Portrait

There is one main requirement for success in science: having a tangible target in mind and pursuing it consistently. In the Portraits series, successful scientists share how they confronted this challenge and illustrate that there may be a variety of ways to achieve one’s goals.

Ariane Sadjed

Portrait

Looking beyond stereotypes

By Jonas Vogt

Ariane Sadjed has always had a problem with the one-dimensional images of modern Iran that she encountered both inside and outside of academia. A cultural scientist, Sadjed has been conducting anthropological research on the topic of “being Jewish in Iran” for ten years. What has struck her quite often in the process is the discrepancy […] Continue reading “Looking beyond stereotypes”

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The power of stories untold

By Margit Schwarz-Stiglbauer

The historian Barbara Stelzl-Marx has been studying the repercussions of the Second World War for decades. Unresolved traumas from the war still play out across generations to this day. The war in Ukraine has now imbued what is otherwise a historical perspective with great topicality. Once again, we see a generation of children of war […] Continue reading “The power of stories untold”

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When food is the enemy

By Margit Schwarz-Stiglbauer

In Austria, eight in one hundred children and adolescents are being treated for an eating disorder. That, however, is only a quarter of all those who are actually affected, and they are getting younger and younger. Child and adolescent psychiatrist Andreas Karwautz has three decades of experience at the special outpatient clinic for eating disorders […] Continue reading “When food is the enemy”

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A child of the Cold War

Von Margit Schwarz-Stiglbauer

Kerstin S. Jobst, a specialist in Eastern European history at the University of Vienna, speaks about the impact of the Ukraine war on her research, about the background of the Russian invasion of its neighbour, about the origin of the deep-seated mistrust between East and West and about why this conflict represents a watershed in […] Continue reading “A child of the Cold War”

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Here’s a tobacco plant that saves lives

By Margit Schwarz-Stiglbauer

Molecular biologist Herta Steinkellner and her team have succeeded in producing highly effective antibodies against Covid-19. What is amazing about her method is that these medical wonder weapons are produced by – humanised – plants. This feat could be performed because at the genetic level the boundaries between living beings are blurred. Continue reading “Here’s a tobacco plant that saves lives”

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The limits of space

By Margit Schwarz-Stiglbauer

Faster, higher, further. Our society is based on the principle of growth, but our living space is limited. This is one of the fundamental problems that Alois Humer confronts. This professor of geography and spatial researcher at the University of Vienna is looking for answers as to how we can distribute our living space more […] Continue reading “The limits of space”

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The two-doors physicist

By Jonas Vogt

Beatrix Hiesmayr is a theoretical physicist whose main research interest is quantum information. Quantum information science holds tremendous potential for fundamental changes – among other things, in the way our computers work. But even though quantum theory has been around for more than one hundred years, nobody, not even Hiesmayr, can fully make sense of […] Continue reading “The two-doors physicist”

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Human beings, the unpredictable element in simulations

By Margit Schwarz-Stiglbauer

The information scientist Robert Elsässer is calculating how the Covid-19 virus spreads in the population and what effect is produced by measures to contain it. In principle he agrees with the current renewed lockdown in Vienna and Lower Austria, but thinks there is also a need for more and more frequent testing in companies, more […] Continue reading “Human beings, the unpredictable element in simulations”
Sociologist Ulrike Zartler from Vienna in front of an empty playground due to the corona crisis.

Portrait

Coronavirus: families at breaking point?

By Margit Schwarz-Stiglbauer

Working from home, home-schooling, distance learning. Over the last year, families have had to cope with an enormous burden. How are they really doing? And what are the needs of parents – and their children? Answers to these questions are being supplied through a longitudinal study conducted by family sociologist Ulrike Zartler of the University […] Continue reading “Coronavirus: families at breaking point?”