UNI NOVA – Research Magazine of the University of Basel
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Research
Judeo-Spanish: An almost forgotten language
Text: Olivia Poisson / In the late Middle Ages, many Jews who had been exiled from Spain or Portugal migrated to the Ottoman Empire. Their language, Judeo- Spanish, survives in a few pockets. Research on it is shedding a light on how languages in general develop.
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Research
Natural diversity between asphalt and concrete
Text: Yvonne Vahlensieck / The Canton of Basel-Stadt contains numerous woodlets, many of them in the city. Now, for the first time, a conservation biologist at the University of Basel is studying the ecosystem functions of these green islands in urban space.
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Research
White specks on the map of life
Text: Katrin Bühler / How are signals processed and building blocks produced inside cells? How do diseases develop? Resolving structures of complex proteins enabled researchers at the Biozentrum to answer such questions.
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Opinion
What is life sciences law?
Text: Herbert Zech / Different areas of law work together in the field of life sciences to provide a framework that promotes the development and spread of new technologies, minimizes the risks associated with their use, and sets boundaries where necessary.
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Portrait
The art of ethnography
Text: Samuel Schlaefli / Silvy Chakkalakal is studying the photographs and films of the American ethnologist Margaret Mead. Mead’s fieldwork in Samoa and Bali was not simply academic research, but artistic practice.
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Column
The Aesthetics of Resistance
Text: Prof. Alexander Honold / My book: Literary scholar Alexander Honold recommends Peter Weiss’s epic of resistance, flight, and bearing witness
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In conversation
Immunotherapy – A revolution in cancer treatment.
Interview: Matthias Geering / Professor of Oncology Alfred Zippelius conducts research at the University Hospital of Basel in the field of immunotherapy as a means of treating cancer. As deputy director of medical oncology, Professor Zippelius applies this new therapy in treating patients. He is convinced that we are about to experience a revolution in dealing with certain types of cancer.
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Dossier
The concept of “Eastern Europe” in past and present.
Professor Thomas Grob / It may be a convenient term, but its meaning is fuzzy: “Eastern Europe” is an idea that is continually being redefined.
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Dossier
National heroes from the photo studio
Till Hein / In her current research project, Martina Baleva is investigating historic carte-de-visite photography – “Facebook of the 19th century.” She has found that, much like today, the “users” were often misled.