news

Social Sciences - Health - 30.06.2021

Modernization makes older adults feel rushed, too
New international study on time perception among older adults Rapid societal changes can leave us feeling more rushed and pressured for time - and older adults are no exception, new research finds, led by Weill Cornell Medicine with participation of researchers of Humboldt University.

Agronomy / Food Science - Social Sciences - 14.05.2021

New Study Indicates Significant Increase in Food and Nutrition Insecurity in Brazil
Researchers from Freie Universität Berlin are investigating the pressing issue of food inequalities No 089/2021 from May 14, 2021 According to a study conducted by researchers at Freie Universität Berlin in cooperation with Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais and Universidade de Brasília, as many as six out of ten households in Brazil are currently at risk of food and nutrition insecurity.

Social Sciences - 23.03.2021

Bilingual babies prefer "baby talk" in their native languages
International research team including Göttingen University investigates babies- preference for type of speech and language A unique study of hundreds of babies across four continents shows that all babies respond more to infant-directed speech - baby talk - than they do to the type of speech directed at an adult.

Earth Sciences - Social Sciences - 17.02.2021

Global Mapping Projects aid Humanitarian Organisations
In recent years, free digital world maps like OpenStreetMap (OSM) have become a vital instrument to support humanitarian missions over the entire world. In disaster management as well as the implementation of the United Nations Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs), geodata compiled by the volunteer mapper community open up new possibilities to coordinate aid interventions and carry out sustainability projects.

Environment - Social Sciences - 16.12.2020

Gender equality crucial to address climate change
A new study published today highlights the importance of overcoming gender inequality for climate change adaptation and explores future pathways of gender equality for sustainable development Vulnerability to the impacts of climate change differs on a wide range of factors including socio-economic status, education, ethnicity and gender.

Social Sciences - 25.11.2020

The smell of cooperation
Research team with the University of Göttingen finds effect of odour on helpfulness in rats Despite their reputation, rats are surprisingly sociable and actually regularly help each other out with tasks. Researchers at the Universities of Göttingen, Bern and St Andrews have now shown that a rat just has to smell the scent of another rat that is engaged in helpful behaviour to increase his or her own helpfulness.

Social Sciences - Environment - 19.10.2020

High social and ecological standards for chocolate
Research team including agroecologists from Göttingen University study conditions in Peruvian cocoa agroforestry systems Worldwide demand for food from the tropics that meets higher environmental and social standards has risen sharply in recent years. Consumers often have to make ethically questionable decisions: products may be available to the global market through child labour, starvation wages or environmental destruction.

Social Sciences - Law - 28.09.2020

Understanding What Holds Societies Together
Berlin University Alliance funds six groundbreaking projects in the Social Cohesion funding line of its Grand Challenge Initiatives No 170/2020 from Sep 28, 2020 Social cohesion is a global challenge. Understanding social transformations is a key to successful coexistence in a complex, heterogeneous world.

Social Sciences - 04.09.2020

Five years later: the Balkan route of 2015 was an exception
Research report led by Göttingen University reconstructs the Balkan route based on the experience of 500 refugees The research report -Border Experiences and Practices of Refugees - by the EU project -Multi-level Governance of Mass Migration in Europe and beyond ( RESPOND) - provides a unique documentation of the experiences of refugee-migrants with the borders of Europe.

Linguistics / Literature - Social Sciences - 25.08.2020

Advantage in Theater for Men with Migration Background and Transgender People
Researchers at Freie Universität Berlin investigated structures of discrimination and privileges in the theater No 144/2020 from Aug 25, 2020 A study by researchers at Freie Universität has surprisingly shown that men with a migration background and people with a nonbinary gender identity experience a slight advantage over other male applicants in the field of theater.

Psychology - Social Sciences - 15.06.2020

The psychology behind toilet paper hoarding
Following the rapid spread of COVID-19 in Europe and North America in March 2020, many people around the world began hoarding goods such as toilet paper. Some companies reported an increase in toilet paper sales of up to 700 percent, despite calls from governments to refrain from "panic buying". Which groups of people primarily hoarded all the toilet paper? Psychologists from the universities of St. Gallen and Münster and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig investigated this question.

