Why are some people more successful than others? According to American psychologist Angela Duckworth, it takes a special blend of passion and perseverance which may be more important that talent and intellect in fueling success. On October 26, Angela Duckworth will give this year's Bernoulli Lecture for the Behavioral Sciences. Uni News spoke to her in advance.
Chemists from the University of Basel have succeeded in synthesizing two complex natural products from the group of dithiodiketopiperazines (DTPs). For this, they employed a new strategy based on “C-H bond activation,” resulting in a short and high yielding route. In the most recent edition of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, the researchers describe their new concept for the total synthesis of Epicoccin G and Rostratin A.
The new strategy of the University of Basel is based on excellence in research and teaching, modern governance, the use of locational advantages, and the promotion of innovation.
A new open online course from the University of Basel will begin at the end of September – this time focused on the topic of allergies. The three-week course in English developed with the learning platform FutureLearn is free to access.
In immune cells from patients with primary immunodeficiency, cellular respiration is significantly increased. This leads to inflammation, as an research team led by the University of Basel and University Hospital Basel report.
Diversity in the workplace is highly sought in theory, but often still lacking in practice. A new study shows that people tend to favor diversity for others, but prefer to work with people who are as similar to themselves as possible. A team of researchers from the universities of Basel and Koblenz-Landau published their report in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.
A research team led by the University of Basel and the Université de Montréal examined how the ongoing climate warming affects the “behavior” of lakes. The researchers found out why, in near-bottom waters, lakes may even cool down despite warming at the surface, and what the consequences are for the production and emission of greenhouse gases. The results of the study were published in the most recent edition of the journal Limnology and Oceanography Letters.
In power electronics, semiconductors are based on the element silicon – but the energy efficiency of silicon carbide would be much higher. Physicists of the University of Basel, the Paul Scherrer Institute and ABB explain what exactly is preventing the use of this combination of silicon and carbon in the scientific journal Applied Physics Letters.
In May this year, Prof. Flavio Donato started his own research group at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel. For his pioneering research project on infant memory, the neurobiologist has now been awarded a Starting Grant by the European Research Council, endowed with 1.5 million euros over five years.
