The winning teams of the 13th edition of the Beamline for Schools (BL4S) physics competition have been chosen. BL4S, initiated by CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, is open to secondary school pupils from all around the world. Participants are invited to submit a proposal for a physics experiment to be undertaken at the beamline of a particle accelerator, either at CERN or at one of the partner institutes DESY and ELSA at the University of Bonn. In 2026, five winning teams have been chosen, based on the scientific merit of their proposals.

In recognition of the increasing emergence of neurodivergence as an important topic, this year’s Diversity Days at the University of Bonn were devoted to promoting understanding around neurological diversity and how to better recognize it, entitled “Beyond Normal: Neurodivergence in Higher Education.” University associates came together at the event to engage with one another in dialogue on neurodivergence and gain insights into how university culture can be made more inclusive.

How do pigeons find their way home safely over distances of many kilometers? A research team from the University Hospital Bonn (UKB), the University of Bonn, the University of Duisburg-Essen, and the Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Biology has now discovered a previously unknown mechanism: specific immune cells in the liver may help the birds detect the Earth’s magnetic field. The findings have now been published in the journal Science.

In the weeks ahead, Dr. Reinhold Schaaf and Dr. Christos Karoumpis of the Argelander Institute for Astronomy at the University of Bonn will be working in a remote location in the Atacama Desert in Chile—at roughly 5,600 meters altitude, where breathing is difficult—to ensure that the IT infrastructure for the Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST) is properly functioning. As part of #UniBonnOnTour, they will be talking about their day-to-day work and the challenges faced, taking questions from members of the public. You can write to us at kommunikation@uni-bonn.de.

Over the course of evolution, plants have developed an elegant strategy to counteract a lack of phosphate in the soil — they form symbiotic relationships with soil fungi. These mycorrhizal fungi efficiently supply their plant partners with phosphate and other essential minerals. Recently, scientists at the Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry (IPB) in Halle, in collaboration with partners at the University of Bonn, discovered a molecular switch that detects the plant's phosphate content and signals whether to initiate or inhibit the symbiosis. This signaling pathway could enable plants to form partnerships with soil fungi even when sufficient phosphate is available. The study, published in the renowned journal Science Advances, offers a potential solution to a long-standing agricultural problem and opens new avenues for reducing fertilizer use.

Sustainability Day had its modest yet meaningful five-year anniversary on May 13, 2026. Over 20 stands populated the University of Bonn’s Poppelsdorf Campus, offering varied opportunities for those attending to learn about how sustainability intersects with research, teaching, operations and transfer activities while creating motivation to get involved. Tomorrow’s energy, educational gaming and biodiversity were just some of the aspects illuminated.

The element sodium plays a key role in nervous system function. An international research team headed by the Institute of Neurobiology at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU), in collaboration with the University of Bonn and the University Hospital Bonn, has now conducted a closer examination of the sodium concentration in astrocytes – special cells in the brain. To achieve this, the researchers developed a method, via which they can make the sodium content of individual cells in tissue directly visible, as they now describe in the scientific journal Nature Communications.

North Rhine-Westphalia will become home to a new unit within the European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems (ELLIS), one of Europe’s leading networks for artificial intelligence research. The newly approved ELLIS Unit NRW brings together leading AI researchers and large-scale computing infrastructure across the region to advance open-source foundation models, trustworthy machine learning and AI applications for real-world environments.