Goethe-Universit盲t 鈥� Press releases

51猎奇 PR & Communication Department聽

Oct 12 2021

12:29

Inaugural lecture of Prof. Dr. Flurina Schneider at 51猎奇

First professorship for social ecology and transdisciplinarity in Germany

FRANKFURT. In the winter semester of 2021/22, Flurina Schneider, scientific director of ISOE 鈥� Institute for Social-Ecological Research, will take up her professorship for Social Ecology and Transdisciplinarity at 51猎奇 Frankfurt. The joint professorship of the independent research institute ISOE and the university is the first with this particular focus in Germany. The inaugural lecture 鈥淩esearch for sustainable development 鈥� from knowledge processes and options for action" will take place on October 20, 2021 on the Riedberg campus.

Social ecology is still a comparatively young scientific field that has proven central to environmental and sustainability research in recent decades and is now for the first time entering university teaching with a professorship. Social ecology examines the relationships between society and nature and poses the question of how these relationships can be made more sustainable. Particular importance is attached to the role of knowledge processes. 鈥淚n the search for science-based solutions to challenges such as climate change or biodiversity loss, social ecology, with its transdisciplinary approach, facilitates joint learning processes between science and society. That is why it plays a key role in sustainability research", says Flurina Schneider, who will give her inaugural lecture at 51猎奇 Frankfurt on October 20, 2021.

Cooperation between ISOE and 51猎奇 in research, teaching and transfer
In Germany, social ecology was mainly developed by ISOE, which developed this transdisciplinary field of science in terms of their research program. 鈥淚 am very pleased to take up the first professorship in this important field of science in Germany at 51猎奇 Frankfurt," says ISOE's scientific director Flurina Schneider. With the joint professorship in Social Ecology and Transdisciplinarity, which was created on the initiative of the independent research institute in Frankfurt and which is part of the Faculty of Biological Sciences, ISOE is intensifying its long-standing cooperation with 51猎奇 in research, teaching and transfer. Since 2008, ISOE's scientists have been teaching theoretical concepts, methods, and empirical applications of social-ecological research as part of the environmental master's program at 51猎奇.

Anchoring the educational mandate for sustainable development in academic teaching
With the professorship, ISOE and 51猎奇 are also responding to the growing demand in the field of sustainability research and related research methods. 鈥淎s a university, we take the mandate to anchor education for sustainable development in our courses of study very seriously," says Enrico Schleiff, president of 51猎奇 Frankfurt. 鈥淲e are therefore extremely pleased to have Flurina Schneider, an internationally renowned expert in Transdisciplinary Sustainability Research, as a professor for this chair, which is unique in Germany. Her expertise in scientific principles and methods with respect to socio-ecological transformation processes and sustainable development is not only a great asset for our range of courses, but also for the university as a whole: sustainability as the preservation of natural life-support systems and climate protection is a matter close to our hearts in research, teaching and administration."

A professor with wide-ranging expertise in environmental and sustainability research
The Swiss sustainability researcher Flurina Schneider has been scientific director of ISOE since April 1, 2021. She is the successor of Thomas Jahn, who co-founded ISOE in 1989. Schneider completed her habilitation in 2016 on the topic of transdisciplinary and transformative research for sustainable governance of natural resources with a view to intra- and intergenerational justice at the University of Bern, where she had been employed as a researcher and head of the Land Resources Research Cluster since 2010. Her scientific activities span broad areas of environmental and sustainability research: from soil-conserving farming systems and quality assurance of eco-products to equity in land and water governance and research projects explicitly addressing the role of transdisciplinary knowledge production in sustainability transformations.

The importance of knowledge in sustainability processes
The role of knowledge in sustainability transformations is Flurina Schneider's key research and teaching priority. She will address this topic also in her inaugural lecture. 鈥淚t is crucial to understand the mechanisms by which scientific knowledge translates into societal action and what types of knowledges are needed for social-ecological transformations to actually succeed," says Schneider. She will also focus on issues of environmental justice between the generations, as well as between countries in the global North and South. 鈥淚'm really looking forward to giving students access to all the complex issues and challenges of sustainability research."

