TEACHING EXCELLENCEPoetry for all the senses
In the Mainz LyricsLab, poems emerge as multimedia experiences. Poetry is seen and heard, sometimes even smelled and tasted. This unusual teaching project began in 2011. In it, students at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and the University of Applied Sciences Mainz work together to cast lyrics in new forms.
HISTORICAL LINGUISTICSThe landscape of surnames
As Professor of Historical Linguistics at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), Damaris Nübling's special interest is the development of the German language from its first documented form as Old High German, dating to around 800 AD, to contemporary German. Her current projects are witness to the fact that historical linguistics is actually anything but a drab and dry-as-dust discipline. Currently she is investigating the morphology of surnames in Germany.
PARTICLE PHYSICSHiggs boson electrifies Mainz physicists
Matthias Neubert and his team are elated since scientists at Geneva's CERN research center found the first indications of the existence of the Higgs boson. This is the last building block missing from the standard model of physics. The head of the Theoretical Elementary Particle Physics unit at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) now expects his area of research to take off.
DIAGNOSTICSEvaluating cirrhosis 'live' and accurately at the cellular level
Detlef Schuppan and his colleagues are developing a revolutionary method that will make it possible to evaluate the progress of fibrosis and cirrhosis at the cellular level and to even view the effects. For this work, the physician and chemist has been awarded the most highly endowed research grant of the European Union, the ERC Advanced Grant.
GENERAL STUDIESIFuL tempts students to think outside the box
The integration of the Studium generale program in the new Bachelor's and Master's degree courses is in full swing. The Interdisciplinary Research and Teaching Division (IFuL) has designed its courses to encourage students to move outside their individual subject to question their own methods and learn about other working methods.
ECONOMIC EXPERTISEThe euro area needs a redemption pact
Beatrice Weder di Mauro presented the Annual Report of the five-member German Council of Economic Experts at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). This council, which has included Weder di Mauro since 2004, is suggesting a redemption pact for the euro area as a way out of the current crisis.
ENDOWED PROFESSORSHIP 2012All humans come from Africa
Friedemann Schrenk is the 13th scholar to hold the Johannes Gutenberg Endowed Professorship. His lecture series on paleo-anthropology for the summer semester 2012 will focus on the evolution of human beings. Under the title "Out of Africa: The Global History of Homo Sapiens" he wants to look at the spatial, biological and cultural connections that have led to the human beings of today.