Projects (Natural Sciences)

Many of the “Sparkling Science” program’s projects are concerned with questions in the natural sciences, closely deal with issues regarding the incorporation of the natural sciences and the practical application of their results. As, for example, the majority of projects in the area of research into climatic consequences. These projects are highly interdisciplinary in character and in some cases delve deep into the interdisciplinary area of social science.

According to the scale, methodological demands and content of the projects, the management of the following research projects is the responsibility of the scientific or academic partners.

• Alien Invaders – Renaturation of River Banks and Neophytes. A neglected problem

  Alien plants and their role in reconstructions of river banks

• AlmWaal

  Irrigation of Meadows and Pastures in the Alpine Landscape - Importance of Ancient Culture Technique for Biodiversity and Mountain Pasture

• Alpine Salamander

  Distribution and development of the alpine and the fire salamander in Salzburg

• Alpine Salamanders II

  Alpine and Fire Salamanders in Austria and Europe; review of the current situation and protective measures

• ALRAUNE

  Allergy research in rural, alpine, and urban networks

• CAVE.LIFE

  Ice Caves as Glacial Refugium of Microorganisms and their Non-Invasive Investigation

• Chemical defense in the animal kingdom

  The use of skin glandular secretions for biochemical defenses against predators in common toads (Bufo bufo) - plasticity and costs in the light of climate change

• The year of the Greylag geese

  Seasonal behavioural differences of male and female Greylag geese (Anser anser) from different social categories

• The “Rottenburg” – A Historically Important Fortress from an Interdisciplinary Point of View

  The „Rottenburg“: historical importance, building material and building history – an interdisciplinary project between natural sciences, arts and building research with active participation of pupils

• Human attitudes towards wolves and dogs

  Attitudes of different segments of people living in Eastern Austria towards wolves and dogs; a questionnaire and behavioural survey

• Enerkids

  Students research energetic solutions

• FlussAu:WOW!

  Identifying and understanding of processes in river landscapes based on innovative geodata

• Functional feed for cows – added-value rather than nutritional value

  Scientists and pupils work together to enhance functional properties of grains fed to dairy cows

• GrassClim

  Interactive effects of changes in climate and management on the yield and carbon dioxide source/sink strength of grasslands

• "Green Chemistry" – Sustainable Strategies in Science

  Sustainable chemical processes considering organic, inorganic, and physical chemistry as well as biochemistry, chemical analysis and polymer sciences

• Wood for Salt

  Wood for Salt – The prehistoric Hallstatt saltmines and their working processes

• INDIAN SUMMER IN TYROL – Fall Colors in the Alpine Regions of Tyrol

  High school students investigate different types of senescence in the alpine flora of the Tyrolean mountains

• Climate Change: the Impact on Bird Behaviour and Reproduction

  The impact of climatic parameters on behaviour and reproduction of native bird species

• Mc Kyoto

  Biocultural diversity, climate relevance and health impacts of younng people´s eating habits

• meteoPICS

  Students develop the basis of an archive on extreme weather phenomena

• Pech gehabt! – Investigations on Pinus nigra with and without tapping

  Natural and anthropogenic effects on wood properties

• Pollen and respirable dust

  Pollen and respirable dust – mutual allergy triggers?

• RECYCLING THE GREEN – How Chlorophyll Disappears

  In search of traces of the green plant pigment: An investigation of chlorophyll breakdown and its enigmatic degradation products during autumnal senescence of local higher plants

• Flatworms

  Comparative studies on the regenerative capacity of free-living flatworms in Tyrol

• Moth Larvae Research Project: Black C

  Research on moth larvae hibernating in the spring meadows of the recreation area “Lainzer Tiergarten” and their contribution to biodiversity and population dynamics

• Science Backstage – Explore How Physics Works and What Physicists Do

  High school students examine how physics research works at the Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna, what research methods are used as well as how scientific communities co-operate. The research groups involved in this course include quantum optics, nano materials and nuclear physics

• Sparkling Geomagnetic Field

  Geomagnetic variations during the upcoming solar maximum: Causes and regional consequences

• Top-Klima-Science

  Hydrologic balance and global change: future prospect for mountain areas in the face of changes in land use and climate

• TriPolar

  Microbial life in the atmosphere – an extreme habitat as analogue to exoplanets

• ON THE ROAD

  Young people travelling through the world of science and everyday life

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• Birds as Biological Indicators

• Precipitation - Forests - Wine at the Weinviertel

  Variability of precipitation and the influence on forests and agricultural yield at the Weinviertel in past, present and future

• Forest-Check

  Forests in focus – geoinformation technologies for small-scale forest assessments and inventories

• Forest-Timber-Raw Material

  Analyses of the historical wood utilization with the help of objects from the Austrian Open Air Museum Stuebing

• Does Particulate Matter concern me?

  Characterisation of ambient and indoor particulate matter samples and determination of sources for “oxidative stress release”

• WASsERLEBEN

  The development of the natural spaces Mödlingbach (Lower Austria), Krotenbach (Lower Austria) and Schlandraunbach (South Tyrol) after their reconstruction

• WESPe

  Wetlands, Environment, Society and Pressures: effects of environmental changes on the ecological and social functions of riverine wetlands