Every week, scilog features an exemplary project funded by the FWF. The presentations shed light on scientific questions and report on recent insights gained in basic research. The projects not only reflect the great variety of scientific disciplines, but also the range of support options offered by the Austrian Science Fund.
In antiquity, the Mediterranean area was a pre-global mega-region with a lively exchange system. Supported by the FWF, a research team from Innsbruck is reconstructing the influence that imports and innovations from coastal towns, where newly arrived Greek settlers lived, had on local power structures further inland at a cult site on Monte Iato in […] Continue reading “Looking for clues in the remnants of feasts”
In a project funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF, a research group led by the chemist Katharina Schröder from Vienna has investigated how mixtures of exotic salts and water can be used as solvents for a broad range of applications. Continue reading “Liquid salts as superior solvents”
With the advent of the postcard, written correspondence experienced a boost everywhere, including Lower Styria. A project funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF now illustrates through postcards the coexistence and clashes between the German and Slovenian languages in the final decades of the Habsburg Monarchy. Continue reading ““Greetings” from Lower Styria”
The ILEI protein transforms sedentary into mobile cells and is therefore regarded as an important signal inducer for the metastasis of cancer cells. ILEI is only one member of a protein family that has not been widely researched. With the support of the Austrian Science Fund FWF, cancer researcher Agnes Csiszar has demonstrated that one […] Continue reading “A power couple mobilises cancer cells”
The social scientist Marita Haas explored the interdependence of female career paths and institutional norms by melding gender, profession and biography. Leaving behind traditional role models requires an encouraging environment and structural measures, concludes the expert. Continue reading “Equality: a question of openness”
Up until now, knowledge of the Nazis’ persecution policy in Austria has lacked an essential perspective: that of the Jewish population itself. In a project funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF, hitherto unpublished sources have now been systematically explored and set in an overall Austrian context. Continue reading “Historical knowledge supplemented by Jewish perspective”
With the support of the FWF, a group of researchers from Innsbruck examined 100 test subjects in a sleep laboratory and achieved widespread recognition for their collection of standard values for healthy sleep. While even healthy individuals move about more than expected while sleeping, muscle twitching during dreams can be a harbinger of neurodegenerative diseases. Continue reading “How much twitching is normal during sleep?”
In a project funded by the FWF, a research group from Vienna has investigated how a wide variety of employee scheduling issues can be analysed within one umbrella framework and solved with the help of computers. Continue reading “How computers help to find the optimal schedule”
With the support of the FWF, social anthropologist Leonardo Schiocchet conducted a Lise-Meitner project exploring Austrian-Palestinian encounters, which are marked not so much by clear concerns and affiliations as by generations, values and experiences. Based on the results, he has developed a new research approach for the characterisation of cultural communities abroad. Continue reading “The diversity of Austro-Palestinian encounters”
Resource-friendly construction starts with the building material used. In a project funded by the FWF, researchers who explored composite systems combining timber and lightweight wood-concrete came to the conclusion that these materials can be used as structural elements. Continue reading “Timber is gaining ground”