In the new Sustainability Rankings of ranking provider Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), the University of Bonn has emerged as one of the world’s top 100 universities. Climbing 43 slots, the institution now ranks 95th worldwide, showing very good results in many of the ranking categories.

How were anti-Semitism, fear and children's scare stories connected in late 19th and early 20th-century Europe? This is the question being investigated by Professor Robert Braun of the University of California Berkeley. An Alexander von Humboldt Foundation fellow, Braun spent nearly a year at the University of Bonn working under Professor Ove Sutter of the Department of Empirical Cultural Studies and Cultural Anthropology to explore archived material from the Atlas of German Folklore. 

How can the reconstruction of the Ahrtal valley be made socially just and resilient? This is the question being studied by the “Social, Economic and Administrative Challenges of Climate Resilience” project (“Soziale, Ökonomische und Administrative Herausforderungen von Klima-Resilienz,” or SOZIAHR). It involves an interdisciplinary team of economists, legal scholars, geographers, sociologists and political scientists and is being funded by the Individuals & Societies Transdisciplinary Research Area at the University of Bonn. 

Not one but two researchers at the University of Bonn and the University Hospital Bonn are to receive much-sought-after Consolidator Grants. Awarded by the European Research Council (ERC), they provide millions of euros in funding for outstanding research projects. Professor Philipp Vollmuth is developing an AI foundation model that is expected to set new benchmarks for the use of AI in radiology, while Privatdozent Dr. med. Michael Sommerauer—who recently swapped the University of Cologne for Bonn—is researching the early detection of Parkinson’s disease.

The consumption of milk products, eggs and fish has a positive effect on childhood development in Africa. This has been demonstrated in a recent study by the CABI's regional centre for Africa in Nairobi, Kenya and the University of Bonn. The researchers used representative data from five African countries with over 32,000 child observations. If the children had a diet containing animal products, they suffered less from malnutrition and related developmental deficiencies. The study has now been published in the journal PNAS. 

The most popular password in Germany is the number sequence “123456,” followed by the English word “password.” This is the result of a recent analysis by the Bonn-based startup Identeco. The company analyzed several million login credentials that surfaced on illegal online exchanges in 2024. Criminals acquire this information to take over user accounts. Identeco emerged from a cybersecurity research project at the University of Bonn. Among other things, the startup helps companies detect potential data leaks.

University of Bonn specialist in Scandinavian Studies Valerie Broustin examined the Icelandic cycle of legendary sagas known as the Hrafnistumannasögur in a case study. Her findings could lead to a paradigm shift in researching this literary genre. The results have now been published in a book.

In the Funding Atlas 2024, recently published by the German Research Foundation (DFG), the University of Bonn has improved its standing significantly, surging from 15th out of all universities in 2021 to now stand 6th. The DFG’s Funding Atlas provides a clear yet detailed record of the funding provided by public-sector donors to Germany’s higher-education and research institutions between 2020 and 2022.