Einreichungen Fotowettbewerb 2022
Haocun Yu - Faculty of Physiks
Title "The Quantum-Gravitational Vitruvian Woman"
The photo shows a physics experimental setup in the Faculty of Physics at the University of Vienna.
It is a human-scale entanglement-enhanced fiber Sagnac interferometer with 2 kilometer wound fiber and 750 square meter of enclosed area (white frame behind the researcher in the picture). We aim to measure Earth’s rotation rate with this large fiber gyroscope using single-photon entangled states.
This project is supported by the Research Platform for Testing the Quantum and Gravity Interface (TURIS), which seeks new approaches to address the Big Question of interfacing quantum physics with gravity -- the two main pillars of modern science.
Antonella Torzullo - Faculty of Philological and Cultural Studies
Title: "Telling sawālif"
My PhD thesis, “The Arabic Dialect of the Bani Ṣaxar Tribe: Phonology, morphology and elements of syntax”, focuses on the study of the dialect of the Bani Ṣaxar, one of the largest camel-rearing Bedouin tribes in Jordan.
The main basis of my linguistic analysis is a corpus of transcribed texts taken from the recordings of unmonitored speech. Most part of the material I collected consists of sawālif (in Arabic anecdotes, stories), told by the oldest members of the tribe (such as the old man in the picture) during a gathering, over a cup of coffee or mint tea. These stories provide ethnographic data on the costumes and manners of the tribe, its history (fights and main events that involved the tribe), its specific lexicon (concerning tents, agriculture, animals, etc.), and information on the grammatical structure of its dialect.
Hafiz Muhammed Mushtaq - Faculty of Philosophy and Education
Title: "True Companionship, Love and Sexbots"
Longing, remembrance, and selflessness are characteristic of human love. This picture is emblematic of the aforementioned attributes - and, hence, of human love. In the hot summer evening of Punjab (Pakistan), this woman is making bread for her companion - despite scarcity of modern cooking facilities and irrespective of the scorching summer - out of love. All this signifies the complex nature of human relationships which are not reducible to any one emotion or action - like sex. Reducing human associations to sex, thereby, is fallacious. Sexbots are one such fallacy. Based upon the masculine logic of social and ethical control of the feminine, sexbots disregard the complexity and multiplicity of human associations. This picture stands as a counter-example to all those arguments which declare love and sex as mechanical.
Flavio del Santo - Faculty of Physics
Title: "The weight of knowledge"
During the Covid-19 pandemic, I experienced for the first time depression and isolation, which had a tremendous impact on my work too. Only then did I understand the condition of thousands of my peers, who have been experiencing mental-health issues —mostly caused by the pressure of the current academic system— long before these special times (studies show, however, that this problem was highly aggravated by the pandemic). A 2017 comprehensive research, for instance, showed that one-third of PhD students are at risk of developing mental health disorders, especially depression. Hence, although my research is in the theoretical quantum physics (see the books!), I decided to portray here the human cost that our system for the production of new knowledge (with its publication pressure, competition, career uncertainty, etc.) brings about.
Sergey Yurkevich - Fakultät für Mathematik
Title: "Rupert or not Rupert?"
It may appear surprising at first, but doing mathematics is in fact often an exciting process that demands creativity and social interaction. While modern mathematics seems to deal with highly abstract problems, generations of mathematicians have been fascinated by a great variety of down-to-earth questions. Many of them are yet to be solved or even discovered.
This image depicts two old friends and young mathematicians who became interested in "Rupert's Problem" and spent months studying and discussing it together. The problem asks which 3D solids can have a hole cut through them so that a copy of the solid can pass through it. Even though the question is elementary, it remains open already for classical polyhedra. Working together on this project proved once again to us how colorful mathematics is and how much joy science can bring.
