News 2023 from the Faculty of Science

• 20.12.2023

  Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology re-certified by My Green Lab

  Two years after the original My Green Lab certification, BMB can be pleased that all sections are moving up several levels on the coveted certification ladder within sustainable laboratory operations.

• 15.12.2023

  DKK 41 million for natural science research

  The Carlsberg Foundation has granted support for eight researchers at the Faculty of Science

• 12.12.2023

  Daily singing workout keeps songbird males attractive

  It has long been a mystery why songbirds spend so much time and energy on singing. Now a new study shows that songbirds need to sing every day to keep their vocal muscles in shape. Females can hear if a male has skipped his singing workout for only a few days, and they prefer song of males that did their daily vocal gymnastics.

• 01.12.2023

  Rocks and cliffs from land will make the oceans absorb and store large amounts of CO2

  The CO2 levels in the atmosphere continue to rise as we strive to reduce our emissions. Now, an international team of researchers proposes a radical solution: pour crushed stone into the sea and it will empower the water to absorb CO2 from the atmosphere.

• 28.11.2023

  Fabian Haiden, IMADA, is new Sapere Aude Research leader

  With a grant of DKK 6.192.000, Fabian Haiden can now start his own research group

• 27.11.2023

  SDU students win gold medal and Best Integrated Human Practices at iGEM 2023

  A group of students from the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Science at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) achieved a remarkable feat at the iGEM 2023 competition, clinching the gold medal as well as Best Integrated Human Practices.

• 24.11.2023

  More seaweed on the menu in Northern Europe

  Seaweed and algae are a sustainable and healthy alternative to animal foods, and there is an abundance of it in the seas around us. A new German/Danish project, led by SDU, has received ca. 14 million DKK to make consumers more interested in eating seaweed and algae and to make the products more accessible to them.

• 23.11.2023

  EU grant to revolutionise the programming of connected computer systems

  With an EU grant of about € 2 million, computer science professor Fabrizio Montesi can now significantly advance his dream of creating a new programming system that improves the exchange of data between connected computers. This will result in better operation and security when we log into apps and systems.

• 22.11.2023

  Grants of DKK 43 million to make the Danish/German border region more climate resilient

  The EU's Interreg program has granted support for two projects led by SDU Climate Cluster, aiming to strengthen collaborative climate efforts in the region.

• 16.11.2023

  Hormones have the potential to treat liver fibrosis

  Researchers have discovered previously unknown changes in a specific type of liver cells, potentially opening avenues for a new treatment for liver fibrosis, a potentially life-threatening condition. Currently, there are no drugs available to treat liver fibrosis.

• 09.11.2023

  Wealthy countries' research skews our knowledge of plants

  Data on the world´s plants can be found in many databases, and they are valuable for researchers trying to calculate how plants will respond to climate change. However, the world's plant data is primarily collected in and by wealthy countries, while there is a shortage of data on plants in poor and tropical parts of the world. This is a problem, biologists warn in a new study.

• 31.10.2023

  Deep-sea pressure preserves food for microbes in the abyss

  Dead algae and other organic material at the surface of the sea disintegrates when they begin to sink to the bottom. But at some point, the water pressure becomes so high that disintegration stops and nutrients are preserved, providing food for the bottom's multitude of microbes and small animals.

• 27.10.2023

  Evolutionary chance made this bat a specialist hunter

  It is generally believed that, for millions of years, bats and the insects they hunt at night have adapted to each other in an evolutionary arms race to become better at finding or avoiding each other. Now, a new study shows that this may not be the case at all.

• 26.10.2023

  Frodo the humpback whale goes on an adventure

  A new study confirms that humpback whales most often return to the same breeding and feeding grounds on their annual migrations through the world's oceans. But then there is Frodo; he did not swim back to the same place but ended up 11,261 km away.

• 18.10.2023

  Marine mammals in zoos and aquariums now live 2-3 times longer than in the wild

  Just as humans are now living longer lives as a result of advances in medicine and care, so too are marine mammals in modern zoos and aquariums according to a new study

• 09.10.2023

  New Doctor of Pharmacy wants to make life better for patients 

  Profile of Professor René Holm on the occasion of his doctor's thesis, which builds on 25 scientific publications.

• 09.10.2023

  New Study Points to New Possibilities for Treating Lung Cancer Patients

  A new mouse study indicates that it is possible to reduce the risk of metastasis formation from lung cancer and improve the effectiveness of the medication Cisplatin, often administered to lung cancer patients. The agent is the substance propionate, which is currently being tested as a treatment for obesity and diabetes.

• 05.10.2023

  The Medicine of the Future Could Be Artificial Life Forms

  Imagine a life form that doesn't resemble any of the organisms found on the tree of life. One that has its own unique control system, and that a doctor would want to send into your body. It sounds like a science fiction movie, but according to nanoscientists, it can—and should—happen in the future.

