The University of Göttingen is an internationally renowned research university. Founded in 1737 in the Age of Enlightenment, the University is committed to the values of social responsibility of science, democracy, tolerance and justice. It offers a comprehensive range of subjects across 13 faculties: in the natural sciences, humanities, social sciences and medicine. With about 30,000 students and more than 210 degree programmes, the University is one of the largest in Germany.
New press releases
Pride Month: rainbow flags at the Aula building
To mark Pride Month, the University of Göttingen is raising rainbow flags on its Aula building in Wilhelmsplatz every day from 1 to 30 June 2023. This is an initiative of the AStA (general student council) which will send a signal of solidarity and support to the LGBTQ+ student community and show the values of tolerance and inclusion that the University stands for.
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Abandoning land transforms nature
More and more people are moving from the countryside into towns, leading to a rise in the number of abandoned fields, pastures, mines, factories, and even entire villages. Yet the impact of this changing landscape – exacerbated by war and climate change – on nature is not yet entirely clear. Researchers show that abandoning lands could be both an opportunity and a threat for biodiversity. Their review highlights why abandoned lands are critical in the assessment of global restoration and conservation.
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Rapeseed and the enemy in the soil
Crops have a high nutritional value, which makes them attractive to harmful microorganisms. In fact, most pathogens can only attack specific plants and there has been much research to try to discover how fungi locate their host plants.It was thought that host plants stimulate fungal spores in soil to germinate by releasing specific sugars, amino acids and other compounds from their roots – known as “root exudates” – thereby unwittingly triggering their own infestation but new research qustions this.
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Tree islands bring biodiversity to oil palm plantations
Islands of trees in oil palm plantations can significantly increase biodiversity within five years without reduc-ing productivity. This has been shown by an experiment, which has been running for over ten years in Indonesia as part of the Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) "EFForTS" at the University of Göttingen. An international team of researchers planted experimental islands of trees in plantations on the island of Sumatra to counteract the species loss caused by the intensive cultivation of oil palms.
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The elusive minority: non-binary gender in prehistoric Europe
People tend to think that the idea that biological sex is linked with one’s role in society belongs in the past. But was it even the case in prehistory? Archaeologists have investigated the representation of gender in Neolithic and Bronze Age graves (around 5500 BC to 1200 BC), in order to understand if the idea of gender in prehistoric Europe was really as “binary” as might be expected.
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“Hightech” materials from nature
Most biological cells have a fixed place in an organism. However, cells can become mobile and move through the body, for example, during wound healing or when tumour cells divide uncontrollably and migrate through the body. Mobile and stationary cells differ in various ways, including their cytoskeleton. Researchers have succeeded in precisely measuring and describing the mechanical properties of the two filaments. In the process, they discovered parallels with non-biological materials.
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