Honours Students 2023

Course of study:  Economics and Business Administration (B. Sc.)

Supervised by Prof. Dr. Silke Übelmesser

Asset Composition in Germany: Analysis of Regional Differences (East/West, Urban/Rural)

Despite Germany's continuous economic growth, significant wealth disparities are evident, especially between East and West as well as urban and rural areas. Historical and structural reasons, as emphasized in the annual report from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (2019), play a central role. My research, based on a survey from the Chair of Public Finance (Prof. Dr. Übelmesser) in March 2023, examines the asset composition across various categories. The goal is to identify regional disparities (East/West, Urban/Rural) and the influence of sociodemographic factors such as income, gender, and education on weatlh. This investigation seeks to offer in-depth insights into Germany's wealth distribution and provide empirical data for policymakers.

Contact:
hannes.ruehlemann@uni-jena.de

Course of study: Economics and Business Administration (B. Sc.)

Supervised by Prof. Dr. Silke Übelmesser

Text Analysis as a tool to evaluate open survey questions

In a digital world, organizations face large amounts of data. About 80% of enterprise data is unstructured, according to estimates by the International Data Corporation. Text data is one of them, as it is difficult to aggregate and analyze. In business, text analysis helps to understand customer feedback, identify trends, and improve products. Data comes from interviews, social media, emails, and direct corporate communications. Text analysis is also relevant in science. Open-ended questions in surveys prevent response limitations and provide insights into motivations and thoughts. Open-ended responses can validate closed-ended question results. My research goal is to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of text analysis, present trends and to use my own text analysis program with data from a survey, conducted by the Chair of Public Finance of the University of Jena. This survey will analyze factors for study choice decisions in the business faculty in order to attract new students. This supports the student recruitment efforts of the faculty at the University of Jena.

Contact:
jan.laufing@uni-jena.de

Course of study: German, Latin, German as a second and foreign language (LA Gymnasium, state examination)

Supervised by Dr. Nimet Tan

School integration of newly immigrated children and young people in Thuringia

The research project focuses on explaining and visualising multilingualism and its promotion in schools in Thuringia. On the one hand, the focus is on the schooling and integration of children and young people who have recently immigrated from abroad and are integrated into the German education system as so-called lateral entrants. On the other hand, the focus is on supporting and dealing with the multilingualism of pupils in schools in Thuringia. In 2022, more than 10,000 children and young people of school age came to Thuringia as a result of the war - a strong upward trend. Within the framework of qualitative interview research, the primary question to be addressed is what school integration and migration-related heterogeneity mean in the context of (school) teaching, and how the concrete practical implementation of administrative-curricular guidelines and recommendations for the promotion of the target language(s) and mother tongue(s) is currently organised in the state of Thuringia.

Contact:
celina.bausewein@uni-jena.de

Course of study: Caucasian Studies (M. A.)

Supervised by Prof. Dr. Diana Forker

Study of indigenous rituals in Northern Azerbaijan

Globalization continues to stretch out into the most remote regions of the world and urges its communities to conform to modernity. And albeit this process has many merits, it is important to combine it with cultural preservation. The aim of my project is thus to document, describe and analyze rituals in Northern Azerbaijan (specifically, pagan wedding traditions within Lezgian and Avar communities). During this field research, it is to be determined if the communities are still practising the rituals, described in the previous centuries if they have abandoned them, or transformed into different shapes. The newer data should help establish how endangered the cultural heritage of indigenous Caucasians is and what further steps should be taken to prevent definitive loss.

Contact:
narmin.gurbanova@uni-jena.de

Course of study: Indo-European Studies/Romance Studies

Supervised by Prof. Dr. Martin Joachim Kümmel

How much text can be found in individual words?

Normally, texts are analysed in terms of their content mostly in literary studies. Linguistics, on the other hand, is often only consulted when a classification according to authorship, a chronological or details of etymologies need to be clarified. Linguistics can also contribute to content analysis - considering, for example, the tendency towards impersonal or passivised formulations or the reduction of evaluative vocabulary in specialised texts. The aim of my project is to use the sum of word analyses of texts to statistically define genre boundaries and allocations to certain authors will be made statistically ascertainable. For languages with a strongly synthetic linguistic structure, in which case and number markings are clearly visible by morphemes, such as in ancient Greek or Sanskrit. These findings can lead to a comparison of the two different languages - for example, from the point of view of the genre boundaries of different text types.

