Newsflash

An impressive number of 10,000 experiments in weightlessness have been carried out at the Bremen Drop Tower of the Center of Applied Space Technologie and Microgravity (ZARM).ZARM Director Professor Marc Avila pointed out: "With the 10,000th experiment, we have reached a milestone that we are very happy about: this success is not only the result of outstanding technology, but also reflects the commitment and expertise of our team". The Drop Tower allows scientists from around the world to conduct research in microgravity without the costly and time-consuming use of rockets or satellites.

The new research project YESSS - Year-round EcoSystem Study on Svalbard - is focussing on how Arctic warming is changing over the seasons in Svalbard. The team of around 30 scientists  - also from the University of Bremen, department 2 Biology/Chemistry - observes the life cycles, foraging and overwintering strategies of selected key species all year round and conducts experiments at the AWIPEV station on Svalbard. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research is funding the project, which is coordinated by the Alfred Wegener Institute, with 2.7 million euros until the end of 2026.

On January 25, 2024, the "University Talk" event took place at the University of Bremen's Mensa cafeteria. Students and staff were invited to find out about the university's new mission statement and discuss it with each other.

Universities have a special social responsibility. President Jutta Günther said this at the "unifreunde" New Year's Reception at City Hall, where she spoke to around 300 guests from politics, academia, business, and society on Monday, 29 January. Newly appointed professors were also welcomed at the event.

In November, the Academic Senate unanimously approved a new mission statement of the university.The focus is on sustainability and the university's associated social responsibility, thus continuing a long tradition. "Social responsibility has been the fundamental guiding principle of the University of Bremen since its foundation," emphasised President Jutta Günther. "For us, this means acting in a sustainable and climate-friendly way. We are committed to our shared responsibility for the social and ecological changes needed worldwide, for democracy, diversity, and justice."

The University of Bremen has once again secured a top position in the international Shanghai Ranking and has ranked first in Germany in the field of marine sciences and 16^th worldwide. The university also leads the table of German universities in geosciences.

The University of Bremen will establish a sports degree program for the 2024/25 winter semester. With the new course, elementary and secondary school sports teachers will be trained, with plans to establish a non-school based "Sport and Health" degree program in the future. The courses will be based in the Faculty of Human and Health Sciences, due to the many points of contact between sport and health.

Four teaching staff members from the University of Bremen have received the Berninghausen Prize for Excellence in Teaching. The prizes were awarded in the “Excellence in Teaching” and “Student Prize” categories and are endowed with 2,000 euros each. Not only current students profit from great, contemporary teaching. Outstanding teaching is also the hallmark of a university. The competition this year was very strong: 127 proposals were submitted in the Excellence in Teaching category and 95 in the Student Prize category.

Good and constructive start: The President of the University of Bremen, Professor Jutta Günther, welcomed in mid of September the new Senator for Science Kathrin Moosdorf and her State Councilor Irene Strebl to the university campus for a first discussion.

Kathrin Moosdorf, Senator for Environment, Climate, and Science, was impressed: “Scientists at the University of Bremen are seeking answers to important questions about the future. Whether this is climate change, artificial intelligence or issues of fairness in the health sector, the University of Bremen is an internationally respected research partner and an attractive place for students from all over the world.

Within the framework of the North German Conference of Science Ministers (NWMK), the major conference on energy research titled "Strong together for the energy transition – impulses for new cooperation between the North German states" took place 0n 21 September at the Atlantic Hotel Universum.

The invitation was extended by the Senator for the Environment, Climate, and Science, Kathrin Moosdorf, who is this year's chairperson of the North German Conference of Science Minsters (NWMK).

With the “Golden Plietsch" award, the University of Bremen Foundation and its sheltered foundations honor ideas promoting greater sustainability and positive urban development in Bremen. This year’s award ceremony took place on 12 September at the House of Science.

