News from the Göttingen Campus

Mouse lemurs that perform better in cognitive tests live longer
Being smart pays off, as it allows for more balanced decision-making. However, the origins of these abilities during evolution remain largely unexplored. Only if smarter individuals enjoy better survival and have higher reproductive rates than their conspecifics, improved cognitive abilities can evolve. Researchers from the German Primate Center (DPZ) – Leibniz Institute for Primate Research have recently examined the link between cognitive…
At the Plenary Assembly of the Max Planck Society in Göttingen on June 22, 2023, Martin Stratmann symbolically passed on the responsibility to his successor, Patrick Cramer, by handing over the chain of office.
The choice of Göttingen as the venue for the 2023 Annual Meeting holds special significance for the Max Planck Society as it marks its 75th anniversary and coincides with a change in presidency. Göttingen is not only the birthplace of the Max Planck Society in its current form, but also holds personal significance for the new President, Patrick Cramer, the ninth President of the Max Planck Society, whose professional “home” has been the Max…
Professor Lutz Ackermann’s research recognised in "Project of the Century" competition
Professor Lutz Ackermann from the University of Göttingen has been awarded a prize in the "Project of the Century" competition of the Werner Siemens Foundation (WSS). Ackermann's team and five others receive a prize of over one million euros each for their ideas. The award ceremony took place on Friday 16 June 2023 in Lucerne. In addition, the six teams will get the opportunity to apply to be a WSS research centre which would enable them to…
New findings challenge the conventional understanding of solar dynamics and could improve predictions of solar weather in the future.
The Sun’s strong, dynamic magnetic field can catapult huge jets of plasma known as coronal mass ejections out into the Solar System. Sometimes these hit Earth, where they can knock out power grids and damage satellites. Scientists don’t fully understand how magnetic fields are generated and amplified inside the Sun, but a study recently published in Nature Astronomy by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Germany…
New insights into the genetic diversity and evolution of our closest relatives and the genetic causes of human diseases
Researchers from 24 countries have analyzed the genomes of 809 individuals from 233 primate species, generating the most complete catalog of genomic information about our closest relatives to date. The project, which consists of a series of studies in which researchers from the German Primate Center - Leibniz Institute for Primate Research (DPZ) were also involved, provides new insights into the evolution of primates, including humans, and their…
Research team including Göttingen University explains tooth abrasion in cows
Ruminants like cows have developed an unusual way of digesting their food: they ingest plants, give them a rough chewing and then swallow the half-chewed mash before regurgitating it repeatedly and continuing to chew. This has clear advantages, as a research team including the University of Göttingen has shown: the regurgitated mushy food contains much less hard grit, sand and dust than the food that they first ingested. This protects the teeth…
Zurna Ahmed developed novel experimental environment for rhesus macaques
The Sponsorship Association of the German Primate Center – Leibniz Institute for Primate Research awards the PhD Prize to outstanding doctoral theses in which studies on monkeys play a central role. The prize is endowed with 1000 euros and is supported by the MacLean-Erkelenz Foundation. This year's winner is neuroscientist Zurna Ahmed. She is investigating how movements are planned in the brain. For her project, she developed a novel…
A star’s chemical composition strongly influences the ultraviolet radiation it emits into space and thus the conditions for the emergence of life in its neighbourhood.
Stars that contain comparatively large amounts of heavy elements provide less favorable conditions for the emergence of complex life than metal-poor stars, as scientists from the Max Planck Institutes for Solar System Research and for Chemistry as well as from the University of Göttingen have now found. The team showed how the metallicity of a star is connected to the ability of its planets to surround themselves with a protective ozone layer.…
The project WINSUN combines a new generation of observational data with computer simulations to provide a comprehensive view of the Sun's magnetic field.
The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded Prof. Dr. Sami Solanki of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) one of the prestigious ERC Advanced Grants. Over the next five years, the funding, totaling 2.5 million euros, will make it possible to fundamentally advance and complete our picture of the Sun's magnetic field. To this end, Solanki is relying on a new generation of space missions and solar observatories that are…
Human Frontier Science Program funds research project coordinated in Göttingen
The first brains in the world of animals marked a decisive step in evolution. Living beings could now process information and identify opportunities as well as dangers. But how did the first brains evolve and what form did they take? Fred Wolf from the University of Göttingen and the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization together with Pawel Burkhardt from the Michael Sars Centre at the University of Bergen, Norway, will receive…