Kontakt:
felix.herold@uni-jena.de

Course of study: History and Politics of the 20th Century (M. A.)

Supervised by Prof. Dr. Stefanie Middendorf

The dimensions of the violent persecution of Sinti*zze and Rom*nja in Thuringia during the Weimar Republic and National Socialism 

Racist behaviour against Sinti*zze and Rom*nja, which is mostly summarised under the term "Antiziganism", is a historical as well as a contemporary topic, which is still supported by a broad social acceptance in Germany. Within my research project, I would like to investigate the historical dimensions and continuities of this history of antiziganist violence based on the history of persecution of Sinti*zze and Rom*nja in the area of today’s Thuringia. The study begins at the time of the Weimar Republic when the police persecution of Sinti*zze and Rom*nja intensified as a result of the founding of Thuringia in 1920. The thesis focuses on the reviewing of the National Socialist persecution of the Sinti*zze and Rom*nja living in Thuringia. Following a micro-historical research approach, the study pursues the question of which dimensions of violence Sinti*zze and Rom*nja were exposed to during the Weimar Republic and National Socialism in Thuringia and which actors, ways of thinking and acting were significant in it.

Contact:
sophie-marie.hohmann@uni-jena.de

Course of study: Cultural Anthropology/History of Culture (M. A.)

Supervised by Prof. Dr. Anja Laukötter

The Colonial Exhibition in Jena around 1900 – A local history of colonialism

Around 1900, large exhibitions took place in various cities to support the idea of a German domination in parts of Africa, China and Oceania. But what about the university and industrial city of Jena? By analyzing the Colonial Exhibition of Jena, I will research the city´s colonial past that was embedded in networks of societies, companies and people. In 1900 the exhibition took place in the university´s “Rosensäle”. It was organized by the local Geographic Society and opened by the then-prominent zoologist and evolution biologist Ernst Haeckel. In the exhibition visitors found a composition of model ships, everyday objects, stuffed animals, plants, and a supposed rebuilding of an “African village”. Which colonial fantasies were materialized in the exhibition? Which narratives were told about the German colonies? Which aspects were made visible, which invisible, for example regarding colonial violence? With my project, I would like to open new perspectives on colonial heritage in Thuringia.

Contact:
fabian.hoinkis@uni-jena.de

Course of study: German/English (LA Gymnasium, state examination)

Supervised by Prof. Dr. Iris Winkler

Extracurricular Teaching Activities in the Subject of German

Germany is affected by a shortage of teachers. This is also noticeable at universities, where there are teacher-training students already working as part-time teachers in schools. As the side jobs of students, their involvement as teachers in schools, and their teaching practices are not extensively researched, this project aims to gain insights into the attitudes and teaching of these students and to examine them from a subject-specific didactic perspective. In a first step, teacher training students in German studies have been surveyed through a questionnaire about their extracurricular teaching activities, their motivations for engaging in them, their attitudes and perspectives on aspects such as the relationship between theory and practice, and more. In a second step, an interview study will be conducted to ask participants more detailed questions about their extracurricular activities, their perceptions of the teacher training program in German studies, as well as their teaching practices and principles.

Contact:
jonas.krause@uni-jena.de

Course of study: History and Politics of the 20th Century (M. A.)

Supervised by Prof. Dr. Annette Weinke

The 1998 Edition German Unity: Edition Process and File Policy of the Federal Chancellery after Reunification

Due to the great scientific and public interest in the reunification process at home and abroad, the Federal Chancellery approached renowned representatives of German historical scholarship in 1995 with the request to prepare an edited publication of the files. Long before the expiration of the usual embargo period for official archive material, 430 government files, primarily from the period between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the implementation of the unification treaties, found their way into the special edition of over 1,500 pages, which was published three years later as the conclusion of the series Dokumente zur Deutschlandpolitik (DzD). Under the scientific direction of the historians Hans-Peter Schwarz and Klaus Hildebrand as well as by an editing group coordinated by Hanns-Jürgen Küsters, the concrete selection and classification of the key documents began, with the participation of the Bundesarchiv, with the aim of reconstructing the reunification process from the perspective of the Chancellor's Office as the German decision-making center. Based on historiographical criteria, the edition initiated by the Chancellery, raises a number of research questions. The aim of the project is to classify and analyze the genesis of the edition in the context of German file and release policy after reunification. In addition to examining the underlying editing criteria and the associated intentions and expectations, the concrete creation and contemporary reception of the edition in academia and the media will be considered.

