Pheno-Inspect GmbH, an AgTech start-up that emerged from research work at the University of Bonn, has successfully closed its first seed financing round. In addition to NRW.BANK and several private investors via the Companisto business angel network, one of the leading agricultural machinery groups, CLAAS, has also joined the company as a strategic investor. Pheno-Inspect GmbH was founded in 2020 as a start-up of the University of Bonn by Dr. Philipp Lottes and Prof. Dr. Cyrill Stachniss (Institute of Geodesy and Geoinformation and Cluster of Excellence 'PhenoRob'). 

Rose Monday is the biggest day of Carnival – especially in Bonn. Because no reveller (“Jecken”) would want to miss the Rose Monday parade. The University of Bonn was there again, too, parading through downtown Bonn in high spirits, creative costumes and lots of throwing material. One carnival booty was once again particularly sought after!

The University of Bonn is acknowledging the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on February 11 by reaffirming its aim of promoting gender equality in academia. Women are still significantly underrepresented in many research fields at university level, and the trend is more marked the higher up the career ladder one goes. The University has launched numerous initiatives and programs to tackle the problem.

For many years, the University of Bonn has combined academic excellence with Rhineland cheerfulness. But will this still be the case in 200 years fromm now? The reigning carnival royalty of the Federal City of Bonn, Prince Roland I (Gerwing) and Bonna Stephanie III (Schulz), found out during their recent visit to the Bonn University of Excellence: this time, the traditional reception of the Prince and Bonna by the Rector took place in the future...

Hypertension in the lungs is a relatively rare but very serious disease that is usually fatal within two years if left untreated. Current therapies can slow down its progression, but no cure exists. Research teams from Bochum and Bonn are shedding light on the underlying mechanisms of the disease, and have discovered a previously unrecognized factor in its development: the protein beta arrestin 1. The teams have shown that this protein plays an important role in transporting signaling molecules involved in regulating blood vessel diameter. The researchers report their findings now in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Under the leadership of the University of Bonn, a research team led by Prof. Dr. Pavel Kroupa from the Helmholtz Institute for Radiation and Nuclear Physics has discovered that galaxy clusters are about twice as heavy as previously assumed. The additional mass comes mainly from neutron stars and stellar black holes and also explains the observed quantities of heavy elements.

A groundbreaking approach that targets the degradation of membrane proteins in cancer cells has received funding from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Pathfinder program. The goal: To target previously "undruggable" cancer-related proteins by selectively degrading them and potentially offering a new way to overcome resistance to current cancer therapies. 

Violence, organized crime, and health problems: these issues do not immediately spring to mind when one thinks of the Brazilian rainforest. Clearing trees there not only releases stored carbon dioxide and decimates biodiversity. There are many different effects associated with rainforest destruction: Gustavo Magalhães de Oliveira and Yannic Damm from the Institute for Food and Resource Economics at the University of Bonn have investigated violence and respiratory diseases as consequences of deforestation. In the new episode of the Hypothesis podcast, the scientists discuss the thesis “Rainforest protection is bad for the economy” with host Denis Nasser.