Lucky winner: The first prize, the Golden Plietsch, endowed with 8,000 euros, went to Dr. Detta Sophie Schütz for her “ZDL Schule – Goal-Oriented Dialogic Reading as a Classroom-Integrated Method for Promoting Language in Elementary Schools” project.

Aggressive space radiation, a toxic atmosphere, temperatures averaging minus 65 degrees Celsius, and very low atmospheric pressure: living conditions on Mars are everything but friendly. The Bremen-based “Humans on Mars” initiative is researching radically new solutions for surviving in this extreme setting, which will also benefit humans on planet Earth

Every year, books and essays about Bremen are published – in print and digitally. To make it easier to find them, the SuUB has released the digital "Bibliography of Bremen" to the public. Interested parties can search for free in approximately 23,000 titles concerning Bremen.

Yasemin Karakaşoğlu, Professor of Intercultural Education, has been appointed to the Federal Government's Council of Experts on Anti-Racism. In this role, she will contribute her professional expertise to the field of policy advice. "The University of Bremen benefits enormously from her expertise, including in the fields of participation, diversity, and anti-racism. She is also already active in an advisory capacity on the state and federal levels, in addition to her role as a researcher”, says University President Professor Jutta Günther.

The University of Bremen will receive 50,000 euro from the German Rectors' Conference. This will strengthen the further development of diversity concepts via the "Diversity at German Universities" initiative, which the HRK launched with funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. With the funding, the German Rectors' Conference (HRK) has acknowledged the university's commitment in the area of equal opportunities / anti-discrimination and the concept for the planned introduction of a progressive anti-discrimination policy.

The competition for excellence funding from the German federal government and the states is entering a new round. The University of Bremen is also submitting an Excellence Strategy application. Three research areas from the fields of materials science and engineering, the social sciences, and computer science submitted draft proposals to the German Research Foundation (DFG) at the end of May.

AI achieves impressive results, however it still lacks the ability to plan actions predictively. Professor Michael Beetz from the Institute for Artificial Intelligence is working on the foundations for this and has received the ERC Advanced Grant, which is endowed with 2.5 million euros.

Science is a prerequisite for progress, but it must always be aware of its social responsibility. This is what President Jutta Günther said at the unifreunde association’s New Year’s reception in the town hall. She spoke to around 300 guests from politics, science, business, and society, including board members of the Alumni Association.

The 5G mobile communications standard is a part of everyday life, while research is already being carried out on its successor 6G. The working group for communications engineering in the Faculty of Physics/Electrical Engineering at the University of Bremen is receiving around 1.5 million euros from the BMBF for research and realization of “wireless networks of the future.” This is also associated with numerous new positions for young scientists.

The new issue of IMPACT, the science magazine of the U Bremen Research Alliance, has just been published. It is devoted to the highly topical subjects of artificial intelligence, digitization and healthcare research. If you want to learn more about the healthcare of the future, you can read on here (only in German).

105 international sound artists participated in the art-science collaboration "Polar Sounds" - sounds that have now been published by the Alfred Wegner Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI). With impressive results. 50 sound clips from the Arctic and Antarctic seas were available to artists from all over the world for compositions since late summer last year. The resulting creatively interpreted pieces have now been put online as part of the international project "Cities and Memories".

There is a bird's nest on the top level. Don't worry, there's no giant robin nesting here. But maybe it will soon be the new hot spot on campus. The so-called seat nest - or nest bench - is made of wood, has a diameter of 3.5 metres and invites you to linger under the glass roof in the heart of the campus.

Bremen’s immediate postwar history is the theme of the scenic reading “Bremen Ahead! From the ‘Bremen Enclave’ to an Independent State (1945–1947).” As part of the series “From the Files to the Stage,” the next performance will take place on 12 December at 7 p.m. in the Bremen Parliament House banquet room.

About a year after construction work began, the topping-out ceremony was celebrated at the Center for Deep-Sea Research (ZfT). Situated next to the MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, construction is nearing completion, with technical installation and facade work currently underway.

