Newsletter: May 2016

Everything we perceive is controlled via our brain. Our brain learns from good and bad experiences and helps us to get through life as well as possible. Much of what happens in the brain is still a great mystery – and one which numerous researchers in Germany are working to unravel.

Robots differ from humans in one crucial way: they do not understand gestures and are not sensitive to human feelings. This could soon change. Brain research is generating key impetus for innovations in this area.

An old vision could soon become a reality: in the Human Brain Project, researchers from 23 countries are constructing a virtual human brain. The Forschungszentrum Jülich and its institutes are taking part in various research activities within the Human Brain Project.

The subject of mechanical engineer Rim Zerriaa’s doctoral thesis is car paints and the question of how paint is applied to a vehicle. Originally from Tunisia, she decided to embark on a doctoral programme at a University of Stuttgart graduate school. She explained to us why the support she receives there is so good, how the course prepares her for the employment market and why she enjoys her life in Germany. 

Seawater is no good to drink and makes your eyes sting, but no beach holiday is complete without it. Dr Nils Moosdorf from the Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Ecology (ZMT) explains why seawater is salty and what purpose the salt serves.

Students in Germany were able to choose between 399 universities in 2015. Together, they offer 17,731 courses of study, 1,104 of which are international and run in a language other than German.