Excellence Through the Unity of Research and Teaching
As one of the best research-led universities in Germany with an international reputation as a leading institution of research and teaching, the University of Bonn plays host to a number of prize-winning researchers spread across a range of disciplines. Our two hundred year history of academic excellence is based on a number of simple yet effective elements: high-quality academic research, a research-led teaching curriculum, the international flair of Bonn as the German city of the United Nations. Our location in the Rhineland is a highly-networked region of academic excellence and a region providing a high quality of life.
One of the Best Research-Led Universities in Germany
With some 35,000 students, 6,000 doctoral students, 550 professors and 6,000 other members of staff, the University of Bonn is one of the largest and best research-led universities in Germany. Its seven faculties cover a broad range of disciplines from Agricultural Sciences to Traffic Psychology many of which take a leading position in international rankings. This strong disciplinary record is supplemented by the work of six faculty and interdisciplinary “Transdisciplinary Research Areas” (TRA) and a range of exploration and innovation areas addressing many of the central academic, technological and social challenges currently facing society.
Seeking to make the findings of its research beneficial to wider society, the University of Bonn deploys cutting-edge practices of knowledge transfer and academic communication, making it a motor of social and technological progress. The University pursues a wide range of models of cooperation with industry ranging from sponsorship schemes, the joint establishment of endowed professorships, to grants and joint projects.
Prize-winning researchers
The University of Bonn follows the principle that academia is most successful when research and teaching work hand in hand and excellent academics are given the freedom to pursue their individual programs. Our roll call of outstanding researchers is led by the two Nobel Prize winners Wolfgang Paul (Physics, 1989) and Reinhard Selten (Economics, 1994). No other German university has produced two Nobel Prize winners within the last 50 years. The University of Bonn is the only German university to boast a holder of the Fields Medal. Indeed, we have two: Gerd Faltings and Peter Scholze. Further prizes and awards bear out the nature of the top-quality research conducted at the University of Bonn, which include holders of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize, Alexander von Humboldt Professorships and prestigious grants from the European Research Council.
Our University Development Plan
As a University of Excellence with six Clusters of Excellence we are the most successful University in the German federal Excellence Strategy. A key foundation for these outstanding successes was our strategy "WE invest in people, WE foster networks, WE create impact". This strategy is the basis of our University's future concept, which is explained in detail in the University Development Plan. It summarizes the University's profile, status quo, goals, and measures for the future.
See also
Research and Teaching
World-leading top-level research performed under excellent conditions.