Researchers at Leipzig University have achieved a success in microrobotics. They were able to show for the first time that tiny, synthetic microswimmers perceive their environment directly via their own body shape and adapt autonomously in strongly changing fluid currents.

Researchers have produced exceptionally long chains of an electrically conductive polymer known as poly(p-phenylene) (PPP).

News from At Leipzig University Medicine, scientists are researching how bodies, organs, cells and microbes talk to each other.

Adhesion G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are implicated in numerous human diseases. However, to date, no medicinal product has been approved that specifically targets these signalling molecules.

Dr Rima Chakaroun bridges clinical practice and laboratory research to better understand the interactions between organs and biological systems within the body. Her work focuses on the gut microbiome, adipose tissue and hormonal differences between the sexes, with the aim of tailoring treatments to the individual and placing particular emphasis on women's health.

A global study has revealed the conditions under which non-native plants thrive in the world's many dryland regions and the factors that limit their spread.

Professor Torsten Schöneberg, Professor of Molecular Biochemistry at Leipzig University, and his team at the Rudolf Schönheimer Institute of Biochemistry are investigating how genes, hormones and the environment regulate metabolism.

Researchers at Leipzig University have achieved a breakthrough in microrobotics. For the first time, they have shown that tiny synthetic microswimmers can perceive their surroundings directly through their own body shape and autonomously adapt to rapidly changing fluid flows.

The international research campaign COMPEX (Clouds over complex environment) is kicking off with measurement flights over the Arctic and will investigate the properties of clouds over sea ice that cannot be detected by satellites.

Particles in the atmosphere, known as aerosols, cool the climate by acting as cloud condensation nuclei.

A team of scientists led by the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), and Leipzig University has developed a new method to track the Earth's greenness - a key indicator of vegetation health and activity - by calculating its centre of mass.

In a global study, researchers have discovered the conditions under which non-native plants thrive particularly well in the world's many arid regions and what inhibits their spread. Using data from 98 study areas in 25 countries on six continents, they showed that these plants usually grow faster than native species and are particularly successful where soils are heavily grazed and richer in nutrients. In contrast, they spread less when many different native plants were present.

In light of Russia's war in Ukraine, a majority of the German population supports strengthening national defence capability, including higher defence spending.

Researchers at Leipzig University and TU Dresden have succeeded in developing biological switches that can selectively turn ion channels on and off using light pulses. Initial applications show that it is possible, for example, to stimulate nerve cells in the brain or to control the release of adrenaline from cells of the adrenal gland and the movement of the small intestine using light stimuli. The research has now been published in the prestigious journal Nature Chemical Biology.