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The demand for high-energy batteries, in particular for the automotive industry, is increasing, and with it the research interest in battery technologies, which could determine the future market. A promising technology are secondary lithium metal batteries (LMBs), which combine lithium metal as an anode with, for example, cathode materials containing lithium ions.

The fundamental biological process of reproduction can differ greatly from animal species to species. Both males and females sometimes evolve creative strategies in pursuing their interests in these mating interactions. This has been studied for quite some time in small species such as the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, where the female receives proteins through the male's seminal fluid - which, after the actual mating, leads to radical changes in her behaviour and in the processes occurring inside her body.

Muscles are connected to tendons to power animal movements such as running, swimming or flying. Forces are produced by contractile chains of the proteins actin and myosin, which are pulling on muscle-tendon connections called attachments. During animal development, these muscle-tendon attachments must be established such that they resist high mechanical forces for the entire life of the animal.

A giant cylindrical refrigerator, an electron-beam pattern generator, a cleanroom, etching equipment. Sometimes it takes a lot of big things to make something very small. The nanoscientists at the University of Münster headed by Prof. Wolfram Pernice and Prof. Carsten Schuck know this only too well: they use these and other devices to produce nanophotonic chips the size of a one-cent piece.

Stephan Ludwig puzzles over a host of questions. There is nothing unusual about that when someone has a passion for science. As a molecular biologist, however, Professor Ludwig is particularly interested in one specific question which is of paramount importance: How do viruses - 'these tiny little mites', as he calls them - succeed in remodelling a somatic cell in such a way that they can reproduce inside it, making the host organism sick or even killing it? "We still know very little about the interaction between the pathogen, the cell, and the host organism.

The voice is a fleeting medium. As the primary means of human communication, it also plays an important role in religion. And yet it is difficult to grasp and seems to elude discussion. But a research project at the Cluster of Excellence has nonetheless approached the voice in a religious context: scholars from various disciplines have studied the voice as a medium of religious communication, and have discovered in historical testimonies, as well as in literature and artwork from various religions and cultures from antiquity to the present day, what can be called "voices from beyond".

They take up little space and are easy to breed; because they are easy to look after, fruit flies or Drosophila melanogaster are used as laboratory animals in research institutes all over the world. However, that is not the only reason why they are one of the most important model organisms that are studied by geneticists.

Duckweeds - for many aquatic animals like ducks and snails, a treat, but for pond owners, sometimes a thorn in the side. The tiny and fast-growing plants are of great interest to researchers, and not at least because of their industrial applications - for example, to purify wastewater or generate energy.

Part 2 of the series "Under lock and key at Münster University": the vacuum machine at the Institute of Physics is used to investigate spin phenomena The yellow stickers can already be seen from a distance: "Laser beam", "High voltage - danger to life", "No unauthorized access". The locked door with the warning notices is located at the end of a long, dark corridor on the fourth floor of the Institute of Physics at the University of Münster.

In order for the heart to work properly, it must exert muscular force. This involves the coordinated contraction of numerous sarcomeres, the smallest contractile units of heart muscle. Muscle contraction is brought about by the activity of conventional motor proteins, which pull on thin filaments to shorten sarcomeres.

Most of the people who stroll across the Leonardo campus are unlikely to notice a narrow, single-storey building. The construction in question is about 25 metres long and five metres wide. It is adorned with red and white stripes, has a corrugated iron roof, and is surrounded by a wire mesh fence which is about 1.5 metres high.

One of the greatest global challenges is the efficient use of renewable sources in order to meet the increasing demand for energy and feedstock chemicals in the future. In this context, biomass is a promising alternative to existing fossil sources such as coal or oil. Cellulose plays a decisive role here because it accounts for the largest fraction of the natural carbon storage.

In the recently published final report of the nationwide initiative "Plant Biotechnology of the Future", a project by scientists of the University of Münster has been selected as one of six research highlights of the programme. Between 2011 and 2018, plant researchers from all over Germany worked on 27 projects with 125 subprojects - funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

As different as the term "dynamic" is used and understood in science, so diverse are the research areas of the University of Münster, in which dynamic even plays a central role in the title. Prof. Christopher Deninger and Prof. Mario Ohlberger from the Cluster of Excellence "Mathematics Münster", the lawyer Prof. Nils Jansen from the Cluster of Excellence "Religion and Politics" and the biochemist Prof. Lydia Sorokin from Cells-in-Motion Cluster of Excellence explain what they understand by the term in their research.

The amount of information and data which workers find themselves confronted with every day has increased enormously over the past few years. Globalisation and digitalisation have led to a steady increase in the complexity of work and business processes. Anything that is up-to-date today can already be outdated tomorrow.

Iron is an essential nutrient for plants, animals and also for humans. It is needed for a diverse range of metabolic processes, for example for photosynthesis and for respiration. If a person is lacking iron, this leads to a major negative impact on health. Millions of people around the globe suffer from iron deficiency each year.

Synthetic molecules are essential for many products in our lives: medicines, crop protection agents or special materials such as Teflon. These molecules have several components, which can be combined in a variety of ways, resulting in different properties. Both so-called piperidines and fluorinated groups are particularly important.

Converting light into electrical signals is essential for a number of future applications including imaging, optical communication and biomedical sensing. Researchers from the University of Münster have now developed a new molecular device enabling to detect light and translate it with high efficiency to detectable electronical current.

A "hidden cradle of plant evolution" has been uncovered in Jordan. In Permian sedimentary rocks exposed along the east coast of the Dead Sea, palaeobotanists discovered well-preserved fossils of plant groups bearing characteristics typical of younger periods of Earth history. The Permian began some 300 million years ago and ended around 250 million years ago.

The skin is our largest organ, and, among other things, it provides protection against mechanical impacts. To ensure this protection, skin cells have to be connected to one another especially closely. Exactly how this mechanical stability is provided on the molecular level was unclear for a long time.