Potsherds of an age up to 2,500 years
© Tom Leonhardt
30.09.2015 in Research, Science

Robust clay: Chemist from Halle University finds glass needles in thousand-year-old ceramics from Brazil

5000 years ago the Brazilian natives mixed their clay with additional materials for improvement of the resistance and durability of their pottery. An important role played microscopically small glass needles of freshwater tree sponges, which was detected by an international team of researchers led by Dr. Filipe Natalio of the Institute of Chemistry at Halle University. 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

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

ThiNhat Phuong Nguyen with cocoa in a pill form. The tablet dissolves faster than cocoa powder and doesn’t clump.
© Michael Deutsch
16.04.2015 in Research, Science

The perfect cocoa

ThiNhat Phuong Nguyen has been working on the perfect cocoa for over a year. Cocoa that doesn’t clump and stick. The PhD student turns ice crystals into cocoa tablets at the Chair for Thermal Process Technology. The process could one day be a solution to pharmaceutical problems. Read more

Measurements, microscopes and documentation: Alex Hastings at his workplace in the New Residence.
© Markus Scholz
29.01.2015 in Research, Featured, Science

News from the past

Is a fossil from the Geisel Valley the first proof that crocodiles cared for their brood? How were five different crocodile species able to share a single habitat? Finds from the Geisel Valley date back to the Eocene Epoch and still hold many secrets. These secrets are attracting researchers from around the world, including Alexander Hastings. When speaking to Hastings about his work, it quickly becomes clear what has drawn the young palaeontologist from Florida to Halle, of all places. Read more

Petroglyphs near Sepasar in the Armenian highlands of Syunik.
© Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt, Juraj Liptak
01.10.2014 in Research, Science

Rocks relay messages from the Bronze Age

The Armenian highlands in Syunik Province on the border to Nagorno-Karabakh are home to breathtakingly beautiful volcanic landscapes made up of massive basalt rock. Thousands of pictures depicting animals and humans have been chiselled into these rocks by prehistoric people. Archaeologists from Saxony-Anhalt have joined forces with colleagues from Armenia to study and document these cliff drawings, which date back at least 5,000 years. Their aim is to submit a World Cultural Heritage application to UNESCO. Read more

She is considered to be one of the most well-connected Enlightenment researchers: Elisabeth Décultot is the first female Alexander von Humboldt professor at the University of Halle.
© Maike Glöckner
17.06.2014 in Research, Science

A successful crossover

German studies professor Dr. Elisabeth Décultot (46) from France is one of the world’s most renowned Enlightenment researchers. Currently working in Paris, she will transfer to Halle in winter semester. This is being made possible by the Alexander von Humboldt professorship, Germany’s most highly endowed international research prize, and Décultot is the first literary scholar to receive it. Read more

Professor of pharmacy, Wolfgang Sippl, is studying how pathogens that cause tropical diseases can be eliminated.
© Michael Deutsch
08.04.2014 in Research, Science

Targeting tropical diseases

Neglected diseases? What a strange concept. Yet, in fact they do exist. They are a small group of tropical diseases that occur in the world’s poorest countries. They are often ignored by major pharmaceutical companies due to a lack of financial incentives to fight them. Now an international research project offers hope. One of its participants is Wolfgang Sippl, a professor of medical chemistry and director of the Institute of Pharmacy at Halle’s university. Read more

Wellness drink or motorbike jacket? Karl-Ludwig Kunze and Bernhard Schipper with a kombucha culture.
© Maike Glöckner
03.04.2014 in Research, Featured, Science

Design meets science

You’ve successfully developed and perfected a crystallisation technique. You’re carrying a treasure trove of knowledge and experience about biominerals around with you. Patents have been filed and industrial partnerships have been found. But has the full potential of the technology you’ve developed or the material you’ve discovered been completely tapped? Read more