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Uni International
Welcome to Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg
New International Office and first International Week
at Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg
In May 2011, the Academic Senate approved a new internationalisation strategy for Martin-Luther-Universität the cornerstone of which is the creation of an International Office.
The team of the new International Office introduced themselves during the International Week, which took place from 21 to 25 November 2011.
The Japan Halle Connection
First came an earthquake, then a tsunami flooded wide stretches of the northern coast on 11 March of this year. Finally to top it all off, there was a catastrophe in the Fukushima I reactor complex. Some students from Halle were in Japan as the earth started shaking and experienced the disaster up close and personal. For safety reasons most returned to Germany. But they wanted to help in Germany too, and some have even gone back to Tokyo to continue studying.
Prof. Dr. Ulla Bonas Receives Leibniz Award
Prof. Dr. Ulla Bonas from the Institute of Biology at the MLU received the German Research Foundation’s (DFG) 2011 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Award. Ulla Bonas is a genetic researcher at the MLU who studies the interaction between pathogenic bacteria and plants. Among other things, she and her research team wrote about the bacterial pathogen Xanthomonas that became the cover story in the journal “Science” in December 2009. The article describes how the pathogen manipulates the genes of important crops such as rice, peppers and tomatoes which leads to high crop loss. The 2.5 million euro Leibniz Award is the most important research award in Germany.
Ageing Research: Topic of the Future and Chance for Halle
Everyone wants to grown up, but nobody seems to want to grow old. An entire industry appears to be thriving from the fight against wrinkles and gray hair. Nevertheless the number of white-haired Germans is steadily increasing. A rapidly ageing society is good for research on ageing, especially when it comes to awarding funding. The Interdisciplinary Centre for Ageing Halle (IZAH) has an opportunity to position itself as one of the few interdisciplinary centres for ageing research in the country. The conditions are just right.
Studying and volunteering at the shelter
For the fourth year, Halle’s university and the Freiwillige-Agentur Halle-Saalkreis e. V. [Volunteer Agency Halle-Saalkreis] are offering students the chance to volunteer this winter semester in the project “Engagiert.Studiert! – Service Learning für Studierende“ [Volunteering.Studying! – Service Learning for Students] as part of the module Allgemeine Schlüsselqualifikationen (ASQ) [General Key Qualifications]. This year there was a change: “For the first time we explicitly tried to attract international students,” explains Ines Jaschinski-Kramer who is responsible for the project at the volunteer agency.
Why the Drosophila only has one posterior
Was happens to a cell when the RNA of the hepatitis C virus enters the cell and recruits the cell’s proteins for itself? What does the localisation of m(essenger)RNA have to do with the synthesis of new proteins? And which protein cocktail is necessary to prevent Drosophila from having two posteriors? Scientists from the Martin Luther University have been working on finding answers to these questions since 2007 as part of the national DFG project “Cytoplasmic regulation of gene expression” (FOR 855). The German Research Foundation (DFG) has earmarked 3.8 million euros to fund the research group in this, now second, funding period.
Ethnologists study conflict management in Africa
Wars, crises and ethnic differences are a sad part of daily life in many regions of the world. Often international organisations and nations try to intervene. But how successful are these conflict resolution strategies really? Since October 2006, ethnologists from Halle have been searching for answers to this question. The VolkswagenStiftung has provided 500,000 euros as part of the funding initiative “Knowledge for Tomorrow – Cooperative Research Projects in Sub-Saharan Africa”.
Libyan honeybees cause a buzz
Dr. Taher Shaibi from Libya caused a media stir this summer. While carrying out research work in the Kufra Oasis in North Africa, he came across a subspecies of the Saharan honeybee undiscovered until then. He came as a post-graduate student to Halle from Libya and works at the Institute of Biology in the Zoology Department under Professor Robin Moritz, whose focus is on molecular ecology and, in particular, the honeybee. Shaibi’s discovery could bring about an international research project because these bees from the oasis are free of mites.
