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.
For almost three decades, Peter Holzer has been dealing with the question of how the bowels and the brain communicate with each other. The results are remarkable. Continue reading ““Never stop, always keep thinking things over””
The IT specialist Ivona Brandić talks about her traumatic experience of fleeing from home, about how she promotes environmental protection through her work in IT, and why there should be more risk appetite in research funding. Continue reading ““No risk, no gain””
Human ecologist Helmut Haberl about the connection between hunger riots and bio-energy, why environmental protection makes economic sense, and why there can be no carbon-neutral society without fundamental changes. Continue reading ““It’s not a question of giving up comfort, it’s about a better life!””
The mathematician Erika Hausenblas about integrating coincidence in mathematical computations, why she was socialised among men and is sometimes mistaken for a secretary. Continue reading ““I don’t fit the mould””
Physicist Christoph Hitzenberger on revolutionary change in ophthalmology, on why he would like to see a different academic career system in Austria and why research needs to involve risk. Continue reading ““We were pioneers””
The archaeologist Barbara Horejs on the vagaries of history, on why migrants from the Orient brought crop cultivation to Europe and why one should never assume that one’s own civilisation will last forever. Continue reading ““The cradle of civilisation is found in the Orient””
The meteorologist Elisabeth Schlosser about her field research in ice that is 800,000 years old, about finding that you must not say what you think in Austria, and about why she thinks there is a two-class science system. Continue reading “Climate archive in the ice”
The experimental physicist Siegfried Bauer talks about thinking outside the box and “old guys”, and about how he became an internationally renowned scholar with the help of toy bricks, plastic film and a fondness for flexible electronics. Continue reading ““Only those who fail can progress””
The director, visual artist and performer Lucie Strecker talks about the blurring of borders between nature and technology, her unusual life trajectory and why art and science represent protected zones beyond moral considerations. Continue reading “Blurring borders”
The forensic molecular biologist Walther Parson on identifying the tsunami victims of 2004, his career path from a “mediocre pupil” to becoming a scientist of great international renown and why we may be opening Pandora’s box by analysing genes. Continue reading “The right man for tricky cases”