Course of study: English/German (LA, Gymnasium, state examination)

Supervised by Dr. Silke Braselmann

Teacher and Climate Activist? – An Empirical Study on the Professional Self-Concept of Thuringian English Teachers in the Context of Global Education

Within the field of language didactics, the topic of global education has come to play an important role. English as a subject is particularly suitable to foster global education and there are a number of publications that present pedagogical approaches and didactic models on how to incorporate this topic into the classroom. One common element in most of these models is the objective of encouraging and enabling students to take real-world action. This emphasis on taking action also raises questions about teachers’ activism. My project focuses on the professional self-concept of teachers regarding activism and the forms of activism that can be found in Thuringian schools today. Using the example of climate activism, I will investigate how individual teachers define activism, what their attitudes are towards activism inside and outside the classroom and whether they feel the responsibility of taking the role of an activist in the context of global education.

Contact:
henrike.muench@uni-jena.de

Course of study: Literatur-Kunst-Kultur (M.A.)

Supervised by Prof. Dr. Alice Stašková

An Art of confrontation? On the cultivation of an active attitude towards the world within the framework of Friedrich Schiller's aesthetics

This interdisciplinary research project focuses primarily on the relationship between Friedrich Schiller's philosophy of consciousness and his theory of the sublime. Beauty and sublimity enable freedom in the field of tension between reason and sensuality as well as activity and passivity. In the light of Schiller's philosophy of consciousness, the cultivation of these feelings is presented as granting liberation from the world and at the same time allowing participation as part of the world. I will address the question of how 'tragic art' can convey freedom and thus indirectly promote morality. This also provides an opportunity to work out the extent to which Schiller's early reflections on the interrelation between the attitude of reception and the conception of the figure prepare the basis for later assumptions about the relationship between the person and the world. The object of investigation is Schiller's own selection of texts from the third part of the 'Kleinere prosaische Schriften', in which he presented a new 'architecture' of his theory of aesthetics in 1801.

Thanks for the kind support of: Prof. Dr. Andrea Marlen Esser, Dr. Peggy Hetmank-Breitenstein, Nichita Doroshenko (M.A.) and Niklas Sommer (M.A.)

Contact:
laura.bella.theis@uni-jena.de

Course of study: Sociology (M. A.)

Supervised by Dr. Jörg Oberthür

Urban sprawl as a source of conflict in socio-ecological transformation

The project investigates conflicts around the globally observable phenomenon of "urban sprawl". Urban sprawl describes the disorderly spread of settlements and infrastructure into the often agriculturally used surrounding countryside. In recent years, protest movements against urban sprawl have increased. The project follows the basic thesis that urban sprawl is not only a specific building practice, but also anchored in the minds of people and the structure of society. This can be seen, for example, in the widespread desire for a "little house in the countryside" as well as in the financial incentives for municipalities to designate new residential and commercial areas. Protest against urban sprawl thus inevitably calls into question the social ideas, ideals and habits associated with it. A case study will be used to empirically reconstruct the associated conflicts, the groups of actors involved in them, and the alternatives they put forward.

Contact:
mharzbecher@aol.de

Course of study: Psychology (M. Sc.)

Supervised by PD Dr. Gerd Wagner

The Subjective Experience of Compulsion

With a lifetime prevalence of 2-3%, OCD is one of the most common mental disorders in the population. A core symptom of OCD is the experienced loss of control over one's own thoughts and actions. This negative experience is often compensated by ritualized actions and thoughts. To date, however, it is unclear whether and how the experience of loss of one's own control is altered in the context of the disorder and contributes to its development or clinical manifestation. The aim of this project, which is conducted at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of the University Hospital Jena, is to extend existing metacognitive and cognitive explanatory models of OCD by two sensorimotor theories, Excessive Conscious Monitoring and Seeking Proxies for Internal States, in order to explain action-related features of individuals with OCD, such as the feeling of incompleteness of action and repetitiveness.