Social Sciences - Environment - 11.06.2020

Protecting scientific diversity
International researchers demand the active protection and support of diversity, equity and inclusion in science In the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists are facing great challenges because they have to reorient, interrupt or even cancel research and teaching.

Computer Science - Social Sciences - 28.04.2020

The university of Stuttgart will be the first European location in the IBM AI Horizons Network
The University of Stuttgart will be the first European institution to join the AI Horizons Network of IBM in order to advance AI research on the interaction of language and knowledge as part of a multi-year cooperation. The AI Horizons Network is a global network of researchers and doctoral students founded by IBM to further develop the use of artificial intelligence, machine learning, natural language processing, and related technologies in a series of research projects and experiments.

Social Sciences - 14.10.2019

Integration of refugees: Germans in east and west show similar willingness to help
In discussions in Germany on immigrants, particularly eastern Germany is often associated with attacks on foreigners and hate crimes against refugees. Research data and surveys also indicate that prejudices against immigrants are often stronger in the east of the country than in the western half. But are these differences also reflected in small acts of everyday help? This question was looked at in detail by researchers at the University of Münster, the University of Bielefeld and the University of Applied Sciences for Public Administration and management of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Social Sciences - 14.10.2019

How Does Interracial Contact in Childhood Impact Adult Interracial Relationships?
Findings by Researchers at the University of Antwerp, the Paris School of Economics, and Freie Universität Berlin No 299/2019 from Oct 14, 2019 According to a recent study, interracial contact in childhood leads to more diverse social relationships in adulthood. In particular, racial composition in schools impacts romantic relationships later in life.

Social Sciences - 25.09.2019

Fourth DFG center for advanced study in the humanities and social sciences for Universität Hamburg
Romanization and Islamication in Late Antiquity Fourth DFG center for advanced study in the humanities and social sciences for Universität Hamburg The German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) has authorized funding for a new DFG center for advanced study in the humanities and social sciences at Universität Hamburg: Romanization and Islamication in Late Antiquity-Transcultural Processes on the Iberian Peninsula and in North Africa.

Social Sciences - 24.09.2019

As of age 8, children demonstrate influence of social norms when choosing between selfishness and generosity
Prospective Students Students and Doctorate Alumni and Supporters Continuing Education Findings of international study including Freie Universität published in "Nature Human Behaviour" No 277/2019 from Sep 24, 2019 According to a recent study, children at the age of eight are influenced by social norms when choosing between selfishness and generosity.

Social Sciences - History / Archeology - 10.09.2019

9,000-Year-Old Grave with Rich Grave Goods in Jordan Yields New Insights into Early Hierarchies
Prospective Students Students and Doctorate Alumni and Supporters Continuing Education International research team led by Freie Universität publishes results of a two-year study No 263/2019 from Sep 10, 2019 An international team of researchers led by a team from Freie Universität Berlin has excavated a 9,000-year-old grave and its contents in the south of Jordan and interpreted the findings.

Career - Social Sciences - 12.06.2019

"Interdisciplinary research takes time"
It seems that new scientific institutions and research projects are all about "interdisciplinarity". Is it all hype? It is not all hype, not at all. We are increasingly encountering issues that cannot be resolved using the methods of any one discipline. As a matter of fact, interdisciplinarity was already enabling major leaps forward even before it was intentionally promoted: After the Second World War, several physicists transferred to biology in the wake of the atomic bomb shock.

Life Sciences - Social Sciences - 23.05.2019

German Research Foundation Extends Funding for Two Collaborative Research Centers at Freie Universität Berlin
Researchers study the dynamics of living together and the scaffolding of membranes No 146/2019 from May 23, 2019 The German Research Foundation (DFG) has extended the funding for two Collaborative Research Centers (CRC) at Freie Universität. One is CRC 958, where scientists study the molecular mechanisms by which dynamically organized protein-protein assemblies scaffold cellular membranes.