Advancing age.
Download (PDF, 7 MB)
With 1.5 million men and women, people over 65 in Switzerland account for almost one fifth of the population. UNI NOVA focuses on the health and social aspects of aging and presents a selection of current research projects at the University of Basel: from medicine and psychology, biology as well as sports and economics. Ageing is a central research topic, and it concerns us all.
SUBSCRIBE TO UNI NOVA-
DossierThe challenge of old age.
Text: Reto W. Kressig / We are not only getting older, but also increasingly doing so in good health. Aging can therefore be seen as both an opportunity and a challenge.
-
DossierProgress in the gait lab.
Text: Christoph Dieffenbacher / Discrete irregularities in gait can point to cognitive deficits later in life – even years in advance. The University Center for Medicine of Aging at the Felix Platter Hospital in Basel is involved in cutting-edge research in this area.
-
DossierWith age comes knowledge.
Text: Yvonne Vahlensieck / We learn new facts and concepts well into old age. Psychologists at Basel University are investigating how, over the course of our lives, our memory adapts to this expansion in knowledge.
-
Dossier
Older women and hormones.
Text: Irène Dietschi / When it comes to women’s health, geriatric medicine has been focusing on reproductive organs and hormonal aspects for decades. Yet healthy aging is first and foremost a mental and psychological process, according to Professor of Gynecology Johannes Bitzer, former chief physician at the Women’s Health Clinic, University Hospital Basel.
-
DossierOld age underestimated.
Interview: Iris Mickein / Psychologist Jana Nikitin has spent 15 years studying the ways in which people establish and maintain relationships. She recently concluded a number of studies on social approach and avoidance motivation across the life span, with an emphasis on old age.
-
DossierDemographics and the labor market.
Text: Jörg Becher / What effect does an aging society have on the labor market? Instead of simply speculating, economics professor Conny Wunsch wants to deliver concrete answers – using a realistic model.
-
Dossier
Bridging the generation gap through exercise.
Text: Céline Eugster / Children and older people alike often get less exercise than they need. Sports researchers in Basel are tackling this problem with projects aimed at getting the two groups moving – together.
-
DossierCombating muscular atrophy.
Text: Martin Hicklin / Even in older individuals, strength training helps to combat the loss of muscle mass. Known as sarcopenia, this “curse of old age” is the focus of a research project at the Biozentrum.
-
In conversation“Humanities for the 21st century.”
Interview: Samuel Schlaefli / The humanities of the 21st century will be computer-based, believes Gerhard Lauer, Professor of Digital Humanities. Digitalization is about more than just facilitating access to research material, he explains – it brings completely new analytical methods to the humanities.
-
PortraitHistory’s biggest fan.
Text: Christoph Dieffenbacher / A researcher at the Center for Jewish Studies, Erik Petry is devoted to remembrance and making sure the past is not forgotten. His other great passion is sports – as an academic, as a fan and as an active participant.
-
ResearchMarijuana and happiness research.
Text: David Hermann / Users of medical cannabis in the USA experience greater mental well-being if access to it is liberalized. This finding from happiness research by Basel based economist Alois Stutzer could also have important implications for Switzerland.
-
ResearchNew neurons for the brain.
Text: Yvonne Vahlensieck / New neurons are made by stem cells located in the adult mammalian brain. Much remains to be understood about this process, known as neurogenesis – but there are hopes that one day it could be harnessed to promote brain repair.
-
ResearchCriminalizing the veil?
Text: Tobias Ehrenbold / Switzerland is set to vote on whether covering one’s own face should be a punishable offense. Having weighed up the arguments employed by proponents of the initiative, Basel legal scholar Bijan Fateh-Moghadam concludes that a general ban on face coverings is incompatible with the country’s liberal federal constitution.
-
OpinionCorruption: What is the problem, Lucy Koechlin?
Text: Lucy Koechlin / What are the mechanisms behind global corruption and what is the best way to combat it?
-
OpinionCorruption: What is the problem, Claudia Baez Camargo?
Text: Claudia Baez Camargo / What are the mechanisms behind global corruption and what is the best way to combat it?
-
In pictures3D models for medicine.
Text: Reto Caluori / The rapid adoption of 3D printing in the world of medicine is leading to a steady stream of new applications in hospitals. At Basel University Hospital, the technique is used to manufacture implants and to plan complex operations in advance.
-
-
Opinion
“Self-optimization”: a scandalous type.
Text: Eberhard Wolff / On a trendy term that even academia uses in an emotionalized and functionalized way – as happened with “Waldsterben” (forest dieback) some years ago.
-
ColumnGoethe’s “Faust”: a dangerous pact with the Devil.
Text: Anne Spang / My book: Biologist Anne Spang recommends «Faust» by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
-
-
AlumniEventful times at the Nile.
Astrid Frefel started her career in journalism after having studied economics in Basel. As a foreign correspondent, she reported for various German-language media from Cairo.
-
AlumniNew alumni association created.
Text: Bettina Volz-Tobler / The University of Basel’s degree program in computer science was launched in 2003. Fifteen years on, the alumni association AlumniComputerScience has been formed.
-
AlumniFrom India via Basel to NASA.
Text: Bettina Volz-Tobler / Arkaprabha Sarangi is a research associate at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, USA. While growing up in India, he developed a keen interest in all physical sciences. His passion for astrophysics eventually led him to move to Basel to pursue a PhD. From here, it was only a short hop to NASA.