Contact:
stefan.schmidt@uni-jena.de

Course of study: Sociology (M. A.)

Supervised by Prof. Dr. Stefanie Hiß

Future vision: The production of green hydrogen in Thuringia

Facing the climate crisis, it is necessary to move away from carbon-intensive technologies - especially in the energy sector. In this respect, the research and use of hydrogen-based solutions is becoming increasingly important. As a power-to-gas technology, hydrogen (H2) belongs to the so-called power-to-X technologies, i.e. it is an energy carrier (X) that is produced from electricity (power). The hydrogen currently produced in Germany is mostly a by-product of industry, but the construction of green hydrogen production facilities in Germany is also being discussed. This H2 would then be produced with the help of electricity generated from renewable energies. Inspired by transition research, the project looks at the acceptance of green hydrogen production in Thuringia and tries to identify challenges and opportunities. A special focus is on the socio-political acceptance of political decision-makers because they set the framework conditions for the use of new technologies and thus contribute significantly to the success or failure of an innovation.

Course of study: International Organizations and Crisis Management (M.A.)

Supervised by Prof. Dr. Christian Kreuder-Sonnen

Internal contestation of informal intergovernmental organizations

My project deals with international organizations (IOs) and their interactions with states. Powerful IOs are increasingly challenged and contested by their member states. So far, this internal contestation of IOs has been studied exclusively in the context of formal IOs such as the United Nations or the European Union. Formal IOs are based on an international treaty and enjoy the support of a permanent secretariat. However, global governance is shaped more and more by informal IOs such as the G7 or the G20 that have no formal treaty base or secretariat. Even though informal IOs thus lack delegated authority and create no formal obligations for their members, we still observe that they also face internal contestation. My project aspires to provide a theory of internal contestation of informal IOs that complements existing research on formal IOs.

Contact:
christoph.martin.stieglbauer@uni.de

Course of study: Educational Science/Social Pedagogy/Social Management

Supervised by Prof. Dr. Roland Merten

Measurement of social-pedagogy competences of graduates of a training to become a "staatlich anerkannter Erzieher"

Training to become an Erzieher follows a generalized approach that encompasses various social-pedagogy fields of action. Furthermore, educational professionals play an important role in (at least partially) compensating for social inequalities. In order to be able to achieve this, an important factor is the quality of the institution or the educational work carried out. Consequently, the pedagogical professionals are faced with high demands. The aim of this study is to investigate whether educational professionals can acquire corresponding competences in their training, which play a prominent role in the development of a professional attitude in their practical work. In early childhood education, socio-pedagogical competences are rather a marginal topic, so a look at this is of interest. Based on selected contents of the relevant curricula, a competence model will be used to determine whether there is a correspondence between the curricular contents and the actual competence profiles of graduates of the corresponding training institutions.

Contact:
lukas.tran@uni.de

Course of study: Sociology (M. A.)

Supervised by Dr. Martin Fritz

Bioenergy Villages: Paving the Way to a Post-Fossil Future?

Man-made climate change, demolition of entire villages for open-cast coal mining, finite oil and gas reserves: These are just a few reasons why a post-fossil future makes sense and is ultimately inevitable. Bioenergy villages, of which there are about 180 in Germany, are one component of the energy transition insofar as they produce the majority of their needed electricity and heat themselves, using biomass. However, technological solutions are not enough to fundamentally change the energy system - changes in people's perceptions, attitudes and practices are also needed. On the basis of the "BioMentalitäten" survey (n=4000) of the BMBF junior research group "flumen", which is representative of Germany, I therefore investigate whether or how the alternative relationship of bioenergy villages to energy production affects their inhabitants. For example, do they have different attitudes towards sustainability or more ecological practices than people living elsewhere? How do the residents perceive the bioenergy villages and their social, economic and ecological impacts? In short, what role can bioenergy villages play in the transformation to a post-fossil society?

Studiengang: Educational Science (B. A.)

Supervised by Prof. Dr. Roland Merten

What does it mean and to what end does one study educational science in Jena?

