Mathematics and Technology

4. April 2024

Artificial Intelligence

Moraliser, plagiarism engine, miracle machine: How well do we know AI?

The breakneck speed at which artificial intelligence is developing makes it difficult to predict where it is heading. Our researchers say: Instead of getting ever bigger and faster, we should now take the time to really understand AI.

11. January 2024

Guest article by

Sofia Kantorovich

Rudolphina Experts: New materials in medicine

Nanomagnets to fight cancer

Most drugs work best when directly brought to the place in the body where they are needed. Physicist Sofia Kantorovich explains how nanoscale magnets could lead to better therapies for conditions such as cancer.

19. December 2023

Semester question

"If we want a future it will be material"

In the interview, material scientist Mark Miodownik from UCL, who will deliver the keynote address at the panel discussion on the semester question on January 15th, explains what matters today in the development of new materials.

11. December 2023

Panel Discussion on 15 January

What is our future made of?

The highlight and closing event of the semester question was a panel discussion with renowned panellists at the Main Ceremonial Hall of the University of Vienna: Ranging from materials science to design and urban research. Materials researcher and NYT bestselling author Mark Miodownik from UCL gave the keynote speech.

22. November 2023

Presenting… Physicist Sabri Koraltan

Tiny tornados for storing data

Have you ever wondered how your car knows how fast its wheels are turning? Or how your smart watch still saves all your data even when out of battery? This is where magnetic materials come into play, materials researched and developed by the physicist Sabri Koraltan at the University of Vienna.

16. November 2023

Materials of the future

Cell tissue: The complex machinery of life

In the Rudolphina series "Materials of the future", physicist Roberto Cerbino, who is specialising in soft condensed matter, gives insights into cell tissue, a true "material of life".

14. November 2023

Materials for the energy transition

Supercomputer, Schrödinger and the energy revolution

How can we sustainably scale up the production of hydrogen and synthetic fuels for the post-fossil energy world? Advances in materials science could hold the key. Physicist Georg Kresse and his team use computer simulations to enable the necessary breakthroughs.

31. October 2023

Presenting… Zoologist Sophie Greistorfer

Glowing snail mucus: The sticky future of biomaterials

A sticky thing: A small freshwater snail in New Zealand has a very special way of defending itself. It confuses its attackers with glowing green slime. "This mucus is one of the most promising biomaterials," says Sophie Greistorfer. In her PhD project, she is looking for the key to grasping the fundamental principles of this luminescent biopolymer.

25. October 2023

Physics of DNA material

Glue and stacks: The secrets of DNA ring polymers

A research team at the University of Vienna tries to unravel the physical principles behind ring-shaped polymers. These fascinating natural structures have promising properties that could be exploited in future soft and stretchy materials for use in flexible electronics or soft robotics.

23. October 2023

Materials of the future

Stable, inexpensive and exotic: 2D crystals in a graphene sandwich

Scientists from the University of Vienna present exciting "materials of the future": Physicist Kimmo Mustonen starts by explaining how to grow crystals between sheets of graphene and what makes this "sandwich" so special.

19. October 2023

Electrochromic materials

A chemical signature of authenticity

A new smart ink based on electrochromic materials could not only prevent the forgery of event tickets, but also facilitate the monitoring of sensitive products and resources such as blood reserves. The applications for this innovative material are almost endless, says one of the developers, chemist Laura Maggini.

11. October 2023

New Materials

What the future is made of

New materials are considered very promising for solving the acute challenges of our time, but they also create new problems. We take a closer look at those materials that have shaped us and those that are yet to come.

3. October 2023

Nobel Prize in Physics 2022

Nobel Prize for Anton Zeilinger and his revolutionary "crazy ideas"

One year ago, on 4 October 2022, Anton Zeilinger (78) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics, which he accepted in Stockholm on 10 December together with his colleagues Alain Aspect and John F. Clauser. Read and watch highlights of the eventful year here, with the award ceremony as, according to Zeilinger, "an unbeatable highlight".

20. September 2023

AI ethics

Why we need global governance frameworks for artificial intelligence

An interdisciplinary body of experts, including three academics affiliated with the University of Vienna, supports Austria in the implementation of the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence. Rudolphina asked them why AI governance requires a global approach and which possibilities and risks this entails.

27. April 2023

Inorganic chemistry

The influence of structure

Materials chemist Jia Min Chin is researching how the structures of materials affect their function and how chemistry can influence the sustainability of future materials.

21. December 2022

Discriminating algorithms

"Nothing on the Internet is neutral"

Sandra Wachter is one of the leading researchers in the field of Internet and artificial intelligence. In our interview, the alumna of Law, who has been recently appointed Professor at the Oxford Internet Institute, explains why it is so important to take a look behind the decisions of algorithms.

7. December 2022

Presenting... Experimental physicist Iurie Coroli

Quantum mechanics of mesoscopic objects

Iurie Coroli, PhD candidate at the Vienna Doctoral School in Physics, investigates quantum properties of so called "mesoscopic objects”, a scale between microscopic atoms and macroscopic everyday objects. Together with his team the experimental physicist builds a system using a high powerful laser beam to study the regime of quantum mechanics, as he explains in the video.

29. November 2022

Quantum Physics

Researching the Quantum World: What our universe is built of

At the University of Vienna, quantum physicists from different countries, ages and career levels, have one thing in common: Genuinely curious, they try to understand the fundamental building blocks of the universe. In the video, three researchers from the research group Quantum Optics, Quantum Nanophysics and Quantum Information tell us what drives them and take us on a tour of their workplace.