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 a project financed by the Austrian Science Fund FWF, a research group from Innsbruck investigated how companies involve employees and also outsiders in their strategy development and what effects such involvement has. It speeds things up. Continue reading “Businesses benefit from more democracy”
While searching for biological markers for suicide risk, a Viennese research team has gained new insights into the relationship between environmental factors and genetics. Traumatic childhood experiences play an essential role and leave traces in the brain. Continue reading “The genetics of suicide risk”
With the support of the Austrian Science Fund FWF, an interdisciplinary Vienna-based team is investigating the nature of carbonaceous particles that play a key role in the formation of ice clouds. These “ice nuclei” act as catalysts inducing the phase change from water to ice. Understanding the process leading to such ice clouds is an […] Continue reading “The formation of ice clouds”
Autobiographies as a source are often viewed with scepticism in theatre research. A project funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF has now demonstrated their value. Such self-portrayals dating from before 1945 provide new perspectives on German-speaking theatre. Continue reading “Self-portrayal as a source of knowledge”
In a project funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF, a research group from Graz was able to demonstrate the efficacy of an active substance known from Traditional Chinese Medicine against black skin cancer. Continue reading “Medicinal plants yield a new active substance against skin cancer”
Baroque furniture in churches and monasteries provides important information on features of manufacture and design. With the support of the FWF, an art historian is drawing up a comprehensive catalogue. This will also provide a basis for assigning secular furniture to a specific period and region. Continue reading “Making furniture for church and nobility”
The construction history of St. Stephen’s Cathedral stretching over 300 years has been fleshed out with additional important elements. With the support of the FWF, open questions about issues such as financing or religious objects that have vanished can now be answered thanks to a systematic evaluation of several thousand documentary sources. Continue reading “St. Stephen’s Cathedral: new facets of its architectural history”
Researchers at the Medical University of Vienna explored the connection between iron deficiency and blood clots. Since iron deficiency can also occur in young, healthy people and thromboses are potentially life-threatening, this is a highly significant risk factor. Continue reading “Underrated risk factor for thrombotic tendency”
A research group from Graz is investigating the complex interaction between the intestine and the brain. In a project funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF, the team has gained new insights into how intestinal bacteria, the immune system and obesity can lead to mental illnesses. Continue reading “How intestinal bacteria can cause depression”
In order for a tumour to grow, it needs cholesterol to build new cell walls. At the same time, the so-called “good” cholesterol or high-density lipoprotein (HDL) is regarded as a protective factor against cancer. Schrödinger fellow Raimund Bauer investigated the effect of HDL on tumours more closely and was able to show that a […] Continue reading “How “good cholesterol” gets to do even more good work”