Research Profile: Top-Level Research
The University of Bonn has stood for top-level research for over 200 years. The founding professors already saw Bonn as a research university aimed at answering scientific, social and technological questions. Researchers, teachers and early-career researchers all benefit from this today, taking advantage of established German and global networks and strong scientific and social partnerships—with measurable effect.

Transdisciplinary Research
The six Transdisciplinary Research Areas (TRAs) at the University of Bonn create spaces for innovation in research and teaching.

Excellence in Research and Teaching
“We invest in people. We foster networks. We create impact.” We follow this strategy to create the ideal environment for creative scientific work by outstanding researchers that extends beyond our six Clusters of Excellence and to promote talented researchers at all career levels.
The Best Minds
The outstanding research performed by our researchers is shown by the many awards that have been received.
Cooperative Research Culture
Innovative top-level research in many national and international partnerships and collaborative projects sets us apart.
Diverse Appointments
The diversity of our externally funded professorships is a sign of our close cooperation with economy and society.
What sets our research profile apart?
01.
Excellence
The University of Bonn is one of eleven German Universities of Excellence and the only university with six Clusters of Excellence. Recent decades have seen us produce more Nobel Prize and Fields Medal winners than any other German university.
02.
Networked
Embedded in the UN city of Bonn and a region of cutting-edge research, the University of Bonn is one of the leading research-oriented universities in Germany.
03.
Transdisciplinary
Our seven faculties cover a broad range of disciplines. This strong range of disciplines is supplemented by six cross-faculty, interdisciplinary “Transdisciplinary Research Areas” (TRAs) that create areas for exploration and innovation to facilitate academic exchange.
04.
Comprehensive Support
Our goal is to create the ideal conditions for internationally networked research to attract and develop the best researchers. Our Argelander Program for Early-Career Researchers offers comprehensive support to promote early independent research.
Transdisciplinary Research Areas
Transdisciplinary Research Areas (TRAs) focus our research on key scientific, technological and social issues of the future and create areas for exploration and innovation.
Mathematics, Modelling and Simulation of Complex Systems
How do complex systems actually work? Interaction of mathematical modelling, classical observational methods, data simulation and creative spirit.
Building Blocks of Matter and Fundamental Interactions
How do the building blocks of matter interact? How do complex structures emerge at the different length scales of nature? Find out more about our research.
Life and Health
Understanding the complexity of life - developing new strategies for health.
Read more about TRA Life and Health.
Individuals, Institutions and Societies
Complex relationships between the individual, institutions and societies – developing new views of micro- and macrophenomena.
Past Worlds and Modern Questions. Cultures Across Time and Space
We foster and network research on the preconditions and conditions of the emergence of modern societies as well as on negotiation processes of heritage.
Innovation and Technology for Sustainable Futures
The TRA Sustainable Futures researches institutional, science- and technology-based innovations in the field of sustainability.
Is there a healthy alternative to sugar? How can I measure changes to my mental acuity? And how can cancer prevention be made more reliable? These questions are at the heart of three innovative validation projects— “Sweeternative,” “Trackognize,” and “HPV & Cervix all-in-one Test”— that are receiving funding from the prototyping grant’s application round #2 of the Transfer Center enaCom. The teams from the University of Bonn and the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) are each receiving a prototyping grant to develop their innovative research findings to market readiness. Calls for the grants with up to 50,000 euros in funding are regularly posted by the Transfer Center.
Whole grain products are healthy, but not particularly popular. However, providing information of their benefits can change that, at least a little bit. This is demonstrated by a recent study conducted by the University of Bonn, involving over 300 people between the ages of 18 and 39. But despite receiving relevant information daily for two weeks, the effect was relatively small. The researchers therefore believe that education alone is unlikely to achieve the recommended consumption levels. The study has now been published in the journal "Appetite."
How can people work together to forge new, environmentally sustainable paths in a complex system? This is the question being tackled by Jun.-Prof. Dr. Wolfram Barfuss, the new Argelander professor in the Innovation and Technology for Sustainable Futures Transdisciplinary Research Area (TRA Sustainable Futures) at the University of Bonn. He is developing mathematical models for collective learning and linking different research areas, including complex systems, artificial intelligence and social ecology, in order to identify key levers for easing the transition to sustainability. Barfuss and his team are based at the Center for Development Research (ZEF).
What impact does artificial intelligence (AI) have on the environment? And what might the ramifications of AI be for society? These are some of the questions being tackled by the research group led by Prof. Dr. Aimee van Wynsberghe, a Humboldt Professor at the University of Bonn. She will now bring international experts in the field together between May 30 and June 1. At the Universitätsclub Bonn, the researchers will discuss cross-cultural perspectives of sustainable AI on a global level.
What does the inside of a carbon atom’s nucleus look like? A new study by Forschungszentrum Jülich, Michigan State University (USA) and the University of Bonn provides the first comprehensive answer to this question. In the study, the researchers simulated all known energy states of the nucleus. These include the puzzling Hoyle state. If it did not exist, carbon and oxygen would only be present in the universe in tiny traces. Ultimately, we therefore also owe it our own existence. The study has now been published in the journal “Nature Communications.”
German consumers consider paper-based packaging to be particularly environmentally friendly. Nevertheless, they tend to be skeptical about innovative products such as paper-based bottles. This is shown by a recent study by the University of Bonn and Forschungszentrum Jülich. Almost 3,000 women and men from all over Germany were surveyed for the study. The results have now been published in the journal “Food Quality and Preference.”
What is love? And how does love ‘work’? What is beauty? These are the questions concerned in the inaugural Annemarie Schimmel Lecture to be held from June 12-14. The Lecture event starts at 5 pm, the first part being held in Bonn Minster. The Lecture sessions on the days following, June 13 and 14, start at 4 pm, and will be held in the Grand Hall of the University of Bonn. The event language is English. All interested parties are cordially invited to attend! Jordanian Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, a professor of philosophy, is the speaker. To register please contact lwiesenh@uni-bonn.de.
At the career fair organized by the Cluster of Excellence PhenoRob together with the Faculty of Agriculture and the Theodor Brinkmann Foundation students, PhD students and graduates of the University of Bonn were able to expand their professional network and make new contacts.
We think without borders
With our magazine, we give you an insight into the research and teaching being done at our University. We focus on our transdisciplinary research and the work that we are undertaking in our six Clusters of Excellence. By virtue of their reputation and sheer number, they are without parallel in the entire German university sector.
Find out more about us in the reports on the University, on our research and on some of our favorite places in Bonn—an extremely likeable city that is home to numerous international organizations.
Contact
Division for Research and Innovation Services
+49 228 / 73-60915
GZDez7@verwaltung.uni-bonn.de
The research division manages the entire research process - from initial information on funding, handling third-party funded projects and the exploitation of results.