Newsroom

Menschen in Bangladesh auf der Straße
Story 17 June 2020

Responsibility – following the Rana Plaza disaster

Since the collapse of the Rana Plaza textile factory, occupational safety in Bangladesh has improved – according to the results of a Foundation-funded study. But what will remain if the politicians don't keep at it?  

Story 12 June 2020

Sentencing with the aid of algorithms

Many courts in the USA use software to assess the risk of recidivism of defendants. Should AI also be used in the German judicial system? An interdisciplinary research group is now seeking answers to the provocative issues raised in this context.

Story 02 June 2020

When the black box talks to us

Thanks to increasingly sophisticated voice control, communication between man and machine is making great strides. Will the dialog with intelligent systems change our society?

Story 11 May 2020

How do children learn to speak?

The linguist Birgit Hellwig is researching the language acquisition of small children – on the example of Qaqet, an endangered language in Papua New Guinea.

Story 28 February 2020

On Their Way to a Better Life

Migration has many neglected stories: Anthropologist Meron Zeleke Eresso looks at the world of Ethiopian transit migrant women in the Horn of Africa.

Story 25 February 2020

Artificial Photosynthesis: Better than green

The microbiologist Tobias Erb has reinvented photosynthesis in the laboratory. Might this one day lead to industrial application – with the beneficial side effect of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere? The next steps will be exciting ...

Illustration: Reproduktion von Reichtum
Story 14 May 2025

Politics and wealth: a lopsided alliance?

A small, rich minority is becoming increasingly wealthy. Eva Wegner and Miquel Pellicer ask: How does politics contribute to growing economic inequality – and whose interests do MPs actually represent?

Eine Frau, die aufmerksam zuhört
Story 06 March 2025

So that everyone can have their say: Citizens' assembly on AI research

Rhetoric expert Anika Kaiser researches how people can make themselves heard on the major issues of our time – artificial intelligence (AI) being a case in point. She is the right person to take care that this grassroots democratic process does not remain too detached from reality: in her first life, she trained as a painter.