The President’s Board has appointed Professor Nancy Odendaal as Full Professor of Urban Studies at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. She will take up her position, which is based at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, at the beginning of August 2024.
The Swiss National Science Foundation is funding the two National Centers of Competence in Research (NCCR) at the University of Basel in the fields of antibiotics research and quantum technology for a further four years.
Today, more and more people are embracing open relationships. Dr. Francesca Miccoli wrote her doctoral thesis on the legal recognition of polyamory. She discusses this form of romantic relationship in the following interview.
Should I invest my money with a small chance of big returns? Or is it better to pick investments that promise a series of modest returns? A psychologist from the University of Basel conducted a scientific experiment to study when people prefer certain types of investments.
A researcher at the University of Basel, in collaboration with a colleague in Austria, has developed a new model that provides a holistic view on how our brain manages to learn quickly and forms stable, long-lasting memories. Their study sheds light on the crucial role of interactions among neighboring contact sites of nerve cells for brain plasticity – the brain’s ability to adapt to new experiences.
A stem cell donation saves a leukemia sufferer’s life. Five years later, the patient develops a chronic inflammatory bowel disease that occurs very rarely following a transplant. Researchers from the University of Basel and University Hospital Basel have studied the case and are calling for more extensive genetic analyses in bone marrow donors.
Producing medication, plastics or fertilizer with conventional methods takes heat – but not so with photochemistry, where light provides the energy. The process to achieve the desired product also often takes fewer intermediate steps. Researchers from the University of Basel now demonstrate how the energy efficiency of photochemical reactions can be increased tenfold.
Contrary to common belief, not all vertebrates regulate their sleep-wake rhythm in the same way. University of Basel researchers have discovered that some fish – unlike humans – do not need orexin to stay awake. This molecule was thought to be necessary for normal wake and sleep rhythms in vertebrates. Humans without orexin suffer from narcolepsy.
The University Council has appointed David Berger as Professor of Intensive Care and Andreas Müller as Professor of Orthopedics/Traumatology.