The universities of Halle-Wittenberg und Jena to establish a centre for Polish studies

A selection committee headed by the Foundation for German-Polish Cooperation has decided to award the contract to Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and Friedrich Schiller University Jena for establishing a centre for Polish studies. The German Academic Exchange Service and the German-Polish Science Foundation are also funding the project along with the foundation. The level of excitement at MLU is high. It will establish a corresponding chair in connection with the Centre for Interdisciplinary Regional Studies.

Focus on nanostructures: SFB receives an additional ten million euros

The next stage in excellence research into oxide interfaces has been secured. The collaborative research centre (SFB) 762 “Functionality of Oxide Interfaces”, based at Martin Luther University, will receive millions in funding from the German Research Foundation for a further four years. The MLU is working on this together with its partners the University of Leipzig and Max Planck Institute for Microstructure Physics in Halle.

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Honorary doctorate awarded to Romano Prodi

The Faculty of Law and Economics at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) awarded Romano Prodi an honorary doctorate on 16 November 2011 in recognition of the contribution the former Prime Minister of Italy and President of the European Commission has made to economic science through his research and political work.

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A Careful Examination of “Mechanisms of Elite Education”

The research group FOR 1612 will soon begin studying the “Mechanisms of Elite Education in the German Education System” after a decision was reached by the senate of the German Research Foundation (DFG) in July 2011. There are six projects in all – four at Martin Luther University, one at the Institute for Higher Education Research in Wittenberg and one at the University of Freiburg. Prof. Dr. Heinz-Hermann Krüger (MLU) is spokesman for the research group, while Prof. Dr. Werner Helsper (MLU) is deputy spokesman. The financing for the initial three funding years will amount to 2.2 million euros - 1.7 million euros alone will go to the projects in Halle.

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Millions in funding for polymer research

A great success for the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg: The German Research Foundation (DFG) has pledged around seven million euros over the next four years for the project “Polymers under multiple constraints: restricted and controlled molecular oder and mobility”. The MLU is partnering up with the University of Leipzig as part of the new collaborative research centre (SFB/Transregio) approved of by the DFG at the end of May 2011. The Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials Halle is also participating.

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Top Ranking for Halle’s Law Programme

Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg offers the best conditions to study law of all the state universities in Germany. This was the finding of the Center for Higher Education’s University Ranking which was published in the DIE ZEIT’s 2011/12 Study Guide on 3 May 2011. The MLU’s law programme ranked high in student services, revision courses and study conditions. Only Bucerius Law School, a private institution, ranked higher.

Prof. Dr. Ulla Bonas Receives Leibniz Award

Prof. Dr. Ulla Bonas from the Institute of Biology at the MLU received the German Research Foundation’s (DFG) 2011 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Award. Ulla Bonas is a genetic researcher at the MLU who studies the interaction between pathogenic bacteria and plants. Among other things, she and her research team wrote about the bacterial pathogen Xanthomonas that became the cover story in the journal “Science” in December 2009. The article describes how the pathogen manipulates the genes of important crops such as rice, peppers and tomatoes which leads to high crop loss. The 2.5 million euro Leibniz Award is the most important research award in Germany.

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A new look for UniTV

Since 2006 the MLU has had its own TV station called UniTV. Its producers have not gone down the conventional route - they broadcast their latest programme once a month as a podcast on their Internet site. Despite the transition to bachelor’s and master’s programmes, the popular format remains. However there have been many changes: new editors-in-chief, a new web presence and, starting summer semester, participating in UniTV will count towards “General Key Qualifications”.

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