Aaron Kintzi - Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science (CMESS)
Title: "The Beauty of Science"
My PhD research is on the biodegradation and biotransformation of water-soluble polymers in wastewater systems. Water-soluble polymers are in many of our everyday life products such as shampoos, washing detergents or cosmetics. For applications that result in the release of water-soluble polymers into the environment, biodegradability is a desired feature. With my research, I want to deepen our understanding of the biodegradation process of promising polymers, which is needed for the development of sustainable and environmentally friendly products. The inspiration for this photo came while dissolving a polymer for an experiment.
Eren Simsek - Fakultät für Philosophie und Bildungswissenschaft
Title: "Mach, Einstein & die Relativität"
In meiner Dissertation (https://utheses.univie.ac.at/detail/60846/#) habe ich die Anregungen des früh verstorbenen Physikers Roman Sexl aufgegriffen und versucht die Entstehungsgeschichte der Relativitätstheorie anhand der aktuellen Quellen (Bücher, Artikel, Briefe usw.) rational zu rekonstruieren. Als Ergebnis konnte unter anderem festgehalten werden, dass der Physiker und Philosoph Ernst Mach auf die Geschichte der Relativitätstheorie (und womöglich der Lichtquantenhypothese) von Einstein einen großen Einfluss hatte. Ich hoffe, dass meine historisch-kritische Analyse der Relativitätstheorie – die ein Fundament der modernen Physik darstellt – der gegenwärtigen Forschung hilfreich dabei sein wird, wissenschaftliche Prozesse tiefgehender zu verstehen, und sie somit vielleicht unterstützt zu zukünftigen erfolgreichen Theorien zu gelangen.
Hanna Mües - Fakultät für Psychologie
Title: "Not today, love, I am too stressed."
Stress is commonly assumed to decrease sexual experience and behavior. This seems reasonable, as our stress response activates the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal-axis (HPA) leading to cortisol release, while sexual response requires both the sympathetic and parasympathetic ANS-divisions. Although low stress levels may enhance sexual processes, persistent stress may keep them slowed down to adapt the body effectively to stress. Sexual activities, however, may lead to stress relief and have been associated with health and well-being. To enhance sexual experience and behavior in daily life, I am investigating the bidirectional effects of subjective stress/cortisol and sexual experience and behavior using an ecological momentary assessment design.
Christina Krumpholz - Fakultät für Psychologie
Title: "Entstehung der Ästhetik"
In „Über die Entstehung der Arten“ zeigte uns Charles Darwin, dass alle Lebewesen von gemeinsamen Vorfahren abstammen, auch so auf den ersten Blick unterschiedliche Arten wie der Mensch und die Lachtaube (Streptopelia risoria). Das Bild ist angelehnt an eine Karikatur - Darwins Kopf auf einem Affenkörper - die den damaligen Unglauben an die Abstammung des Menschen vom Affen zeigt. Seitdem hat sich viel getan in der Evolutionsforschung. In unserem Projekt beschäftigen wir uns damit, ob es trotz der entfernten Verwandtschaft zwischen beiden Arten evolutionär begründete Gemeinsamkeiten bei der Partnersuche gibt. Hierbei interessiert uns vor allem, wie verschiedene Sinne zusammenspielen, bei der Taube Bewegungen und Laute, beim Menschen Gesicht und Stimme. Was finden wir wieso attraktiv und hat das vielleicht einen evolutionären Grund?
Pamela Baur - Faculty of Earth Sciences, Geography and Astronomy
Title: "Greenhouse gas exchange of the reed belt at Lake Neusiedl"
Wetlands such as the reed belt of Lake Neusiedl can be a carbon source or sink and naturally emit methane. The reed belt is dominated by the plant species Phragmites australis and consists of a mosaic of reed stocks, sediment and water patches. With an eddy covariance measurement tower, we continuously investigate the greenhouse gas exchange of methane, carbon dioxide and water vapor between the atmosphere and the reed belt and their influencing factors. Is the reed belt a carbon source and does this change over the years? What impact have the current drought periods on the carbon and water fluxes? What is the contribution of the reed plant as a transport pathway for methane emissions? The study of these issues serves to an improved understanding of a climatically very fragile wetland ecosystem.
