Underwater pillars can help save climate

An enzyme found in a group of bizarre underwater features can indirectly help tackle climate change.

This could be one of the outcomes of University of Copenhagen research into a strange quirk of nature: Columns, made up of calcium and the mineral Ikait that are only found in the remote Ikka fjord in Greenland.

The head of the project, Professor Peter Stougaard, is currently in Greenland for field studies. The University Post caught him on the phone in the Greenland town of Qaqortoq (Julianehåb) while he was taking shelter from driving rain outside.

Computer use gives junk-food cravings

As well as tired eyes and repetitive strain injury from the mouse, computer users have now yet another reason to fear spending the day at their keyboard. According to new research, they might also pile on the pounds.

This is according to a report by iVillage.com.

Research from the University of Copenhagen’s Center for Prevention and Treatment of Obesity and Appetite and Energy Metabolism shows that staring at a computer screen makes us crave sweet treats like chocolate and cakes even if youre reading a good-for-you weight loss article.

Wave of industry PhDs to Life Sciences

A total of 16 new PhDs at the Faculty of Life Sciences have been approved for co-funding by the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation under the Danish industry-PhD partnership scheme.

The 16 is a dramatic increase from the five industry-PhDs which were granted to the Faculty in 2009, says Tina Lewis, head of the faculty’s business affairs office.

Life Science placed 9th on workplace rankings

The Faculty of Life Sciences of the University of Copenhagen is one of the best places to be an academic in the world. This is according to the US periodical and website The Scientist, which places the University of Copenhagen ninth in its international survey.

First in the rankings was the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, followed by the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel and the University of Dundee in the UK.

Sensors may predict when horses go lame

When a horse can’t walk, trot, canter or gallop with a regular motion on all four hooves, it is lame - a condition that can have many underlying causes.

Now, a sensor developed by scientists from the University of Copenhagen may soon be able to help monitor the first subtle symptoms, and find out when a valuable racehorse or showjumper needs treatment.

»An objective measure is needed because it's not always obvious visually, and even trained observers of horses can disagree when a horse is going lame,« explains Maj Halling Thomsen of the Faculty of Life Sciences.

Study links creativity and mental illness

Swedish scientists have discovered a link between creative thinking and dopamine levels in the thalamus in the brain, which play a part in mental illness.

Dopamine was discovered as a neurotransmitter in its own right in Sweden in 1958, and apparently their interest on the matter hasn't diminished over the years.

According to the press release from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, levels of dopamine in the thalamus are lower in both schizophrenics and highly creative people.

Creative connections

Kenya and Copenhagen cooperate to save Mau forest

Researchers from the University of Copenhagen have recently joined forces with Kenyan scientists and an environmental organisation, to create a balance between the need of local people in Kenya and the Mau forest, which is under threat from felling and climate change.

This is according to the University of Copenhagen's Faculty of Life Science homepage.

»Kenya will die«

PhD intro course a life raft for internationals

A good introductory PhD course can make international PhDs feel at home in their new faculty and integrate them into a new culture.

This is just one of the conclusions which can be drawn from a study of PhD students at the Faculty of Life Sciences in the University of Copenhagen.

Since 2007, the Graduate School at the Faculty of Life Sciences has offered new PhD students an optional, 5-day residential introduction Course. In a new report, twelve of the original 2007-course participants were interviewed.

Milk can help you slim down

Milk has had a hard time in recent years. The preferred food of calves everywhere has been dubbed fattening (for humans), hard to digest and a trigger for allergies.

Now, University of Copenhagen research has shown that milk can actually help to prevent obesity. This is according to the Danish medical news site, Dagensmedicin.dk.

Researcher Janne Lonrenzen from the Faculty of Life Sciences has, in her PhD thesis, demonstrated a link between milk intake and the ability to eliminate fat from the body.

Hinders fat absorption

New plant centre to sprout up on LIFE campus

The University of Copenhagen is within reach of becoming a world-leading plant science research centre. This is after the Faculty of Life Sciences’ recent decision to invest DKK 200m, into a new facility.

The new 7,000 square meter centre on Frederiksberg Campus – to be completed by 2015 – hopes to rank within the top three world centers for plant science research and education.

Katherina Killander, a press officer for the Faculty of Life Sciences, explained that the cutting-edge facility would boost the current reputation of research at the university.