UNI NOVA – Research Magazine of the University of Basel

• 
  In conversation

  “I had to learn how to study”

  Interview: Bettina Huber / Dr. Kurt Pelda, an alumnus of the University of Basel, is a war reporter and freelance journalist. He has stayed true to the vow he made on receiving his doctorate in economics: Always to think of the pursuit of truth as a serious and noble task; to make every endeavor to achieve this aim and to carry out all activities in a responsible, conscientious and equitable manner. He has been given the 2016 Alumni Award in recognition of his commitment.

• University

  Mentor wanted – mentor found

  Interview: Stefanie Hof-Seiler / Since the fall semester of 2016 the Vereinigung Basler Ökonomen (VBÖ), the alumni organization of the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Basel, has offered a mentoring program for students of the faculty. It is intended to facilitate the personal transfer of know-how and career planning strategies.

• In pictures

  Shining a light on the materiality of art

  Photographs can only reproduce the materiality and visual impact of a work of art to a limited extent. This is particularly true of how light is reflected off surfaces. Researchers at the Digital Humanities Lab are working on new ways to digitally capture and portray the visual properties of artworks.

• 
  Dossier

  Migration holds the key to the future

  Text: Walter Leimgruber / The idea of society as a stable structure providing those born into it with a clear framework of shared belonging while demarcating them from «others» is a concept which only arose with the modern nation state – and it is already obsolete.

• 
  Dossier

  The fall of the border guards

  Text: Irène Dietschi / Political sociology professor Bilgin Ayata explains the surge in migration toward Europe largely as a consequence of the Arab Spring. In cozying up to Turkey’s Erdogan regime over the refugee crisis, the European Union has shown that it learnt nothing from previous events in Libya and the Arab Spring, she argues.

• 
  Dossier

  Highly skilled migrants in Senegambia and Switzerland

  Text: Pascal Schmid / Diplomats, academics, scientists and professionals: Many well-educated people live on different continents and experience foreign cultures. The doctoral researcher Khadeeja «Haddy» Sarr is examining life experiences, transnational activates and decision-making of highly skilled migrants from Senegambia living in Switzerland and Swiss migrants living in the Senegambia region.

• 
  Dossier

  Careers on the move

  Text: Samuel Schlaefli / Increasingly, highly qualified professionals live and work in different locations. Cultural studies expert Katrin Sontag has examined mobility among business founders, and believes it is time to revise our concept of migration.

• 
  Dossier

  The economy benefits from immigration

  Text: Christoph Dieffenbacher / Immigration from the European Union is especially beneficial to highly qualified Swiss nationals, while low-skilled foreigners are among those hardest hit. Economist Ensar Can from Basel has investigated the relationship between immigration and job security.

• Dossier

  A diverse religious heritage

  Text: Urs Hafner / Like other immigrants, many migrants from the former Yugoslavia look to religion – both Islam and Christianity – for a sense of direction. Maurus Reinkowski is an academic specializing in Islamic studies. He stresses the need to take a historically informed view on the role of religion in shaping identity.