Soil scientists travel to the remote Bale Mountains to conduct research. — © Indrik Myneur / CC 2.0 BY

13.10.2016 in Featured, Research, Science

Ice age in Ethiopia: refuge in the mountains?

Did the people in Ethiopia take refuge in the mountains during the last great ice age 16,000 years ago? An international team of soil scientists, archaeologists and biologists are conducting research on this as part of a new project entitled “The Mountain Exile Hypothesis”. To do this, soil scientists from Halle will be traveling to the remote Sanetti Plateau to examine the soil there and use modern biogeochemical methods to look for traces of mankind that are thousands of years old. Read more

From historical manuscripts to digital databases: Stephan Feller (left) and Stefan Artmann sit down for a chat in the ULB’s Hungarian Library. — © Michael Deutsch

07.04.2016 in Featured, Miscellaneous, Research, Science

Making science freely available: Open access publishing

The open access movement began 15 years ago. Prof. Stephan Feller, a molecular biologist, and Dr. Stefan Artmann, a private lecturer in philosophy, discuss how it will change science in 2016 and the opportunities and challenges that will arise as a result of its development into an open exchange of specialist publications. It is a topic that occupies both men. Feller is the editor-in-chief and co-founder of the Open Access Journal “Cell Communication and Signalling”. Artmann, who heads up the presidential office at the Leopoldina, is a member of the working group “Open Access”, part of the priority initiative “Digital Information” of the Alliance of Science Organisations in Germany. Read more

Pictures, videos, worksheets: A lot of teaching and learning material can be found on the Internet. — © Anke Tornow

07.04.2016 in Featured

Free educational resources for everyone?

Not only are research data and scientific publications often freely accessible online, today a lot of teaching and learning material can also be found on the Internet – in the form of textbooks, videos, entire online courses, and worksheets. The term “open educational resources” (OER) was first used in 2002 to refer to any teaching and learning resources that were in the public domain, free to use, or which could be developed or changed under an open licence agreement. Read more

Katrin Moeller works in the institute’s new building on the Steintor Campus. This is also where the Historical Data Centre of Saxony-Anhalt is located. — © Michael Deutsch

07.04.2016 in Featured

Data tells history

Regardless of whether they are old photos or town records, historical data is the basis for conducting research at the Institute of History. But what needs to be taken into account when working with and digitalising data? Budding historian Dr Katrin Moeller advises in this area. Read more

Three million base pairs are placed on a DNA-double helix. Bioinformaticians are developing algorithms that can help analyze such big data sets. — © Colourbox

07.04.2016 in Featured, Research, Science

Bioinformatics: open access databases help researchers worldwide

A major part of bioinformatics research would be limited or impossible without open access databases. Researchers at the University of Halle intensively utilise public datasets and, in return, provide the community with their own findings. Read more

Still deserted at the time this photograph was taken: Halle University’s newest campus. — © Markus Scholz

13.10.2015 in Miscellaneous, Featured

Steintor-Campus: All moved in

Winter semester saw classes start up on the Steintor Campus for the first time. The campus is Halle University’s fourth largest after University Square, the Francke Foundations and Weinberg Campus with its nearby hospital. The idea of concentrating all of the humanities and social sciences departments in one location has been 15 years in the making. Read more

Faster, more flexible and more global: smartphones, tablets and laptops allow us to be reachable around the clock. (Graphic design: Unicom Werbeagentur GmbH)

20.04.2015 in Research, Featured, Science

No clocking off after hours?

Always online, always available. According to a study carried out by the Association of the German Information and Telecommunications Sector, 77 percent of Germany’s workforce is reachable by mobile phone or e-mail after hours by colleagues, managers or customers. Psychologists at Martin-Luther-University in Halle are getting to the bottom of the phenomenon of being constantly available. Read more

Simon Drescher (left) is one of the most active users of Researchgate.edu. Kai Struve uses Academia.edu almost every day. — © private, design: Theresa Pfahl

20.04.2015 in Study and Teaching, Featured, Campus

Between scientific exchange and personal PR

Researchgate.net and Academia.edu are considered the Facebook and Xing of scientists. Yet, they are much more than that. The websites enable researchers to follow one another, upload papers, debate questions, and develop new topics. Researchers at Martin-Luther-University are also among the active participants of these networks. Read more

Professor Anne-Katrin Neyer at the standing desk in her office. — © Markus Scholz

20.04.2015 in Research, Featured, Science

Working without a desk and office?

Skype, Google Drive and Dropbox: virtual work has never been easier than it is today. Nevertheless, many teams have problems when they only collaborate online. Professor Anne-Katrin Neyer and her colleagues are studying how we can better organise virtual cooperation. In an interview, she explains what to keep in mind when you don’t work in the same office or country. Read more