Helping junior researchers to look beyond their own four walls in preparation for an academic career is something that the University of Münster does not only in a decentralised way – in individual faculties, with a wide range of qualification opportunities – but also across faculty borders, with numerous centralised offers of support.
With the Jewish studies scholar Katrin Kogman-Appel, the WWU succeeded in 2016 in bringing one of the most internationally renowned experts in this field to Münster. She enriches conversations about world religions, conversations for which the University offers ideal conditions, not least with the "Religion and Politics" Cluster of Excellence.
In the new research building Center for Soft Nanoscience (SoN) researchers investigate how nanomaterials with complex properties and functions are produced in nature in order to follow this proven design strategy. The four disciplines of physics, chemistry, biology and biomedicine are now for the first time united under a single roof.
Nanoscientists at Münster University have succeeded in demonstrating a new reaction mechanism to cleave cellulose efficiently. This new reaction could lead to an efficient, environmentally friendly and cost-effective process for the conversion of biomass. The study was published in the journal "Angewandte Chemie".
In the recently published final report of the nationwide initiative "Plant Biotechnology of the Future", a project by scientists of the University of Münster has been selected as one of six research highlights of the programme. The scientists investigated how the Russian dandelion can be used sustainably to produce raw materials such as latex or rubber.
As different as the term "dynamic" is used and understood in science, so diverse are the research areas of the University of Münster, in which dynamic even plays a central role in the title. The spokespersons of the three clusters of excellence provide information on their understanding of the term.
The new "Battery 2030+" large-scale research initiative supported by the European Commission will gather leading scientists in Europe, as well as the industry, to achieve a leap forward in battery science and technology. The first “Battery 2030+” project kicks off in March 2019. The University of Münster and the Helmholtz-Institute Münster are involved.
For his outstanding research in the field of inorganic molecular chemistry, Münster University chemist Dr. Fabian Dielmann receives a Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize, worth 20,000 euros, from the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The prize is seen as the most important award for the promotion of junior researchers in Germany.
A series of lectures organised by the Collaborative Research Centre "Dynamic Cellular Interfaces" at Münster University helps teachers to stay on the ball.
Even teachers learn lifelong: A series of lectures organised by the Collaborative Research Centre "Dynamic Cellular Interfaces" at the University of Münster aims to transfer some of the current advance in biology into the classroom. Both teachers and high school students enjoy the opportunity.
Application as "University of Excellence" is running
The University of Münster promotes internationally renowned, cutting-edge research in the humanities and social sciences, the natural sciences and life sciences. These areas comprise outstanding basic research and application-oriented projects. The research profile of the University of Münster is distinguished by five research focuses, two emerging fields and a diverse range of individual research projects conducted at the highest level of performance.
In the book entitled "Im Herzen der Spiritualität. Wie sich Muslime und Christen begegnen können" ("At the heart of spirituality. How Muslims and Christians can approach each other"), published in 2019 (by Herder, 288 pp, ISBN 978-3-451-03131-1), Prof. Ahmad Milad Karimi and Benedictine monk and author Father Anselm Grün explore the common features that religions have, as well as the differences between them.
In addition to providing facilities for studies and research, the University of Münster offers apprenticeships and vocational training in 19 different occupations – from gardener to IT systems technician. One example of this vocational training is that for chemical laboratory assistants at the Institute of Organic Chemistry, where the two people responsible for this training are Karin Hassels (since 2009) and Peter Eggert (since 2001).
New study by psychologists and information scientists provides basis for trustworthy information systems
Psychologists and information scientists at the University of Münster have looked at how digital information systems support daily work and why it can be a good for us to forget certain things. The results of their study have been published in the "Ergonomics" journal.
Research groups from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) and the University of Münster have discovered a new switch that plants use to control their responses to iron deficiency. The findings from their research on the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana is published in the journal "Developmental Cell".
Promoting junior researchers plays a key role at the University of Münster. The University offers researchers a wide range of options – such as PhDs, graduate schools, junior research groups or associate professorships – in order for them to gain additional qualifications which prepare them for an academic career.
