Research News

The mechanical properties of red blood cells (erythrocytes) at various temperatures could play an important role in mammals’ ability to hibernate. This is the outcome of a study that compared the thermomechanical properties of erythrocytes in two species of bats and humans. The study was published…

The Greifswald Research Awards 2024 were presented at a ceremony in the Aula of the University of Greifswald on 24 September 2024. Two outstanding academic scholars were honoured for their pioneering contributions to the field of applied research. The awards for applied cutting-edge research go to…

Dr Franziska Tanneberger from the University of Greifswald is to receive the German Environmental Award from the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU) 2024. The award honours one of the world’s most influential researchers in the field of peatlands and her role for the climate and…

A new fossil fragment has been recovered from the Jurassic clay pit near Grimmen, approx. 25 kilometres west of Greifswald, and scientifically documented. This could be the first evidence of pterosaurs in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The fragment is also the first of its kind to be found. The findings…

An international research team successfully drilled several boreholes in Lake Namco in Tibet in June and July 2024. The lake lies at an altitude of over 4700 metres. Almost 1400 metres were drilled under the supervision of physical geographer Prof. Dr. Torsten Haberzettl from the University of…

Research groups at the University of Greifswald have succeeded in unravelling a fundamental regulatory mechanism of the enzyme Acetyl-CoA synthetase from the bacterium Bacillus subtilis down to an almost atomic scale. The process also saw the implementation of new approaches in artificial…

The German Society for Hygiene and Microbiology (DGHM) has awarded its main award to Prof. Dr. Sven Hammerschmidt from the University of Greifswald. He has thus been honoured for his internationally recognised and innovative scientific contributions. These have made a significant contribution to the…

The newly developed software BRAKER3 provides scientists all over the world access to a high-performance instrument for genome annotation, i.e. for identifying and labelling several relevant characteristics of a genomic sequence. The software represents a considerable advancement in bioinformatic…

An interdisciplinary research group from the Universities of Greifswald and Bremen, as well as the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, have uncovered previously unknown interactions between phytoplankton and bacteria within the marine carbon cycle. They have been able to show,…

After the eruption of the Krakatoa volcano in 1883, there were numerous eyewitness reports of abnormal optical phenomena in the atmosphere. Among the most unusual observations are the green sunsets that were previously unexplained, in which the twilight near the horizon did not take on the usual…