PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

New junior professorship in Earth System Science at Mainz University sponsored by the Volkswagen Foundation

Junior Professor of High-Resolution Sedimentology to establish a specialized lab for paleoclimate research

New junior professorship in Earth System Science at Mainz University sponsored by the Volkswagen Foundation
2024-07-23
(Press-News.org) Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) has established a new junior professorship in the field of Earth System Science, supported by funding provided by the Volkswagen Foundation, Germany's largest private, non-profit organization engaged in the promotion and support of academic research. This Junior Professorship for High-Resolution Sedimentology is part of the JGU Institute of Geosciences and held by Dr. Igor Obreht. He will be creating a unique lab for high-resolution imaging for the analysis of terrestrial and marine sediments that formed thousands to millions of years ago. The resulting data will allow the reconstruction of the climate of the past, in some cases even in connection with individual seasons. The Volkswagen Foundation is contributing some EUR 1.6 million towards the financing of the junior professorship; JGU will provide EUR 675,000. "The Earth System Sciences funding line of the Volkswagen Foundation fits perfectly with our objective of developing an integrated approach to Earth System Science here at Mainz University," stated Professor Denis Scholz and Professor Philip Pogge von Strandmann of the JGU Institute of Geosciences, who submitted the application.

German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina recommends the establishment of Earth System Sciences as operating framework

For a better understanding of the complexity of our planet and finding effective solutions to global challenges, the Geosciences in Germany should be given new impetus and follow the guiding paradigm of Earth System Science as a conceptual and structural framework. This was proposed by the Leopoldina, the German National Academy of Sciences, in its 2022 Report on Tomorrow's Science. "We are facing worldwide problems, such as climate change and a scarcity of raw materials. These issues relate to the work undertaken in the Geosciences in many ways," said Professor Denis Scholz. "In order to obtain an overall understanding of the Earth as a system, we intend to promote Earth System Science at JGU. The new junior professorship is an integral part of this."

"Over the long term, we intend to establish a major regional research center for Earth System Sciences," added Professor Philip Pogge von Strandmann. This will be based on close collaboration between the two JGU research groups on Dynamics of the Solid Earth and High-Resolution Paleoclimatology, in cooperation with other institutions also based on the Gutenberg Campus, i.e., the JGU Institute of Geography, the Institute of Atmospheric Physics at JGU, and the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry.

Studying sediments in a unique research environment

The Junior Professorship for High-Resolution Sedimentology will significantly foster the teamwork between these groups while also extending the research capacity of JGU. To this end, Igor Obreht, who currently works at the research center MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen, will be setting up a unique high-resolution imaging lab at JGU that will enable the analysis of sediments in extreme detail. Sediments represent a valuable archive of information on climates of the past. JGU intends to create a permanent professorship in this field for the period after the six-year junior professorship to ensure long-term continuation of this research strategy.

 

Related links: 

https://www.geosciences.uni-mainz.de/ – Institute of Geosciences at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) https://www.geosciences.uni-mainz.de/research-groups-at-the-institute-for-geosciences/ – Research groups at the JGU Institute of Geosciences https://www.volkswagenstiftung.de/en – Volkswagen Foundation END

[Attachments] See images for this press release:
New junior professorship in Earth System Science at Mainz University sponsored by the Volkswagen Foundation New junior professorship in Earth System Science at Mainz University sponsored by the Volkswagen Foundation 2 New junior professorship in Earth System Science at Mainz University sponsored by the Volkswagen Foundation 3

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

All-optical ultra-long-distance image acquisition and transmission system

2024-07-23
A new publication from Opto-Electronic Advances; DOI  10.29026/oea.2024.230202  , discusses an all-optical ultra-long-distance image acquisition and transmission system.   With the exponential growth of data globally, the demand for high-speed acquisition and long-distance transmission of multidimensional data is escalating. Online video surveillance in sectors like industrial manufacturing has significantly boosted productivity while mitigating security risks. Real-time global video calls have revolutionized people's daily lives. Existing systems can leverage ...

On-chip spectrometer with high performance, low power-consumption and simple control logic

2024-07-23
A new publication from Opto-Electronic Advances; DOI  10.29026/oea.2024.240099 discusses an on-chip spectrometer with high performance, low power-consumption and simple control logic.   The miniaturized spectrometer has emerged as a powerful tool for analytical applications, particularly due to its promising potential in portable settings. These devices are increasingly integral in various sectors, including health monitoring functions on wearables like smartwatches and food quality inspections through smartphones.   Traditionally, ...

Study uses Game of Thrones to advance understanding of face blindness

2024-07-23
Psychologists have used the hit TV series Game of Thrones to understand how the brain enables us to recognise faces.   Their findings provide new insights into prosopagnosia or face blindness, a condition that impairs facial recognition and affects approximately 1 in 50 people.  The researchers scanned the brains of over 70 study participants as they watched footage from the popular TV series. Half of the participants were familiar with the show’s famously complex lead characters and the other half had never seen the series.  When lead characters appeared on screen, MRI scans showed that in neurotypical ...

OptoGPT: building foundation models for multilayer thin film design

OptoGPT: building foundation models for multilayer thin film design
2024-07-23
A new publication from Opto-Electronic Advances; DOI  10.29026/oea.2024.240062, discusses OptoGPT, a new inverse design algorithm.   Optical multilayer thin film structure is one of the most important photonic structures widely used in many applications, including color filters, absorbers, optical cavities or resonators, photovoltaic and radiative cooling, special mirrors for extreme UV lithography and for space telescopes. Designing these structures requires much training and expertise as identifying the best combination of materials and the thickness at ...

