Franziska Schuster spends her days boning up on molecular biomedicine. In the evening, she ties her running shoes and sprints round an athletics track in Leverkusen. The 19-year-old from Bonn is a member of Germany’s U20 track and field squad for sprint and hurdles, meaning she has a lot on her plate with her sport and her studies. There is not much time left for anything else – so how does one handle the pressure in such a situation? An article from forsch 2021/01.
New design: mobile first with clear user navigation: The website of Bonn’s University of Excellence got a facelift in late April, so users and web editors are enjoying a modern, new look and feel. An article from forsch 2021/01.
Now it’s in ‘black and white’ for the man at the helm, as in late April, Minister Isabel Pfeiffer-Poensgen of the Ministry of Arts and Sciences in Düsseldorf personally bestowed Rector Michael Hoch with his certificate of appointment for a second term of office as Rector, from May 2021 on into the year 2025. His goals for this term are ambitious. An article from forsch 2021/01.
Determining soil types, looking for outcrops, studying valley shapes ... these activities have been classic elements of geography excursions for students throughout generations. Every semester, some 20 students head off for with a geography field trip guide to explore the Siebengebirge or Seven Mountains, a hill range on the east bank of the Middle Rhine southeast of Bonn that was once volcanically active. This year would have been our turn to go on the excursion, but the pandemic impacted us in the University of Bonn Geography department as well. A report by Julia Feth and Johanna Niedick. An article from forsch 2021/01.
Professor Hoch was again named Rector of the Year by the German Association of University Professors and Lecturers (DHV) just as he is assuming his second term of office. The University of Bonn members gave him top marks in the association’s online survey, scoring even higher than in the previous year as 69% of those surveyed said he is “the ideal person” to hold the key leadership position. In an interview, we talked to him about his plans for the four years ahead. . An article from forsch 2021/01.
After 11 years abroad, Prof. Dr. Franca Hoffmann is bringing her passion for transdisciplinary research and strong ties to Africa with her to Bonn. Her varied career shows how many doors can be opened by the wide world of mathematics. An article from forsch 2021/01.
The Fossil of the Year is a skeleton of a small pterosaur which Georg August Goldfuß discovered in 1831, descriptively naming it Scaphognathus crassirostris. The drawing he made of it marked the inception of ‘paleo art’— defined as any artistic work that attempts to depict dinosaurs or other prehistoric life on the basis of scientific evidence—which remains highly popular today. An article from forsch 2021/01.
Face-to-face versus lockdown: a tension affecting day-to-day academic life at the University of Bonn for well over a year now. “We had to abruptly switch modes and take all formerly face-to-face events digital,” recalls Professor Karin Holm-Müller, who was Vice Rector for Teaching and Student Affairs until May of this year. “It is rare indeed to see one’s everyday reality so dramatically altered in such a short time. It has demanded incredible effort for everyone at the University.” An article from forsch 2021/01.