I deliberately based the title of my research project on Friedrich Schiller's inaugural lecture. The aim is to use a questionnaire survey to record the essential elements of the motives for choosing a course of study as well as the presented professional perspectives of students of educational science in Jena. Do first-year students consciously decide to study in order to pursue a certain profession? Is the study of educational science only the second choice because they did not get another place due to high NC requirements (e.g. psychology, ...)? Are there students who choose the subject of educational science in order to avoid a teacher training programme that is considered to be more time-consuming and to enter the teaching profession as lateral entrants? Against the background of the results, the question arises as to possible admission and selection procedures for the core subject of educational science in the Bachelor's programme in order, on the one hand, to be able to make university (re)accentuations and, on the other hand, to reduce the drop-out rate.

Contact:
max.waeldrich@uni.de

Course of study: Photonics (M. Sc.)

Supervised by Prof. Dr. Jens Limpert

Four-wave mixing in microstructured fibers

Four-wave mixing (FWM) is a third-order nonlinear optical process in which two photons, signal and idler photons, are created after annihilating two incoming photons (pump photons). The created photons are strongly quantum correlated. The correlated photon pairs generated can be used to reduce quantum noise through squeezing or could be implemented as photon sources in quantum communication protocols. Commonly, photon pairs are generated through spontaneous parametric down-conversion in crystals. Still, this process offers low brightness and is limited in the fabrication of the crystals. FWM in optical fibres can overcome this by creating photon pairs with high brightness and controllable interaction length and offering better coupling of the generated pairs into telecom fibres. Thus, this work studies the generation of photon pairs through FWM in endlessly single-mode (ESM) fibres through numerical simulations and optical setups.

Course of study: Photonics (M. Sc.)

Supervised by Dr. Christin David

The impact of diffuse scattering on nonlinear and nonlocal materials

Studying light scattering on smooth or regular nano-textured surfaces has always been easier. However, there is also great interest in understanding how light scatters on rough surfaces with randomly distributed atoms. This has many practical applications, like in biochemical sensors, energy harvesting in photovoltaic devices, and light trapping. Additionally, it helps answer fundamental questions about light at the nanoscale. Although it's easier and cheaper to create rough surfaces, analyzing them through simulations and theoretical methods is more challenging. In our research, we aim to investigate various aspects of random surfaces, including classical and non-classical properties, nonlinear behavior, nonlocal effects, and how light diffraction affects their near- and far-field properties. We'll use different numerical approaches to understand how light interacts with these complex systems.

Course of study: Photonics (M. Sc.)

Supervised by Dr. Falk Eilenberger

Microresonators in thin film lithium niobate for frequency comb generation for metrology

Integrated optics or photonic integrated circuits (PICs) allow complex optical setups to be miniaturized while making them more efficient and reliable. One possible application of such PICs are frequency combs, which could be used, e.g. in high-precision metrology or for the generation of multiphoton quantum states. The goal of my research is to generate frequency combs based on microresonators using the thin-film lithium niobate platform developed at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF in collaboration with the Institute of Applied Physics of the University of Jena - i.e., to design, simulate, and characterize the corresponding chips and learn a lot about detailed issues of integrated optics along the way. The microresonators enable efficient conversion of the pump light and determine the spectral properties of the frequency combs. Lithium niobate is particularly suitable for this application due to its pronounced optical nonlinearity and electro-optical properties.

Contact:
richard.kindler@uni-jena.de

Course of study: Geographie (B. Sc.)

Supervised by Dr. Susann Schäfer

Health and well-being in the context of climate change with special consideration of places of residence and work.

In low mountain regions, the risk of increasing intensity and frequency of extreme weather events in the context of climate change is particularly high. At the same time, these regions are often characterised by financially weak municipalities, which gives rise to a need for scientific action. Against this background, the research project I am planning is integrated into the topic of climate change adaptation at the municipal level. One focus is on health geography issues. The aim of my project is to determine, with the help of quantitative data analysis and qualitative interviews, to what extent the spatial environment at the place of residence and work has an impact on the health-related well-being of interviewees in Jena and Eisenberg in the context of increasing extreme weather events. This involves, for example, the structural condition of the places of residence and work, but also the infrastructure used (e.g. parks and other green spaces).

Contact:
jana.boltersdorf@uni-jena.de

Course of study: Geography (B. Sc.)