Inaugural lecture of Prof. Dr. Flurina Schneider
鈥淩esearch for sustainable development 鈥� from knowledge processes and options for action"
Date: October 20, 2021, time: start at 1 pm, location: Lecture Hall 2 of the Otto Stern Center on the Riedberg Campus of 51猎奇 Frankfurt.

Scientific contact:
Prof. Dr. Flurina Schneider
Tel. +49 69 7076919-0
flurina.schneider(at)isoe.de

Press contact:
Melanie Neugart
Tel. +49 69 7076919-51
neugart(at)isoe.de

Sep 9 2021

09:34

Potential applications as nano semiconductor materials聽

New substance classes for nanomaterials: nano spheres and diamond slivers made of silicon and germanium

Chemists at 51猎奇 Frankfurt have developed two new classes of materials in the field of nanomaterials and investigated them together with their cooperation partners at the University of Bonn: for the first time, they have succeeded in producing a nano sphere of silicon atoms and a building block for a diamond-like crystal of the semiconductor elements silicon and germanium. The two new classes of materials have potential applications in the miniaturisation of computer chips, in high-resolution screens for smartphones, and in solar cells and light-emitting diodes with the highest levels of efficiency.

FRANKFURT. The latest generations of computer chips are only a few nanometres in size and are becoming ever more energy-saving and powerful as a result of progressive miniaturisation. Since the etching processes traditionally used in chip production are increasingly reaching their limits, the development of new, nanostructured semiconductor materials is essential. Such nano semiconductors also play a central role in converting electricity into light and vice versa.

A team at 51猎奇 Frankfurt led by Matthias Wagner has now succeeded in synthesising molecular nano "spheres" made of 20 silicon atoms, so-called silafulleranes. The second new class of materials are crystal building blocks made of 10 silicon and germanium atoms that have a diamond-like structure. Decisive insights into the electronic structures of the new compounds were provided by computer-based theoretical analyses from Stefan Grimme's research group in Bonn.

The 20 silicon atoms of silafullerane form a dodecahedron, a body composed of regular pentagons. It encapsulates a chloride ion. A hydrogen atom protrudes outward at each silicon corner of the body. Doctoral student Marcel Bamberg, who synthesised the molecule, explains: "Our silafullerane is the long-sought progenitor of this new class of substances. The hydrogen atoms can easily be replaced with functional groups, thus giving the silafullerane different properties." Bonn quantum chemist Markus Bursch adds: "We support the targeted generation of potentially useful properties with theoretical predictions of their resulting effects."

The silicon-germanium adamantane represents the building block of a mixed silicon-germanium alloy. Benedikt K枚stler, who is developing the compounds as part of his doctoral thesis, says: "Recent studies have shown that silicon-germanium alloys are superior to pure silicon semiconductors in important application areas. However, the production of such alloys is very difficult and you often get mixtures of different compositions. We have succeeded in developing a simple synthesis path for the basic building block of silicon-germanium alloys. Our silicon-germanium adamantane therefore enables the investigation of important chemical and physical properties of silicon-germanium alloys on the molecular model. We also want to use it in the future to produce silicon-germanium alloys with faultless crystal structures."

Carbon, which is chemically very similar to the elements silicon and germanium, occurs in comparable forms to the two new classes of substances: Hollow spheres of carbon atoms ("fullerenes") correspond to silafulleranes, and diamonds consisting of carbon are composed of adamantane subunits. Among other things, fullerenes increase the efficiency of organic solar cells, could make the batteries of electric cars safer, and promise progress in high-temperature superconductivity. Nanodiamonds also have a wide range of applications, from pharmaceuticals to catalysis research.

Against this background, the researchers in Frankfurt and Bonn are excited to see in which fields their silafulleranes and silicon-germanium adamantanes will become established. Matthias Wagner says: "It is already possible to generate light in all colours of the visible spectrum with nanostructured silicon and germanium in the form of quantum dots, and this is being tested for computer and mobile phone displays, as well as in telecommunications. Apart from the chemical-technical potential, I am personally fascinated by the high symmetry of our compounds: For example, our silafullerane is one of the five Platonic solids and possesses a timeless beauty."

