboldt professor at FAU. The award is Germany's most prestigious prize for international researchers.

Infected tissue has a low concentration of oxygen. The body’s standard immune mechanisms, which rely on oxygen, can then only function to a limited extent. How does the immune system nevertheless manage to control bacteria under such conditions?

How can employees’ working time be organised so as to enable them to perform in the best possible way when completing both creative and routine tasks? Two economists at FAU investigated this question and made a surprising discovery. Which working model works best depends on employees’ impulsiveness.

If there’s one thing potato plants don’t like, it’s heat. If the temperature is too high, potato plants form lower numbers of tubers or none at all. Biochemists at FAU have now discovered the reason why. If the temperature rises, a so-called small RNA blocks the formation of tubers. The researchers have successfully deactivated this RNA to create potato plants that are resistant to high temperatures.

The research project DemWG is aimed at providing comprehensive care for people with dementia and cognitive impairment in alternative residential models.

Psychologists at FAU want to help patients who have just been discharged from hospital remain abstinent over the long term with a combination of an app and telephone coaching aimed at helping them find suitable services and measures tailored to their situation.

FAU researchers have developed a miniaturised multi-photon microscope, which will make cell and tissue imaging without synthetic contrast agents possible in future.

People often have to say farewell to loved ones. Some cope with grief better than others.

Dr. Adran Regensburger, a doctor in the Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine at Universitätsklinikum Erlangen has received the ‘Young Investigator Award’ for his work in molecular imaging in children with muscular dystrophy.

FAU welcomes a new Humboldt award winner: On 29 March 2019, Prof. Frank den Hollander from Mathematisch Instituut Universiteit Leiden, received the Humboldt Research Award in a special ceremony.