UNI NOVA – Research Magazine of the University of Basel
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Dossier
How tossing coins can help.
Text: David Herrmann / When faced with a difficult decision, flipping a coin can make things easier. You’re under no obligation to do as it says, but it could trigger feelings and thought processes.
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Dossier“Risk can be positive, too.”
Interview: Andreas W. Schmid / What determines our willingness to take risks? Cognitive psychologist Jana Jarecki tackles this question in her research at the University of Basel. Her studies show that risk is generally not an end in itself, but rather a means to the end of satisfying certain needs.
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DossierHow we make decisions.
Which is the best option to choose? Should I take a risk in doing so or rather avoid it? We make decisions throughout our lives – yet only few of these are made consciously.
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DossierIf children held the purse strings.
Text: Christoph Dieffenbacher / Investments are not always made in an entirely rational manner. However, an experiment by an economist at the University of Basel shows that children already have the capacity to evaluate simple probabilities.
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DossierOnce a risk-taker, always a risk-taker.
Text: Christoph Dieffenbacher / It is well known that some people are more inclined to engage in hazardous or risky behavior than others. Individual attitudes in this regard, however, seem to follow a clear pattern over the course of a lifetime – in a similar manner to intelligence. Psychologists in Basel are investigating how people’s attitudes to risk are formed.
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DossierOn gut feelings and financial decisions.
Text: Yvonne Vahlensieck / As much as we’d like to think that we make economic decisions rationally, that’s not always the case. It’s becoming increasingly clear that our emotions also play a major role.
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In conversation“Without effective antibiotics, we’ll lose the advances made by modern medicine.”
Interview: Urs Hafner / Christoph Dehio from the University of Basel’s Biozentrum heads the National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) AntiResist. The microbiologist argues for a paradigm shift in antibiotic research, the aim being to make the development of new drugs that overcome antibiotic resistance easier through a better understanding of the physiology of bacteria in humans.
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Portrait“A supercomputer is like a family.”
Text: Iris Mickein / High-performance computers have revolutionized science and industry. Computer scientist Professor Florina Ciorba looks at ways of optimizing the interactions between machines. In her work, she also encounters numerous parallels with the real world.
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OpinionShould complementary medicine be the subject of research just like other disciplines, Christoph Meier?
Text: Christoph R. Meier / How should university research approach complementary medicine? A debate between a pharmacist and a physician.