“Material transport of product mixtures of Fischer-Tropsch synthesis analysis using nuclear magnetic resonance”: with this master’s thesis, Production Engineering student Alexander Zimmermann has greatly improved the process. For this, he was awarded the Bremen Engineering Prize 2022 by the VDI.

Stuhr-based author and blogger Cora Buhlert has won the 2022 Hugo Award in the Best Fan Writer/Fan Author category. The Hugo Award has been presented annually by the World Science Fiction Society since 1953 and is considered the most important international science fiction award. Cora Buhlert is the first German to win a Hugo Award. She studied English at the University of Bremen and works as a freelance translator. For several years she has published short stories and novels, mostly science fiction and fantasy, but also crime fiction.

The University of Bremen has a new Director of Music. Mariano Chiacchiarini took up his position in September 2022 and now leads the choir and orchestra. The internationally renowned, multi-award-winning conductor was previously Director of Music at the University of Trier for eleven years. As Director of University Music, he shapes the musical life of the university, conducts the university's orchestra and choir, and offers musicology seminars on the topics of the joint concerts of the two ensembles, as well as being responsible for the concert series in the theater hall.

Hydrogen is seen as the “energy carrier of tomorrow.” But the path to an efficient hydrogen economy is complex and requires excellent scientific research. The large-scale hyBit hydrogen research project coordinated by the university is receiving almost 30 million euros in funding for the purpose. “This is a great success for the University of Bremen, which is currently making its way toward sustainability and climate neutrality,” says Professor Jutta Günther, who has just taken up her post as the new President of the University of Bremen.”

Great success: Bremen will be hosting the prestigious International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence in 2026. Thanks to the successful application made by the U Bremen Research Alliance and the Section for Artificial Intelligence at the German Informatics Society the conference will be held in Germany. With Bremen as the venue, Germany will host the IJCAI again in 2026 for the first time in 43 years. Several thousand scientists from all over the world are expected to attend the conference.

As part of its strategic funding initiative on artificial intelligence (AI), the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft [German Research Foundation – DFG] is establishing eight new research groups. One is coming to Bremen – “Lifespan AI: From Longitudinal Data to Lifespan Inference in Health”.

The GraviTower provides scientists with a new space laboratory in which research in weightlessness is possible up to a thousand times a day.

The State and University Library Bremen (SuUB) is receiving celebrity support for its new audio tour: For example, Jan Böhmermann and Tim Borowski explain how the SuUB works. Celebrities will describe how to borrow books or what the break disks actually do.

More than 1,000 scientists from over 80 countries met in Bremen from 3 to 8 July 2022 at the world's most important event for coral reefs. Host of the 15th International Coral Reef Symposium was the University of Bremen. A special "Solutions Day" was dedicated to ways out of the crisis.

Using New Technologies for More Efficient Tropical Medicine

Interdisciplinary top-level research in the field of tropical medicine is the goal of a new transnational network of excellence being established under the leadership of Professor Anna Förster of the University of Bremen. It is being funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) with around 300,000 Euros.

In 2021, it had to be organized virtually, this year it will be held face-to-face in Bremen: In July 2022, the university will host the International Coral Reef Symposium (ICRS). There will be numerous accompanying public events starting in May.

The University of Bremen Foundation, together with its trust foundations, is funding 16 new projects. They will receive funding worth around 60,000 euros. Topics include Bremen's colonial past, climate protection, climate justice, and transnational literature.

Two professors receive an ERC grant, one of the highest endowed awards of the European Research Council. Engineering scientist Andreas Fischer and marine scientist Jan-Hendrik Hehemann will each receive around 2 million euros for their research. The European Research Council thus supports excellent researchers in their innovative basic research.

