ANTHROPOLOGY AND AFRICAN STUDIESSouth African exchange student researches underground hip hop
Sikelelwa Anita Mashiyi is the first exchange student to come from the University of the Western Cape to Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). A Master's degree student, she is currently undertaking research in JGU's African Music Archives (AMA) on the underground hip hop of South African townships. With the Department of Anthropology and African Studies planning to intensify its partnership with three African universities and to establish a network for research and teaching, further visits might follow.
GEOINFORMATICSA model of urban climate
With the help of ENVI-met, it is possible to determine the microclimate of a city down to the square meter, while effects of construction projects, soil sealing, and green spaces can be exactly predicted. Professor Michael Bruse of the Institute of Geography of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) has been working on this software for 25 years. As time went by, the specialist in geoinformatics incorporated increasingly more factors and made the 3D simulation more complex. ENVI-met is now in use around the world.
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS' CONFERENCE MAINZBy students, with students, for students
In November 2018, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) will be celebrating the first International Students' Conference (ICON). Speakers from all over the world will come together to discuss topics and issues in and around gender, migration and markets, ethics, literature, and a great deal more under the title "Bounds of Humanity". The event will mark the start of a regular series of study conferences at JGU.
PRISMA CLUSTER OF EXCELLENCEAttractive internship program for young talent
A special internship program regularly succeeds in getting talented young people to come to PRISMA, the Precision Physics, Fundamental Interactions and Structure of Matter Cluster of Excellence at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). Seven students were welcomed this summer. Zhiyuan Wang is one of them. He took the opportunity to work on his own project in nuclear physicist Professor Dmitry Budker's team.
UNIVERSITY FUNDING"We care about quality"
For twelve years now, Dr. Elke Göbel and Dr. Rainer Göbel have supported Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in many different ways. Now the husband and wife, both Gutenberg alumni, have set up a foundation that they plan to use first and foremost to promote international students in the Faculty of Physics, Mathematics, and Computer Science.
COMPARATIVE LITERATUREEuropean travelogues in context
Dr. Sandra Vlasta joined the Gutenberg Institute for World Literature and Written Media of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in October 2017 with a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship. Here, the Viennese expert in comparative literature is currently working on her research project on European Travelogues in Context. The Socio-Political Dimension of Travelogues in Europe: 1760 – 1850.
ENGLISH & LINGUISTICSTeaching English in Sri Lanka
Students of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have the opportunity to teach for a period of six months in Sri Lanka. This unusual project was initiated about two years ago. Anke Lensch of the Department of English and Linguistics launched the project, supervised by Professor Britta Mondorf and in cooperation with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
JGU INTERNATIONALErasmus scholarships for teaching staff and personnel
The Erasmus training program was introduced in 1987 by the European Union. Since then, it has promoted the internationalization of the educational landscape on many levels. Erasmus is primarily directed at students. But also teaching staff and other university personnel can benefit from the program. This aspect plays a major role at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz.
JIHADISM ON THE INTERNETTracking down Islamist propaganda
The Jihadism on the Internet interdisciplinary junior research group started last year. The researchers analyze online radical Islamist propaganda and track down all individuals that respond in any way to this kind of material. The group is also preparing a unique online platform. The project at the Department of Anthropology and African Studies at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz receives funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) to the tune of EUR 2.7 million.
EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGYOn the trail of biodiversity
In order to research the mechanisms involved in speciation, Dr. Michael Pirie has selected a plant genus which actually originated in Europe but which has developed into an unbelievable number of varieties mainly in South Africa. The botanist, who works at the Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution (IOME) at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), has been following the trail of the Ericaceae (heather) family for a decade now.