The worldwide discussion on the origin of life encounters difficulties when it comes to estimate the conditions of the early earth and to define plausible environments for the development of the first complex organic molecules. 

A hypothetical model for the origin of life is proposed which will be used to design crucial experiments for the model’s verification. Because all proposed processes could still occur in tectonic faults at the present time, it may be possible to detect and analyse the formation of prebiotic molecules in order to assess the validity of the proposed hypothesis.

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Further information: http://www.springerlink.com/content/0574541317523221/ 

The project is funded by the Mercator Research Center Ruhr, an initiative of the Mercator Foundation and University Alliance Metropole Ruhr.

Production facilities for renewable energies are usually time-dependent on environmental factors such as sun and wind. The generated power is not necessarily available when it is needed by the consumer. Underground pumped storage power plants (UPP) that can store energy until needed, can bridge this time lag.

Therefore, the Department of Geology, works in cooperation with the Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and Water Management, the Department of Geotechnical Engineering and the Institute for Energy Systems and Energy Economics at the Ruhr University of Bochum on a Study on underground pumped storage power plants (UPP).