Two Silver Bears went to the feature film "Rabiye Kurnaz vs George W. Bush” at this year's Berlinale. The film dramatises a Turkish woman from Bremen’s fight for the release of her son, Murat Kurnaz, who was imprisoned for years in Guantanamo as an alleged terrorist. At her side is the Bremen defence and human rights lawyer Bernhard Docke, a prominent graduate of the University of Bremen, played by Alexander Scheer. The film, from successful director Andreas Dresen, will be premiered on 21 April at Theater am Goetheplatz as the opening film of the 7th Bremen Film Festival. The team behind the film will be present at the screening.

For about 10 years, scientists in Professor Sørge Kelm's team at the University of Bremen's Faculty 2 Biology/Chemistry, together with colleagues from Africa, have been conducting research on African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) and other tropical diseases. In a project running since 2019 and funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), researchers are looking at the extent to which pathogens of the genus Trypanosoma in animals pose a risk for the emergence of new diseases in humans (zoonoses) – similar to Covid-19.

From May to July, the project is expecting about fifteen scientists from Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, Tanzania and Chad in Bremen, for whom accommodation is still urgently needed. If you would like to host a guest or have a room or flat to rent, please contact Prof. Kelm.

How innovative are drugs that are newly launched on the market really? This question was investigated by the University of Bremen in cooperation with Techniker Krankenkasse (TK). For the Innovation Report, 200 new active ingredients were evaluated over eight years.

Professor Gerd Glaeske and his team at SOCIUM – Research Center on Inequality and Social Policy, compiled the Innovation Report 2021. The result: 99 out of 200 drugs, and thus almost half, do not represent an improvement for patients. The researchers from the University of Bremen classify only 26 active ingredients, or 13 percent, as genuine innovations.

Many older people need help with the accelerated world of digitalization. A study carried out by the university’s Institute for Information Management Bremen (ifib) has investigated for the first time what support older “offliners” and also “onliners” need on a communal level. For the first time, a Bremen study has investigated whether the services offered to date actually correlate with the needs and if all older people can participate in the digital world in this way. “Our broad assessment clearly shows that the said services do not suffice as they only reach some of the senior citizens,” says Professor Herbert Kubicek, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Information Management Bremen (ifib), University of Bremen.

Climate change and energy transition - these are the main topics of the first Impact Magazine of the U Bremen Research Alliance this year. In February, Working Group II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change presented its partial report. The co-chair of the influential body - and only the second German scientist in this position - comes from the U Bremen Research Alliance. Impact also reports on a long-term study of climate change on the seabed off Madagascar and what Bremen researchers are doing to ensure that wind turbines can be used for longer. The exciting read is available in full format here (only German).

Researchers have been honored for their work, as they laid important foundations for today’s software solutions for quantum computers. Their paper was created as part of a student project at the University of Bremen over ten years ago.

“The award has confirmed the pioneering work that we carried out in this field at the University of Bremen 15 years ago,” says Professor Rolf Drechsler, head of the Cyber-Physical Systems research area at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI).

It is an important step from basic research to technology transfer: The EU will provide Professor Rita Groß-Hardt and her team, together with KWS - one of the world's leading plant breeding companies, and potato breeder Aardevo, with highly regarded funding of around 2.5 million euros.

The aim is to use three-parent crosses in plants to establish a new breeding strategy for agriculture. In times of climate change, the project can make an important contribution to solving the challenges of the future.

The German Research Foundation (DFG) will continue the CRC 1342 "Global Development Dynamics of Social Policy". This will encompass funding around 15 million euros for the next four years. The second funding phase will begin on January 1, 2022. The research projects address the core question: Who benefits from social security and to what extent?

Professor Yasemin Karakaşoğlu from the University of Bremen received the Federal Republic of Germany’s Order of Merit together with seven other women and seven men at Bellevue Palace.

The Bremen educationalist has been honored as she has been committed to supporting refugees, the integration of immigrants, as well as standing up for women’s rights, interreligious dialog, and better education opportunities.

Praise for the university in the current CHE Ranking: Master’s degrees in mathematics, computer science, and physics receive great marks. Additionally, students praised the university’s management for information management during the corona crisis.

