Press releases

A Swedish research team partly consisting of researchers from Uppsala University followed a group of prostate cancer patients in the Nordic region for 15 years. The study found, among other things, that surgery reduces the risk that men with prostate cancer (even those with low-risk tumours) will die within 15 years. The results were published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Scars on the jaw of a 120 million year old marine reptile suggest that life might not have been easy in the ancient polar oceans. The healed bite wounds were probably made by a member of the same species. Such injuries give important clues about the social behaviour of extinct sea creatures from the time of dinosaurs. The find is described in a forthcoming issue of Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.

In keen international competition, Uppsala University has been named one of Rotary International’s seven international Peace Centers. This means that students from all over the world will be able to receive Rotary scholarships to pursue a master program in peace and conflict studies at Uppsala.

The 2011 Johan Skytte Prize is awarded to Ronald Inglehart, University of Michigan, and Pippa Norris, Harvard University for contributing innovative ideas about the relevance and roots of political culture in a global context. The Johan Skytte Prize is among the most prestigious prizes relating to the field of political science and carries an award of SEK 500,000.

The number of people smoking water pipes is rising dramatically throughout the world. A large proportion of new users are young, and many believe – contrary to facts – that water pipe smoking is less dangerous than cigarettes. Research into why people start smoking water pipes is under way at Uppsala University.

Half a year ago a first common step was taken toward global concerted action to combat resistance to antibiotics in bacteria. Ahead of World Health Day on April 7, the network ReAct, which is led from Uppsala University, Sweden, is urging the world to redouble its efforts. For the first time in many years, there are initiatives to start developing new drugs that have to be available when the old ones have completely stopped working.

An international research team led from Uppsala University and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard has discovered the gene underlying the characteristic wrinkled skin of the Shar-Pei dog. The same gene has been shown to be associated with a chronic fever condition that often afflicts members of the breed. The findings, which are interesting from a human health standpoint, were published today in PLoS Genetics.

Anders Wall, an honorary member of Uppsala University, is turning 80, and this is being marked by Uppsala University, together with the Kjell and Märta Beijer Foundation, establishing a scholarship fund in his name for students from China.

Strings, the world’s preeminent conference within the field of string theory, will be held in Sweden for the first time this summer. Several hundred leading theoretical physicists, including Stephen Hawking and Brian Greene, will meet for a week of fruitful discussion and to exchange new findings. The conference will close with a popular scientific event at the University’s Grand Auditorium.

The European Science Foundation (ESF) has completed a study of how institutions of higher education in different countries proactively approach research ethical issues. Uppsala University is held up as a positive example in the associated report.

The stereotype of over-sexed, aggressive, males competing to mate with coy females predominates for both human and non-human animals. The doctoral thesis by Sandra South at the Department of Ecology and Genetics challenges this stereotype. South defends her thesis at Uppsala University on February 25.

Frogs appear to be very sensitive to progestogens, a kind of pharmaceutical that is released into the environment. Female tadpoles that swim in water containing a specific progestogen, levonorgestrel, are subject to abnormal ovarian and oviduct development, resulting in adult sterility. This is shown by a new study conducted at Uppsala University and published today in the scientific journal Aquatic Toxicology.

High blood pressure may in some cases be caused by benign hormone-producing tumours of the adrenal cortex. A joint Swedish-American research effort has now uncovered a genetic cause behind the occurrence of such tumours. The findings were published today in the journal Science.

An international research team has managed to capture an image of an intact virus and a membrane structure from a photosynthetic bacterium with the aid of extremely intensive and ultra-short X-ray pulses from the world’s first free electron laser. This new advance in structural biology is being published today in two articles in the journal Nature.

A Swedish research team of Professor Rajeev Ahuja, Dr. Andreas Blomqvist, Dr. Peter Larsson and a Finish team of Prof. P Pekka Pyykkö & Dr. Patryk Zaleski-Ejgierd have used first time quantum mechanical calculations to understand lead acid battery. The findings are being published in January issue of Physical Review Letters.

