Why are most players in European national youth football teams born in the first quarter of the year? And why does this continue in the later teams? Sports scientists have looked at the birth dates of all World Cup players - and have uncovered some interesting facts.

Not knowing how the Internet works and what it is based on is dangerous, says Ira Diethelm, Professor of Computing Science Education. In this interview, she explains why she believes compulsory computer science lessons in schools are essential - and what its great opportunities are.

It enables communication for people who cannot communicate using speech: the "Accent 1200" communication device. The electronic communication aid, worth 7,700 euros, was donated by the aid company Prentke Romich Deutschland to the "Counselling Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication"…

In a nationwide competition organised by the Federal Foreign Office and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the Oldenburg education scientists and their partners in East and South Africa came out on top. Among other things, the aim is to train future leaders.

Biodiversity, sociobiology, nature and species conservation - three fields of research that the American biologist and evolutionary theorist Prof Dr Edward O. Wilson has played a key role in shaping. One day after his 85th birthday, the university awarded him an honorary doctorate.

Tactical remixes and new inventions that nobody expected: The World Cup in Brazil can also be expected to inspire the future game of football. But it is difficult to be enthusiastic in view of the problems in the host country. An interview with sports sociologist Thomas Alkemeyer.

Around 40 German and Dutch experts have agreed on nine key recommendations for the cross-border expansion of renewable energies - and sent them to King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and the Prime Minister of Lower Saxony, Stephan Weil, today, Friday, 6 June 2014.

When people talk on the streets of Ukraine, they often do so in the form of "Surzhyk" - a mixed language in which Ukrainian and Russian elements alternate. Slavicist Gerd Hentschel is now dedicating his own research project to this phenomenon.

The expansion of renewable energy was the subject of a high-level energy symposium. The experts summarised their findings in a key issues paper. The event was organised to mark the visit of the Dutch royal couple: King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima paid a working visit to the university.

To mark the visit of the Dutch royal couple, the university is inviting renowned experts from Germany and the Netherlands to a symposium in co-operation with the affiliated EWE research centre NEXT ENERGY. The key question: How can key technologies in the expansion of renewable energies be further…

A team of researchers led by Oldenburg biologist Prof Dr Henrik Mouritsen has been able to prove this for the first time: The magnetic compass of robins fails completely as soon as the birds are exposed to electromagnetic interference in the medium wave range.

The European Research Council (ERC) is the institution with which the European Union funds excellent scientists with unconventional approaches. One of them is Dr Oliver Wurl: The marine scientist has been awarded a 1.48 million euro "Starting Grant" for young researchers.

Be careful when buying and using laser pointers: the beam power of commercially available devices can exceed the admission value many times over. And the specified values cannot always be relied upon. Holger Koch, laser safety officer at the University of Oldenburg, points this out.

How can raw materials be kept in the economic cycle for as long as possible and thus protect the environment? The new BMBF junior research group led by Alexandra Pehlken - who is working with one of China's leading recycling experts - is addressing this question.

Great success for the promotion of young talent at the University of Oldenburg: the state of Lower Saxony will be funding four new doctoral programmes in future. This rewards the intensive efforts to promote young talent, according to Acting President Prof Dr Katharina Al-Shamery.

A new digital 3D atlas shows how heavy metals and trace elements are distributed in the sea - at an unprecedented level of detail. Scientists from the Institute of Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM) are also involved in the international research project.

What is the aim of health services research? Vice Dean Hans-Jürgen Appelrath talks in an interview about the establishment of the new focus area at the School of Medicine - and about how scientists are trying to analyse healthcare services in our healthcare system.

Current studies show that regular exercise has a positive influence on the course of schizophrenic psychoses. A research project at the university is looking at how schizophrenia patients can integrate more Sport and Movement Science into their lives and thus actively contribute to their health.

"The Polish January Uprising of 1863" and its "history of entanglement and perception" is the topic of an international historians' conference with participants from seven countries. It is being organised by the Department of Eastern European History at the University of Oldenburg and will take…

The literary scholar and President of the Hölderlin Society Sabine Doering has been awarded the prestigious Fellowship of the Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study (NDIAS). In this interview, she talks about her research goals and explains what fascinates her about the poet Friedrich Hölderlin.