news 2020

By Christoph Pelzl The e-prop learning method developed at Graz University of Technology forms the basis for drastically more energy-efficient hardware implementations of Artificial Intelligence. The high energy consumption of artificial neural networks' learning activities is one of the biggest hurdles for the broad use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), especially in mobile applications.

By Christoph Pelzl The new machine is intended to facilitate industrial composting and makes autonomous driving acceptable for chain-driven machines as well. Turning and mixing large compost heaps are important steps in composting to speed up the rotting process. Composting plants and agricultural businesses use mostly tractor-drawn turners or a diesel-powered compost turner with crawler track.

For a long time, something important has been neglected in electronics: If you want to make electronic components smaller and smaller, you also need the right insulator materials. Ever smaller and ever more compact - this is the direction in which computer chips are developing, driven by industry. This is why so-called 2D materials are considered to be the great hope: they are as thin as a material can possibly be, in extreme cases they consist of only one single layer of atoms.

By Birgit Baustädter Even without living directly by the sea, researchers at TU Graz and the LEC are concerned about the environmental compatibility of merchant shipping and are researching wind and hydrogen-powered ships. "Modern shipping is on a par with air traffic in terms of CO2 emissions.

To fully exploit the potential of the "wonder material" graphene, it has to be combined with other materials. A new study investigates what is important for this. Graphene consists of a single layer of carbon atoms. Exceptional electronic, thermal, mechanical and optical properties have made graphene one of the most studied materials at the moment.

By Christoph Pelzl Joint investigations by researchers from Graz University of Technology and the ÖAMTC show that the risk of serious head injuries increases when an already damaged helmet or a wrong helmet is worn. Additional can be found at the end of the message In Austria, more than 4,100 moped riders are injured in road accidents every year - including many young people.

Milestone for therapeutic development of peptides against gastrointestinal disorders The fascinating family of trefoil factor peptides brings hope to both research and industry to improve the treatment of chronic disorders such as Crohn's disease. For the first time, a team led by ERC awardee Markus Muttenthaler from the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Vienna succeeded in the synthesis and folding of the peptide TFF1, a key player in mucosal protection and repair.

An international team of scientists from Austria, Germany and Ukraine has found a new superconducting system in which magnetic flux quanta can move at velocities of 10-15 km/s. This opens access to investigations of the rich physics of non-equilibrium collective systems and renders a direct-write Nb-C superconductor as a candidate material for single-photon detectors.

By Birgit Baustädter For the Institute of Experimental Physics, heading into outer space is on the agenda: the researchers are taking part in an experiment on board the international space station to measure the surface tension of Böhler steel. "We've got something really great for you." When experimental physicist Gernot Pottlacher starts a phone call with these words, that's exactly what is behind it: something really great indeed.

Magnetism offers new ways to create more powerful and energy-efficient computers, but the realization of magnetic computing on the nanoscale is a challenging task. A critical advancement in the field of ultralow power computation using magnetic waves is reported by a joint team from Kaiserslautern, Jena and Vienna in the journal Nano Letters.

By Christoph Pelzl Under the scientific direction of Graz University of Technology, an Austrian consortium is working on new investigation methods for rapid and precise assessments of concrete structures. Additional at the end of the text Whether crumbling tunnel walls, cracks in concrete facades or porous bridge piers, according to statistics from the National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE), damage to concrete structures caused by various environmental influences accounts for several billion euros worldwide every year.

By Birgit Baustädter She investigates black-box-systems, while he predicts the state of networked systems. Andrea Pferscher and Markus Tranninger are two of 11 young researchers in the TU Graz project "Dependable Things". Eleven young researchers are working as doctoral students or post-docs in the TU Graz lead project "Dependable Internet of Things in Adverse Environments" - "Dependable Things" for short.

By Christoph Pelzl New findings by researchers led by TU Graz computer scientists Wolfgang Maass and Robert Legenstein on neural information processing in the brain could enable more efficient AI methods. Additional can be found at the end of the message Specifically, the researchers have succeeded in mathematically modelling the emergence and interaction between so-called "assemblies".

A particularly well-ordered kind of laser light can be created by turbulence, which is usually responsible for very disordered phenomena. It is a very special kind of light, which can be used for important measurements: so-called frequency combs play a major role in laser research today. While the light of an ordinary laser only has one single, well-defined wavelength, a frequency comb consists of different light frequencies, which are precisely arranged at regular distances, much like the teeth of a comb.

Improving our understanding of genome structure and function is central to biology and medicine. My research group uses computational models to study the functional potential of each of the three billion pairs of chemical bases in the human genome. Ultimately, we are paving the way to designing personalized interventions against disease, which technological advancements are finally pushing toward reality.

Postgenomic technologies reveal new mechanism of stress-induced chemoresistance Resistance of cancer cells against therapeutic agents is a major cause of treatment failure, especially in recurrent diseases. An international team around the biochemists Robert Ahrends from the University of Vienna and Jan Medenbach from the University of Regensburg identified a novel mechanism of chemoresistance which has now been published in "Nature Communications".

Advances in neuroscience research and microscopy: Researchers look deep into organs and nervous systems of animals, ranging from squids and worms to fish and salamanders. Analyses of individual cells in the context of whole organs or tissues is becoming increasingly important in biology. A standard approach so far was to cut larger tissues into thin layers, study each of these sections, and then piece the information again together into a 3D model.

How could the tiny, tightly connected parts of the ear adapt independently to the amazingly diverse functional and environmental regimes encountered in mammals? A group of researchers from the University of Vienna and the Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research proposed a new explanation for this evolutionary puzzle.

By Birgit Baustädter Electronics-based systems have long since found their way into our everyday lives. Consciously in the form of new technical gadgets and unconsciously in the form of embedded systems. It is therefore impossible to imagine our familiar life without electronics-based systems. But, and here researchers are in agreement, they will continue to shape our environment in the future as the basis for many innovative developments.

By Ute Wiedner The current issue of the Graz Architecture Magazine (GAM) gathers together new collaborative living concepts under the title "gewohnt: un/common" and presents them for discussion as "rehearsal stages" for affordable living. Rising rents and the constantly growing struggle for living space show that the housing market in Europe, with its stereotypical floor plan typologies, is no longer able to react flexibly to changing requirements and the worsening social situation.