Press releases

A plurality of those seeking a position in Sweden want to come to Uppsala University. For those seeking scholarships for positions abroad, the US is the most attractive destination. Of 443 applications to the Swedish Research Council, 71 have been granted. The total amount of grant money is nearly SEK 202 million.

In late May the massive European initiative InnoEnergy was launched, bringing together Europe’s very best universities and companies in the field of energy in a joint corporation to create new companies and products. The aggregate budget for this is astounding – more than SEK 5 billion.

It was not necessary to be literate to be able to access rune carvings in the 11th century. At the same time those who could read were able to glean much more information from a rune stone than merely what was written in runes. This is shown in new research from Uppsala University in Sweden.

The Department of Philosophy at Uppsala University has decided to invite the artist Lars Vilks during the fall term, provided that all arrangements can be decided upon by the University  and the local police in order to secure that the lecture can be held in an orderly fashion.

In the aftermath of Lars Vilks’ interrupted lecture at the University, many people are questioning how he could have been invited to speak here in the first place; an equal number are demanding that he be given an opportunity to complete his talk.

Human remains are stored in universities and museums all over the world. A recent example of genetic testing on old human remains is the results from Tutankhamon and his family. On May 29, Malin Masterton will defend her doctoral thesis on the moral status of past people and protection for historical persons. The thesis also discusses our duties towards the dead.

When is it right to terminate treatments? Is it alright to conduct medical research on children? Who should receive treatment when resources are scarce? These are ethical questions that are at the heart of cases discussed in the media recently. On June 14-16, researchers from across the world will gather in Uppsala to discuss medical ethics from diverse perspectives. Around 70 presentations will shed light on aspects of these central issues.

Ethical review boards in practice deny patients access to the best medical knowledge by applying a view of autonomy that is too strict. This has consequences for both research and future care according to Mats G. Hansson, professor of biomedical ethics, in a recent article in the British Medical Journal.

MicroRNAs can move between cells and play a role in their communication. This discovery was made by plant researchers at Uppsala University together with colleagues from Finland and the US when they were studying mechanisms that control the development of plant roots. The study is published in the Web edition of the journal Nature.

What is the connection between political economy and democracy? Polish-American Adam Przeworski, Carroll and Milton Petrie Professor of European Studies at New York University, has been named this year’s winner of The Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science in consideration of his research into this question.

Researchers at Uppsala University have developed a new method for identifying genetic variation, including mutations, in active genes. Hopes are strong that the method represents an important research tool that will lead to the development of new diagnostic tests.

The hunter-gatherers who inhabited the southern coast of Scandinavia 4,000 years ago were lactose intolerant. This has been shown by a new study carried out by researchers at Uppsala University and Stockholm University. The study, which has been published in the journal BMC Evolutionary Biology, supports the researchers’ earlier conclusion that today’s Scandinavians are not descended from the Stone Age people in question but from a group that arr

The secret to successful IT-enabled change is the right balance between “hard” factors like planning, goals, structure and system architecture and “soft” factors like mindset, culture and organisation. This is one conclusion drawn by Einar Iveroth, who has studied the Ericsson Corporation’s implementation of a large-scale IT-enabled organisational transformation.

How do we handle the ethical dilemmas of research on adults who can’t give their informed consent? In a recent article in the journal Bioethics, ethicist Stefan Eriksson proposes a new approach to the dilemma of including dementia patients and others with limited decision making capabilities in research.

Preparations for this summer’s staging of the opera Otello at Uppsala University are in full swing. A new chorus has been assembled, costumes are being created and a large number of student and employee volunteers have offered their assistance. Journalists wishing to cover the event may now apply for press passes.

The genes that are most beneficial to males are the most disadvantageous for females, and vice versa. This genetic conflict between the sexes is important in maintaining genetic variation within a species researchers at Uppsala University have shown in a study on fruit-flies published in the open access journal PLoS Biology.