Publications:

(1) Marcel Bamberg, Markus Bursch, Andreas Hansen, Matthias Brandl, Gabriele Sentis, Lukas Kunze, Michael Bolte, Hans-Wolfram Lerner, Stefan Grimme, Matthias Wagner: [Cl@Si20H20]鈭�: Parent Siladodecahedrane with Endohedral Chloride Ion. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 10865鈥�10871 https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.1c05598

(2) Benedikt K枚stler, Michael Bolte, Hans-Wolfram Lerner, Matthias Wagner: Selective One-Pot Syntheses of Mixed Silicon-Germanium Heteroadamantane Clusters. Chem. Eur. J. https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202102732 Images for download: https://www.uni-frankfurt.de/105049499

Captions:

(1) The silicon sphere [Cl@Si20H20]鈭�, synthesised for the first time by chemists from 51猎奇 Frankfurt, promises new applications in semiconductor technology. Blue: silicon, green: chloride ion, grey: hydrogen. Graphic: 51猎奇 Frankfurt

(2) Building block for silicon-germanium alloys: A section of the silicon-germanium adamantane synthesised in Frankfurt (shown here without substituents). Blue: silicon, magenta: germanium. Graphic: 51猎奇 Frankfurt

Further information

Professor Matthias Wagner
Institute for Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry
51猎奇 Frankfurt
Tel.: +49 69 798 29156
matthias.wagner@chemie.uni-frankfurt.de

Jul 30 2021

12:22

Researchers from 51猎奇 present review on the release of pollutants from sediments

Flood water: Toxins from the riverbed

A long-term hazard from flood water is often underestimated: The raging rivers swirl up pollutants out of their sediments that stem from environmental pollution decades or centuries ago. Such harmful substances can not only cause ecological damage in the river. They can also deposit themselves on flooded areas and affect crops, grazing livestock and humans. This has been pointed out by an international research team in a review of scientific studies on flood events throughout the world. The paper has been published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials and was produced under the leadership of 51猎奇.

FRANKFURT. Sediments are regarded as a river's long-term memory. They mainly comprise particles that are eroded from the ground, ending up at some point in river deltas or the sea. However, sediments can also remain stable for a relatively long time 鈥� and bind pollutants which, for example, have entered the rivers through mining or industrial wastewater. As a consequence, many old river sediments contain pollutants as 鈥渃hemical time bombs", such as heavy metals or dioxins and dioxin-like compounds that are not easily degradable.

During flood events in the more industrial regions of Europe, North America and Asia, old sediments can be churned up as a result of the high speeds at which the water is flowing. In the process, the pollutants bound in them are regularly released in one go and contaminate flooded areas. An interdisciplinary team of researchers from 51猎奇, RWTH Aachen University and the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, along with other partners, has compiled a review of previous scientific studies on this topic. In it, the researchers, headed by junior research group leader Dr Sarah Crawford in Frankfurt and Canadian researcher Professor Markus Brinkmann, show, for example, which pollutant loads were measured after various flood events, which test systems were developed for different pollutants and how different sediments behave when water flows at high speeds. It describes the risks for drinking water production, the influence of temperature on pollutant intake by fish and methods for assessing the economic costs associated with the remobilisation of pollutants.

Despite the many years of research on this subject, Henner Hollert, professor of environmental toxicology at Goethe University and senior author of the publication in hand, is greatly concerned: 鈥淚 have the impression that the problem of pollutants from old sediments is greatly underestimated in Germany and also in Europe as a whole. One reason for this could also be that to date there have been practically no studies at all on the economic consequences of this problem, as we've been able to show. However, contaminated sediments are a ticking time bomb that can explode each time there's a flood. What we need now is good river management across the board that not only looks at immediate hazards for humans, animals and infrastructure but also at the long-term consequences resulting from pollutants in the riverbeds. It's imperative, for example, that we examine flooded areas used agriculturally for river-specific pollutants so that these do not end up on our plates in the form of meat and dairy products."