Holocaust and genocide studies is a growing field of research with broad international relevance. As of the autumn term of 2011, Uppsala University will offer a new, English-language master’s programme within the field. The programme aims to equip students with the tools required for understanding and analysing genocide and mass violence in terms of the relevant historical and cultural contexts.

I a new PhD thesis from Uppsala University steering strategy choice is studied using a comparative case study of the mental health reforms in Britain and Sweden between 1990 and 2005.

An international team of scientists has uncovered an important part of the global greenhouse gas budget. This new analysis indicates that greenhouse gas uptake by continents is less optimistic than previously thought. The balance between carbon uptake by continents and their emissions of greenhouse gases is important because it indicates how much continents can compensate for human emissions of CO2 to the atmosphere.

Most cancer tissues are invaded by inflammatory cells that either stimulate or inhibit the growth of the tumor, depending on what immune cells are involved. Now a Swedish-Belgian research team has shown that a protein that naturally occurs in the body, HRG, inhibits tumor growth and metastasis into secondary organs by activating specific immune cells. The study is being published today in the Net edition of the prestigious  journal Cancer Cell.

The number of conflicts no longer seems to be increasing, and the number of people killed has declined radically since the early 1990s. This is reported in the annual review from the research program Uppsala Conflict Database Program (UCDP) which is just being released.

Following multiple selective processes, the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research has chosen eighteen young researchers to share SEK 180 million over five years. Johan Elf, associate professor of cell and molecular biology at Uppsala University, has received funding for his research in “new technology for intracellular biophysics.”

Seven researchers at Uppsala University have been granted a full SEK 47.5 million from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation to study the structure of ribosomes, the protein factories in cells. This key research field is of great importance to research on resistance to antibiotics and to enhancing our knowledge of the genesis of diseases.

With a co-funded grant of SEK 6.6 million from the Ragnar and Torsten Söderberg Foundations, Uppsala University will be reinforcing its research in medical law, an exciting and expansive research field of great societal significance. Uppsala will thereby clearly be the hub for the subject in Sweden.

Uppsala University pledges to try to arrange a housing guarantee for fee-paying students as of autumn 2011. The decision is important to ensure recruitment of international students. But it is also a first step toward a housing guarantee for all new students, according to University Director Ann Fust.

In an article published today in the prestigious journal California Management Review, business researcher Einar Iveroth shows how successful and large-scale IT-enabled transformation projects can be carried out in practice. He presents a framework called “The Commonality Framework for IT-Enabled Change” that can be used both for developing concrete checklists and for strategic discussions.

Most mutations in the genes of the Salmonella bacterium have a surprisingly small negative impact on bacterial fitness. And this is the case regardless whether they lead to changes in the bacterial proteins or not. This is shown by Uppsala University scientists in an article being published today in the prestigious journal Science.

Studies of heavy, fast-growing hens and small, slow-growing hens provide important new knowledge on the origin of the genetic variation that has enabled them to adapt rapidly to new extreme environments. This is shown by new research findings published in the online scientific periodical PLOS Genetics.

In recent years, the EU and its member states have increased their participation in wars, but not in peace efforts. This is shown in a new report from the Uppsala Conflict Database Program, UCDP, at Uppsala University. The researchers find that the EU as a peace project should have more to offer, and they propose a new doctrine for peacemaking.

A major new research program is receiving SEK 38 million, eleven new projects have won grants, and two infrastructure projects are to be supported. When the Riksbankens jubileumsfond (RJ, Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation) allocated nearly SEK 220 million on Thursday, one third went to Uppsala scholars.

Superficial contacts on Facebook, apparently unnecessary comments, and banal status updates may be more worthwhile than we think. This is shown in a new report from the National IT User Center. The report also predicts the new social media will ultimately lead to more individual entrepreneurs.

Lungs are lined with a mixture of molecules to ensure that they function well.  For example, some of these help with the removal of inhaled particles.  Retention of a moist film at the surface is also crucial.  Recent work published in Langmuir provides important ideas as to how some of these molecules are affected by ozone that can arise as a pollutant in the atmosphere and is known to be a severe pulmonary irritant.

