Euclid, the new space telescope launched by the ESA with the involvement of German researchers, has published its first color photographs from outer space. Never before has a telescope been able to produce such sharp astronomical images of such a wide expanse of sky while looking so deep into the distant universe. Researchers from the Argelander Institute for Astronomy at the University of Bonn are participating in the mission. 

Prof. Dr. Lisa Sauermann from the cluster of excellence Hausdorff Center for Mathematics at the University of Bonn has been honored with the von Kaven Award 2023 for her outstanding scientific achievements. The award is presented by the von Kaven Foundation, which is managed by the DFG. Lisa Sauermann was appointed as one of the prestigious Hausdorff Chairs in the cluster of excellence at the University of Bonn only a few months ago. She has been carrying out research and teaching at the Institute for Applied Mathematics at the University of Bonn since August. The von Kaven Award includes prize money of 10,000 euros and will be presented on November 17, 2023, at the Gauß Lecture organized by the German Mathematical Society (DMV).

At its November 9 meeting the University of Bonn Senate restored the doctoral titles of four former graduates who suffered persecution under the Nazi regime as Jews or for other ideological reasons. During that time, the University had withdrawn the doctoral titles of three doctoral degree holders from the Faculty of Law and Economics and one from the Faculty of Medicine after they escaped and fled abroad.

Is there a feasible way to enjoy more effective online fraud protection that is more consumer-friendly at the same time? This question is being worked on by University of Bonn researchers in collaboration with the Leibniz Institute for Information Infrastructure (FIZ) in Karlsruhe and the University of Duisburg-Essen, who are jointly developing an online platform that affords better protection against identity data misuse for both consumers and merchants. The project is to receive a total of 1.5 million euros in funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) over a three-year period.

The University of Bonn has once again appointed an outstanding Schlegel Chair. Lawyer Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Birke Häcker came from the University of Oxford, where she headed the Institute of European and Comparative Law. She will establish new research fields and generate fresh impulses at the University of Bonn. Her main areas of expertise are core private law and comparative law with a special focus on the English common law. However, she is also particularly interested in the interfaces between private law and commercial and business law, tax law, as well as public law. She views herself as a bridge builder between the disciplines and the legal cultures in various different jurisdictions.

How can we make the formation of knowledge in museums and cultural heritage more sustainable and equitable? As the new Argelander Professor at the University of Bonn, Jun-Prof. Dr. Julia Binter is not only carrying out research into cultural, political and economic entanglements past and present but also seeking to reshape them in collaborative film and exhibition projects. In the transdisciplinary research area “Present Pasts,” the social and cultural anthropologist is currently co-leading the collaborative research, curation and restitution project “Confronting Colonial Pasts, Envisioning Creative Futures” for collections from Namibia together with research partners from Germany and Namibia.

Human-robot interaction and sustainable artificial intelligence (AI) will be the topics of discussion on Thursday, November 9th at an event organized jointly by the University of Bonn Institute for Science and Ethics (IWE) and the Women in AI and Robotics network. The event date marks the start of partnership between the two organizations, and is aimed at recruiting new members interested in joining Women in AI & Robotics. Held in English, the event will be held in the foyer of the IWE with address Bonner Talweg 57, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. All interested parties are invited to attend.

Prominent ranking list providers Times Higher Education (THE) and Shanghai just recently published their annual subject rankings, in which the University of Bonn performed very well in numerous subjects. These international rankings are an indicator of performance in specific academic fields in global competition.