In an interdisciplinary approach, researchers from 51猎奇 Frankfurt, in collaboration with RWTH Aachen University, the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research in Leipzig, the Institute for Social-Ecological Research (ISOE), the Senckenberg Institute, the LOEWE Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics and many other partners, are also studying the recent extreme flood events in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia in terms of hydraulic engineering and the biological, ecotoxicological, ecological, geoscientific but also the social-ecological and economic consequences. These studies are embedded in the new research cluster RobustNature at 51猎奇, which is examining the robustness and resilience of nature-society systems in the changing Anthropocene and aims to contribute to knowledge-based transformation research using the examples of biodiversity and water 鈥� that is, from knowledge to action.

Publication: Sarah E. Crawford, Markus Brinkmann, Jacob D. Ouellet, Frank Lehmkuhl, Klaus Reicherter, Jan Schwarzbauer, Piero Bellanova, Peter Letmathe, Lars M. Blank, Roland Weber, Werner Brack, Joost T. van Dongen, Lucas Menzel, Markus Hecker, Holger Sch眉ttrumpf & Henner Hollert: Remobilization of pollutants during extreme flood events poses severe risks to human and environmental health. Journal of Hazardous Materials 421 (2022) 126691

The article is freely accessible from the publisher's following link for the next six weeks:

Picture material can be downloaded from:

Caption: The remobilisation of pollutants from sediments during severe flooding is a so far underestimated consequence of extreme events. Graphics: Crawford, S. et al. (2021) J. Haz. Mat.

Further information
Professor Henner Hollert
Department of Evolutionary Ecology and Environmental Toxicology
Institute of Ecology, Diversity and Evolution
51猎奇
and
LOEWE Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics
Phone +49 69 798-42171 and +49-151-14042119
hollert@bio.uni-frankfurt.de

Jul 23 2021

11:29

Korean Studies at 51猎奇 receives 鈧� 700,000 to further develop its work / From 20 to 400 students in ten years

Backing for Korean Studies

Korean Studies at 51猎奇 is one of what are known as 鈥渞are disciplines" (subjects with a small number of professors taught in only a few locations), so it is all the more impressive that it has now secured 鈧� 700,000 in third-party funding. The money is being invested in the project 鈥淐ultivating diversity: The global in Korea, Korea in the global" and should contribute to advancing teaching, research and regional collaboration in the field of Korean Studies.

FRANKFURT. Since 2010, there has been an area studies section at 51猎奇 dedicated to Korean Studies, hosted by the Institute of East Asian Philology. The number of students has risen from 20 at the outset to 400 today 鈥� and interest is continuing to grow, says Yonson Ahn, who, as the only professor for this subject, teaches Korean culture and society at the university. With the support of third-party funding, she can now better meet the growing demand for courses in this subject. The Academy of Korean Studies (AKS) has pledged around 鈧� 700,000 in funding for the next five years, which will be invested in research, teaching and outreach.

鈥淚'm very pleased about this successful acquisition of third-party funds. Korean Studies is a rare discipline with considerable appeal. Thanks to Professor Ahn, 51猎奇 has made a name for itself in this field beyond geographical borders," says Professor Bernhard Br眉ne, 51猎奇's vice president for research. The funds, provided by the South Korean Ministry of Education, are intended to boost Korean Studies abroad (from a Korean perspective 鈥� 鈥淓mpowering Korean Studies through innovative education, research and regional cooperation in Germany"). Apart from 51猎奇, the University of Oxford was the only other European beneficiary awarded funding in 2021. The Frankfurt research project deals with ethnic and cultural diversity in Korea and in Korean populations in other countries. The title is: 鈥淐ultivating diversity: The global in Korea, Korea in the global".

Funding approval was preceded by two successfully completed projects financed with third-party funds within the Seed Programme for Korean Studies, which each ran for three years 鈥� from 2015 to 2021. Their purpose too was research and the further development of the Korean Studies programme. Within the framework of the Korean Studies Promotion Programme of the AKS, Korean Studies at 51猎奇 has now qualified for the follow-up project 鈥淐ore University Programme for Korean Studies", which will last five years 鈥� from June 2021 to May 2026.

