For many people, food and chemicals just don’t belong together. But does a long list of ingredients and additives mean that our food is unnatural or even unhealthy? Professor Daniel Wefers, a food chemist from the University of Halle, advocates a more pragmatic view of things. Read more
Georg Friedrich Handel based his compositions on the works of other artists more than almost any other musician of his era. Although such practices are often rejected as “plagiarism” or “forgery” in the modern world, they should be studied carefully in Handel’s case. The musicologist Professor Wolfgang Hirschmann reviews the research carried out so far. Read more
The World Health Organisation (WHO) was originally founded to assess global health risks. However, during the Corona pandemic, the WHO’s influence has declined significantly and nation states have taken over emergency management. Dr Jonathan Everts, a professor of human geography, puts this fact into perspective. Read more
When it comes to sexuality and gender roles, a fair share of people refer to the Holy Scripture. However, biblical scholar Professor Stefan Schorch says no clear answers are to be found in the Old or New Testament – and he explains why they shouldn’t be expected. Read more
The internal security service of the former German Democratic Republic (Stasi) used highly targeted psychological methods to discredit dissident citizens and break their resistance. In the 1970s, the Stasi even introduced “operative psychology” as a subject at its university in Potsdam-Golm. Professor Uwe Wolfradt explains how psychology was misused by the Stasi and how it affected its victims. Read more
It is frequently said that universities must orientate their courses towards the labour market – or else risk of a wave of unemployment. Professor Manfred Stock, educational sociologist, explains why this is wrong and how universities even adapt the labour market to themselves. Read more
The question of the east, of what is specifically East German is discussed in politics and the feature articles of national daily newspapers. What should be explained and why? The religious scholar Professor Daniel Cyranka puts the topic into context. Read more
Epigenetics is an emerging branch of biological research. Its findings will help us understand how information outside DNA can be passed on from cell to cell throughout a person’s life and partially even inherited from generation to generation. Bioinformatician Professor Ivo Grosse explains what epigenetic modifications are all about and how they can be affected by environmental factors. Read more
Languages are constantly evolving. Whenever two languages come into contact, they interact with one another. In some cases, such interaction results in entirely new languages, so-called creole languages. Professor of Romance linguistics Ralph Ludwig explains how and why these languages are a subject of research, and what we can learn from them. Read more