Lukas Helmlinger - Zentrum für Mikrobiologie und Umweltsystemwissenschaft
Title: "Microscopic teamwork"
This tiny forest is the result of an immense team effort performed by so-called social amoebae. As the name suggests, these extraordinary amoebae developed a mechanism to increase their chance of surviving harsh conditions. In an orchestrated effort, they can produce the depicted fruiting bodies consisting of centimeter-long stalks and spores attached at the tip, which can be dispersed and ensure the survival of the population. Notably, the inside of these amoebae constitutes a habitat for a variety of (often pathogenic) bacteria. My research focuses on the mechanisms underlying these symbioses and especially how the aggregation of the amoebae impacts their intracellular inhabitants. Due to the analogies between amoebae and human cells, these findings could also impact future treatment of human diseases.
Corinna Kühnapfel - Fakultät für Psychologie
Title: "Capturing Visitor’s Art Experience of Tomás Saraceno’s installation “in orbit” at K21 (Düsseldorf, Germany) "
Over the last two decades the field of empirical aesthetics has offered important behavioral and neurophysiological insights into the perceptual, emotional, and cognitive processing of visual art. Compared to visual art, installation art has not been a frequent subject in empirical aesthetics. The experience of this art form is often characterized by requiring active participation and exploration that gives awareness to one’s bodily experience. However, the role of the body in art experience has not been addressed in empirical aesthetics yet. Therefore, I chose this as my PhD topic and conducted a survey study to capture visitor’s bodily experiences with Saraceno’s immersive installation “in orbit”. It consists of a 2500sqm, 3-layered net suspended at a height of more than 25 m above the piazza of the K21, which visitors can climb though!
Peter Raidl - Department of Sport Science
Title: "Strength Training And Stressful Situations "
This picture shows a participant performing an isokinetic leg press while being connected to multiple sensors. The photo is posed to avoid exposing actual participants of the study.
The picture represents the first study that is part of a PhD project on the interaction of stress and the adaptations to resistance training. In this experiment, participants experience a standardised laboratory stress test right before a strength training protocol (see picture). Hormonal, inflammatory, HRV and performance markers are collected at multiple timepoints pre- and post-training.
With this novel approach, new insights into the interaction of stress and acute recovery should be generated. The following studies will test the effectiveness of a stress-reducing intervention accompanying a strength training program.
Daniel Saavedra - Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology
Title: "Poseidon"
My research aims at studying enzymes involved in the biogeochemical processes of the oceanic phosphorus cycle. The absence of a gaseous state of phosphorus makes the source of biological available phosphate dependent on sporadic terrestrial and atmospheric inputs. Consequently, oceanic life relies on a rather efficient recycling between organic and inorganic states of phosphorus. Microbial phosphate related enzymes shape the core of this process and their regulation is more complex than previously acknowledged. One of the most important enzyme classes for the phosphorus cycle is that of Alkaline Phosphatases. In order to study these enzymes, we conduct enzymatic studies in the lab and during scientific cruises like during the project “Poseidon” on board of the RV Sarmiento de Gamboa.
Melanie Michna - Fakultät für Psychologie
Title: "It's (not) what you think"
This picture is the result of many pictures taken to create the material for my study on sexual objectification. It is a mosaic, built of the numerous photos taken to get the final ones. “It’s (not) what you think” stands for all the hidden work that is behind such a picture, and all the work that is behind a research project. Oftentimes, we only see the results, but not all the little pieces the result is composed of. Similarly, the picture represents what my study is about: We are measuring how we perceive people in sexualized outfits and how this shapes our emotions and behaviour towards them. This very same woman has been rated as less intelligent and less agentic in a sexy outfit. The picture shall remind us that what we judge by appearance is not always true. Therefore, it’s (not) what you think. And it’s more than you first see.