An entirely new type of pharmaceutical substance for Alzheimer’s disease developed by Uppsala scientists is now starting to be clinically tested in the US. It attacks the early stage of the protein filaments that cause the disorder, so-called protofibrills.

During an expedition into the Canadian Rocky Mountains in 2008, a Canadian-led team including researchers from Uppsala University found a new site with exceptionally preserved fossils. The site and its fossils have now been made public in this month’s issue of Geology.

The Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics (APUA) is presenting its prestigious leadership award to Prof. Otto Cars, founding Director of ReAct, for his “outstanding leadership in the worldwide effort to contain antibiotic resistance”.

With cross-disciplinary collaboration and large-scale technology, it is possible both to carry out pioneering medical research and to bring benefits to society. SciLifeLab Uppsala is now demonstrating this in a series of projects that will have a chance to open new pathways.

In Malmö the kick-off is underway for the strategic research field in diabetes, Exodiab, jointly run by Uppsala University and Lund University.

For 70 years the world has mismanaged the common good of antibiotics. The result is a growing global burden of antibiotic resistance, threatening to take health care back to an era where ordinary infections might once again become fatal.

This year’s Dag Hammarskjöld Lecture will be given by Dr. Francis M. Deng, UN Special Adviser for the Prevention of Genocide. Dr. Deng previously served as the Sudan’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and its ambassador to Sweden and the U.S., among other countries. Members of the media are welcome to attend the lecture, which will be held at the University Main Building on 10 September.

Uppsala University is highly ranked in the world. This is shown by this year’s edition of the prestigious Shanghai rankings. Uppsala is in 66th place among the world’s finest universities.

The growing problem of antibiotic resistance, which compromises our ability to treat common infections, represents one of the greatest threats to public health worldwide. Researchers, politicians and representatives from public health organisations and the pharmaceutical industry will gather in Uppsala from 6–8 September to discuss global strategies.

Much organically bound carbon is deposited on inland lake bottoms. A portion remains in the sediment, sometimes for thousands of years, while the rest is largely broken down to carbon dioxide and methane, which are released into the atmosphere. Swedish researchers have shown that carbon retention by sediment is highly temperature-sensitive and that a warmer climate would result in increased carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere.

Multiple myeloma is one of the most common blood cancers, and at present considered to be incurable. In a new study from Uppsala University, researchers now present a conceptually new model for the development and progression of multiple myeloma. The study was done in collaboration with Vrije Universitet Brussels and is published in the July edition of the on-line journal PLoS ONE.

The Conflict Database at Uppsala University gathers neutral information about all wars and conflicts in the world. Now the popular database is also available as an iPhone application, which makes the information easy to access for researchers, journalists, and other interested parties even without an Internet connection.

The fees to apply, beginning with the autumn term of 2011, for students from countries outside Europe were established in the course of last week’s Vice-Chancellor’s meeting. The fees, which are meant to cover all costs, will vary somewhat depending on the programme and level of study.

For the first time, researchers from Sweden and the US have succeeded in identifying the majority of the detectable proteins in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of healthy human beings. The advance is expected to provide a valuable tool for diagnosis and research into diseases of the nervous system. The study is being published today in the well-respected journal PLoS ONE.

A study conducted at Uppsala University has demonstrated that obese people often suffer from serious vitamin D deficiency and poor calcium metabolism. The findings have been published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. According to the researchers, the problem is underappreciated by the health care establishment.

Dementia and chronic pain are two pathological conditions that are on the rise in society, which increases the need for better diagnosis and treatment. Within the framework of the Uppsala Berzelli Center, which has been in existence since 2007, both clinical and basic research in the field has made great forward strides. On June 8 there will be an open seminar on the present state of research and the future.

Per Ahlberg and Olle Eriksson have been named Wallenberg Scholars by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation. They will be receiving a five-year grant of SEK 3 million per year.