Ribosomes are small "factories" in which proteins are assembled according to genetic construction plans. The maturation of ribosomes, of which every human cell contains up to a million, is a complicated, multi-phase process. Now, with the aid of cryo-electron microscopy, scientists from Heidelberg University and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München have been able to clarify an important step in ribosomal formation. These "protein factories" consist of two ribosomal subunits and the scientists have shown that the smaller one "peels out" of a precursor complex and does not break off en bloc, as was so far assumed. The findings were published in the journal "Science".

Heidelberg neurobiologists decode central mechanism of degenerative processes in the brains of mouse models and develop new principle for therapeutic agents

Genome duplications play a major role in the development of forms and structures of plant organisms and their changes across long periods of evolution. Heidelberg University biologists under the direction of Marcus Koch made this discovery in their research of the Brassicaceae family. To determine the scope of the different variations over 30 million years, they analysed all 4,000 species of this plant family and investigated at the genus level their morphological diversity with respect to all their characteristic traits. The results of this research were published in the journal "Nature Communications".

A new international doctoral programme in materials science - coordinated by Heidelberg University - is receiving approximately four million euros in funding from the European Union. The project will focus on the development of organic materials suitable for converting unused waste heat into electricity.

Leading representatives from science, research and healthcare present key points of a strategy paper

The natural and life sciences campus of Heidelberg University is gaining a hub for teaching and dialogue.

The UK-based Arcadia Fund is granting financial support worth approximately 2.5 million euros to media anthropologist Christiane Brosius and Indologist Axel Michaels of Heidelberg University.

In the field of student affairs and teaching, the 4EU+ European University Alliance is driving forward the development of innovative teaching and learning formats for students and doctoral candidates.