The managing director of the bremer shakespeare company will be awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany on 1 October. Renate Heitmann studied Cultural Studies and English/American Studies at the University of Bremen and is a board member of the Alumni Association. The citation by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier states: "If you do nothing, there is nothing to do", with this motto she defied the Corona pandemic in the middle of the summer of 2020. She initiated the "Bremer KulturSommer Summarum" with 300 events at more than 30 locations in Bremen and the surrounding area - an impressive example of lived solidarity in the cultural scene."

A virtual "AI Center for Health Care" is being created in the U Bremen Research Alliance. The state of Bremen is providing funds for this, which will be awarded to forward-looking projects in the U Bremen Research Alliance. In the course of a competitive call for proposals, five projects were recently selected to receive funding in the coming years. They will start this year. Read more (only German)

At the corner of Leobener Straße and Hochschulring, the new Center for Deep-Sea Research (ZfT) is being built. Located next to the University of Bremen’s MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, research into fundamental deep-sea processes will be conducted. The center’s research focus is primarily on questions related to the climate crisis and the roles of the oceans and deep sea in explaining global climate processes.

Researchers from the University of Bremen actively contributed to the coordination and formulation of the concept paper “Polarregionen im Wandel,” which has now been submitted to the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, which wishes to invest an additional 20 million euros in polar research.

They remain unbeatable: For the eighth time, B-Human – the team from the University of Bremen and the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) – were able to win the world championship in robot football. The tournament took place digitally due to the pandemic. The Alumni of the University of Bremen association is one of the supporters of this unique project since many years.

The University of Bremen Foundation has received quality certification for its good management of trust foundations. In total, ten organizations were awarded the certification for quality and transparency in the field of trust foundation management.

In their seminar “Film Education in Public Spaces” (“Filmvermittlung in öffentlichen Räumen”), 15 students worked on the topics of film education and city development and created a film festival for the former port district of Gröpelingen. On each second Friday from July 2, to August 27, feature films and documentaries will be shown at different locations in the former port district Gröpelingen. A supporting program with live music and art installations will begin at 8:30 p.m.

Great success for the University of Bremen: The Collaborative Research Center “Everyday Activity Science and Engineering” (CRC EASE) will receive a further four years of funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG). The decision supports the expansion of AI-based robotics in Bremen.

Dr. Annette Lang was head of the International Office at the University of Bremen for more than ten years. A time, in which the university’s international contacts expanded considerably. YUFE (Young Universities for the Future of Europe) is one of the project highlights that Annette Lang helped initiate with her unfailing dedication. Annette Lang has always been a reliable and resourceful contact for the alumni association. From March 2021, she will head the international relations department at the Senate Chancellery of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. We wish her all the best and hope for further excellent cooperation.

When the topic is start-up support, the University of Bremen is one of the top universities in Germany. In the current “Gründungsradar 2020” (Start-up Radar 2020) ranking from the Stifterverband, the university places 11th among the big universities.

Professor Veronika Eyring from the Faculty of Physics / Electrical Engineering received the renowned Leibniz Prize on March 15, 2021. The fact that the most important German research award goes to Bremen once again underlines the research strength of the university.

Outstanding work with a high level of relevance for the retail and consumer goods industry: Professor Michael Beetz, head of the Institute for Artificial Intelligence (IAI) at the University of Bremen, has now been honored for this with the Science Prize from EHI Stiftung and GS1 Germany.

Those who are employed or unemployed or anything in between have the possibility to use regular bachelor and master modules for their professional or personal further training and can simply turn their office or living room into a lecture hall. Among others, there are offers in the field of ‘IT, digital media, and digitalization.’ Alumni receive a 5 % discount on all events. An online information session providing details on content and perspectives will be held on March 3 (5-6 p.m.). (German only)

What a great distinction for the project ‘Bremer Kultursommer Summarum’ of the network VIS-A-VIS for culture and sustainability. The award for excellent voluntary commitment has been given out by our corporate member Sparkasse Bremen for more than ten years. Renate Heitmann, director of the bremer shakespeare company, and Astrid-Verena Dietze, Bremen-Neustadt district manager, initiated the cultural program of 300 events taking place between June and the end of August at thirty extraordinary venues. In doing so, they provided alternative performance opportunities during the coronavirus crisis for artists, especially from the fields of dance and theatre. The first place comprises a 3000 Euro cash award for the VIS-À-VIS network.