Supervised by Dr. Marcel Bliedtner

Past drought and fire dynamics in the southern European Alps based on biomarker analysis

Currently, the southern European Alps and especially northern Italy are suffering from serious drought conditions and widespread wildfires as it is a highly sensitive region towards climate change Therefore, paleoenvironmental research is particularly relevant in this region and can provide a valuable perspective for future climate change predictions. Hence my research project aims to investigate previous drought and wildfire dynamics in northern Italy during the Holocene I already accompanied my working group on a coring campaign in the Brianza region, Northern Italy, where we collected long sediment cores from Lago di Pusiano. On these lake sediments, I will use innovative biomarker analyses, i.e. the compound-specific hydrogen isotopic composition (δ²H) of n-alkanes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). These are valuable proxies for reconstructing past hydrological conditions, drought conditions and fire activities.

Contact:
lisa.maria.danius@uni-jena.de

Course of study: Chemistry (M. Sc.)

Supervised by Prof. Dr. Martin Oschatz

Introduction of Cationic Iron Complexes into Poly (heptazine imide) for Electrocatalysis and Energy storage

In my planned research I will investigate the incorporation of cations, especially transition metal complexes, into polyheptazinimides. This class of materials, which constitutes a subclass of carbon nitrides, exhibits electro- and photocatalytic properties that can be tuned by the introduction of cationic species. Among the cations, I intend to use positively charged iron complex compounds. In recent years, iron has gained attention as an alternative catalyst due to its versatile chemistry and ready availability. The goal is to explore how the material properties change based on the variation of the complexes. To provide a prominent example, the novel materials could be utilized in designing electrodes that utilize light to split water into oxygen and the hydrogen fuel. Additionally, there is potential for the application of these materials as energy storage media, acting as a cathode in zinc-air batteries.

Contact:
franz.jacobi@uni-jena.de

Course of study: Geography (M. Sc.)

Supervised by Prof. Dr. Sebastian Henn

Identification of left-behind places based on real estate data
The investigation of regional disparities in spaces is a research focus of the Chair of Economic Geography. With my research, I aim to demonstrate how the real estate market is linked to questions of social cohesion, as evidenced by election results and emotions. In real estate economics, the direct attributes (e.g., amenities, living space, etc.) are often emphasized, while a rudimentary consideration of topological integration into neighborhoods takes place. Given the significant macroeconomic importance of the real estate market and its strong influence on the regional development of an area, an examination is meaningful. The focus of the study will be on "ruined" houses, which trigger negative emotions among the population and reinforce the feeling of being left behind. Data will be collected through web mining, attempting to develop an index to identify "left-behind" places in a data-driven manner.

Contact:
max.schuchardt@uni-jena.de

Course of study: Molecular Life Science (M. Sc.)

Supervised by Prof. Dr. Jan Schirawski

Functional Characterization of SRS13900 host-specific factors via Yeast Two Hybrid
and Co-Immunoprecipitation

The fungus Sporisorium reilianum belongs to the group of smut fungi, which are known to cause black spore-like structures on plants which are easily dispersed by wind. Maize and sorghum are the 2 most important crops which are affected by this fungus. Sporisorium reilianum causes the head smut disease in maize and sorghum. The deletion of the gene srs13900 via double homologous recombination showed a reduction in the virulence in sorghum plants, therefore the next steps would be to find out the potential interacting proteins that are involved in this reduction. Through this experiment, we will be able to functionally characterize the interacting proteins which are responsible for the reduction in virulence, and thereby functionally characterize the host-specific factors in Sorghum with respect to SRS13900.

Kontakt:
tiyasa.adhikary@uni-jena.

Course of study: Evolution, Ecology and Systematics (M. Sc.)

Supervised by Prof. Dr. Kirsten Küsel

The effect of land use on soil microbial diversity and related ecosystem functions

Terrestrial ecosystems start with the soil and its flourishing and abundant biodiversity, most of which is invisible to the eye. At its core are soil bacteria and fungi, responsible for the carbon cycle, fertility and productivity of soils as we know them today. Their importance is increasingly recognised, not least because of the current threats posed by direct and indirect anthropogenic changes. With this project, I aim to analyse the soil biodiversity and ecosystem functions of 416 sites in northern Portugal and across six land-use types. Comparing different agricultural management, native and non-native forests, natural and urban areas. So far, only 0.3% of the sites sampled worldwide have carried out a similar type of analysis, combining data on both biodiversity and soil ecosystem functions. Therefore, this project fills me with pride and excitement.