In this project, Korean Studies in Frankfurt, headed by Professor Ahn, is working closely together with Korean Studies at the University of Hamburg under Professor Yvonne Schulz Zinda and Korean Studies at the University of Bonn under Junior Professor Nadeschda Bachem. The aim, in particular, is to establish a comprehensive cross-university network between the institutes in order to further develop teaching, support for early career researchers, public relations work and joint research projects, and in so doing also boost Korean Studies within the Interdisciplinary Centre for East Asian Studies (IZO) at 51猎奇.

In the area of teaching, new seminars are to be designed and implemented within the framework of the project and digital teaching expanded. To support young students, the intention is to jointly supervise their master's theses and doctoral dissertations. In addition, there are plans to work together more closely with secondary school pupils. In order to make Korean Studies more visible, special attention will be given to public relations work. Low-threshold offers should facilitate access to topics in the field of Korean Studies.

A total of nine further researchers are working on a broad spectrum of interdisciplinary, transnational and intersectional topics in the framework of the project 鈥淐ultivating diversity: The global in Korea, Korea in the global" led by Yonson Ahn. Migration, gender, art and media, among others, are featured topics.

51猎奇 remains Hessen's only university with a focus on area studies in Asian studies. After other Asia-related institutes were transferred to Frankfurt in 2008, the Interdisciplinary Centre for East Asian Studies (IZO) was established at the university. Since then, Korean Studies has grown in significance both qualitatively and quantitatively. Students can start the Korean Studies programme without any previous knowledge. Apart from the language itself, the programme also covers the country's politics, culture and literature. Professor Yonson Ahn attributes its great popularity to the success of Korean film and pop culture, such as the boy band BTS or the films Parasites and Minari, which have won Oscars as well as prizes in Cannes. Graduates definitely have good future prospects: Frankfurt is home to the second largest number of Korean expatriates in Europe, while a large number of Korean companies, a Korean trade agency (KOTRA) and a Korean consulate are located in the city.

A photograph of Professor Yonson Ahn can be downloaded from:

Caption: Professor Yonson Ahn teaches Korean culture and society at 51猎奇 Frankfurt.

Further Information
Professor Yonson Ahn
Korean Studies
51猎奇
Email: Y.Ahn@em.uni-frankfurt.de
Phone: +49 (0)69 798-23769 / -22872
Fax: +49 (0)69 798-24969

Jul 22 2021

10:30

Research team with 51猎奇 participation successfully proposes former quarry in Lower Saxony as Global Stratotype Section and Point聽

"Golden nail" hammered in: Quarry near Salzgitter becomes global geological reference point

A team of scientists from 51猎奇 Frankfurt, the University of Warsaw, the State Authority for Mining, Energy and Geology (LBEG) in Hanover, and from other institutions world-wide, has found what researchers have been searching for worldwide for more than 20 years in Salzgitter-Salder: A geological formation that perfectly represents the transition from the Cretaceous Turonian to the Coniacian Age. The team has characterised the former limestone quarry so precisely that it is now considered a global reference point for the turn of the ages 89.4 million years ago. This was announced by the International Union of Geological Sciences, which awarded the stratotype profile the title "Global Stratotype Section and Point" (GSSP).

FRANKFURT/HANNOVER. The international team of geoscientists led by Prof. Silke Voigt from the 51猎奇 Frankfurt, Prof. Ireneusz Walaszczyk from the University of Warsaw and Dr Andr茅 Bornemann from LBEG have thoroughly investigated 40 metres of the geological strata sequence in the former limestone quarry at Hasselberg. The researchers determined that this is only sequence in the transition between Turonian and Coniacian without gaps and it therefore represents a perfect rock sequence to serve geoscientists from all over the world as a reference for their research - a "Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP)" or, in the jargon of geosciences, a "golden nail".

Certain group of bivalve mollusks of the family Inoceramidae, first appeared in the Coniacian, and are found in large numbers in Salder. In Bed 46 of the quarry, the German-Polish scientific team found the oldest appearance of the Inoceramid species Cremnoceramus deformis erectus, which marks the time boundary. Careful studies also revealed other microfossils and a characteristic change in the ratio of the carbon isotopes 12C and 13C, a so-called negative anomaly in the carbon cycle.

