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Topics: Educational sciences

Fouzia Bano, Staff scientist at Department of Clinical Microbiology, Dario Conca, Postdoctoral fellow at Department of Clinical Microbiology and Marta Bally, Associate professor at Department of Clinical Microbiology.

Binding to surface sugars enhances Omicron's cell attachment

A new study from Umeå University reveals how SARS-CoV-2 variants, including Omicron, have adapted to bind more effectively to human pulmonary cells. The stronger binding is explained by an increased and optimised interaction between the virus and heparan sulfate, a long sugar molecule on the cell surface.

Yuchen Lan with her prizewinning concept for a motivational training kit for young people suffering from cystic fibrosis. Photo: Yuchen Lan

Umeå Institute of Design tops Red Dot ranking for ninth straight year

Umeå Institute of Design (UID) at Umeå University has once again secured top spot on the Red Dot Design Ranking. This achievement marks nine consecutive years that UID has led the rankings, underscoring the school’s leading position in design education on the international stage.

Possible explanation for link between diabetes and Alzheimer's

People with type 2 diabetes are at increased risk of Alzheimer's disease and other cognitive problems. A new study led by Umeå University, Sweden, shows that the reason may be that people with type 2 diabetes have more difficulty getting rid of a protein that may cause the disease.

Future diet – plant-based fermented foods on the plate

Future diet – plant-based fermented foods on the plate

The first consumer study focusing on plant-based fermentation. Researchers at Umeå University have conducted the first consumer study focusing on plant-based fermentation and its role in the necessary dietary transition to achieve European health and sustainability goals.

National school for cancer research to be started in Umeå

With support from Cancerfonden, the Swedish Cancer Society, Umeå University will start a new cancer research school in the spring of 2025. The programme, which is unique in Sweden, is aimed at doctoral students throughout the country.

  The Department of Computing Science at Umeå University is working actively to create a good and inclusive working environment for everyone, whether you are male, female or non-binary. Image: Raenge/Unsplash

Prejudices favour neither students nor the IT industry

The world urgently needs skilled software developers with a holistic perspective. Yet there are many 'he' and few 'she' and 'they' in the industry. “The prejudiced view of computer scientists as a shy white man sitting alone coding in a basement, does not benefit you as a student, the IT industry or society," says Anna Jonsson, responsible for the Civil Engineering Programme in Computing Science.

Photo: Ive van Krunkelsven

Arctic research grows and strengthens international cooperation

A new report by UArctic highlights the growing diversity and number of research activities across the Arctic. UArctic is a collaboration between academic institutions and other organizations with an interest in northern regions. The report demonstrates a high degree of international cooperation and presents Arctic research trends.

Prognosis of cancer patients improved through significant discovery

Prognosis of cancer patients improved through significant discovery

Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer in male in Sweden. Researchers at Umeå University in Sweden have now discovered a faster and easier way to determine who has an aggressive form of cancer, and who has not.
“This may have great implications on precision medicine when treating prostate cancer, and on more cancer groups alike,” says Maréne Landström, Professor of Pathology at Umeå

Anna Baranowska-Rataj, Associate Professor at the Department of Sociology, Umeå University. Foto: Przemysław Chrostowski

Premature children do well in school

When looking at school grades, researchers did not find any negative effects of being born moderately preterm. Only those born extremely preterm had poorer school grades. But for children born extremely preterm, going to schools in the top decile of school districts made them perform as good as full-term children in an average school district.
How do preterm birth effect children’s school grade

Natalia Ikebara, graduating from the MFA Programme in Advanced Product Design, designed a holistic therapy concept for children with motor disabilities.

Playful child therapies and honest AI vehicles at UID22

And we’re back! For the first time since 2019, the real-life grad show is returning to Umeå Institute of Design. At UID22, the next generation of designers will uncover concepts covering a wide range of topics; from AI in autonomous vehicles, to playful therapies for children, to a device for managing your crypto assets.

With nature as the client students at Umeå Institute of Design have explored new perspectives in design and forestry.

Ecocentric design for future forestry

Recently, students from Umeå Institute of Design at Umeå University, Sweden, completed a unique project in collaboration with the Cluster of Forest Technology along with several major stakeholders in the forest industry. But the intended client was not industry, but nature.

Liquid gel in COVID patients’ lungs makes way for new treatment

In some patients who died with severe COVID-19 and respiratory failure, a jelly was formed in the lungs. Researchers have now established what the active agent in the jelly is and thanks to that, this new discovery can now be the key to new effective therapies. This according to a new study at Umeå University, Sweden.

Huge swedish study of COVID-19 on Umeå University campus

Huge swedish study of COVID-19 on Umeå University campus

Region Västerbotten and Umeå University have been assigned by the Public Health Agency of Sweden to carry out the largest study to date in Sweden assessing the prevalence of active COVID-19 infection. The aim is to perform up to 20,000 tests on students and employees on Campus Umeå between 31 August and 10 September.

The engineering students Elias Ågren, Joakim Eriksson, Johannes Norén and Olivia Walfridsson will take the train to reach their study destinations in Italy, Spain and Portugal. Photo: Anna-Lena Lindskog

Exchange students take the train abroad - for sustainable travel

The journey itself will be part of the goal when four students from the engineering programme in industrial economics at Umeå University leave for a spring term of studies abroad. In order to promote sustainable travel, they have each been equipped with an interrail card instead of flying to their respective universities in Europe.

Ahmad Ostovar, doctoral student, Department of Computing Science, Umeå University, Sweden. Photo: Mikael Hansson

Autonomous forestry and farming: how close we are?

Autonomous systems can increase performance, reduce injury risk, save energy and money, and reduce the need for labor in agriculture and forestry. Ahmad Ostovar has developed methods and algorithms for systems with the capacity for automatic detection and recognition of objects in outdoor environments. He defends his thesis on December 5 at Umeå University, Sweden.

Umeå University

Umeå University is a comprehensive university and one of Sweden’s largest higher education institutions with around 38,000 students and 4,600 staff. We have a diverse range of high-quality educational programmes and research within all disciplinary domains and the arts. Umeå University is also where the groundbreaking CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing tool was discovered, starting a revolution in genetic engineering that led to the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

The University has an international atmosphere and centres its work around core academic values. Our tightly knit campus makes it easy to meet, collaborate and share knowledge, something that encourages a dynamic and open culture where we celebrate each other’s successes. Umeå University prides itself in offering a world-class educational and research environment and expanding knowledge of global significance, where the sustainable development goals of Agenda 2030 inspire and motivate. We have creative and innovative research environments that offer the best potential for taking on the challenges facing society. Through long-term collaborations with organisations, industry and other higher education institutions, the University is helping northern Sweden become a knowledge region. The societal transformation and the massive investments currently occurring in northern Sweden create complex challenges but also opportunities. Umeå University is focused on conducting research about and within a society in transition and continuing to offer academic programmes for regions that need to expand quickly and sustainably.

Campus Umeå and the Umeå Arts Campus are close to the city centre and next to one of Sweden’s largest and most renown university hospitals. Education is also provided in several other towns, including Skellefteå, Örnsköldsvik, Lycksele and Kiruna. Umeå University is home to the highly ranked Umeå Institute of Design, the environmentally certified School of Business, Economics and Law, and the School of Architecture, the only one in Sweden with an artistic profile. Next door is Bildmuseet, which is Umeå’s contemporary art museum, and Curiosum, Umeå’s science centre. Umeå University is one of Sweden’s five national sports universities, has an internationally leading Arctic Research Centre, and has Várdduo, which is Sweden’s only research unit for Sámi research and indigenous research.