Raphael Müller - Fakultät für Geowissenschaften, Geographie und Astronomie
Title:"Reed belt Lake Neusiedl: spatial heterogenity in sediments"
This image shows reduction/oxidation (redox) pattern on iron rods. Polished iron rods were installed at different spots within the reed belt and collected several weeks later. Resulting colors give us information about oxic and anoxic conditions in sediment layers. While black spots show anoxic conditions, red rusty segments were formed in oxic environments.
Vegetation is fixing CO2 by photosynthesis and after death, plant material can be preserved from decomposition under anoxic conditions, storing carbon in peaty layers. Longer droughts reduce water contents of sediments in upper horizons and change redox conditions. These shifts may enhance the decomposition of organic matter and release more CO2, making a former carbon sink to a source.
Our image visualizes the spatial heterogenity within an apparently homegenious reed belt.
Christiane Hütter - Department für Strukturbiologie und Computational Biology
Title: "Exploring Biological Networks"
The human body is a complex network of individual cells and molecular interactions, functioning and performing to maintain a homeostatic balance of all individual building blocks.Studying protein interactions allows us to understand the complex interplay between entities of our body as a biological system. We can learn how proteins interact, how they contribute to a specific biological function of our body and try to understand their importance in genetic diseases. Through comprehensible visual representations we can explore the biological network of our body to learn more about the genetic interactions that govern our organism.
Julia Jankowski - Fakultät für Psychologie
Title: "Are we spectators or are we players?"
People have very different views of the relationship between us humans and our world. Some see us as mere spectators that sit on the sidelines and only observe how the world develops around us beyond our control. Others see us as active players that can push and pull our world in the direction that we would like. In my research, I’m investigating the impact of these different views on global issues such as climate change. My first results indicate that people perceiving us as mere spectators feel that their own efforts to mitigate climate change are futile – likely preventing them from acting. I hope that my work can ultimately help to make people see that each one of our contributions is valuable and important to tackle global problems such as climate change, or other challenges that humanity faces.
Gabriel Sigmund - Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science
Title: "Hirschwang Brennt"
Ein verkohlter Kiefernzapfen liegt auf dem Boden eines Buchen-Zirben-Mischwaldes nach einem Waldbrand in der Region Rax-Schneeberg (2021). Die verkohlten Pflanzenteile sind von unverbrannten gelben Buchenblättern umgeben, die nach dem Flächenbrand auf den Boden gefallen sind. Pyrogener Kohlenstoff wie der verkohlte Kiefernzapfen kann über längere Zeiträume in der Umwelt stabil bleiben und biogeochemische Prozesse in vom Feuer betroffenen Böden beeinflussen, indem er den pH-Wert, die Redoxbedingungen und die Zusammensetzung der organischen Substanz im Boden verändert.
Franziska Geibinger - Faculty of Historical and Cultural Studies
Title: "Hairy Mary Magdalen"
Mary Magdalene was one of the most important female biblical saints in the Middle Ages and beyond. Her transformation from sinner to penitent was particularly popular with the believers of that time. Her post-biblical legend of an eremitical life in the mountains of southern France, with her daily elevation by angels and the accompanying heavenly food supply, provided a scene which was to be elevated to the rank of a cult image. A role in this may have been played by the identifiability, but also by the implied Eucharistic moment. The scene of the elevation is an event entirely peculiar to Saint Mary Magdalene and thus also becomes her unique selling point. It is therefore not surprising that this depiction became the cultic focus of numerous retables - but the scenic conception of it is.
Caroline Ivesic - Fakultät für Lebenswissenschaften
Title: "Endocytotic Uptake in Tentacles"
Sundews (Drosera, Droseraceae) are distributed worldwide and their family is the second largest, and one of the most diverse within carnivorous plants. In Drosera prey is caught via adhesive traps, that are characterized by multicellular stalked glands (so called tentacles), that are crucial for entrapping, digesting and absorbing insects.