Contact:
gabriele.beccacece@gmail.com.

Course of study: Biology (B. Sc.)

Supervised by Prof. Dr. Martin Kaltenpoth

What do desert ants know about their neighbours?

The Tunisian desert ant Cataglyphis fortis lives in salt deserts, which are characterized by their low rainfall, extreme heat and the complete absence of landmarks perceptible to humans. In my project, I want to focus primarily on studying the navigation system of this ant. The main target will be the so-called path integrator, the main cognitive tool of C. fortis navigation. This path integrator is already well understood. On the one hand, there are external factors and the associated physiological sensory systems, but also information about intrinsic processes that influence the path integrator. For example, the ant can perceive and use its own counted steps, the skylight, olfactory and visual landmarks to orientate itself in the salt desert. However, the perception of and social interaction with neighbouring nests has not yet been sufficiently researched in terms of their contribution to spatial orientation. Through a series of behavioural experiments, I want to find out if C. fortis can infer where it is in relation to its own nest based on interactions with already-known neighbouring nests and use this information to navigate to its own nest.

Contact:
antonio.louis.bollig@uni-jena.

Course of study: Evolution, Ecology and Systematics (M. Sc.)

Supervised by Dr. Gunnar Brehm

3-dimensional survey of moths

In my project, I want to measure insects from the collection of the Phyletisches Museum Jena three-dimensionally in order to determine their body size. Body size is considered one of the most important characteristics of an animal because essential physiological and ecological properties of organisms depend on it. So far, little is known in the literature about whether and how body size differs between freshly caught animals and long-term specimens.  In addition, the museum has comparative collections of specimens caught at different altitudinal levels of a site. Here I would also like to make a comparison between animals of the canopy and the understory and tie in with the findings of my bachelor thesis. I was able to show that nocturnal butterflies in the canopy of the Jena Forest were on average 1.6 mm larger, measured by their wing length. I now want to supplement the measurement of body size with this project.

Contact:
dennis boettger@uni-jena.de

Course of study: Molecular Life Science (M. Sc.)

Supervised by Prof. Dr. Maria Mittag

Exploring algal-microbial interactions under nature-like conditions

A crucial step in the global carbon cycle is CO₂ fixation by photosynthetic microorganisms including cyanobacteria and microalgae (approximately 50%) (Field et al., 1998). Microalgae coexist in terrestrial and aquatic habitats with other microorganisms that influence their overall fitness (Hom et al., 2015). Despite their high ecological importance, our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of these interactions is scarce and hence, poorly understood. In this study, I specifically aim to explore and understand the algal, bacterial, and viral interactome in stimulated natural environments through bipartite and tripartite experiment setups as a part of the Honours Programme in the lab of Prof. Maria Mittag. I believe this study will help us better understand how different microorganisms living in close association interact and how their impact could affect their overall fitness.

Contact:
ritam.das@uni-jena.de

Course of study: Biochemistry (M. Sc.)

Supervised by Dr. Aishwarya Iyer-Bierhoff

Proximity labeling to investigate the glucocorticoid receptor interactome in hepatic inflammation

The endocrine system responds to extrinsic and intrinsic cues with the production of hormones to regulate processes that allow the body to maintain homeostasis. In response to stressors, such as infection, the stress hormone cortisol is released into the bloodstream. In target cells, cortisol binds to the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) causing its translocation into the nucleus, where it binds to DNA, recruits transcriptional cofactors, and regulates gene expression. Hepatic GR modulates nutrient metabolism to maintain energy homeostasis. However, in response to an infection, the liver down-regulates its metabolic functions to drive inflammation resolution by mounting an acute phase response (APR). To understand how hepatic GR switches between its metabolic and acute phase roles under inflammatory duress such as sepsis, I aim to investigate alterations in the GR interactome using a proximity labelling technique in liver-derived cell lines.