Extended senate elects theologian Udo Sträter as rector of Martin Luther University
Udo Sträter, Professor of Church History, is to become the 262nd rector of Martin Luther University, Halle-Wittenberg (MLU). The university’s extended senate elected the 58-year-old on 30 June 2010 in a first round election. He will succeed Professor Wulf Diepenbrock. Sträter received 26 of the 44 votes cast, while his opponent, geology professor Peter Wycisk received 15 votes. Three votes were disqualified. “Thank you for your trust in me,” was the election winner’s first reaction. He believes in good collaboration between all university committees. “My primary objective is to begin a discussion about the university’s profile.” (30 June 2010)
Millions in funding for research into the role of vitamin D in the cardiovascular system
The “human nutrition” workgroup at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) is coordinating a joint project whose participating researchers will study the role that vitamin D plays in a healthy cardiovascular system. They also want to develop innovative strategies in food production that would improve vitamin D supply throughout the population and strengthen the inland fishing and aquaculture sector over the long-term. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) will finance the project, set to begin on 1 July 2010, with around 1.4 million euros. The project is scheduled to run three years. Both the “human nutrition” workgroup, headed by Prof. Dr. Gabriele Stangl, as well as the “food chemistry” workgroup, headed by Prof. Dr. Marcus Glomb, are taking part at MLU. (30 June 2010)
Partner Procurement
From El Salvador to South Korea, Ireland to South Africa, the Martin Luther University is in partnership with 20 foreign schools as part of the Betreuungs Initiative Deutsche Auslands- und Partnerschulen (BIDS) [German Foreign and Partner Schools Support Initiative]. Nine pupils from participating schools came to Halle at the beginning of June for a trial study week. A few weeks prior to this, the German Academic Exchange Services (DAAD) announced its support of the project for the third year. A success for the International Office whose expertise is also in-demand many different places.
Where dunes and diamonds are king
Sleeping under the starry night sky, cooking outdoors and bathing in hot springs are just part of day-to-day business for members of an excursion, headed by Professor Gregor Borg from the Institute of Geosciences, that travelled from Cape Town to Windhoeck. The South Africa/Namibia tour at the beginning of March was pure adventure for the 16 geology students. They were able to gather practical experience and reinforce their theoretical knowledge through on-site observation.
World championship title for law student quartet from Halle
Four students from the law school (research centre for transnational commercial law) at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) successfully represented Saxony-Anhalt’s largest university in the finals of the “ELSA Moot Court Competition on WTO Law” in the Dominican Republic. They received the world championship title for the best pleading by the plaintiff. (2 June 2010)
Mice produce natural pain killers
Dr. Nadja Grobe’s dissertation at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) has been able to prove that living mammals produce the pain killer morphine. These findings form the basis for further research, which may have a considerable impact on pain research and drug dependency studies. (26 May 2010)
Foundations promote elite Japan programme
Two renowned foundations, two prominent partner universities and a joint double masters programme are the formula for success for the elite German-Japanese exchange programme. “The partners have realized how important the German-Japanese double maters programme will be for encouraging young academics,” states Japanology professor Christian Oberländer from the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) when talking about the significance of the partnership. The German National Academic Foundation and the Robert Bosch Foundation will enable five German and five Japanese students to participate in a two-year-long double masters programme in Germany and Japan starting in September 2010. A partnership agreement has been signed between Professor Oberländer and the two foundations. The programme was set up in 2009 with the generous help of the Haniel Foundation and was funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) during its trial phase. (21 May 2010)
700,000 euros for Halle’s Islam scholars
The Department of Arab and Islamic Studies at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) can look forward to major funding. The Volkswagen Foundation is setting aside half a million euros to support a project on the social history of Central Asia and – together with funding from the Fritz Thyssen Foundation – a total 200,000 euros have been made available for an “opus magnum” by department director Prof. Dr. Jürgen Paul. (20 May 2010)
Halle student uses chocolate bunny to promote studying in Germany
South African Merushka Peterson will soon smile down from posters that advertise studying in Germany. The 19-year-old student at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) was selected for the campaign “Study in Germany – Land of Ideas” by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Merushka Peterson is very proud to represent Germany. “I hope that I can convince foreign students to study in Germany because I like it here. Halle has become my second home.” (18 May 2010)
18-year-old qualified engineer to teach and research in Halle
The currently youngest research assistant at a German-speaking university is teaching and researching in Halle. Aged just 18, Marian Kogler from Vienna took up his post this month at the Institute of Computer Science at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU). This highly-talented young man, who could already read at the age of 2 ½, has already held his first lecture in front of students. “It was more my Austrian accent that was an issue than my age,” said the young teacher. (4 May 2010)
Good Relations with Japan are strengthened
12.04.2010: MLU Director Wulf Diepenbrock opened the spring academy of the International Graduate College of Halle-Tokio in early March. The invitation came from the University of Tokyo, one of the most renown universities in the world. During his trip into "the land of the rising sun", Diepenbrock visited five universities and the branch of the German Research Foundation (DFG). His conclusion: "We can be proud of our cooperation, and the potential of further growth in this partnership is high."
