Advanced-level pinball
Change, time and again
City, country, community
Solar energy mobilizes
Closing in on a dream
What are you researching right now, Ms Stadtler?
Simply cutting out interferences
Modelling for cleaner waters
Always open for new things
The lockdown as a living lab
Knowing more about
cloud formation
Harald Bolt, member of the Board of Directors, deceased
Protein without water
Places of decline
2.3 million euros …
Gap narrowed, puzzle remains
Entangled atoms
New to the Board of Directors
Knowing more about cloud formation
Formic acid and other organic acids in the atmosphere contribute to the formation of aerosol particles as precursors of raindrops. They thus influence cloud formation and our climate. Researchers at Jülich have now deciphered the chemical process by which most of the formic acid present in the atmosphere is produced. This makes it possible to improve atmospheric and climate models.
– Institute of Energy and Climate Research –
million euros
has been awarded to Prof. Ulf-G. Meißner as an Advanced Grant by the European Research Council (ERC). The physicist, who conducts research at Jülich and Bonn, works on the strong interaction; this is the force that, among other things, holds neutrons and protons together in atomic nuclei. With the ERC funding, he wants to explore, among other things, what happens when the light quarks – the components of neutrons and protons – are replaced by strange quarks in atomic nuclei.
– Institute for Advanced Simulation–
Structural changes in the brain that cause Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases do not start in random places. They do not spread randomly either. Instead, they run along functional networks that are active in the healthy brain such as when the person reads or performs movements. An international team with Jülich participation found this out using a meta-analysis, in which the researchers statistically evaluated several studies on the same topic.
– Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine –
The muon puzzles physicists. The elementary particle – a short-lived cousin of the electron – generates a magnetic field around itself whose measured value is greater than theoretically expected. Experts see this as an indication of new, uncharted physics. However, the gap between the two values may be smaller than previously thought: uniquely precise calculations, carried out for the most part on Jülich supercomputers, led to a higher theoretical value. Independent measurements in the USA showed a minimally lower experimental value. More investigation is necessary to show whether the values need to be adjusted further and whether there is actually a new physics behind the deviation.
– Jülich Supercomputing Centre –
Proteins normally need water to perform their functions, such as transporting oxygen. Polymers – which are long-chain molecules – can replace water. An international research team has used the muscle protein myoglobin to explore how the proteins can move and be controlled in the unfamiliar environment. To do this, the team used the SPHERES neutron backscatter spectrometer, which Forschungszentrum Jülich operates at Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum in Munich. The protein-polymer combination could help in the medical field to regenerate cells of heart attack patients.
– Jülich Centre for Neutron Science –
Prof. Frauke Melchior and Dr. Astrid Lambrecht have been appointed to the Board of Directors of Forschungszentrum Jülich in the first half of 2021. Physicist Astrid Lambrecht took office at the beginning of June. Previously, the 54-year-old headed the scientific physics division of the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Paris. She also brings a great deal of experience from numerous international science organizations. Her research on quantum fluctuations and the forces they excite extends from the basics to application.
Prof. Frauke Melchior has been on the Board since April. As a professor at the Centre for Molecular Biology (ZBMH) at Heidelberg University, the 58-year-old biochemist researched the control of cellular processes by the protein SUMO. As a member of the Senate of the German Research Foundation (DFG) and as Dean at Heidelberg University, she was also active in science management.
"It is particularly important to me to expand existing interdisciplinary interfaces and to find new ones. However, we must not forget to strengthen the disciplines themselves so that they can continue to achieve great things."
Dr. Astrid Lambrecht
"The promotion of young talent from doctoral researchers to temporary group leaders has been a topic that has stayed with me for years and that is very near and dear to me."
Prof. Frauke Melchior
Photos: Forschungszentrum Jülich/Ralf-Uwe Limbach, Warwick Bromley, Volker Lannert/Uni Bonn, Uni Wuppertal/thavis gmbh, Hamara, Adisorn Saovadee, B. Franco et al, Ubiquitous atmospheric production of organic acids mediated by cloud droplets, Nature, May 2021, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03462-x (CC BY 4.0)