Of mussels and machines

Ronald Thenius präsentiert den Prototypen eines biohybriden Roboters. Foto: Christa Strobl

Biologists from the University of Graz have brought a water quality monitoring project ashore. The COLIBRI profile area is also organising the first conference on the Complexity of Life this week.

Animal-like robots that monitor water quality in lakes and oceans are to be developed in the EU-funded BioDiMoBot project. The Department of Biology is coordinating this project, which is funded with a total of eight million euros over five years. Partners are the Universities of Brussels, Pisa and Durham (UK), an English fishing company and a Graz-based business consultant.
"Our aim is to produce so-called biohybrid robots that record the animals' behavioral data in addition to classic water quality parameters such as temperature, turbidity and pH value," reports coordinator Ronald Thenius. Artificial intelligence supports the scientists in evaluating the data. The measuring systems developed are to be made available to a broad scientific community and other interested groups in order to enable optimised water management and more sustainable yields in fisheries.
BioDiMoBot will be launched in 2025 and by the middle of next year, the robots will send information from Austrian lakes, coastal fisheries in England, Ireland, Iceland and Greenland as well as in natural areas in the same regions.

Linking biology and technology
The project builds on the results of previous research from the "Complexity of Life in Basic Research and Innovation" (COLIBRI) priority area, such as subCULTron and Robocoenosis, and extends their scope to include coastal marine ecosystems. How to decipher complex biological systems and their function is also the topic of the Complexity of Life Conference, which is taking place this week at the University of Graz. Scientists from various fields, from experimental biology to physics and mathematics, are coming together to discuss the latest advances in one of the most important research questions of the 21st century.

Ronald Thenius presents the prototype of a biohybrid robot. Photo: Christa Strobl

Dagmar Eklaude

Related news

Muscheln zum Messen

In einem revolutionären Gerät ersetzen Lebewesen elektronische Sensoren

"Democracy is like a construction site!"

In a super election year, political education in schools must be promoted more, demands democracy researcher Britta Breser. Learning from history also means helping to shape the present. In the run-up to the November elections, the University of Graz is also offering a comprehensive programme of events on the subject of democracy and elections.

Research without borders in the European University Alliance Arqus

International cooperation strengthens cutting-edge research, the results of which benefit us all. As part of the European University Alliance Arqus, researchers from the University of Graz are collaborating with colleagues from eight other universities on current topics and societal challenges. Two new projects have just started. The group led by Sandro Keller, Professor of Biophysics, is studying the mechanisms of cell communication as a prerequisite for the development of new, more effective drugs. Christine Schwanecke, Professor of English Literature and Cultural Studies and Director of the Centre for Cultural Studies, and her colleague Lisa Schantl are investigating the special features of contemporary English-language poetry by authors who grew up speaking another language – as an example of how language can overcome the divisions between different cultures.

How much emotion does morality need? Ralf Lutz explores the psychological side of ethics

What is good and what is bad? Due to our upbringing and our own insight, we usually know which values we should be guided by. But why do we still repeatedly fail to act accordingly? What role do our feelings play in this? Ralf Lutz deals with these questions in his research. The professor of moral theology and doctor of psychology wants to bring the two disciplines closer together. "Ethics helps us to find out what is right and wrong. But in order to understand how we can live according to these principles, we need moral psychology," Lutz is convinced.