The Ice Hockey Scouts
12.04.2010: Who will make it into the Finnish U16 ice hockey team? This was the big question which not only plagued the 160 young players at Finnish Vierumäki for four days. It was also a challenge for the five students of the Masters for Applied Sports Psychology program of Halle University, led by Professor Oliver Stoll and Dr. Andreas Lau from the 2nd to 10th of March. They had traveled to Finland to face this challenge, the result of which produced unforeseeable consequences. Of the participating athletes under the age of 16, only 40 received the “ticket” necessary to become junior members in line for the national team.
50 Hectors of Diversity
12.04.2010: For Geo-botanist Prof. Dr. Helge Bruelheide, from the Institute for Biology at the Martin-Luther University, spring began with a challenge: to plant 100,000 new trees in Xingangshan located in the province of Jianxi of subtropical China. In this hotspot of biological diversity, with forests in which hundreds of tree species can be found, one the world’s largest experiments on the role of biodiversity for ecosystem functions is taking place. In this setting, 18 researchers from Germany and Switzerland have recently combined forces with a group of Chinese researchers to plant forests with different complexities and plant species on 50 hectors of land.
Martin Hecht to remain chancellor of the Martin Luther University
Dr. Martin Hecht is now starting his second eight-year term as chancellor of the Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU). The 43-year-old has headed the Halle university’s administration since April 2002. “I’m very pleased to be able to continue in this role at the Martin Luther University,” says Hecht, who received his signed letter of appointment yesterday (31 March 2010) from Saxony-Anhalt’s Prime Minister Wolfgang Böhmer. The vast majority of the university’s senate voted in favour of him in February. (1 April 2010)
Medicine for tropical diseases: researchers from Halle participant in development
Parasitologists, structural biologists and drug researchers from three European nations and Brazil are working together on developing new drugs to treat bilharziosis, a tropical disease caused by blood flukes (schistosomas). More than 200 million people world-wide are infected with the parasite and 280,000 people die each year of the disease. The European Union is setting aside 3.3 million euros to fund the research project “SEtTReND – Schistosoma Epigenetics – Targets, Regulation, New Drugs”. The Institute of Pharmacy at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) is also participating. (4 March 2010)
Bacteria turn toxins into gold – research findings causing a stir
22.01.2010: What do bacteria and metal have in common? In fact they may share a complex relationship. Recent exciting research findings by microbiologists at the MLU show evidence of this. News that, for example, copper door handles in hospitals help reduce the spread of bacteria or that bacteria allow gold to “grow” is making headlines in the media (see scientia halensis 3/09) and was published in the journal “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences”.
Experiencing Europe – Erasmus Office hoping to counteract downwards trend
22.01.2010: The Erasmus Office at the MLU has been located at Universitätsring 14 for six months and is the information centre for Halle’s students who would like to get a taste of Europe. In summer semester 2009 the Erasmus office also received reinforcement in the form of a new coordinator. Grit Eisenkopf brings with her her own experience with projects abroad. She first came into contact with the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) as an advisor to the Prorector for Research and Young Scientists.