Press Releases

It is safe to say that no one in the whole world knows as much about the element boron as the team of Professor Holger Braunschweig at the University of Würzburg: The progress of the Würzburg researchers in the boron chemistry is currently published in as many as three top journals.

Multiple sclerosis continues to puzzle scientists in all sorts of ways. Now researchers from the University of Würzburg have managed to make some progress in the search for the causes of this disease. They have revealed that in order to avoid greater damage the brain accepts a lesser evil.

Once again, Würzburg physicists provide new insights into spintronics: In ultra-thin topological insulators, they have identified spin-polarized currents, which were first theoretically predicted six years ago. They also present a method of application for the development of new computers.

New findings on the spin of electrons: In a recent publication, physicists of the University of Würzburg describe the spin architecture of an ultra-thin metal layer on a semiconductor for the first time. This represents yet another step towards high-performing super computers.

Researchers of the Universities of Würzburg and Freiburg have identified a marker which indicates with high reliability whether a person suffers from bladder cancer. The patent application is pending; the Bavarian Patent Alliance ("Bayerische Patentallianz GmbH") is currently looking for pharmaceutical companies interested in obtaining a license.

Adrenocortical carcinoma is a malignant tumor that is difficult to control at an advanced stage. An international study now shows for the first time which chemotherapy is best suited to treat this tumor. The study was coordinated at the University Hospital of Würzburg.

Chemists and physicists are collaborating within a new research group at the University of Würzburg. Their stated objective is to enable the manufacture of new materials with customized properties. The German Research Foundation (DFG) is funding the project.

A Würzburg physics professor publishes an article. Some English media take up the topic with snappy headlines, causing agitation in music circles: The story of a misunderstanding.

Scientists of the University of Würzburg have discovered a weak point in cancer cells, which offers a very promising target for new therapeutic drugs. The pharmaceutical industry has already expressed an interest in the discovery.

The Free State of Bavaria is investing several million euros in the exploration of innovative concepts for the conversion of solar energy into electricity and non-fossil fuels. The funds flow into a joint project of five Bavarian universities.

The Würzburg bee researcher Jürgen Tautz has received the 2012 Communicator Award of the German Research Foundation. With this award, the Foundation honors Tautz' numerous activities with which he communicates his research findings to the public. The award is endowed with prize money of 50,000 euros.

They offered pomp and circumstance, acrobatics, humor, instruction, and emotion: German-language comedies of the 18th century. German scholar Dr. Katrin Dennerlein is taking a closer look at these works, and this has earned her a place in the Förderkolleg, a program specifically set up by the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities to promote young talent.

Cynthia Sharma runs a junior research group at the University of Würzburg’s Center for Infection Research. She is now one of six excellent young scientists to be admitted by the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities to its "Förderkolleg", a program set up specifically to promote young talent.

Does fasting heighten the senses? Does hunger influence perception? And if so, how? These questions have been examined experimentally by Würzburg social psychologists Sascha Topolinski and Philippe Türk Pereira. The findings of their study ought to please the supporters of fasting.

At the interface between chemistry and physics, Patrick Nürnberger studies chemical reactions with laser pulses on inconceivably short time scales. The establishment of his own junior research group is funded by the German Research Foundation with 1.2 million euros.