University of Innsbruck focuses on Mastodon
The communications team at the University of Innsbruck will increasingly rely on the microblogging service Mastodon for science communication. Mastodon is a non-commercial and data protection-friendly platform with functions similar to the former Twitter. For this purpose, an instance has been created at social.uibk.ac.at on university servers, which is open to the university's organizational units. The active use of X will be significantly reduced.
From Glaciers to Rainfall: Ten Years in the Andes
Scientists at the University of Innsbruck have been studying the water cycle and glaciers in the Andes near Huaraz in northern Peru for a long time. They recently documented a previously unreported rainfall phenomenon. These light rainfalls, known locally as "Pushpa", mark the beginning of the sowing season. Their unpredictability from one year to the next complicates matters for farmers, a situation potentially worsened by climate change.
Interacting polarons
In physics, quasiparticles are used to describe complex processes in solids. In ultracold quantum gases, these quasiparticles can be reproduced and studied. Now, for the first time, Austrian scientists led by Rudolf Grimm have been able to observe in experiments how Fermi polarons – a special type of quasiparticle – can interact with each other. Their findings have been published in Nature Physics.
El Niño's Changing Patterns: Human Influence on Natural Variability
Two recent scientific studies led by Dr. Paul Wilcox from the Department of Geology at the University of Innsbruck provide new insights into Earth's climate dynamics, with a particular focus on the El Niño phenomenon. The results show how El Niño responds to natural factors over extended periods, while highlighting the increasing role of human activities in shaping this climatic phenomenon in the modern era.
Cross-alpine transit protests
When the large highways crossing the Austrian and Swiss Alps were built, citizens’ movements protesting the transalpine traffic started to form in both countries from the 1970s onwards. They found common ground in blaming EU policy but overall employed distinct methods, also with varying success, and never really joined forces. In a recent project, historians in Innsbruck, Basel and Munich made these two environmental initiatives the subject of their comparative research.
New Course: A Multidisciplinary Journey into Generative AI
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is on everyone's lips. In response to this hot topic, the Digital Science Center (DiSC) has designed an interdisciplinary course specifically aimed at giving students a basic understanding of the underlying principles of this technology and its far-reaching impact on various fields. It will start in the coming winter semester.
Statistics of the invisible
In order to obtain information about dark matter and dark energy from the huge amounts of data to be generated by the new ESA probe Euclid, Innsbruck astrophysicist Laila Linke and her team are using novel statistical methods. As soon as Euclid sends its first data to Earth, the researchers intend to have a tool ready to gain new information on the most important questions concerning the invisible side of the cosmos.
Glacier Loss Day indicates record breaking glacier melt
In the summer of 2022, one of Tyrol's largest glaciers experienced its most significant loss of mass on record. Last year, the Hintereisferner in Tyrol, Austria, reached its Glacier Loss Day (GLD) earlier than ever before. The GLD serves as an indicator of a glacier's health throughout the year, similar to how the Earth Overshoot Day measures Earth's resource consumption. Annelies Voordendag, together with a team of glaciologists at the Department for Atmospheric and Cryospheric Sciences at the University of Innsbruck, employs cutting-edge laser scanning techniques to determine the GLD.
ERC Grant for Biodiversity Research
For his research on the influence of biodiversity on long-term forest dynamics, Rubén D. Manzanedo has been awarded a Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). Currently a researcher at ETH Zurich, Dr. Manzanedo applied for the grant, which is endowed with around 1.5 million euros, through the University of Innsbruck.
Learn modeling and simulation
How to prepare for the third pillar of science - let's call it computing or simulation? How to keep up with the ever-evolving computational tools relevant to one’s field of studies? This winter term, the Extension Programme Scientific Computing (EPSC) is back for its second year, offering 7 lectures on how to approach these challenges for modern scientists and professionals.
Paving the way for advanced quantum sensors
Quantum physics has allowed for the creation of sensors far surpassing the precision of classical devices. Now, several studies in Nature show that the precision of these quantum sensors can be significantly improved using entanglement produced by finite-range interactions. Innsbruck researchers led by Christian Roos were able to demonstrate this enhancement using entangled ion-chains with up to 51 particles.
Third “DK-X-Change” in Obergurgl
Interdisciplinary writing and networking imbedded in the beautiful scenery of Obergurgl was the setting for the third DK-X-Change. In a well established cooperation between the Transfer Office Science - Economy - Society, the Writing Center of the ULB Tirol and the research area EPoS, 28 PhDs and 15 faculty members were invited to work together on their individual projects. The participants also used the time up at the Universitätszentrum Obergurgl to conquer a variety of possibilities to learn about each other and participate in an array of additional events.
Multidisciplinary introduction to Europe
Aurora's "Understanding Europe" program offers undergraduate students of all disciplines the opportunity to receive a multidisciplinary introduction to the history, politics, societies, arts and popular culture of Europe. At the same time, the program also allows students to visit partner universities.
Scientists develop fermionic quantum processor
Researchers from Austria and USA have designed a new type of quantum computer that uses fermionic atoms to simulate complex physical systems. The processor uses programmable neutral atom arrays and is capable of simulating fermionic models in a hardware-efficient manner using fermionic gates. The team led by Peter Zoller demonstrated how the new quantum processor can efficiently simulate fermionic models from quantum chemistry and particle physics.
UNO-Innsbruck International Summer School at Swarovski
In July, the UNO-Innsbruck International Summer School took place for the 46th time at the University of Innsbruck. Once again, Swarovski invited the students of the International Management and Marketing courses to a teaching exchange focused on sustainability.
RNA-drug interactions
How active compounds affect RNA and thus the expression of genes is of great interest for the development of potential therapeutics. Innsbruck chemists have now used a method they recently developed to study the binding of the aminoglycoside Neomycin B to a so-called mRNA riboswitch.