Preventing the circulation of empty lorries and goods trains

The concept of pooling resources is spreading to the logistics industry: If you receive an order but do not have a vehicle in a particular location, you can cede the transportation to another company that would otherwise face an empty run. This benefits companies and the environment. However, the sharing economy means a paradigm shift for the industry. Companies are reluctant to reveal details about order volumes, costs and regular customers. A research team at the University of Klagenfurt is investigating how transport assignments can nevertheless be distributed efficiently between competing players.

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How can renewable energy satisfy the demand for electricity as far as possible?

Wind, sun and water do not produce constant amounts of energy. What’s more, renewable energy is difficult to store. Michaela Szölgyenyi is working on mathematical methods that can be used, for example, to better predict how much electricity a solar power plant will most likely produce at any given time.

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Life-saving knowledge: New technology sifts through surgical videos

Most endoscopic operations generate videos that are of interest to other surgeons. How were difficulties overcome? What worked well, what didn’t? At what point did preventable mistakes occur? Answers to these questions can be life-saving for the person on the operating table. Researchers at the University of Klagenfurt are working on making huge pools of surgical videos easier to sift through, so that both future surgeons and seasoned surgical staff can learn from them more effectively.

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Moving out at 18 and then dealing with life by yourself? New project examines the importance of family for care leavers

Care leavers – these are young people who grow up outside the family in child and youth welfare care and who embark on the path to adulthood from there – often experience the transition to independence at the age of 18 as very abrupt. While other young adults can usually count on the support of their family for many years to come, many care leavers often find themselves alone. A research project is investigating the role of the family and social networks in the transition to adulthood. Researchers are currently analysing initial data from the interviews.

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