Consumer Protection
Prof. Miyazaki, is a critical humanities scholar working on the theory, critique, and history of digital media, digitization, and computation as productive practice. He uses numerous social-critical, philosophical and technology-related theories of the last century (historical materialism, critical theory, poststructuralism, science and technology studies, media theory, media archaeology, postcolonialism, design studies). Currently, Prof. Miyazaki is working on the theory and history of alternative, non-profit, sustainable production practices that could be realized through other types of digitization. The focus is not only on social change, but also on technical-media change, which has no future without critical knowledge of technology.
Consulting through studies, lectures and talks on current topics in the field of information technologies, algorithms, society, culture and politics with a focus on digitalization, sustainability and criticism. The focus is on the deployment of alternative lifestyles and forms of life in the future, as well as socio-political opportunities to take action.
- Establishment of the Critical Media Lab at the Institute Experimental Design and Media Cultures at the School of Art and Design FHNW (Claudia Mareis).
- Associated Investigator in the Cluster of Excellence "Matters of Activity".
- Publication: "Counter-Dancing Digitality. On Commoning and Computation".
NaTiMon (BMEL)
PanSens ( Agricultural Pension Bank) with dropnostix GmbH
Professor Hillman's research focuses on the influence of husbandry conditions and management practices on the welfare of farm animals. Her research in the area of animal welfare ranges from the validation of animal welfare indicators, including animal health, to the practical implementation of animal welfare measures.
Hillmann and her team concentrate on animal behavior. In addition, they use information on animal health, such as (stress)-physiological variables and economically relevant characteristics (e.g., meat quality).
Ethical and legal considerations also play a role in her research. However, practical problems in animal husbandry are in the foreground. Besides classical behavioral observations, often with the help of video recordings, stress-physiological, clinical and cognitive parameters are added, but also techniques for automated recording of animal behavior.
Many problems in animal husbandry are related to a disturbance in behavioral control. Professor Hillmann's basic research in behavioral control thus also leads to solutions of practically relevant behavioral problems in farm, pet, laboratory, and zoo animals. Such solutions work at the roots of the problems because they are based on causal understanding of the underlying control mechanism.
In both application and basic questions, the measurement and consideration of the animals emotion plays a critical role as a component in the control of behavior, as well as in relation to their welfare.
Her research thus moves in the area of tension between scientific/clinical basic research, application and questions from the fields of agricultural economics and social sciences.
- Equipment for behavioral observation (video/3D acceleration)
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NaTiMon (BMEL): Development of basic principles for regular, indicator-based monitoring and reporting on the status of animal welfare of sheep and goats in Germany, as well as its change over time. This animal welfare monitoring is intended to take into account the various dimensions of animal welfare at the relevant stages of the animals' lives (husbandry, slaughter, transport)
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PanSens ( Agricultural Pension Bank): The object of the sub-project is the application of the reference system for standing and lying times, the basic validation of the parameters movement activity and standing and lying times, and the scientific monitoring of the development work and the iteration for the detection of specific cow diseases. Practice partner: dropnostix GmbH
- Education and training for animal experimenters (selective)
H. Lorberg Baumschulerzeugnisse GmbH & Co. KG, Bein GmbH, Bayer Crop Science, XEROFLOR
Prof. Ulrichs is an expert in the field of ecophysiology of plants with a special focus on plants in urban spaces. His team studies processes, which determine plant growth, e.g. stress exposure in an urban environment. The emphasis of his research lies on the analysis of the secondary metabolite balance (incl. its nutritional function), substance allocation, competition and plant-insect interaction. Prof. Ulrichs other major field of expertise is the quality assurance in food supply chains of horticultural products, especially for perishable foodstuffs like fruits and vegetables in temperate zones as well as in tropical/subtropical regions.
- molecular methods
- in-vitro propagation
- HPLC
- GC/MS
- electroantennogram studies
- trace gas analysis using photoacoustic spectroscopy
- German specialty chemicals group: development of nanostructured plant protection agents
- H. Lorberg Baumschulerzeugnisse GmbH & Co. KG (tree nursery): selection of climate-tolerant boulevard trees (Alleebaum)
- Bein GmbH: development of electrostatic application processes of nanostructured elements
- Bayer Crop Science: biosensors to prove the existence of plant viruses
- XEROFLOR: development of vegetation carriers to prevent soil erosion in the Alps