Accelerating the development of antibiotics against all forms of tuberculosis is the objective of ERA4TB (European Regimen Accelerator for Tuberculosis), one of the largest European scientific projects in this area of research. This consortium, which includes a significant number of Spanish researchers, is being coordinated by the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M), led by GlaxoSmithKline Spain and is under the scientific management of the Pasteur Institute. With a team of more than thirty public and private organisations and a budget over 200 million euro, ERA4TB aims to radically transform the way in which new therapies are developed for the treatment of tuberculosis.

“Colorful diversity, white death – what can colors tell us about coral reefs?” is the motto of the photography competition being held in the frame of the next International Coral Reef Symposium, which will be held in Bremen for the first time in July 2020. Entries will be accepted until February 29.

The Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience at Maastricht University (UM) has appointed Professor Kai J. Jonas on the chair “Applied Social Psychology with special focus on LGBTQI+ Diversity and Health. Jonas: “I think it’s great that UM has dared to appoint a professor on this chair. In the Netherlands (and the world), not many universities take this step.” With Jonas added, the so-called ‘pink professors’ can be counted on one hand. “Therefore, this appointment also has a symbolic function. It’s a societal and political signal, we’re saying: this is important.” People with an LGBTQI+ background are often missing a role model. “What they see the most is what they don’t want to become. We, as a university, want to tell the world, our employees, and our students: you can be who you want to be.”

Sonar is essential for robots and self-driving cars as it is a very cost-effective sensor for distance measurements, but it also has limitations. Prof. Jan Steckel, who works at the University of Antwerp, Department of Electronics and ICT, Dr Ralph Simon from the Ecological Science Department of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and their German colleagues from the University Erlangen-Nuremberg discovered bioinspired signs to make robot navigation more efficient.