Events & Opportunities

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News

How Bolsonaro’s statements destroyed the rainforest

The former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro contributed to deforestation with statements opposing forest conservation. This is shown by an international study led by the University of Bonn. According to this, the destruction of the Amazon rainforest accelerated considerably when Bolsonaro and his ministers posted anti-forest-conservation messages on Twitter. Brazil’s environmental authorities were greatly weakened during Bolsonaro’s term of office. Irrespective of this, the analysis shows that even the perception of a low risk of punishment was a relevant driver of deforestation. The researchers estimate that up to 1,700 square kilometers of forest – almost double the area of Berlin – were destroyed due to the power of words. The results have been published in The Journal of Politics.

Threefold Success in “Global Minds”

Three world-renowned researchers are set to strengthen research consortia of which the University of Bonn is a member. Professor Joanna Kalucka, a biomedical scientist from Aarhus University, will serve as a Mercator Fellow Global in Collaborative Research Center 1454, “Metaflammation,” which is based in Bonn and also involves the University Hospital Bonn. One “Global Minds” professorship will be established in each of the Bonn/Cologne Clusters of Excellence DYNAVERSE and ECONtribute.

Do Grasslands in More Diverse Landscapes Suffer Less from Drought?

During the heatwave of 2018, meadows and pastures also suffered from the drought. Are grasslands in diverse landscapes more resilient to yield losses than those in monotonous regions? Researchers at the University of Bonn led by Marco Ferro and Prof. Dr. Jan Börner from the Institute for Food and Resource Economics (ILR) investigated the influence of landscape diversity on the drought tolerance of grasslands as part of Collaborative Research Center 1502 DETECT.

UNIPRENEURS honors Denise Fischer-Kreer

Prof. Dr. Denise Fischer-Kreer received an award from UNIPRENEURS for her exceptional dedication to spin-offs and entrepreneurship. The professor for Entrepreneurial Behaviour at the Institute of Entrepreneurship, University of Bonn, was honored for her work promoting entrepreneurship within higher education and research in Germany, along with 19 other professors. The award ceremony took place in Berlin.

Ilona Grunwald Kadow appointed Max Planck Fellow

Professor Ilona C. Grunwald Kadow from the University of Bonn has been appointed Max Planck Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology of Behavior – caesar (MPINB). Over the next five years, she will establish a research group investigating how interactions between the brain and the body influence behavior. The appointment will further strengthen cooperation between the two Bonn-based institutions.

New Hereditary Retinal Disease Discovered

An international team of researchers led by the University Hospital and University of Bonn, as well as the universities of Edinburgh, Basel and Pennsylvania, has identified a previously unrecognized form of inherited retinal degeneration caused by a specific variant in the EFEMP1 gene. The disease primarily affects the peripheral retina and the rod photoreceptors responsible for vision in dim light and darkness. Importantly, rod function may already be severely impaired while the retina still appears largely normal on clinical examination. The results of the study have now been published in the journal JAMA Ophthalmology.

University of Bonn Lands Two ERC Starting Grants

Bonn has again prevailed in competition for funding from the European Research Council (ERC), with researchers of the University of Excellence landing two prestigious ERC Starting Grants. Neuroscientist Professor Lukas Kunz, also associated with University Hospital Bonn (UKB), conducts research on how the human brain constructs the first-person perspective of our experiences. Dr. Riccardo Pennetta is leading a research project on large-scale quantum physics. The two researchers are to each receive approximately 1.5 million euros from the ERC for their projects over a five-years period.