The skin bacterium Staphylococcus aureus often develops antibiotic resistance. It can then cause infections that are difficult to treat. Researchers at the University of Bonn have uncovered an ingenious way in which a certain strain of Staphylococcus aureus protects itself against the important antibiotic vancomycin. The results have now been published in the journal Microbiology Spectrum.

A leap into the future: the goal of the ANA Avatar XPRIZE competition is to develop robotic systems that can transmit a human's senses, actions and presence to a remote location in real time. Through these avatars they can perform a variety of handling tasks and can interact with humans – from audio and video transmission to direct physical contact. Team NimbRo from the University of Bonn qualified in Miami (USA) for the finals and is to receive 133,333 US dollars. The prize purse for the finals is eight million US dollars.

In an Ethiopian-German research collaboration, researchers of the Division of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine at the LMU University Hospital with participation of the University of Bonn investigated blood samples of frontline healthcare workers and residents from urban and rural communities for antibodies. The results suggest that the true COVID-19 prevalence is much higher than previously reported official figures. Therefore, the research team recommends a realignment of the vaccination strategy for Africa. The study is published in the journal “The Lancet Global Health”.

The state awards were presented as part of the ceremonial events surrounding the start of the academic year at the University of Bonn. The purses connected with these awards, going to outstanding young researchers, are endowed by the respective presenting national governments. These awards are traditionally presented simultaneous with the awarding of the DAAD Prize by the German Academic Exchange Service.

Does an infection also affect the immunization of subsequent generations? Researchers at Radboud University (Netherlands) have studied this together with the Universities of Bonn, Saarland (Germany), Lausanne (Switzerland) and Athens (Greece). Mouse fathers who had previously overcome an infection with fungi or were stimulated with fungal compounds also passed on their improved protection to their offspring across several generations. The team showed at the same time an improved immune response being passed on to the descendants. The study has now been published in the renowned journal Nature Immunology. 

The senior representatives of NeurotechEU, the European University of Brain and Technology, meet face-to-face again for the first time since the launch of the alliance. The rectors and board of governors members of the universities comprising this consortium convened in Bonn to discuss plans to expand the university alliance over the long term, stepping up their level of partnership.

Born on January 2, 1822, the professor and physicist Rudolf Clausius spent the years from 1869 to 1888 teaching and conducting research at the University of Bonn. As far as natural scientists are concerned, his name will always be associated with the definition of the second law of thermodynamics and the term “entropy.” It was he who linked the observation that thermal processes are irreversible to a hitherto undiscovered property that they shared, namely that the entropy of a system of this kind can only ever increase. His discovery had far-reaching consequences, not only for our understanding of how heat engines work—from steam engines through to generating electricity from fuels—but also for what we knew about information or the dynamics of biological processes. To describe this phenomenon, he coined the term “entropy,” a fundamental parameter in the natural sciences. Marking what would have been his 200th birthday next year, the University will be shining a light on the scientific achievements of an extraordinary thinker who, for a long time, remained forgotten.