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Some volcanic islands sit atop plumes – upwellings of very hot rock from the Earth's mantle. While seismic data can roughly image these plumes, their exact pathways to the surface have remained unclear until now. A research team, including Prof. Dr. Andreas Stracke from the Institute of Mineralogy, has now developed a method to link surface hotspots to their deep mantle roots.

Scientists of the XENON collaboration have for the first time observed low-energy solar neutrinos scattering on electrons in the “XENONnT” particle detector. The group of Prof Christian Weinheimer at the Institute for Nuclear Physics of the University of Münster is involved in the experiment.

How did Mercury’s crust form? A team from the University of Münster played a key role in a new study that addresses this question. The crust of the planet closest to the Sun may have formed as a result of intense volcanic activity. By determining the silica content of Mercury’s surface more accurately than ever before, the researchers were able to provide new insights into the planet’s early development.

In the latest Shanghai Ranking, the University of Münster achieves an excellent position within Germany, ranking between sixth and eleventh. In an international comparison, it is ranked in the 151st to 200th group.

For more than 100 years, scholars had assumed that the rulers of the ancient Assyrian Empire in the Near East, from 1000 to 609 BC, were listed in full in a king list. Assyriologists Dr. Alexander Edmonds (University of Münster) and Prof. Eckart Frahm (Yale University) have now been able to prove that there were three further kings, who were almost completely erased from history.

A research team led by the universities of Münster, Hanover, and Halle has shown that the mitochondria, the “powerhouses” of cells, are already ready for action in dry plant seeds. Their internal structure is fully developed and their “machinery” is complete.

Psychological interventions are effective in treating post-traumatic stress disorders in children and adolescents. But are they also safe? An international research team led by Dr Thole H. Hoppen and Professor Nexhmedin Morina come to a clear conclusion in a meta-study published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

Fire in the Arctic tundra threaten people and biodiversity. An international study, in which Dr Ramona Heim from the Institute of Landscape Ecology was involved, shows that these fires are not solely due to climatic factors. The analysis of satellite data on night-time light emission demonstrates the influence of human activities on the frequency of fires.

A research team involving Professors Christos Gatsogiannis and Bart Jan Ravoo has shown that peptides carrying a flat carbon network aggregate into long fibres in water. Using cryo-electron microscopy, the researchers analysed the structure with record resolution.

For ten years, Prof Dr Johannes Wessels has presided over the University of Münster. He made far-reaching decisions, received numerous guests, conducted business trips and expanded his expertise every day. Looking back, he says he rarely reflected on his days as a “normal researcher”. Instead, he is grateful for the many fascinating insights he has gained.

A German-Turkish team has surveyed the Ararat glacier for the first time at an altitude of over 5,000 metres. Beneath the melting ice could lie a unique climate and cultural archive dating back thousands of years. The team, comprising archaeologists and glaciologists, has now identified the best location from which to extract ice cores in future.

The Rectorate’s Office has launched three new internal funding lines – IDEAS, START and ADVANCED – which support innovative ideas, new collaborations and competitive research proposals. In an interview with Kathrin Kottke, Prof Dr Monika Stoll, Vice-Rector for Research, explains why unconventional ideas deserve a chance, why failure is part and parcel of research, and why sometimes it comes down to drawing lots.