UNI NOVA – Research Magazine of the University of Basel

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  If children held the purse strings.

  Text: Christoph Dieffenbacher / Investments are not always made in an entirely rational manner. However, an experiment by an economist at the University of Basel shows that children already have the capacity to evaluate simple probabilities.

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  Once a risk-taker, always a risk-taker.

  Text: Christoph Dieffenbacher / It is well known that some people are more inclined to engage in hazardous or risky behavior than others. Individual attitudes in this regard, however, seem to follow a clear pattern over the course of a lifetime – in a similar manner to intelligence. Psychologists in Basel are investigating how people’s attitudes to risk are formed.

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  On gut feelings and financial decisions.

  Text: Yvonne Vahlensieck / As much as we’d like to think that we make economic decisions rationally, that’s not always the case. It’s becoming increasingly clear that our emotions also play a major role.

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  Interview

  “Without effective antibiotics, we’ll lose the advances made by modern medicine.”

  Interview: Urs Hafner / Christoph Dehio from the University of Basel’s Biozentrum heads the National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) AntiResist. The microbiologist argues for a paradigm shift in antibiotic research, the aim being to make the development of new drugs that overcome antibiotic resistance easier through a better understanding of the physiology of bacteria in humans.

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  Portrait

  “A supercomputer is like a family.”

  Text: Iris Mickein / High-performance computers have revolutionized science and industry. Computer scientist Professor Florina Ciorba looks at ways of optimizing the interactions between machines. In her work, she also encounters numerous parallels with the real world.

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  Research

  Should complementary medicine be the subject of research just like other disciplines, Christoph Meier?

  Text: Christoph R. Meier / How should university research approach complementary medicine? A debate between a pharmacist and a physician.

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  Research

  Should complementary medicine be the subject of research just like other disciplines,

  Text: Philipp Treutlein / How should university research approach complementary medicine? A debate between a pharmacist and a physician.

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  Research

  Trees of relationships.

  Text: Reto Caluori / At its base stands the ancestral couple. From there, the tree rises upward, gradually branching out over successive generations and presenting the picture of a thriving lineage. The family tree is a genealogical diagram that was popular in bourgeois families during the 18th and 19th centuries – and retains its appeal up to the present day.

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  Research

  Tracking metastasis.

  Text: Yvonne Vahlensieck / When cancer cells break away from tumors and enter the bloodstream, they can develop into metastases. Researchers at the Department of Biomedicine are investigating precisely how this process works – and developing new concepts for cancer treatment.