Frauke Meyer took on the role of administrative head of the University of Bremen on January 1, 2021. Her term in office will last eight years. The trained businessperson and financial controller took on the leadership of the Administrative Unit for Finance Controlling when it was established in 1995. The 51-year-old has also been the head of the Administrative Department for Third-Party Funding and Personnel Budget at the university since 2014. “Frauke Meyer has acquired great recognition through her expert knowledge and integrative leadership style”, according to State Councilor for Science Tim Cordßen.

In times of the pandemic, science is demanded and required as seldom before. The latest issue of the scientific magazine Impact illustrates some of the research topics within the U Bremen Research Alliance. In ‘Improved Shopping with Artificial Intelligence,’ this issue reports on the connections between retail and online trade; ‘Fighting COVID-19 more effectively,’ deals with the NFDI4Health Task Force COVID-19; and ‘Time Bombs on the Seabed’ is about the remnants of two world wars in the North Sea. (German only)

The University of Bremen’s career-orienting mentoring program ProMentes will start again in September. For ten months, experienced managers from economical, cultural, and administrative fields will be available for students in the final phases of their degree in order to advise and accompany them with their knowledge and experience while the students plan their entry into their career. You can apply now. (German only)

The University of Bremen is one of three German universities awarded a Google Faculty Research Award. Professor Tanja Schultz won in the competition with her project ‘EMG-to-Speech: Direct Generation of Speech from Facial Electromyographic Signals.’ (German only)

How can digital media such as videos or social media be used in teaching the sciences? This question is dealt with by the lecture series Didaktik:digital of the Joaching Herz foundation. Further support has been received in order to develop new concepts in teacher training.

Four Bremen-based scientists are among the most influential experts in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) worldwide. That is the result of a ranking conducted by the renowned Tsinghua University in China. The ranking is based on an analysis of articles for the most important publications and conferences in the field over the last ten years. (German only)

Computer Science Professor Tanja Schultz has been named IEEE Fellow starting on January 01, 2020. The honorary membership of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is presented to people with an exceptional performance and signifies a high distinction for the University of Bremen.

The University of Bremen has obtained a fund of 2.2 million Euro from the German Research Foundation (DFG), in order to build a system for 3D laser metal deposition. Equipped with the most innovative measurement technology, the high-tech device provides data for the scientific understanding of the underlying processes during powder mixing and conveying as well as the actual laser metal deposition.

When working relatives take on family care for a longer period of time, they face a substantial loss of wages. That is the result of a study conducted by the SOCIUM Research Center on Inequality and Social Policy of the University of Bremen and the German Center of Gerontology Berlin. (German only)

The University of Bremen will be the host of the world’s most important conference on coral reef ecosystems in July 2020. The symposium with about 2,500 participants will take place in Europe for the first time and is the largest conference in marine sciences hosted in Germany so far. In preparation of an exhibition, a photo contest is held. The deadline for photo submissions is on February 29.

Prof. Dr. Ivo Mossig attracted attention across Germany with his new teaching concept of the ‘introductory project’ module. The geologist was awarded a special prize in Kiel for his idea of having his students conduct independent research as early as the first semester of their Bachelor. (German only)

In September, together with the Hans Riegel Foundation, Professor Thomas Hoffmeister, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bremen, congratulated students from the Carl von Ossietzky Schulzentrum in Bremerhaven, as well as the Freie Evangelische Bekenntnisschule, the Alte Gymnasium, the Hermann-Böse-Gymnasium, the Gymnasium Horn, and the Gymnasium Hamburger Straße in Bremen. (German only)