New video series about junior researchers at Münster University

In the video series “What’s Next? Junior Researchers at Münster University”, we’ll be introducing nine such researchers. What are the PhD students and postdocs at the University of Münster researching into? What do they find fascinating about their subjects? What obstacles do they have to contend with? It’s a broad spectrum: for example, what part do mathematics play in cancer research? Are there optimists and pessimists among mice? How do learning robots help us to understand algorithms? And why is the study of indigenous peoples’ languages such a challenge? We’ll be taking a closer look not only at the research topics, but also at the people who are working on them.

Alexander Zahrer

What is research like when there are hardly any sources? This is what Alexander Zahrer discusses in this video. He is a research associate at the Department of Linguistics, and in his PhD thesis he is attempting to document “Muyu”, a language in New Guinea which is close to extinction. To this end he has often travelled to the rainforest and has live with the locals – also learning Indonesian for his project.

Alexander Zahrer

Department of Linguistics

Dr. Karin Kleiner

Teaching, learning and researching at the same time – that’s what Dr. Karin Kleiner finds exciting as a postdoc and leader of a team of junior researchers at the MEET Battery Research Centre. In her BMBF funded research (funding number 03XP0231) she deals with the active components of lithium-ion batteries, which are to be found for example in smartphones or cars.

Links

Karin Kleiner

MEET Battery Research Centre

Dr. Viktoria Krakenberg

Is the glass half full or half empty? This question is useful for quickly finding out whether someone is optimistic or pessimistic. In the case of animals, it’s a bit more difficult. Using a touchscreen system, Viktoria Krakenberg tries to find out whether there are optimists and pessimists among mice and then draw conclusions on their well-being.

Links

Dr. Viktoria Krakenberg

Institut for Behavioural Biology

Dr. Andisheh Motealleh

Dr. Andisheh Motealleh works on the production of functional nano-biomaterials, specifically on cell-biomaterial interactions. In the video she describes how they are used in medicine and explains why one of the things her research does is influence the well-being of cancer patients.

Links

Andisheh Motealleh

Center for Soft Nanoscience

Raphael Fehrmann

Teaching school students how to work online with confidence is an important task for teachers. Raphael Fehrmann is looking in detail at this topic, studying how trainee teachers assess their own digital competence and how learning robots can help them to gain a better understanding of the algorithmic patterns behind the digital media.

Links

Raphael Fehrmann [de]

Lernroboter im Unterricht [de]

Franziska Kleybolte

Why were sacred spaces transformed in the Middle Ages? Franziska Kleybolte, a research associate at the “Religion & Politics” Cluster of Excellence, is looking into the question. In doing so, she is focusing on the transformation of synagogues into churches in the Iberian Peninsula. In the video, she describes not only the methodology she uses in her research, but also the obstacles which exist – and also why she finds research work so fascinating.

Links

Franziska Kleybolte [de]

Cluster "Religion und Politik"

Jens Natrup

Doctoral student at the Institute of Sport and Excercise Science

Jens Natrup is a PhD student at the Institute of Sport Sciences, working in the field of exercise sciences. He is looking into the gaze behaviour of gymnasts during movements involving rotations around their own body axis. In the video he shows how he carries out the studies in the movements laboratory, and how gymnasts and trainers can benefit from his findings.

Links

Jens Natrup

Institute of  Sport and Exercise Science

Study

Cristina Barca

Doctoral student at the European Institute for Molecular Imaging (EIMI)

Cristina Barca from Switzerland is a PhD student at the European Institute for Molecular Imaging (EIMI). Using imaging methods, she is investigating how well certain drugs work in treating strokes. In the video she provides an insight into her everyday working life and explains what is so special about being a scientist.

Links

Cristina Barca

European Institute for Molecular Imaging (EIMI)

Videos at Münster University

Are you a member of the University’s staff and would like to make a film yourself, do you have suggestions for a topic or do you have any questions relating to videos? Just get in touch with us at video@wwu.de. Our team at Film Service Point and at the Communication and Public Relations department will be only too pleased to help. You can find more information here.