In the “Science in Motion” series, scilog opens a window to the many-faceted world of basic research. Internationally renowned researchers from Austria’s world of science report on current projects, insights and questions relating to their disciplines.
Otmar Scherzer works between the poles of research and application. This applied mathematician pursues the goal of making things visible that we are unable to detect today, such as certain tumours. For this purpose he works on improving mathematical models for X-ray and ultrasound technologies. In mathematics, important discoveries are usually the result of spending […] Watch video “The maths detective”
Smart phones, sat navs, computers. We are surrounded by technology and want the devices to be as small, safe and efficient as possible. Such progress has been made possible by insights gained from physics. The physicist Alberta Bonanni also contributes to these developments. With the support of the FWF she is researching new quantum materials […] Watch video “The physics of everyday life”
What if? Using an innovative approach, the artist and researcher Ebru Kurbak traces the history of technology. Why was one thing invented while another thing was not? Where in this historiography do we find women’s knowledge and skills? At the interface of art and scholarly research, Kurbak unearths lost opportunities of the past in this […] Watch video “The museum of lost technology”
Adrian Constantin conducts research into natural phenomena such as waves and currents. Aspects he explores include the origina of tsunamis or the strength of the polar current. The mathematician succeeded in developing computational methods that include aspects of geophysical relevance previously not accounted for. This makes it easier to explain complex weather and climate changes. […] Watch video “Calculating the origin of the wave”
During his studies, Michael Kirchler discovered similarities between competitive settings in sports and economic life. The sports enthusiast from Tyrol has since been exploring what impact competition has on people in a business context. In order to be able to devote his time fully to research, Kirchler withdrew from a rather successful career as a […] Watch video “What competition does to people”
Early love of his grandparents’ natural world marked Tecumseh Fitch for life. Growing up in Pennsylvania (USA) he was surrounded by forests and wildlife and had one goal: becoming a scientist. Today, Fitch is a cognitive biologist in Vienna and studies how animals communicate and what they think. He records animal calls from many species, […] Watch video “What do animals talk and think about?”
The political scientist and sociologist Anna Durnová explores the question as to how emotions determine our actions. Using case studies from politics and society and supported by the FWF she is trying to get to the bottom of the role played by hopes, fears, anger or joy in order to support better mutual understanding. Durnová […] Watch video “The importance of emotions”
Michael Wagner’s interest and expertise lies in the study of microorganisms at the places where they actually occur. He is specifically concerned with nitrifiers and their impact on the environment. These microorganisms play an important part in the Earth’s nitrogen cycle. Wagner, the 2019 winner of FWF’s Wittgenstein Award, has also provided his expertise to […] Watch video “Understanding how life works”
Even as a small child Christiana Köhler liked digging in the sand, and she is still doing it. For many years this archaeologist has been conducting research in Helwan, a town south of Cairo, where a huge ancient necropolis was uncovered. The findings made there provide evidence of the first territorial state in world history. […] Watch video “The world’s first territorial state”
“For us, the ants have never lost their fascination,” says Birgit Schlick-Steiner, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Innsbruck. Together with her husband Florian Steiner she has been studying these animals and their extraordinarily cooperative behaviour for years. She has also observed how invasive species are increasingly crowding out the native fauna. Despite their […] Watch video “Ant migration”