The domestication of animals and plants is the most important technological innovation during human history. This genetic transformation of wild species has occurred as humans have used individuals carrying favorable gene variants for breeding purposes. In the current issue of Nature an international team led by researchers at Uppsala University has revealed some of the secrets underlying the remarkable development of the domestic chicken.

The Beijer Laboratory at Uppsala University has received a SEK 10.8 million from the Kjell and Märta Beijer Foundation. The donation, distributed across three years, goes to research in genomics, research on genes, and neuroscience.

The year 2009 brought 1,700 more students and increased funding for research at Uppsala University. In the coming three years, above all, the University wants the government to commit more resources to reinforce the conditions for enhanced quality in education.

Pure water is a key requirement for good health and alternative cheap, safe methods are required in many countries. In a paper that has just been published in the leading American Chemical Society journal on interfaces, Langmuir, researchers from Uppsala University in co-operation with The University of Botswana describe how extracts from seeds of the Moringa oleifera tree can be used for water purification.

The mystery of quantum physics and the potential of genetic research to create new life: this years Celsius-Linnaeus Lectures deal with two of the most astonishing and myth-shrouded research fields today. The lecturers are among the best known and respected researchers in their areas: Anton Zeilinger and Craig Venter.

The political ramifications of dependence on Russian natural gas are a current, lively topic of debate within the EU. One issue that deserves more attention is whether sufficient gas will even be available for export to the EU. So argues physicist Bengt Söderbergh, whose dissertation provides an assessment of future Norwegian and Russian gas export levels.  He is scheduled to defend his dissertation on 19 February at Uppsala University.

Finding pathological genes and new possibilities for diagnosis and treatment is the goal as Science for Life Laboratory in Uppsala now commences its operations. It was standing room only when SciLifeLab Uppsala held an information meeting and inauguration at Rudbeck Laboratory.

The putative skull of Saint Bridget of Sweden that has been kept in a shrine in Vadstena Abbey is probably not authentic. A new study conducted at Uppsala University reveals that the two skulls, believed to be from Saint Bridget and her daughter Catherine (Katarina), is not from maternally related individuals. Furthermore, dating show that the skulls are not from the time period when Bridget and Catherine lived. The findings are published in the

Solar cell research at the Uppsala University Department of Engineering Sciences at Ångström Laboratory has been granted SEK 22 million in funding from the Swedish Energy Agency to research thin-film solar cells.

Today the Swedish Energy Agency decided to contribute SEK 139 million to a full-scale wave power array outside of Smögen, off the west coast of Sweden. This means that a full-scale demonstration facility can become a reality as soon as all permits have been acquired. The technology is based on research at Uppsala University.

An international research team, comprising scientists working in the Sweden, UK, USA & South Korea and led by Professor Rajeev Ahuja of Uppsala University now presents new findings for better understanding of superconducting high-pressure metal hydride systems. The study is published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS).

How do we meet the ethical challenges posed by stem cell research and other developments in the life sciences? How do we manage an ageing society? Uppsala University and Newcastle University have formed a strategic collaboration to meet these and other ethical challenges.

A new study by a research team at Uppsala University shows how new functions can develop in an enzyme. This can explain, for example, how resistance to toxins can occur so simply. The findings are now being published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

When ribosomes produce protein in all living cells, they do so through a chemical reaction that happens so fast that scientists have been puzzled. Using large quantum mechanical calculations of the reaction center of the ribosome, researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden can now provide the first detailed picture of the reaction. The findings are published in the Web edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, PNAS.

The discovery of fossil footprints from early backboned land animals in Poland leads to the sensational conclusion that our ancestors left the water at least 18 million years earlier than previously thought. The results of the Polish-Swedish collaboration are published online this week in Nature.   

It should be possible to use therapeutic vaccines to create both cheap and effective drugs for diseases like cancer and allergies. One problem in developing such vaccines has previously been the lack of adjuvants, substances that make vaccines more effective. However, there has now been a major breakthrough in this area. The study, led by scientists at Uppsala University, is published in the December issue of the journal Vaccine.

