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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.

A certain protein in listeria bacteria helps them survive in food production, putting them at risk of food poisoning. Photo: Johnér Bildbyrå AB

Research on calcium transport can fight bacteria and provide safer food

Researchers at Umeå University have revealed details on how bacteria use calcium to regulate vital processes, in a way that differs from human cells. This breakthrough is significant in the fight against antibiotic resistance and for increasing safety in food production.

  Two of the researchers behind the study, Sandhya Malla and Kanchan Kumari, in the Aguilo lab. Image: Poonam Baidya

New findings on stem cells and development of cancer

A study led by Umeå University, Sweden, presents new discoveries about how stem cells develop and transition into specialised cells. The discovery can provide increased understanding of how cells divide and grow uncontrollably so that cancer develops.

Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, Machine Auguries: London. © Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg LCC. Courtesy of Bildmuseet. Photo: Malin Grönborg

Press Invitation: Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg / Machine Auguries

With AI-generated birdsong under an artificial dawn sky, Machine Auguries warns of our infatuation with technology at the expense of nature. In Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg’s immersive sound and light installation, which opens at Bildmuseet on 18 October, the dawn chorus is slowly taken over by synthetic birdsong.

Aseel AlYaqoub, detail from The New Kuwait, Cultural Fair, 2018

Press Invitation: Aseel AlYaqoub / The View from Above

Military ceremonies, postage imagery, maps, and heritage sites that shape national identity and imbue it with meaning are the subject of Aseel AlYaqoub’s solo exhibition The View from Above, opening at Bildmuseet on 18 October.

The UN advisory board includes Umeå University researcher and AI expert Virginia Dignum.

New UN report on AI: "Urgent to collaborate"

A report by the UN Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence shows that unregulated AI development poses risks at societal and ethical levels, as well as in terms of global governance. Something that requires urgent action. The advisory board includes Umeå University researcher and AI expert Virginia Dignum.

Anja Neidhardt-Mokoena wants to spark transformational processes in design museums. Photo: Jens Persson

Feminist design strategies for transforming design museums

In a world where design is often celebrated for its role in advancing humanity, it is important to also question this narrative through a critical lens. In her doctoral thesis, Anja Neidhardt-Mokoena investigates the role design has played in sustaining discriminatory and patriarchal systems.

At the Dåva waste treatment plant in Umeå, microalgae are grown in wastewater, both in greenhouses and outdoors, to be used for producing biodegradable plastics. Photo: Christiane Funk

Researchers aim to create biodegradable plastic – from algae

The Waste2Plastic project at Umeå University has received SEK 15 million from the Swedish Energy Agency and its industrial partners to produce biodegradable plastics, PHA, using microalgae. The algae are grown in wastewater in Umeå and convert carbon dioxide from flue gases into biomass.

Rachel Feeney, PhD Student, and Björn Schröder, Docent in infection biology, the Department of Molecular Biology at Umeå University. Photo: Anna Shevtsova

Antibiotic usage can damage the protective mucus layer in the gut

Researchers at Umeå University and Tartu University have found that a history of repeated antibiotic use causes defects in the normally protective mucus barrier of the gut, due to antibiotic-driven alterations in the microbiota. In a further study in a different collaboration, the researchers found a bacteria-independent mechanism through which antibiotics can damage the mucus barrier directly.

Pressure sensing by muscles is a promising new target for treatments

A new study from Umeå University, Sweden, shows that the body's muscles sense mechanical pressure. This new discovery has important implications for movement neuroscience and may improve the design of training and rehabilitation to relieve stiff muscles.

Altered blood markers detected in individuals with periodontitis

Individuals with periodontitis have altered concentrations of various proteins in their blood, according to a new study from Umeå University, Sweden. These findings pave the way for research into biomarkers for periodontitis and the underlying causes of the disease. Severe periodontitis affects about one in ten Swedes and, in addition to tooth loss, can also be linked to other diseases.

The Umeå professors' discovery is important for understanding a variety of biological processes in cells. Photo: Mattias Pettersson

Discovery explains the chemistry behind the cell's energy molecule

An international research team led by Umeå professor Magnus Wolf-Watz has discovered how the magnesium atom directs the chemistry that catalyzes the production of the energy molecule ATP in a cell. ATP is a vital driving force in the cell. The study is published in the journal Science Advances.

The project will develop fish and shrimp production in circular aquaculture systems. Photo: Sergio Zimmermann

10 million to project for sustainable shrimp and fish production

The Swedish Agricultural Agency has granted SEK 10 million for a project on sustainable food production, led by Olivier Keech, Department of Plant Physiology at Umeå University and Umeå Plant Science Centre. The project aims to establish and optimize sustainable production of shrimp and fish in a circular aquaculture system.

Changes in the brain detected in severe PMS

Changes in the brain detected in severe PMS

It is possible to see changes in both brain function and structure in women with premenstrual dysphoric disorder, which is a severe form of PMS. This is shown in a new doctoral thesis at Umeå University, Sweden. The changes in the brain can persist even after the premenstrual period.

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.

By burying tea bags world wide researchers have been able to measure decomposition. Photo: Tomas Utsi

36’000 tea bags explain global decomposition pattern on new web

Co-developed by Umeå University, a method to measure the decay of plant material with the help of simple tea bags has become the standard in scientific research. Researcher Judith Sarneel, Umeå University, Sweden, has now collected data from over 36’000 individual tea bags worldwide and has revealed global patterns of decomposition in the journal Ecology Letters and on a newly established website.

Online doctors did not prescribe more antibiotics than others

Online doctors did not prescribe more antibiotics than others

Doctors in virtual online health care contacts are no more likely to prescribe antibiotics for infections than doctors in regular health centres, quite the opposite. This is shown by a new study of doctor's visits in Sörmland during 2020–2021 led from Umeå University, Sweden.

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.

Image from an electron microscope showing how Enterococcus faecalis bacteria clump together to share, among other things, antibiotic resistance with each other.

Degradation of cell wall key in the spread of resistance

A study at Umeå University, Sweden, provides new clues in the understanding of how antibiotic resistance spreads. The study shows how an enzyme breaks down the bacteria's protective outer layer, the cell wall, and thus facilitates the transfer of genes for resistance to antibiotics.

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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.