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Press Releases

Teresa Deckert

Teresa Deckert studied Political and Social Studies at the University of Würzburg. Today she is promoting sustainable behaviour in Essen.

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Artistic representation of several microtubules, gliding through the optical near field of a nanostructured gold surface.

Physicists from Dresden and Würzburg have developed a novel method for optical microscopy. Using biological motors and single quantum dots, they acquire ultra-high-resolution images.

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Desert ants (Cataglyphis) at the nest entrance.

Desert ants use the Earth's magnetic field for orientation, a new study has found which was conducted by scientists of the University of Würzburg. This provides ants the cue to find their way back to the nest.

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Processes in a leaf pore (stoma) of grasses. When the leaves open and close, a shuttle service takes ions to and fro between guard cells and subsidiary cells. (Picture: Dietmar Geiger)

Cereal is much more drought-tolerant than other plants. Researchers from Würzburg have now found out why that is so. Their insight could help breed crops that are more resistant to drought.

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Frank Würthner

Würzburg chemist, Frank Würthner, has been awarded an Advanced Grant of the European Research Council worth EUR 2.5 million. He wants to use the money to push the conversion of solar energy to fuel.

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Krischan Lehmann

A non-stop party occasionally interrupted by study: This is how Krischan Lehmann remembers his time at the University of Würzburg. Today, he is in charge of the digital section of multimedia company Condé Nast in Munich.

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A honeybee on a cornflower

Scientists from the University of Würzburg have investigated the impact of a new pesticide on the honeybee. In high doses, it has a negative impact on the insects' taste and cognition ability.

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Salvage logging in the Bavarian Forest National Park

An increasing proportion of the world's protected forests are subject to extensive logging activities. The practice is called "salvage logging" and allegedly aims to protect e.g. areas of windthrow against bark beetle infestation. However, a Würzburg study has found that this instrument is used far too often.

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Plants whose direction of growth is switched from vertical to horizontal

The hormone auxin is a key regulator of plant growth and development. But how it sets these processes in motion has been unclear. Scientists from the University of Würzburg have now uncovered central details.

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Diversity illustration

Crop variety in agriculture has a positive impact on the natural enemies of aphids. Farmers can use this insight to keep aphids at bay and cut down on pesticides.

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Cytomegaloviruses produce 200 proteins and peptides previously unknown to science. (Picture: Thinkstock, Dr_Microbe)

Würzburg researchers have developed a new analysis technique that sheds more light on viral infections. They used the new method to demonstrate that virus-infected cells produce far more infection-related proteins and peptides than previously thought.

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Localisation of the ZSK-RNA in motor neurons whose shape was represented by tubulin, a structural protein. (Photo: Hanaa Ghanawi)

Impaired transport processes in neurons contribute to diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (AML). Würzburg scientists have now identified key actors in these processes.

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Researchers from Würzburg and London have built the foundations for a new field of nano-optics: they have succeeded in controlling the coupling of light and matter at room temperature.

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From the left: Prof. Dr. Cynthia Sharma, Sara Eisenbart, Thorsten Bischler, Belinda Aul from the Institute of Molecular Infection Biology (IMIB) and Prof. Dr. Chase Beisel from the Helmholtz-Institute of RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) in Würzburg. (

The bacterial immune system “CRISPR-Cas9” is known to eliminate invading DNA. Würzburg scientists now discovered that it can also readily target RNA – a result with potentially far-reaching ramifications.

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