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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Bonn–St Andrews Joint Academic Appointments Scheme, now in its third year, continues to strengthen the strategic alliance between the University of Bonn and the University of St Andrews. This innovative partnership initiative allows colleagues from both universities to spend 20 percent of their time over three years teaching and conducting research at the partner institution.

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.

Finding somewhere to live at the start of the semester remains a major challenge for many students in Bonn. Even though the winter semester has already been under way a few weeks, many young people are still hunting for an affordable room. This is especially true of international students, who often arrive just before the semester starts and have hardly any time to mount a detailed search. The University of Bonn, the Studierendenwerk Bonn and the General Students’ Committee (AStA) are therefore issuing an urgent joint appeal to all private landlords and landladies in the city, asking them to offer up their available accommodation to students. A new online housing platform has also been launched for this purpose.