Two members of the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies (BCDSS), the Excellence Cluster in the field of humanities and social sciences at the University of Bonn, have been recognized for their outstanding academic work. Prof. Dr. Béla Bodó, Principal Investigator at the BCDSS, received the Hungarian Studies Association Book Prize for a monograph on anti-Semitism and political violence in Hungary between 1919 and 1921. Dr Eva Marie Lehner, BCDSS postdoctoral fellow, was awarded the Dissertation Prize of the Working Group on Historical Women and Gender Studies. Her dissertation examines the index of personal data in early modern church registers in southern German parishes.
Mitochondria are known as energy suppliers for our cells, but they also play an important role in the defense against pathogens. They can initiate immune responses, and deprive pathogens of the nutrients they need to grow. A research team led the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing in Cologne has now shown that pathogens can turn off mitochondrial defense mechanisms by hijacking a normal cellular response to stress. Scientists from the University of Bonn were also involved in the study, which was published in the journal Science.
The site of the present-day Department of Law used to be home to a Jewish school from 1934 onward. Its children and teachers were ostracized, deported and murdered during the Third Reich. Only one pupil lived to see 1945. A plaque now commemorates the achievements of the school and its principal Hans-Herbert Hammerstein.
Bonn/Germany, January 12, 2022. Long before the onset of dementia, there is evidence for increased activity of the brain’s immune system. Researchers from DZNE and the University of Bonn come to this conclusion based on a study of more than 1,000 older adults. To this end, various proteins were measured in the cerebrospinal fluid: They served as so-called biomarkers that indicate inflammatory processes of the nervous system. As it turned out, some of these molecules seem to be part of a damage control program of the immune system, which could be useful for the development of new drugs. The study results have been published in the scientific journal “Neuron”.
Dr. Michael Wenzel from the Department of Epileptology at the University Hospital Bonn has received a coveted Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). With the associated funding of 1.5 million euros for the next five years, the neurologist wants to study novel light-activated drugs with antiepileptic effects investigating how they can help against hard-to-treat epilepsies.
At the beginning of the new year, Bau- und Liegenschaftsbetrieb NRW (BLB NRW) has begun construction work on the new so-called "multi-use building" in the southwestern area of Poppelsdorf campus. The construction site had already been set up before the turn of the year. In the future, the new building will serve as interim space for various institute buildings of the University of Bonn that are in need of renovation. For this purpose, in addition to laboratories the multi-use building will provide meeting rooms, workrooms and offices for several hundred University members. The interim space is necessary to free up the existing institute buildings for the upcoming renovation measures.
2021 was an eventful year with many ups and downs. We look back at the highlights in the news and press releases of the University of Bonn.
A skull two meters long, a total body length of 17 meters, a weight of 45 tons, fins that comb the sea - what sounds like a sperm whale is actually a reptile and lived in the oceans around 250 million years ago. Now, an international team of researchers led by the Universities of Bonn and Mainz, as well as the Claremont Colleges and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, reports on this first giant animal that ever evolved. The researchers describe a new species of ichthyosaur, also called "fish-saurians" - the skeleton with the imposing skull, larger than that of Tyrannosaurus rex was excavated in the US state of Nevada. The study now proves that the ichthyosaurs evolved their impressive size within only three million years, much faster than the evolution of gigantism in today's whales. The results show how marine ecosystems can build up and respond to abiotic changes such as climate, atmosphere or water conditions. The study was published in the journal Science.