The submitted image depicts a tentacle, situated on the periphery of a trap-leaf of Drosera rotundifolia. This species is widespread in the Northern hemisphere and often used for medicinal purposes. The tentacle was “fed” with a protein-bound fluorescent dye, which makes it possible to visualize uptake via endocytosis. The endocytotic vesicles are visible in yellow, whereas auto fluorescence of chloroplasts is displayed in red. The image was taken with a confocal microscope.
Eleftherios Tselentis - Faculty of Physics
Title: "A "cause sui" effect"
The latin term "causa sui" refers to the idea that something can be the cause of its own self. In other words, it allows for a situation where an event P is the cause of an event F, but also F is the cause of P, e.g., a time-travelling scenario where not only the past (P) influences the future (F), but also the future influences the past. Such a self-reference scenario has always been reprehensible to the scientific community as logical consistency, the foundation of the scientific language, seems to be endangered. But is it really so?
Oliver Link - Neurosciences and Developmental Biology
Title: "Jellyfish striated muscles"
My PhD project deals with the identification of molecular profiles from striated muscle cells across basal branching animals, like ctenophores or cnidarians. It aims to investigate whether striated muscle cells evolved once or multiple times in animal evolution. Therefore, it is necessary to further compare these profiles with respect to their structural and developmental components. In the cnidarian jellyfish, striated muscles are specific to the medusa life-stage and are formed during transition from the sessile polyp to the free-swimming jellyfish. This image is representative to my research as it shows the innervated striated muscle field of a juvenile scyphozoan jellyfish. The muscles were visualized via Phalloidin (cyan) and the neurons innervating these muscles are shown with an acetylated Beta Tubulin antibody (red).
Remi Tchokothe - Philologisch-Kulturwissenschaftliche Fakultät
Title: "BeautYfulL (un)rest"
This image shows kwassa kwassa [frail boats] that carry people from Grande Comore, Mohéli and Anjouan to Mayotte. Geographically, culturally and historically the four islands build the Comoros Archipelago but, due to political geography, geo-strategy and despite several UN resolutions against this state of affairs, Mayotte is now an oversee department of France. This system began with the corruption of people’s votes in 1995 and has caused Mahorians « entering a house as a cousin and leaving it as a gendarme », thus denouncing relatives as ‘illegal’ to the French police. One of my teachers during field research, Mzee Mahmoud named the picture beautYfulL (un)rest. My project investigates the aesthetics of (un)rest in novels, short stories, and collections of poems on migration from Africa to Europe which happens on African soil.
Ekaterina Pronizius - Faculty of Psychology
Title: "Self-other distinction: is it you or me?"
During social interaction, we are prone to automatically share the mental state of people around us, allowing us to comprehend what another person is feeling or thinking. Parallel to this self-other sharing, we possess a complementary ability to disentangle self- from other-related mental representations, termed as self-other distinction. This ability facilitates our understanding that the actions, intentions, or emotions of others are different from ours. For example, a doctor-patient bond strongly relies on a doctor being able to disentangle their healthier self from a patient in distress (the other). The aim of my Ph.D. thesis is to investigate (a) whether a single SOD exists or independent multiple SODs, and (b) whether SOD is an ability specific to the domain of social cognition or is a domain-general mechanism.
Dutta Bishaka - Faculty of Philosophy and Education
Title: "Finding 'ethical economics' in individuals and society"
What comes to your mind when you hear 'ethical economics'? Equality, just actions, a reduced gap between rich and poor. Opposite this beautiful building with fully airconditioned restaurants and offices, street vendors, under the scorching sun, struggle to make ends meet. To build this and others like it, you will see workers without any safety harnesses, risking their lives for low pay. Trying to develop our economy, have we forgotten about being a good human? Modern economics is hardly shaped by norms other than those dictated by the market and the relevant country laws. My thesis, by studying Plato's Republic and Xenophon's Oeconomicus, looks at how economic ventures of individuals and societies can be aimed to support and advance the benefit of the society as a whole and of the other citizens - how to be an ideal economic man?