The University of Göttingen is an internationally renowned research university. Founded in 1737 in the Age of Enlightenment, the University is committed to the values of social responsibility of science, democracy, tolerance and justice. It offers a comprehensive range of subjects across 13 faculties: in the natural sciences, humanities, social sciences and medicine. With about 30,000 students and more than 210 degree programmes, the University is one of the largest in Germany.
New press releases
![](https://prins.uni-goettingen.de/files/bilder/pic_9c16fa3a1120240821112737.jpg)
Honey bees fly to organic farming
Honey bees are valued both for their honey and their ability to pollinate crops. However, populations are suffering from the loss of areas of wild flowers in intensive farming, pesticide applications and from the influence of pathogens, so it is all the more important to understand what keeps them healthy. Researchers at the Universities of Halle and Göttingen discovered that organic farming and flower strips can promote the health of honey bees.
more…![Data from more than 1,500 universities worldwide was analysed for the ranking.](https://prins.uni-goettingen.de/files/bilder/pic_c2b3f5328220240816101829.jpg)
Good results for the University of Göttingen
The University of Göttingen has achieved a good position in the Shanghai Ranking again. In the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) 2024, the University falls in the category of sixth to eleventh place in Germany, along with the Universities of Frankfurt, Cologne, Mainz, Münster and Tübingen. ARWU is primarily based on a university's research performance and analyses data from more than 1,500 universities around the world.
more…![](https://prins.uni-goettingen.de/files/bilder/pic_2d5734e9c720240802122540.jpg)
Glimpse into the nanoworld: microscope reveals tiniest cell processes
What does the inside of a cell really look like? In the past, standard microscopes were limited in how well they could answer this question. Now, researchers from the Universities of Göttingen and Oxford, in collaboration with the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG), have succeeded in developing a microscope with resolutions better than five nanometres (five billionths of a metre). This is roughly equivalent to the width of a hair split into 10,000 strands.
more…![](https://prins.uni-goettingen.de/files/bilder/pic_f12fee812a20240801104050.jpg)
New perspectives for using corals in climate research
Measuring temperatures from Earth’s past is important for understanding the development of its climate. Ancient ocean temperatures are most commonly reconstructed by analysing the ratio of different oxygen atoms in the calcium carbonate remains of fossils, but this presents challenges. Researchers now show how the abundance of a very rare oxygen isotope can uncover whether the isotopic composition was solely influenced by temperature or if biological effects also played a role.
more…![](https://prins.uni-goettingen.de/files/bilder/pic_9539c707f420240802100235.jpg)
"Laser view" into the avocado: new method reveals cell interior
Checking whether an avocado is hard or soft by looking at it? This would require recognizing how the plant cells behave behind the skin. The same applies to all other cells on our planet: Despite more than 100 years of intensive research, many of their properties remain hidden inside the cell. Researchers at the University of Göttingen describe in their recent publication in Nature Materials a new approach that can determine the particularly difficult-to-detect mechanical properties of the cell interior by taking a closer look.
more…![](https://prins.uni-goettingen.de/files/bilder/pic_b7f7ae592e20240730113144.jpg)
Otto Haxel Award for Dr Yuto Bekki
Dr Yuto Bekki of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) has been honored with the Otto Haxel Award for Physics for his doctoral dissertation. In collaboration with the German Physical Society (DPG), the Society for the Promotion of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) annually bestows this award upon the three best dissertations in physics from the Universities of Göttingen, Heidelberg, and KIT.
more…