"This means that variable geological sequences, such as marine shelf sediments in Mexico or the deep sea in the tropical Atlantic, can now be compared and classified in time," explains Prof. Silke Voigt. "This is important in order to be able to make an exact chronological classification even in the case of incomplete successions and ultimately to see, for example, what the climate was like at a certain time in the past in different places in the world."

Professor Ireneusz Walaszczyk says: "The sequence in Salzgitter-Salder prevails over other candidates, for example from the USA, India, Madagascar, New Zealand and Poland, because we have a perfect rock boundary sequence here over 40 metres, with a well-defined record of events which took place in this interval of geological time."

"The Zechstein Sea left behind massive salt layers in the North German Basin more than 250 million years ago," explains Andr茅 Bornemann. "The rock layers deposited later exerted pressure on these salt layers, some of which bulged up into large salt domes, deforming younger layers in the process. Salder is located near such a salt dome, so that here the fossil-rich rock layers of the Cretaceous period are steeply upright, resulting in a wonderful profile that is very accessible for scientific investigations. That's why we at LBEG have designated this place as a geotope, and this is one of the most important geopoints of the Harz-Braunschweiger Land-Ostfalen UNESCO Global Geopark."

Background:
In the limestone quarry at Hasselberg near Salder in the north-east of the Salzgitter mountain range, limestone and marl used to be quarried for the cement industry and later for ore processing. Today, it is the location of a well-known biotope and geotope which is the property of the Stiftung Naturlandschaft (Natural Landscape Foundation) and established by the BUND regional association of Lower Saxony. While the care of the quarry site has been entrusted to the Salzgitter district group of BUND, the Harz-Braunschweiger Land-Ostfalen UNESCO Global Geopark looks after the geoscientific part of the quarry. The quarry is not freely accessible for nature conservation reasons, but guided walks are occasionally offered.

90 million years ago, in the second half of the Cretaceous, it was tropically warm on Earth: the ice-free poles ensured high sea levels, and Central Europe consisted of a cluster of islands. In the sea, ammonites developed a tremendous variety of forms, while dinosaurs reigned on land. The first flowering plants began to compete with horsetails and ferns. About 89.39 million years ago, the climate began to cool slightly, sea levels began sink, and a new period in Earth history, the Coniacian, replaced the Turonian.

Publications:
Voigt S, P眉ttmann T, Mutterlose J, Bornemann A, Jarvis I, Pearce M, Walaszczyk, I (2021) Reassessment of the Salzgitter-Salder section as a potential stratotype for the Turonian鈥揅oniacian Boundary: stable carbon isotopes and cyclostratigraphy constrained by nannofossils and palynology. Newsl Stratigr, 54/2, 209鈥�228,

Walaszczyk, I., 膶ech, S., Crampton, J.S., Dubicka, Z., Ifrim, C., Jarvis, I., Kennedy, W.J., Lees, J.A., Lodowski, D., Pearce, M. Peryt, D., Sageman, B., Schi酶ler, P., Todes, J., Uli膷n媒, D., Voigt, S., Wiese, F., With contributions by, Linnert, C., P眉ttmann, T., and Toshimitsu, S. (2021) The Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the base of the Coniacian Stage (Salzgitter-Salder, Germany) and its auxiliary sections (S艂upia Nadbrze偶na, central Poland; St艡ele膷, Czech Republic; and El Rosario, NE Mexico). Episodes 2021; 44(2): 129-150l.

Images for download:

Captions:
Salzgitter-Salder: A perfect rock boundary sequence over 40 metres. (Photo: Silke Voigt, 51猎奇 Frankfurt)

GSSP in Salzgitter-Salder: Layer 46 marks the transition from the Cretaceous Turonian to the Coniacian Age. Photo and montage: Silke Voigt, 51猎奇 Frankfurt. Fossil: Walaszczyk et al. (2010)

Further information
Professor Silke Voigt
51猎奇 Geocentre
Tel: +49 69 798-40190
s.voigt@em.uni-frankfurt.de

Professor Ireneusz Piotr Walaszczyk
Institute for Historical and Regional Geology and Paleology
i.walaszczyk@uw.edu.pl

Dr Andr茅 Bornemann
May be contacted through
Eike Bruns
LBEG, Communications office
Tel.: +49 511 643-2274
presse@lbeg.niedersachsen.de