Forschendes Lernen international und digital - Erfahrungen internationaler studentischer Forschungsprojekte an der HU Berlin

The connection of research and teaching, the internationalization of curricula, and the digitalization of teaching are central objectives of current university policy. The paper presents the course format of the Q-Kollegs at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, in which these three objectives are linked together and translated into concrete didactic action. Together with students from a partner university abroad, students form an international student research team. They work together with a blended mobility approach, both in-person during a short stay at the partner university, and digitally over the distance. Lecturers from both universities plan the project together in a researchbased learning format, and accompany the students in their research process. Based on interviews with lecturers and a written survey of students, the article presents challenges of this teaching format and shows didactic design possibilities: regarding the support of the student research process, the collaboration within the international team, as well as the associated use of digital media.Die Verbindung von Forschung und Lehre, die Internationalisierung der Curricula und die Digitalisierung der Lehre sind zentrale Ziele der aktuellen Hochschulpolitik. Der Beitrag stellt das Lehrveranstaltungsformat der Q-Kollegs an der HU Berlin vor, in dem diese drei Ziele miteinander in Verbindung gebracht und in konkretes didaktisches Handeln übersetzt werden. Studierende der HU bilden gemeinsam mit Studierenden einer Partneruniversität im Ausland ein internationales studentisches Forschungsteam. Sie arbeiten im Sinne eines Blended Mobility-Ansatzes sowohl persönlich bei einem Kurzaufenthalt an der Partneruniversität als auch digital über die Distanz hinweg zusammen. Die Lehrenden beider Universitäten planen das Projekt im Format des Forschenden Lernens gemeinsam und begleiten die Studierenden im Forschungsprozess. Auf der Grundlage von Interviews mit Lehrenden und einer schriftlichen Befragung von Studierenden stellt der Beitrag Herausforderungen dieses Lehrformats dar und zeigt didaktische Gestaltungsmöglichkeiten auf: bezüglich der Begleitung des studentischen Forschungsprozesses, der Zusammenarbeit im internationalen Team sowie der damit verbundenen Einsatzmöglichkeiten digitaler Medien

Complement activation by in vivo neonatal and in vitro extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

Complment activation during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in newborns can be caused by both the underlying disease processes and by blood contact with the ECMO circuit. We investigated the relative importance of these mechanisms by measuring C3a, C5a and sC5b-9 before, during and after neonatal ECMO in six consecutive newborn patients using enzyme-linked immunoassay. In addition complement activation during in vitro ECMO with repeated flow of the same blood volume was measured using blood from healthy adult donors. C3a increased significantly in vivo after 1 h (from 1035+/-193 to 1865+/-419 microg/l) and in vitro ECMO (from 314+/-75 to 1962+/-1062 microg/l). C5a increased during ECMO without significant differences between in vivo and in vitro activation. In neonatal patients, sC5b-9 rose faster than in vitro, but the rapid increase was also significant for in vitro experiments (in vivo: from 328+/-63 to 1623+/-387 microg/l after 2 h; and in vitro: from 78+/-32 to 453+/-179 microg/l after 8 h). After this initial peak at 1-2 h, complement activation decreased gradually until 2-3 days after the initiation of ECMO. We conclude that in newborns the rapid activation of the complement system after the start of ECMO is predominantly caused by contact with artificial surfaces rather than the patient's underlying disease

Sources of mycosporine-like amino acids in planktonic Chlorella-bearing ciliates (Ciliophora)

Mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs) are a family of secondary metabolites known to protect organisms exposed to solar UV radiation. We tested their distribution among several planktonic ciliates bearing Chlorella isolated from an oligo-mesotrophic lake in Tyrol, Austria. In order to test the origin of these compounds, the MAAs were assessed by high performance liquid chromatography in both the ciliates and their symbiotic algae.Considering all Chlorella-bearing ciliates, we found: (i) seven different MAAs (mycosporine-glycine, palythine, asterina-330, shinorine, porphyra-334, usujirene, palythene); (ii) one to several MAAs per species and (iii) qualitative and quantitative seasonal changes in the MAAs (e.g. in Pelagodileptus trachelioides). In all species tested, concentrations of MAAs were always <1% of ciliate dry weight.Several MAAs were also identified in the Chlorella isolated from the ciliates, thus providing initial evidence for their symbiotic origin. In Uroleptus sp., however, we found evidence for a dietary source of MAAs.Our results suggest that accumulation of MAAs in Chlorella-bearing ciliates represents an additional benefit of this symbiosis and an adaptation for survival in sunlit, UV-exposed waters

ARTEFACTS: How do we want to deal with the future of our one and only planet?

The European Commission’s Science and Knowledge Service, the Joint Research Centre (JRC), decided to try working hand-in-hand with leading European science centres and museums. Behind this decision was the idea that the JRC could better support EU Institutions in engaging with the European public. The fact that European Union policies are firmly based on scientific evidence is a strong message which the JRC is uniquely able to illustrate. Such a collaboration would not only provide a platform to explain the benefits of EU policies to our daily lives but also provide an opportunity for European citizens to engage by taking a more active part in the EU policy making process for the future. A PILOT PROGRAMME To test the idea, the JRC launched an experimental programme to work with science museums: a perfect partner for three compelling reasons. Firstly, they attract a large and growing number of visitors. Leading science museums in Europe have typically 500 000 visitors per year. Furthermore, they are based in large European cities and attract local visitors as well as tourists from across Europe and beyond. The second reason for working with museums is that they have mastered the art of how to communicate key elements of sophisticated arguments across to the public and making complex topics of public interest readily accessible. That is a high-value added skill and a crucial part of the valorisation of public-funded research, never to be underestimated. Finally museums are, at present, undergoing something of a renaissance. Museums today are vibrant environments offering new techniques and technologies to both inform and entertain, and attract visitors of all demographics.JRC.H.2-Knowledge Management Methodologies, Communities and Disseminatio

Grenzen ueberwinden durch Kultur?

Grenzüberschreitende Kooperationsprojekte im Kulturbereich werden in Europa mit dem Ziel gefördert, das Zusammengehörigkeitsgefühl der Europäer zu stärken. Die Autorin untersucht am Beispiel der Großregion Saar-Lor-Lux und der Eurométropole Lille-Kortrijk-Tournai wie grenzüberschreitend tätige Kulturakteure den Grenzraum beschreiben und sich selbst darin verorten. Die Originalität dieser Studie besteht darin, poststrukturalistische Sprachtheorien und relationale Raumkonzepte mit der Positionierungstheorie aus der Erzählforschung zu verbinden, um auf dieser Grundlage räumliche Identitätskonstruktionen empirisch zu analysieren. Die Suche der Kulturakteure nach einer Identität des Grenzraums steht exemplarisch für die schwierige und in sich widersprüchliche Suche nach einer Identität Europas

Q-Tutorien am bologna.lab

Seit dem Wintersemester 2012/2013 gibt es mit den Q-Tutorien eine neue Lehrveranstaltung an den Instituten der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Im Mittelpunkt dieser Form der Lehre stehen die Studierenden – und in diesem Band vor allem diese, die sich im vergangenen Semester auf die Seite der Lehrenden begaben und ein solches Q-Tutorium mit viel Einfallsreichtum, Ausdauer und Energie durchführten

Factors involved in the distribution pattern of ciliates in the water column of a transparent alpine lake

International audienceThe recurrent depth preference of three ciliate species (two prostomatids and one haptorid) in a transparent alpine lake indicates the existence of niche partitioning among them involving potential factors such as avoidance of high UVR levels and zooplankton predation, as well as competition for food resources