press releases
Here you can find press releases about the MRG. For other News, please look at the pages of the two Research Groups.
MRG 2: Selbst BILD kommt am Selbstbild nicht vorbei...
Please refer to the german website.
MRG2 am neu bewilligten NRW-Fortschrittskolleg beteiligt
Please refer to the german website.
Human being in the digital world
25.4.2016
Prof. Dr. Anna Tuschling is one of five experts at the next "Kneipengespräche", where citizens meet scientists in a Bochumer pub to talk about a famous topic.
When memories age
15.3.2016
When we remember events which occurred recently, the hippocampus is activated. This area in the temporal lobe of the brain is a hub for learning and memory. But what happens, if we try to remember things that took place years or decades ago? Neuroscientists at the Ruhr-University Bochum and the Osaka University have been able to give some answers to this question. They reveal that the neural networks involved in retrieving very old memories are quite distinct from those used to remember recent events. The results of the study have now been published in the open source science journal eLIFE.
MRG 2: Prof. Dr. Anna Tuschling talks at Hörsaal City about Selfies
This talk wants to explain the role and function of selfies in our modern life. Furthermore, different precursors of selfies in the past will be discussed. Anyone interested is cordially invited. January 26th, Blue Square Bochum, Kortumstraße 90, 18:00.
MRG 1: How to forget fear
Each time a memory is retrieved, the brain updates this memory and, for a short period of time, it becomes vulnerable. This process of reconsolidation and the participating areas of the brain were investigated by a team of scientists at Bochum's Ruhr University. Using optogenetics, a method combining optics and genetics, they were able to influence the ability to remember. Their findings offer promising new approaches for the therapy of anxiety disorders. The researchers' insights were published in the journal "Cerebral Cortex".
Hörsaal City: Dr. Josefine Raasch talks about Documentation
Documentations are central parts of professional lives. Physicians produce files from their patients, youth welfare workers document their family visits, in kindergartens and in schools teachers make recordings and many more.
But what are the criteria of these documentations and what results from the different documentation forms? In this talk Dr Josefine Raasch speaks about local documentation practices, textual strategies and their circulation effects.
Mental time travel: an exclusively human capacity (MRG 1)
Are humans the only ones who are able to remember events that they had experienced and mentally time travel not only into the past but also the future? Or do animals have the same capacity? To a certain extend, according to three researchers who are contributing a new theoretical model to this long-standing discussion. They published their results in the journal “Neuroscience and Behavioral Reviews”.
MRG 1: 900,000 Euros for memory research
30.11.2015
Investing more than 900,000 euros, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the US-American National Institute of Health are funding a close research cooperation between Prof Dr Sen Cheng from the Mercator Research Group “Structure of Memory” at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum and Prof Dr Kamran Diba from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Together, both researchers and their three collaborators will investigate “Neural network mechanisms of sequence generation in the hippocampus”. The three-year project begins in December 2015.
MRG 2: Prof. Dr. Christina Brandt gives a talk at Hörsaal City
What happens with an identity if it exists twice? Prof. Dr. Christina Brandt is concerned with this question on November 10th, when she talks at Hörsaal City.
MRG 2: Jan Baedke gets GdF-Price for his thesis
9.11.2015
Baedke is a postdoctoral fellow of the Mercator Research Group and the Department of Philosophy I, Ruhr University Bochum. His research interests include the history and philosophy of the life sciences, especially biology, and philosophical anthropology. His thesis entitled “Causal Explanation in Epigenetics: Modeling Complex Biological Systems” assesses explanatory and methodological novelties in modern biology and uncovers inter- and intradisciplinary conflicts hindering theoretical integration of epigenetics. For this thesis, he has got the Best Dissertation Award (GdF Award).
MRG 1: Kognitive und neuronale Grundlagen des autobiografischen Gedächtnisses
Please refer to the german website!
MRG 2: Durst nach Bildern: Künstler Martin Kohout ist Gast der RUB
Please refer to the german website!
MRG 2: Fusion of man and machine
25.9.2015
The First World War is widely regarded as having sparked technological innovations. The relationship man – machine changed drastically. Two PhD students from the Mercator Research Group "Spaces of Anthropological Knowledge" have researched in what way those changes were reflected in literature. The Science Magazine RUBIN reports.
MRG 2: Three question for... Prof Dr Dr Yvonne Wübben (MRG 2)
20.08.2015
In "RUBIN Online", Yvonne Wübben talks about her work in the Mercator Research Group.
MRG 1: Where memory is encoded and retrieved
28.7.2015
Are the same regions and even the same cells of the brain area called hippocampus involved in encoding and retrieving memories or are different areas of this structure engaged? This question has kept neuroscientists busy for a long time. Researchers at the Mercator Research Group "Structure of Memory" at RUB have now found out that the same brain cells exhibit activity in both processes. They have published their results in the journal "Hippocampus".
Neuronal networks: Tiny source, great effect (MRG 1)
07.07.2015
Brain researchers from the Mercator Research Group "Structure of Memory" at RUB have used a computer model to analyse how neuronal networks in the brain organise themselves. They found out that changes within the network can be traced back to small, local nerve excitations. Their results were published in the journal "Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience".
Mercator Research Groups and the Blaupause
Please refer to the German website.
