The European Research Council (ERC) is funding the research project “SINOFANTASY – Studying Imaginative Otherworlds: Chinese Fantasy Fiction, Literary Politics, and Media Creativity” by junior professor Dr. Jessica Imbach (Institute of Chinese Studies, University of Freiburg) with around 1.4 million euros over five years.

The project examines Chinese fantasy and science fiction literature as a mirror and medium of social transformation since the 1990s.

The ERC Starting Grant enables Imbach to systematically build a research team to investigate the media, social and political dimensions of Chinese fantasy in the long term.

Tracking human behavioral patterns in cities can be used to determine urban delineations and urban land use, which has the potential to improve urban planning.

• Researchers at the Institute for Neurosciences reveal that the neuropeptide vasopressin controls both social interaction and aggression.
• Published in Nature Communications, the findings suggest that therapies targeting specific vasopressin receptors could improve social deficits in autism spectrum disorder without impacting aggression.

Vanessa Boese-Schlosser has been awarded a Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) for her work on regime types and socioeconomic interactions. The ERC announced this today in Brussels. With a budget of €1.5 million for a period of up to five years, the ERC Starting Grant is the most highly endowed and prestigious individual grant for early-career researchers in Europe.

Motor skills, the movements produced by our muscles, are often adjusted based on an individual’s altered visual feedback. This is known as visuomotor adaptation and is influenced by the direct and systematic approaches of explicit strategies. However, cultural biases might influence these strategies. In this study, researchers compared the results of an aiming task between two groups of participants from two different cultures, trying to understand the role of cultural cognitive biases.

English proficiency is crucial for Japanese STEM students, but validated and robust methods for assessing their language learning strategies (LLSs) are lacking. In a recent study, Associate Professor Akihiro Saito from the Tokyo University of Science developed and validated a new instrument specifically tailored for this group. The proposed tool offers key insights into LLSs, paving the way for better English learning.

The work by Garikoitz Azkona of the Psychobiology group explored the relationship between sexual orientation and loneliness. It detected the highest level of loneliness among bisexual people, above that of homosexuals and heterosexuals. It revealed that bisexual individuals have less social support and concluded that this intensifies their loneliness. The study calls for the adopting of measures to improve the wellbeing of the bisexual population.