Philosophy at Peking University, Logic in Amsterdam, and then Mathematics in Lyon ... for Dr. Tingxiang Zou, borders are an invitation rather than an obstacle. Tingxiang Zou is taking on a big new challenge at the Hausdorff Center for Mathematics (HCM), a Cluster of Excellence at the University of Bonn, where she will start leading a newly formed Emmy Noether group at the Mathematical Institute this September, focusing on the Elekes-Szabó problem. The German Research Foundation (DFG) will be providing up to 1.6 million euros in funding for the research group over the next six years. The Emmy Noether Program opens up the possibility for Tingxiang Zou to qualify for a professorship. 

Researchers at the University of Bonn have conducted a review study to examine the methods used to research consumer behaviour in supermarkets.

Planning is now beginning in earnest following the completion of the tendering process to build the new Institute for Molecular Biology at the University of Bonn (ImBIG).  The project is being delivered by the North Rhine-Westphalia state construction and real estate agency (Bau- und Liegenschaftsbetrieb NRW, BLB NRW) together with Munich-based Fritsch + Tschaidse Architekten, whose design was among the top entrants in the architectural competition held last year. The decision paves the way for a new central research building to be constructed on the Poppelsdorf Campus.

A new AI-based method reconstructs spatial information about where immune cells were originally located in an organ, even after these cells have been removed from the tissue and analyzed individually. To accomplish this, Researchers at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn use the transcriptome, i.e., the entirety of all messenger RNA transcripts produced by genes within a cell at a given time. The work has now been published in the journal Advanced Science and introduces the new MERLIN algorithm.

The powerhouse of the cells – known as mitochondria – appear to be able to influence the number of lipid droplets in the cell. A mechanism that is actually intended for a completely different purpose plays a central role in this. This is shown by a recent study by the University of Bonn and University Hospital Bonn and the University of Freiburg. The results have now been published in the journal Nature Cell Biology.

Investigating and combining new and existing technologies with Indigenous knowledge systems – that is the aim of ‘iakumama 2050.’ The new research project by the Center for Development Research at the University of Bonn (ZEF) pursues the goal of developing scenarios for how humans and nature can live together in regions affected by armed conflicts and raw material extraction. The Volkswagen Foundation is funding the project, which begins in July 2026 and will then be funded for one and a half years.

A study by the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences and the University of Bonn has shown that pH value is crucial for sperm motility in sea urchins and salmon. An increase in pH activates the enzyme adenylyl cyclase (sAC), which produces the messenger substance cAMP, thereby regulating sperm motility. This mechanism may be widespread among many marine invertebrates and fish. The researchers' findings have now been published in the renowned journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) can cause certain types of cancer or autoimmune diseases, but how the body controls this common viral infection is largely unknown. Researchers at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn have now identified genetic and non-genetic factors that help the body fight EBV. To do this, they evaluated genome sequencing data, which is actually intended for characterizing the human genome, in a new way. Using the new technique, they were able to estimate the amount of EBV in the blood and find correlations in large health data sets – for example, an increased viral load in people with HIV infections, but also in smokers. There were also indications of new genes that play key roles in EBV immunity. Their findings have now been published in the renowned journal Nature.