Events & Opportunities

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News

Microplastics filter inspired by fish

Wastewater from washing machines is considered a major source of microplastics – tiny plastic particles that are suspected of harming human and animal health. Researchers at the University of Bonn now have developed a filter to curb this problem. Their filter was inspired by the gill arch system in fish. In initial tests, the now patent-pending filter was able to remove over 99 percent of plastic fibers from washing machine wastewater. The results now have been published in the journal npj Emerging Contaminants.

A starting point for the development of new pain and cancer drugs

The human P2X4 receptor plays an important role in chronic pain, inflammation and some types of cancer. Researchers at the University of Bonn and the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) have now discovered a mechanism that can inhibit this receptor. The results were recently published in the scientific journal Nature Communications and open up a pathway for the development of new drugs.

EU Project: Bonn Robot Unjumbles Ancient Jigsaw

In what had long been merely the stuff of dreams for archaeologists, a “smart robot” has now put shattered ancient murals from Pompeii back together, piece by tiny piece. A team of researchers led by Professor Maren Bennewitz from the University of Bonn taught the robot how to solve its jigsaw puzzle as part of “Reconstructing the Past: Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Meet Cultural Heritage” (RePAIR), an EU collaborative project that has recently concluded.

EU Environment Commissioner Meets Researchers from the University of Bonn

The EU’s Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall visited Bonn on December 1 to find out about the research being done in the University of Bonn’s PhenoRob Cluster of Excellence. Discussions focused on three main topics: digital agriculture, sustainable food systems and preserving biodiversity.

University of Bonn to Host New Research Training Group

The German Research Foundation (DFG) is setting up a new Research Training Group (RTG) at the University of Bonn. Entitled “Entwicklung und Epileptogenese von Dysplasien im Zusammenspiel distinkter ZNS-Zelltypen” (“Development and Epileptogenesis of Dysplasias in the Interplay of Distinct CNS Cell Types”), the program for doctoral students will see early-career researchers investigate experimental approaches for treating forms of epilepsy that do not respond to existing treatments. The DFG is to fund the RTG to the tune of some €6.1 million over the next five years.

Two Collaborative Research Centers Extended at the University of Bonn

Two Collaborative Research Centers (CRCs)—Transregio (TRR) 224 “Economic Perspectives on Societal Challenges” and TRR 228 “Future Rural Africa”—have secured four more years’ funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG) and are thus set to enter their third funding period. The first project, CRC-TRR 224, sees researchers from the Universities of Bonn and Mannheim collaborating to open up new economic avenues for some of the challenges facing society, while the second, CRC-TRR 228, involves researchers from the Universities of Bonn and Cologne working on shaping the future in rural Africa.

JUPITER selects first AI projects

Only ten teams nationwide will receive exclusive access to the European exascale supercomputer. With the HoMe project, AI research in Bonn is sending a strong signal in the fields of vision, robotics, and generative AI.