• 04.10.2023

  Possible breakthrough in the production of artificial spider’s web

  A team of researchers from SDU NanoSYD has developed a method that seems promising in relation to the production of artificial spider’s web.. Behind the breakthrough is a multi-year collaboration between the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Science at SDU.

• 29.09.2023

  Huge computer simulation will show us how elementary particles dance with each other

  The elementary particles are the smallest building blocks we know. The way they interact with each other is crucial to how you, your dog, the Earth and everything else in the universe is created. Now a gigantic computer simulation will take a snapshot of elementary particles dancing with each other.

• 19.09.2023

  New project will study molecules to understand why you are exactly you         

  Throughout your life, various influences can turn on and off many of your genes, creating the variations that make you uniquely you. Chemistry professor Jasmin Mecinovic wants to delve into the molecular world to understand these processes.

• 11.09.2023

  Researchers want to safeguard small businesses against cyber threats

  The changing threat landscape increases the need for companies to upgrade their cyber security, and a new research project at SDU will help small and medium-sized enterprises with this task.

• 07.09.2023

  New expert group to address potential threat from invasive species impacting marine ecosystems

  Invasive speces - both plants and animals - can pose a serious threat to biodiversity, UN states. As a response, a group of SDU researchers now form an expert group.   

• 30.08.2023

  New research to reduce the risk of eye injections

  With age, the risk of eye diseases increases, and consequently, so does the need for injections into the eye. Professor of Pharmacy, René Holm, aims to help reduce this risk and has now received support to develop eye drops that will remain on the eye for a longer duration.

• 28.08.2023

  The dolphins are coming!

  Bottlenose dolphins and orcas are increasingly finding their way to Danish waters. At the same time, we want to build gigantic offshore wind farms. Do we have room for both more marine mammals and more wind farms?

• 25.08.2023

  5 major scientific discoveries that make it possible to send Danish Andreas Mogensen on a space mission

  In 2015, Andreas Mogensen became the first Danish astronaut in space when he spent 10 days on the International Space Station. Now he is going again – this time for six months.

• 17.08.2023

  Researchers find 20,000 years old refugium for orcas in the northern Pacific

  During the last ice age, orcas had to leave their habitats and seek ice-free waters. Some of them found a refugium near Japan, and their descendants have lived there ever since. A new study of orca colonization of the North Pacific contributes to understanding the complex social lives of orcas.

• 20.07.2023

  New collaboration on experimental particle physics

  What is out there in the universe, and how can we describe it? These are questions that theoretical physics often seeks to answer. Now, University of Southern Denmark physicists are joining forces with Europe's second-largest particle physics laboratory, hoping to capture elementary particles.

• 18.07.2023

  Saltwater or freshwater? Difference is large for the climate when we flood low lying areas

  SDU researchers find large methane emissions: "Do not flood low-lying areas with freshwater”. Their studies find that freshwater lakes emit much more methane than saltwater lagoons, bogs and wet meadows.

• 20.06.2023

  New details about the strongest spider silk in the world

  The golden orb-web spider produces silk stronger than steel and Kevlar, but how does it do it? Two SDU researchers are now one step closer to unraveling the secret.

• 23.05.2023

  Physicists to search for traces of dark matter in new experiment

  No one knows what dark matter is made of, but it could be some kind of elementary particles. A candidate is the superlight axion that SDU physicist Manuel Meyer and his colleagues now hope to capture in an underground experiment.

• 17.05.2023

  New study: Surprising diversity of ethnic groups in the US Virgin Islands before Columbus

  For the first time, pottery shards from St. Croix, St. John, and St. Thomas have been chemically analyzed for dating. Contrary to previous theories, the results indicate there were many different ethnic groups on the islands in the time before Columbus discovered America.

• 02.05.2023

  How hallucinogenic substance in psilocybin mushrooms works on the molecular level

  Once it was hot research. Then it was banned. Now, research on psychedelic substances is both hot and legal. There is a revival in psilocybin research in labs and clinics all over the world, including at SDU.

• 25.04.2023

  New insight into dying cells in Parkinson's disease

  New stem cell research provides a better understanding of what goes wrong in Parkinson's patients' brain cells, and thus the possibility of developing more effective treatments.

• 18.04.2023

  Streams and rivers get warmer in urban areas

  Temperatures are generally higher in urban areas, and this also applies to the water that flows through urban areas, biologists from SDU find in a new study. "Warmer streams and rivers are never good", says head of research, Sara Egemose.

• 17.04.2023

  Environmental toxin PCB found in deep sea trench

  Researchers on a deep-sea expedition have found PCB in sediment samples from the more than 8,000-meter-deep Atacama Trench in the Pacific Ocean. "It is thought-provoking to find man-made toxins in one of the world's most remote and inaccessible environments," says expedition leader Ronnie N. Glud.

