How do you prevent incidents in industrial plants? How should we prepare for natural disasters such as floods, fires and storms? These are the questions being addressed by students in the Safety and Hazard Defence program. As a cooperation between the University of Magdeburg, the Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences and the Institute for Fire and Disaster Prevention Heyrothsberge, both the bachelor's and the consecutive master's program offer a variety of insights into theory and practice. This October, the course celebrates its 20th anniversary.

The term awareness translates as consciousness and attention. The new awareness portal of the University of Magdeburg, which went online on October 11, wants to create awareness for discrimination, but also for the quality of studies and teaching. The portal is now intended to stand for the entirety of the university and, above all, to be available to all members of the university who are also anonymously looking for help or contact persons or would like to inform themselves.

On Sunday, October 8, there will be another election in Germany: This time, it's about the state parliaments in Bavaria and Hesse. If you look at the media coverage, you regularly come across the first figures on how parties might perform. But what exactly do these figures actually say? How much should we rely on them? And are forecasts, projections and co all the same? Political scientist Dr. Benjamin Höhne talks about this in an interview.

The University of Magdeburg offers a successful bachelor's degree program in medical engineering. At the interface of engineering and healthcare, subjects such as electrical engineering, physics and mathematics are just as much in focus as anatomy and computer science. The course itself is closely linked to the "Stimulate" research campus. State-of-the-art research and development work is carried out in Magdeburg's Port of Science, with the help of which new solutions and imaging technologies for medical procedures are developed.

Dr. Carolin Mehlmann and Prof. Thomas Richter are currently at the North Pole for a research project on climate change. Together with around 40 other researchers, the mathematicians are taking part in an expedition to collect data on changes in the central Arctic. They reached the North Pole by ship at the beginning of September and report on their experiences and initial findings.

Since 2008, motor sports enthusiasts from all departments have been able to get involved with the student initiative UMD Racing e.V.. Together, they develop and build their own racing car with which they compete in the "Formula Student" race at the Hockenheimring, an international competition among students. In less than a year, a Formula car is created in interdisciplinary teamwork - since last year even exclusively with electric motors.

The shortage of qualified teachers has continued to grow nationwide in recent years and has become a serious problem for the education system. This makes it all the more important to get people excited about the teaching profession. Wolfram Richter wanted to do something about the shortage of teachers - and opted for alternative entry.

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.