University researchers are asking the questions that will change the way we look at the world.
By constantly questioning, Birmingham's researchers aim to better understand the world around us.
Quest is a new international campaign by Birmingham which brings together the stories behind the University's current research in an up close, intelligent way. Quest focuses on asking the right questions, from whether quantum sensors could be the key to understanding dementia, to how regimes get away with rigging elections?
If you would like to receive regular insights, analysis and commentary on the kinds of research showcased below, subscribe to the Quest newsletter.
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How do people rig an election and get away with it?
Democracy is in the spotlight. What’s the most stable kind of regime you can imagine? Is it consolidated democracy that holds elections that are free and fair, or an authoritarian state that holds no elections and clings to power with an iron fist? Read more on the Quest website.
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Are quantum sensors the key to understanding dementia?
The brain is the most complex natural structure in the known universe; its roughly 86 billion neurons transmitting 1000 impulses per second. To truly understand cognition, scientists need to see real-time communications between neural networks, on a millisecond basis. Could a new generation of magnetic systems improve our understanding of everything from basic cognition to dementia and ADHD?
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What’s the sexual revolution of the 1970s got to do with a rise in head and neck cancers?
In the mid-1970s a growing awareness emerged of the harmful effects of smoking and many started to understand it as a significant risk factor in many diseases, including head and neck cancers. Today fewer people are smoking but these cancers are on the rise. Do sexually transmitted viruses play a role?