• 13.04.2023

  SDU eScience Center becomes part of the HALRIC consortium

  EU Interreg Öresund-Kattegat-Skagerrak (ÖKS) has approved a 3-year project grant (2023-2026) for the Hanseatic Life Science Research Infrastructure Consortium (HALRIC).

• 23.03.2023

  Why do we have to keep animals in captivity?

  Confined animals give us important knowledge about behavior that we can use to protect animals in the wild, says biologist Kirstin Anderson Hansen. To ensure that animals in captivity thrive, there are several things you should keep in mind, she explains.

• 17.03.2023

  New professor Mads Toudal Frandsen wants to develop physics at SDU: »We need to show how important physics is«

  Physics is important when we are to solve the challenges of the future. Now, we need to show of the strong physics research and education we have at SDU. That is the wish from Mads Toudal Frandsen, who has recently been appointed professor. Astro- and space physics, biophysics and collaborations with the Faculty of Engineering, the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science and the SDU Climate Cluster will open up new opportunities, he believes.

• 15.03.2023

  Danish researchers get easier access to supercomputers with new national portal

  The portal provides simpler options for using different supercomputer systems in Denmark and EU.

• 13.03.2023

  Do animals have a sense of time?

  There is a growing scientific awareness that animals may have cognitive abilities and that they are not just biological machines driven by instinct. Biologists from SDU are now investigating dolphins' and porpoises’ understanding of time.

• 07.03.2023

  New UN treaty on the protection of the high seas: What does it mean?

  The UN has adopted a historic agreement to protect 30% of the high seas. SDU ocean expert Jamileh Javidpour recommends to first protect areas where biodiversity is most threatened; for example seamounts and migration corridors for large predators, which rely on specific routes for their annual migrations.

• 06.03.2023

  What is artificial intelligence - and what influence will the technology have in our society?

  We asked our expert in artificial intelligence, researcher and associate professor Luís Cruz-Filipe, who is also head of the Bachelor's programme Artificial Intelligence at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense, to answer that question.

• 02.03.2023

  Toothed whales catch food in the deep using vocal fry

  Toothed whales, such as dolphins, killer whales and sperm whales communicate and catch food exclusively with sound. Now researchers have for the first time found they evolved a new sound source in their nose.

• 21.02.2023

  Nature can help when extreme weather hits

  Floods, heat waves, storms and droughts are becoming more common as temperatures rise, so we need to find new ways to protect our cities and communities. Nature itself offers many solutions, and we must learn to make better use of them, say the researchers behind a new elite center for climate research at SDU.

• 08.02.2023

  Newly discovered virus in local creek can kill resistant bacteria

  The Danish creeks, Odense Å and Lindved Å, have surprised researchers and students at SDU by containing previously unknown virus species.

• 07.02.2023

  Animal life is getting messy

  Globalization is not just for humans: animal species that have lived in isolation from each other are increasingly starting to mate and new hybrids are emerging. What are the implications for biodiversity?

• 06.02.2023

  Student satellites can contribute with important knowledge in the fight against climate change

  A group of students from The University of Southern Denmark are together with students from several other Danish universities developing two satellites that can contribute to our understanding of the climate changes. Soon, they will send the first satellite into space.

• 31.01.2023

  Radioactive drugs to track down cancer cells in the brain

  There is no effective treatment for the aggressive brain cancer, glioblastoma, but researchers from SDU and OUH will now try to develop one. The idea is to load radioactive cancer-killing isotopes of certain metallic elements into specifically designed molecules that target cancer cells. This idea is supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation with DKK 15 million.

• 31.01.2023

  The bubbling universe

  What happened shortly after the universe was born in the Big Bang and began to expand? Bubbles occurred and a previously unknown phase transition happened, according to particle physicists from SDU and Nordita in Stockholm.

• 26.01.2023

  Astrophysics: Is it time to replace the old model?

  Physicists' best model of how the universe works is more than 100 years old and it needs an update because it can no longer explain all our astrophysical observations. Astrophysicist Sofie Marie Koksbang has received DKK 6 million DKK from the Villum Foundation to contribute to working out what that update should be.

• 20.01.2023

  New BSc in Artificial Intelligence

  We asked an artificial intelligence to write this press release about our new bachelor's programme in Artificial Intelligence at the University of Southern Denmark

• 18.01.2023

  Rocks and oceans lead him back to ancient times

  Donald Canfield uses chemistry and biology to study the Earth's past. His work often causes the rewriting of textbooks on the history of the oceans - and thus also the history of life. He is the 2023 recipient of the Villum Kann Rasmussen Annual Award in Science and Technology.