Contact:
kiara.lehmann@uni-jena.de

Course of study: Evoluotion, Ecology and Systematics (M. Sc.)

Supervised by PD Dr. Markus Bernhardt-Römermann

Structural comparison of six forest types using three-dimensional laser scans in the context of the forest monitoring program ”Waldzustandserhebung”

In my Honours project, I investigate six forest types around the city of Jena, which are part of the forest monitoring program ”Waldzustandserhebung”. To describe and compare the sites, I plan to use Light detection and ranging (LiDAR). With this technology three-dimensional models of an area can be created. These can then be analyzed with algorithms, to extract data like tree height, -diameter, or biomass. Additionally data loggers permanently record temperature and moisture data in the air and ground on each site. This micro-climatic data together with the LiDAR-derived structural parameters will enable a detailed comparison of the different forest types. Additionally, my data can be used to complement the monitoring data and provide additional insights into current problems of forest management. An example would be the selection of more resilient trees in the context of the climate crisis.

Contact:
alexander.taeuber@uni-jena.de

Course of study: Medical Photonics (M. Sc.)

Supervised by Prof. Dr. Christian Eggeling

Development of a Napari plugin for live recordings and creating a Python Library for MINFLUX data analysis

Microscopes are an essential tool to understand the complex processes in biological cells, and therefore play an important role in biological research. To make the use of complex microscope setups simpler for researchers, this project  is aiming at creating  a software plugin for the python-based image viewer Napari that allows live recordings of microscope measurments. The plugin will provide a user-friendly, hardware-independent interface and will give the chance to perform real-time measurements directly within Napari. This plugin will also include a variety of processing algorithm pipelines. In addition, a python library is to be created for the data analysis of fluorescence images obtained with the Super-resolution microscopy technique MINFLUX. In such techniques, molecular dynamics and interactions that are essential for cellular functions can be investigated with so far unprecedented detail.

Contact:
pia.pritzke@uni-jena.de

Course of study: Human Medicine (state examination)

Supervised by PD Dr. Gregor Hayn-Leichsenring

Further analysis of sickness detection in facial photographs – an eye-tracking study 

In my project, I analyse viewing behaviour on facial photographs when people with facial palsy, i.e., a half-sided paralysis of the face, are shown. The underlying idea is to find behavioural differences forming under the condition that either faces are viewed without any directives while palsy-affected faces are shown, or participants receive the instructions to identify symptoms and evaluate the presence of palsy in the face. The aim of the study is to help describe possibly evolutionarily shaped behaviour of humans when recognising “deviant” faces and, by raising awareness of behavioural changes due to suspicion of sickness or the specific endeavour to identify diseased individuals, to contribute to uncovering potentially discriminating unconscious actions, thereby trying to break down prejudices.

Course of study: Human Medicine (state examination)

Supervised by PD Dr. Gregor Hayn-Leichsenring

Study of Systemic Diseases and Conditions in Facial Images

In an increasingly technologically based medicine, the question arises as to the importance of physicians´ clinical diagnostic skills. In my project, I am dealing with the question of whether systemic diseases can be recognized in facial images. Therefore, I am taking photographs of women with different diseases and conditions, as well as of a healthy control group. Subsequently, I will be conducting a study with medical specialists and laypersons. The research question follows a recent Swedish study which showed that signs of illness related to bacterial infection can be recognized in facial images across cultures (Arshamian et al., 2021). However, it remains to be investigated if these features are general or disease-specific and whether the ability to distinguish between sick and healthy is routed in evolutionary biology or acquired.

Contact:
helene.gunhild.schaefermeyer@uni-jena.de

Couse of study: Human Medicine (state examination)

Supervised by PD Dr. Hans-Michael Tautenhahn

Comparison of in-vivo and in-vitro CYP1A2 activity in healthy and MASLD patients

Till 2040 the prevalence of the metabolic associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) will reach 55%. MASLD can affect drug metabolism in the liver. Patients over 70 years take in average seven drugs per day. This Polypharmacy leads to an increased risk for complications during major liver surgery. CYP 1A2 is one of the key enzymes when it comes to drug metabolism. To elucidate its function in MASLD patients we assessed CYP1A2 expression, activity in-vitro and activity in-vivo reflected by the LiMAx® Assay in healthy and MASLD patients.