Announcements

What can local policymakers in Saarlouis, Münster and the Slovenian cities of Ljubljana and Koper learn from one another? How are they putting the European Union's sustainability goals into practice at municipal level? Are they equipped to deal with climate change and the associated environmental and social challenges? [...]

Professor Tanja Michael's psychology research group at Saarland University is working to improve treatments for trauma. The team is seeking volunteers aged 18 or over to take part in a study. Anyone interested is welcome to participate, whether they have experienced one or more traumatic events or none at all, and regardless of whether they have post-traumatic stress disorder. [...]

On 24 and 26 August, at 7 pm, Professor Helmut Freitag, Director of Music at Saarland University, will perform works by J.S. Bach on the organ of Saarbrücken's Ludwigskirche. Each concert will last about one hour. Admission is free, with donations towards the upkeep of the Ludwigskirche gratefully received. [...]

The research team led by materials scientist Ralf Busch from Saarland University is preparing for its first science-in-space mission. If everything goes to plan, from 31 August the researchers will spend one week remotely studying metallic-glass alloys in experiments carried out on board the International Space Station, ISS. Working with the European Space Agency, ESA, and the German Aerospace Center, DLR, the team will investigate the properties of these alloys using hot, levitating droplets. [...]

A team led by Samer Ezziddin, Professor of Nuclear Medicine at Saarland University and Director of the Department of Nuclear Medicine at Saarland University Medical Center, has shown that individually tailored PSMA radioligand therapy can be used effectively and is well tolerated even in patients with very advanced prostate cancer. The results of the study, which involved 227 patients, have been published in the European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging. [...]

Researchers from Saarbrücken and Augsburg have shown how artificial cellular compartments can autonomously form, dissolve and influence biochemical processes. Their findings could provide another piece of the puzzle in the quest to understand the origins of life on Earth and help predict the behaviour of subcellular compartments. The team led by physical chemist Dora Tang from Saarland University has published its findings in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science. [...]

Internationally renowned expert in neurophysiology Kristina Lippmann will take up a professorship in physiology at Saarland University. Lippmann will conduct research and teach at the Homburg Campus at the Center for Integrative Physiology and Molecular Medicine (CIPMM) in the Faculty of Medicine. In her work, Professor Lippmann aims to combine pioneering methodology with conceptual depth and international networking. [...]

In nature, bacteria rarely live in isolation. They exchange signals, cooperate with neighbouring cells, and compete for nutrients and space. To coordinate these interactions, they produce a wide variety of small molecules and proteins, many of which remain largely unexplored. Luis Linares-Otoya aims to uncover how these microbial “languages” function and how they shape the composition and behaviour of bacterial communities. [...]

Steffen Rausch is an expert in urological cancer. Rausch's work combines surgical therapy, drug-based tumour treatment and clinical research, with a special focus on translating new scientific developments into patient care. Rausch has been appointed Professor of Urology and Paediatric Urology at Saarland University as well as Clinical Director of the Saarland University Medical Center. [...]

Attitudes towards immigration are particularly strong predictors of support for Alternative for Germany (AfD), a right-wing populist political party. In a study with almost 32,000 people, Saarland University sociology professor Martin Schröder and his team were able to demonstrate that lower income, lower educational attainment and subjectively perceived disadvantage, by contrast, were much less significant than previously assumed. The study was published in the journal PLOS One. [...]