Addiction disorders of various kinds are a major health and social problem, and our knowledge of how the brain’s reward system functions needs to be enhanced. Uppsala researchers now shows an unexpected effect of the signal substance glutamate on the midbrain in mice. The study is published in the Web edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, PNAS.

Researchers at Uppsala University, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and Broad Institute have discovered a previously unknown gene ZBED6 that is unique to placental mammals. The gene originates from a so called jumping gene that integrated in the genome of a primitive mammal at least 150 million years ago and has since then evolved an essential function. The study is published in PLoS Biology today.

Karen Koning AbuZayd, Commissioner-General of United Nations Relief and Works Agency, will give the 2009 Dag Hammarskjöld Lecture at Uppsala University, Sweden. The Lecture is organized in collaboration with Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation.

A new program for internationalization and an action plan for stable growth with quality and the future in focus. These, among other things, were adopted by the University Board at its meeting today.

Researchers at Uppsala University, in collaboration with colleagues in Sweden and abroad, have identified an entirely new mechanism by which a specific protein in the body inhibits formation of new blood vessels. Inhibiting the formation of new blood vessels is an important aspect of, for example, cancer treatment. The study is published in the November issue of the journal Molecular Cancer Research.

It is time for Dinosaur Day once again this coming Sunday. For the third year in a row, the Museum of Evolution will offer a special day of lectures and activities for all ages – entirely in English.

Plasmids, which are DNA molecules capable of independent replication in cells, have played an important role in gene technology. Researchers from Uppsala University in Sweden have now demonstrated that plasmid-based methods, which had been limited to single-cell organisms such as bacteria and yeasts, can be extended to mosses, opening the door to applications of a number of powerful techniques in plant research.

Prenatal sex-based biological differences extend to genetic expression in cerebral cortices. The differences in question are probably associated with later divergences in how our brains develop. This is shown by a new study by Uppsala University researchers Elena Jazin and Björn Reinius, which has been published in the latest issue of the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

The great diversity of male sexual traits, ranging from peacock's elaborate train to formidable genitalia of male seed beetles, is the result of female choice. But why do females choose among males? In a new study published today in Current Biology, researchers from Uppsala University found no support for the theory that the female choice is connected to "good genes".

Uppsala University researcher Maria Selmer, in cooperation with this year's Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, and his research team, has succeeded for the first time in elucidating the crystal structure of a GTPase protein in ribosome-bound form. The findings were published today in the online edition of the journal Science and provide new insights into protein synthesis.

Despite decline in numbers of worshippers and increased secularisation the church is still valued and appreciated as an institution which protects and preserves common values in the public sphere. This has been shown by sociologist of religion Martha Middlemiss Lé Mon at Uppsala University, Sweden, in a study focusing on the Church of England.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is scheduled to visit Uppsala University and give a public lecture in the Grand Auditorium of the University Main Building on Thursday, 1 October.

Today's Scandinavians are not descended from the people who came to Scandinavia at the conclusion of the last ice age but, apparently, from a population that arrived later, concurrently with the introduction of agriculture. This is one conclusion of a new study straddling the borderline between genetics and archaeology, which involved Swedish researchers and which has now been published in the journal Current Biology.

Ninety per cent of older persons in rural Bangladesh displayed either overt or risk for malnutrition in a collaborative study presented in a dissertation by Tamanna Ferdous from Uppsala University Sept 22, 2009. The results, which are part of a larger international study, challenge the Millenium Development Goals.

Financial crises place significant strain on banks, causing them to behave more opportunistically than clients are accustomed to. Business clients should count on this, according to Uppsala University business economist Kristina Furusten, who has studied the topic of contractual relationships between banks and corporate clients during the 1990s financial crisis in Sweden.

Unwanted blooms of Cladophora algae throughout the Baltic and in other parts of the world are not entirely without a positive side. A group of researchers at the Ångström Laboratory at Uppsala University have discovered that the distinctive cellulose nanostructure of these algae can serve as an effective coating substrate for use in environmentally friendly batteries. The findings have been published in an article in Nano Letters.