We row for Biodiversity!

Psychology – Applied Team Research

Prof. Dr. Jan Schmutz conducts research with the goal of advancing the scientific understanding of team research. Specifically, he studies how teams can successfully deal with difficult situations. Due to the extreme conditions and complete isolation, Prof. Schmutz is interested in our team dynamics and will study us during our Atlantic campaign. With the knowledge gained, he wants to help leaders, teams and organizations to develop in practice.

Marine Microbiology

We see 44west's interest in scientific research as a fantastic way of prototyping a new way of doing field science. While field science is normally done by scientists themselves, this suffers from the infrequency of field opportunities. By streamlining existing laboratory techniques to collect data in such a way that it can be executed with minimal training and effort we hope to gain a deeper understanding of marine microbial communities with the help of enthusiastic people such as 44west.

Material Selection

During the project-based learning course on "Materials Selection" at the D-MATL 40 students are immersing themselves in the world of materials science and adventure. Together, they're pushing boundaries, solving challenges, and embracing the spirit of collaborative group work. During this phase, students will work on real-world problems and select high-performance materials to fabricate parts for our rowing boat. The groups will explore state-of-the-art and cutting-edge materials to design biodegradable oars, smart power handles, advanced seat pads and passive cooling for solar cells. We are very excited and looking forward to learning about the solutions found during the progress of the projects.

Exercise Physiolgy

We have teamed up with the Exercise Physiology Lab at ETH Zurich, a laboratory for human and sports physiology, as one of our research partners. Under the direction of Prof Dr Christina Spengler, they ensure that our training achieves the desired effectiveness. Together, we track our performance development through various tests in the laboratory and monitor our vital signs during the race. What is special about this partnership? It's a win-win situation. Not only does it optimise our preparation, but our data also provides unique insights into the effect of sleep deprivation, stress and other physical challenges.