Complying with the norm: Why Do Standards Shape Our Lives, Elisabeth Staudegger?

Standards determine whether a sheet of paper fits in a printer or whether a charging plug can power multiple devices. These standards shape our everyday lives. But who actually sets these standards? Where are the weaknesses, and how could science help to improve them? Elisabeth Staudegger, Head of the ‘Law and IT’ Department at the Institute for Legal Foundations at the University of Graz, host the Academic Standards Day on 16 June. Here she relays how sciences can contribute to the topic of standardisation and reveals her personal favourite standard.

More body awareness than a culture war

In Italy, sex education lessons will in future only be permitted with parental consent, and will be banned entirely in nurseries and primary schools. At the same time, Pride Month highlights why knowledge about the body, relationships, boundaries and diversity is important for young people. A study by the University of Graz shows how important knowledge about the body, contraception, relationship skills and protection against violence is

Will Austria win the World Cup? Mathematician reveals calculation method

Michael Fischer uses the football tournament as a practical example for highschool lessons.

Survival strategies: How plants respond to drought

According to Geosphere Austria, this spring was the driest in Austria since records began around 170 years ago. The low rainfall put particular pressure on the agricultural sector. And climate change is set to make the situation even worse in the coming decades. We asked Johannes Liesche, a professor at the Department of Biology at the University of Graz, how plants react to water shortages and how they survive periods of drought.