Tune in to uni'hören

Whether it’s research into climate change, artificial intelligence, health, justice, civil defense, or voter behavior, the University of Freiburg’s new research podcast uni’hören invites researchers from various fields to talk about their work and the challenges facing today’s society. The experts are interviewed by the political journalist Stephanie Geißler, who works for such news sources as ARD and SWR.

Episode 2: The Double Black Box (in German)

For Dr. Philipp Kellmeyer, a wall painting in the Neurocenter of the University Medical Center Freiburg, illustrates the essence of his work. The painting shows a human and a robot facing each other. Their arms are outstretched as they carefully touch the head of the other with their fingertips. “Humans and robots have to learn how to find common ground,” says Kellmeyer. However, researchers still do not completely understand how the two systems human and machine function. In the second episode of our uni’hören podcast, Kellmeyer, who is a neurologist and neuroethics expert, talks about the current debates about artificial intelligence. Should humanoid robots be granted rights in the future? Can virtual reality glasses help to treat patients suffering from forms of dementia? And is there any real good reason why the pain of a broken heart can’t just be erased from our brains?

Episode 1: Eat your peels! (in German)

Fennel, lamb’s lettuce, bell peppers, a few carrots, turnips, nuts, and legumes are all things that can be found in Prof. Dr. Dr. Karin Michels’ shopping basket. She has just returned from the farmers’ market on the Münster square, which is the perfect illustration of her current research. Michels, who is head of the Institute for Prevention and Cancer Epidemiology at the University Medical Center Freiburg, is studying how nutrition can protect people from illnesses such as cancer and diabetes. In the first installment of the podcast uni’hören, produced by the University of Freiburg, Michels tells listeners about healthy and unhealthy foods, the effects of current food trends, new research into intestinal flora, and the largest health study worldwide.