MRG 1: In search of memory storage
June, 3rd 2015
The hippocampus plays a crucial role in memory formation. However, it is not yet fully understood in what way that brain structure's individual regions are involved in the formation of memories. Neuroscientists at the Collaborative Research Center 874 and the Mercator Research Group 1 at RUB have recreated this process with the aid of computer simulations. Their findings challenge the model of memory forming in the hippocampus established to date. Their results have been published in the journal "PLOS Computational Biology".
MRG 1: Nerve cells in the fast lane
May, 15th 2015
Nerve cells that produce dopamine for the purpose of transmitting signals to other cells affect numerous crucial brain functions. This becomes evident in diseases such as Parkinson’s and schizophrenia, where dopamine transmission in the brain is impaired. In collaboration with researchers from Bonn, RUB scientists at the Mercator Research Group “Structure of Memory” have now identified in what way a specific form of this important cell is generated and which networks it forms in the course of brain development. In the process, the researchers discovered a data highway of sorts: the nerve cells use not only dopamine for signal transmission, but also the much-faster glutamate. The results have now been published in the trade magazine “Nature Neuroscience”.
Film about Prof. Estrid Sørensen
Prof. Estrid Sørensen at 50 Years – 50 Faces: What does a day in the Chancellor's life look like? What is an RUB event engineer's job? How does one reconcile participating in the Olympics with pursuing a degree course?
Everyday life at the RUB is as diverse as the people who live it. By the time our anniversary year rolls along, we are going to release 50 short films portraying 50 individuals, who thus become the faces of Ruhr-Universität: contemporaries, renowned researchers, successful alumni, people with "colourful jobs", and outstanding students.
Deutschlandfunk über die Tagung "Wunder des Verstehens"
Please refer to the German website.
taz-Artikel über die von Prof. Anna Tuschling organisierte Tagung "Conatus und Lebensnot. Konzepte des Überlebens"
Please refer to the German website.
RUBENS-Artikel: MRG 2-Doktorandin Sabine Ohlenbusch gewinnt Preis für e-learning-Seminar
Please refer to the German website.
Susceptibility for relapsing major depressive disorder can be calculated
The question if an individual will suffer from relapsing major depressive disorder is not de-termined by accident. Neuroscientists from the Mercator Research Group "Structure of Memory" have chosen a new research approach, using computer-based models to study the disease. They show that chronic depression is triggered due to an unfortunate combination of internal and external factors. Their research findings were published in the journal PLoS ONE.
MRG 1: A glimpse into the 3D brain
October, 10th 2015
People who wish to know how memory works are forced to take a glimpse into the brain. They can now do so without bloodshed: Researchers of Mercator Research Group "Structure of Memory" have developed a new method for creating 3D models of memory-relevant brain structures. They published their results in the trade journal “Frontiers in Neuroanatomy”.
MRG 2: Gesellschaft zwischen Gentechnik und Hirnforschung
Please refer to the German website.
Interview with Prof. Anna Tuschling
28.11.2011
On its website "women in science", the Equal Opportunities Portal publishes an interview with Prof. Anna Tuschling.
Mercator Research Groups celebrate successful Kick-Off
November, 11th 2010
On 26 November, the Mercator Research Groups "Structure of Memory / Struktur des Gedächtnisses" and "Spaces of Anthropological Knowledge / Räume anthropologischen Wissens" invited for a "kick-off event" jointly organised by the professors, to present their research projects and their work environment.
The event took place in the conference room of the research group "Structure of Memory", whose rooms, laboratories and facilities had been handed over to RUB just one day before by the BLB.
Fourth Professor of MRG2 appointed
On November 4, 2010, Christina Brandt was appointed as Professor of History of the Life Sciences and Philosophical Anthropology by the Rector of RUB, Prof. Elmar Weiler. The MRG2 "Spaces of Anthropological Knowledge" is now complete.
Mercator Research Group 2 "Spaces of Anthropological Knowledge": First three professors appointed
Juli 2010
Following a symposium between 5 and 7 November 2009 to select the best suited applicants, the first three professors of the second Mercator Research Group at RUB have been appointed in Summer 2010. The fourth professor will be appointed in autumn 2010.
The three Professors for the first Mercator Research Group have been appointed
The first Mercator Research Group (MRG) at the Ruhr-University Bochum (RUB) is ready to commence its work, Prof. Elmar Weiler, the Rector of RUB, having appointed the first three professors, namely Dr. Magdalena Sauvage (Boston), Dr. Sen Cheng (San Francisco) and Dr. Markus Werning (Düsseldorf). As of January, 1st 2010, they will establish an independent research group to investigate diverse aspects of the “Structure of Memory.” The three young professors were selected from 52 international applicants in a multi-phase selection procedure.
Strong Partners for Implementation of Institutional Strategy
June 2008
The funds of the Stiftung Mercator Foundation will help Ruhr University to establish two “Mercator Research Groups”, where young professors will independently work on a topic with an interdisciplinary focus. They will be supported and advised by a number of alternating “seniors” with an outstanding scientific career. The young researchers select and invite their “senior”, e.g. a renowed professor emeritus from a university at home or abroad.
Contact
Raffaela Römer
Ruhr-Universität Bochum
Dezernat Hochschulkommunikation
Abteilung Wissenschaftskommunikation
Raum UV 0/020
Universitätsstr. 150
D-44801 Bochum
Tel.: +49 (0)234/32-21645
Fax: +49 (0)234/32-14136
raffaela.roemer@uv.rub.de
