Newsportal

Talented, up-and-coming students of synthetic biology will be meeting in Paris this November. Every year, interdisciplinary student teams from all over the world present their research projects in the ‘International Genetically Engineered Machine’ (iGEM) competition. This is the fourth year that a team from the University of Münster is participating in the competition.

Dr Maciej Bazarnik and Professor Anika Schlenhoff from the Institute of Physics have built a resonant tunnelling magnetic tunnel junction, as used in modern data storage devices, at the atomic scale for the first time and investigated its microscopic spin filter capabilities.

A research team led by Professor Michael Hippler and Dr Felix Buchert from the Institute of Plant Biology and Biotechnology has discovered a molecular feedback mechanism in unicellular green algae at the interface between photosystems I and II.

A recent international study led by the University of Münster highlights that the responses of European forests to climate change are becoming increasingly complex. Therefore, whether forests will continue to function as carbon sinks in the long term depends on the interplay of multiple factors such as drought, warming, rising carbon dioxide levels, and nitrogen input.

A research team led by biologist Professor Julia Kurth from the University of Münster has characterised a previously unknown enzyme system in anaerobic bacteria that converts toxic chloromethane into non-toxic substances.

The University of Münster has secured approximately €700,000 in funding from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for the “BATTERY PIONEERS: Global Green Mobility Talent in Battery Research” project. The project aims to attract highly qualified international PhD students to battery research at the Münster campus, as well as establishing sustainable structures for recruitment, integration, and career development. The launch event for all funded projects is taking place today, 19 May.

Islamic theology in Germany will mark a milestone in summer 2026 when the Centre for Islamic Theology (CIT) becomes an independent faculty at the University of Münster. Not only will this provide the discipline with new structure, but also greater visibility and influence. Professor Mouhanad Khorchide talks about what this means for the University and society.

A boost for biomedical research at the University of Münster: The German Research Foundation (DFG) is funding Collaborative Research Centre/Transregio 332 (CRC TRR332) "Neutrophils: origin, fate & function" for a second funding period, with approximately 13 million euros.

Chemist Prof. Robert Hein is fascinated by the creation of new molecules and materials. Together with his research group, he is investigating how molecules can be switched to alter the properties of materials.

Whether a doctoral dissertation proceeds successfully or not depends not only on the subject; it also depends on the supervision for the dissertation. An international project has set itself the aim of making lasting improvements to the supervision culture. The University of Münster is the only German practitioner partner involved – and its programme contains offers for professors and postdocs.

The importance of acoustic surface wave technologies will continue to grow, according to the forecast of leading researchers, among them Prof Hubert Krenner from the Physics Institute.

A research team led by Dr Jaime Anaya-Rojas and Prof Joachim Kurtz from the Institute of Evolution and Biodiversity has found experimental evidence of how tapeworm infections of three-spined sticklebacks alter several levels of a food web.