Led by economist Dr. Jan Bergerhoff and computer scientist Adolfo Santamónica, the Heinzel AI project at the University of Bonn is developing an AI-powered “little helper” (“Heinzelmännchen” in German) for businesses. The smart AI assistance that it provides is designed to help firms familiarize a talking AI with their company-specific data, thus enabling it to make applications, invoices and forms much easier to process, for example. The Heinzel AI project has been awarded nearly €300,000 in “Start-up Transfer.NRW” funding from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the European Union.

How do the circuits of the human brain work – and what happens when they are disrupted? To investigate these questions, researchers at the Eye Clinic of the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn, together with colleagues from the University of Münster and Harvard Medical School, have developed an innovative platform that allows the function of neural networks to be studied in a targeted manner. The results have now been published in the journal ACS Nano.

Dr. France Rose, a researcher at the interface of biology and computer science, has been successful in the Emmy Noether Program of the German Research Foundation (DFG). Her new research group began work at the University of Bonn in October 2025. 

For two whole days, the University of Bonn was given over entirely to international dialogue. The International Days 2025 on October 20 and 21 saw students and researchers come together with partners from other countries to engage in in-depth dialogue that spanned cultural, academic and scientific boundaries. The diverse program had it all, from conversations with the Bonn University Ambassadors and the official opening of a new space for encounters to the conferral of the state awards and the DAAD Prize to outstanding early-career researchers.

As part of this year’s International Days, four highly talented early-career researchers from the University of Bonn who demonstrated superlative academic ability in their final theses were presented with the traditional state awards at a special ceremony. Meanwhile, an international early-career researcher was recognized for his outstanding academic performance and extraordinary social engagement with the Prize of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

From 29 October to 1 November, the city of Bonn will once again host the high-profile “International Security Forum Bonn” (ISFB), bringing together internationally renowned experts and practitioners from the fields of security, strategy, and foreign policy to discuss the future of transatlantic relations and key global challenges.This year’s main themes are the transformation of European security dynamics and space policy. 

The new “Diversity Strategy of the University of Bonn (2025–2030)” makes it clear what the University of Bonn is planning to achieve over the next few years in terms of diversity. Specifically, it is aiming to foster an inclusive University culture that rejects discrimination and welcomes a wide range of viewpoints. The strategy was formulated together with representatives from all status groups.

As far as particles of light are concerned, the collective is more important than the individual. When they get to decide between two states, they will favor the one that many of their fellow particles have already adopted. However, this collectivist tendency does not kick in until enough photons have assembled in the same place. These findings, revealed by University of Bonn physicists in a recent study, could aid the development of ultra-powerful laser sources, among other things. They have now been published in the journal “Physical Review Letters.”