Scientists and scholars from all over the world keep coming to Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg thanks to an Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship. A fellowship from the Foundation is considered a high honor. Currently, Prof. Dr. Evangelos Tsotsas from the Institute of Process Engineering is hosting Dr. Narjes Malekjani from Iran. Lisa Baaske spoke to the Humboldt Fellow about her research, her goals and what it means to her to be a Humboldtian.

The provision of free menstrual products in public spaces is repeatedly the subject of polarizing debates. There are frequent discussions about necessity, feasibility and financing. At the University of Magdeburg, a pilot project started on July 1, 2023, which sets a clear signal with the installation of 10 dispensers for period products. This is an important topic, since at the University of Magdeburg alone, an estimated 42% of all students need menstrual products.

New surroundings, new opportunities? What is it like to start over in a foreign country? While still in Syria, Mohamad Alhussein Saoud earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in economics at the University of Aleppo. Today, he is working on his doctorate - in Magdeburg.  After arriving as a refugee in 2015, he first became passionately involved with other refugees, and now also with students at the University of Magdeburg.

With the Master's degree program in Medical Systems Engineering, the University of Magdeburg offers students the opportunity to develop new systems and procedures for research and application in medicine. Pauline Mothes is now in her third semester of Medical Systems Engineering. One of the reasons she chose the master's program was the Tissue Engineering working group, which has been active at Magdeburg University since November 2018.

The student initiative "FlaR" offers a racing bike rental service that is not only aimed at students. Anyone interested in road cycling can borrow a bike for up to 3 months and then pedal hard. The feedback from the rental service has been consistently positive so far and shows that the demand is there.

Pizza, packages, movies - in our time we can have everything at any time, especially if we live in the city. Many needs can and should be satisfied in the shortest possible time. This is especially true in cities. For many services and products, we don't even have to leave our homes. But how does this actually work? Service companies, or rather their employees, are not waiting to bring us our packages right now. Or to deliver that one chip from the supermarket to our doorstep that we're craving right now. Because it can hardly be economical. Nevertheless, there are now many companies that offer this.

In Magdeburg's Port of Science, an urban medical technology high-tech center will be created in the coming years. Initiated by the STIMULATE research campus of the University of Magdeburg, the transfer of medical technology research and new technologies from university science to industry will be organized there. Research findings can quickly find their way into the regional economy due to the immediate proximity to start-ups and spin-offs.

What happens when a book falls off a table? Why can we ride a bicycle? Why does the earth revolve around the sun? All of this can be explained physically, because the laws of nature accompany us every second of our lives and form the basis for understanding our world. This makes it all the more important to get young people excited about STEM subjects - mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology. With this goal in mind, the "Physics Marathon 2023" started for the first time on May 22, 2023.

Via the introduction of electricity (2.0) and the use of electronics and IT (3.0), the transformation of industry is now leading to the Industrial Revolution 4.0 - characterized by intelligent, self-organizing plants and machines. Together with companies from the mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and software industries, Prof. Christian Diedrich's group is working in the "Industrial Digital Twin Association" founded in 2021.