Finding a solution for long COVID, one cell type at a time

2024-07-23
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A 2022 study suggesting that blocking a single molecule could protect against severe illness in COVID-19 has led to a $15 million federal grant supporting a comprehensive effort to learn more – with finding a solution to long COVID at the center of the new research. Since that study’s publication, scientists at The Ohio State University have been exploring how the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 prompts this human molecule’s destructive activity, and outlined the series of steps needed to fully describe what’s ...

An isolated viral load test may generate false positive results for people using long-acting PrEP

An isolated viral load test may generate false positive results for people using long-acting PrEP
2024-07-23
A single laboratory-based HIV viral load test used by U.S. clinicians who provide people with long-acting, injectable cabotegravir (CAB-LA) HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) did not reliably detect HIV in a multi-country study. In the study, a single positive viral load test was frequently found to be a false positive result. However, a second viral load test with a new blood sample was able to distinguish true positive results from false positive results for all participants whose initial viral load test was positive. The findings were presented at the 2024 International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2024) ...

Microwave popcorn to particle accelerators: magnetrons show promise as radiofrequency source

Microwave popcorn to particle accelerators: magnetrons show promise as radiofrequency source
2024-07-23
NEWPORT NEWS, VA - A pocket-size gizmo that puts the “pop” in microwave popcorn could soon fuel particle accelerators of the future. The small but mighty device is a magnetron – a mashup of the words “magnetic” and “electron.” The term was coined in 1921, and the technology was once a wartime secret before making its way into billions of homes as the heart of the modern microwave oven. Now, physicists and engineers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Thomas ...

New research identifies less invasive method for examining brain activity following traumatic brain injury

2024-07-23
Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers have published new research that reports on a potential alternative and less-invasive approach to measure intracranial pressure (ICP) in patients. This research was published July 12 in the journal Computers in Biology and Medicine. ICP is a physiological variable that can increase abnormally when one has acute brain injury, stroke or obstruction to the flow of cerebrospinal fluid. Symptoms of elevated ICP may include headaches, blurred vision, vomiting, changes in behavior and decreased level of consciousness. ...

Prostate cancer blood test equally effective across ethnic groups

2024-07-23
Stockholm3, a prostate cancer test developed in Sweden, runs a combination of protein and genetic markers from a blood sample through an algorithm to find the probability of a patient having clinically significant cancer.  Studies in more than 90,000 men have shown that Stockholm3 produces significantly better results than the current PSA standard. The test improves prostate cancer diagnosis by reducing unnecessary MRI and biopsies and by identifying significant cancers in men with low or normal PSA values.    However, previous studies have been conducted primarily in Scandinavia ...

Lehigh University team wins 2024 Alfred Noble Prize for work on optimizing bridge maintenance

Lehigh University team wins 2024 Alfred Noble Prize for work on optimizing bridge maintenance
2024-07-23
Lehigh University structural engineering alum Xu Han ’23 PhD and his doctoral advisor Professor Dan M. Frangopol have been awarded the 2024 Alfred Noble Prize, an esteemed interdisciplinary award from a consortium of professional societies, administered by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). “I feel very humbled for receiving such a prestigious award and am very grateful to people nominating me,” says Han, who is now a postdoctoral research fellow at Texas A&M University. Frangopol, Lehigh’s inaugural Fazlur R. Khan Endowed Chair of Structural Engineering and Architecture, is a world-renowned expert ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Underserved youth less likely to visit emergency department for concussion in Ontario, study finds

‘Molecular shield’ placed in the nose may soon treat common hay fever trigger

Beetles under climate stress lay larger male eggs: Wolbachia infection drives adaptive reproduction strategy in response to rising temperature and CO₂

Groundbreaking quantum study puts wave-particle duality to work

Weekly injection could be life changing for Parkinson’s patients

Toxic metals linked to impaired growth in infants in Guatemala

Being consistently physically active in adulthood linked to 30–40% lower risk of death

Nerve pain drug gabapentin linked to increased dementia, cognitive impairment risks

Children’s social care involvement common to nearly third of UK mums who died during perinatal period

‘Support, not judgement’: Study explores links between children’s social care involvement and maternal deaths

Ethnic minority and poorer children more likely to die in intensive care

Major progress in fertility preservation after treatment for cancer of the lymphatic system

Fewer complications after additional ultrasound in pregnant women who feel less fetal movement

Environmental impact of common pesticides seriously underestimated

The Milky Way could be teeming with more satellite galaxies than previously thought

New study reveals surprising reproductive secrets of a cricket-hunting parasitoid fly

Media Tip Sheet: Symposia at ESA2025

NSF CAREER Award will power UVA engineer’s research to improve drug purification

Tiny parasitoid flies show how early-life competition shapes adult success

New coating for glass promises energy-saving windows

Green spaces boost children’s cognitive skills and strengthen family well-being

Ancient trees dying faster than expected in Eastern Oregon

Study findings help hone precision of proven CVD risk tool

Most patients with advanced melanoma who received pre-surgical immunotherapy remain alive and disease free four years later

Introducing BioEmu: A generative AI Model that enables high-speed and accurate prediction of protein structural ensembles

Replacing mutated microglia with healthy microglia halts progression of genetic neurological disease in mice and humans

New research shows how tropical plants manage rival insect tenants by giving them separate ‘flats’

Condo-style living helps keep the peace inside these ant plants

Climate change action could dramatically limit rising UK heatwave deaths

Annual heat-related deaths projected to increase significantly due to climate and population change

[Press-News.org] New junior professorship in Earth System Science at Mainz University sponsored by the Volkswagen Foundation
Junior Professor of High-Resolution Sedimentology to establish a specialized lab for paleoclimate research