Experience science anew each day
© Volker Lannert/Uni Bonn

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.

Postdoc
© Volker Lannert/Uni Bonn

Transdisciplinary Research

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

HCM
© Volker Lannert/HCM

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 Excellence2 and the only university with six Clusters of Excellence6. 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)1 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 Researchers7 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.

Technology and Innovation for Sustainable Futures

The TRA Sustainable Futures researches institutional, science- and technology-based innovations in the field of sustainability.

Latest Research and Teaching News
© Photo: Albane Prévost
14
Mathematician investigating stochastic processes14
How does water move through a filter with coffee? This question is not so easy to answer, as neighboring areas in the moist coffee powder influence each other. How the hot water moves through the roasted powder is also governed by stochastic processes. Answers are provided by what are known as “percolation models,” which mathematician Dr. Alexis Prévost is investigating. He joined the University of Bonn from the University of Geneva and now leads an Emmy Noether group. It is being provided with up to 1.3 million euros of funding by the German Research Foundation (DFG).
Apr 02, 2025 14
© Source: CASSIS/EWI
15
H2-Reality Check: EU targets for 2030 probably not achievable15
Hydrogen is considered an important part of the EU's and Germany's climate neutrality strategy. Significant progress is required for the ramp-up, otherwise the targets might not be met. A report by CASSIS and EWI analyses the status of the ramp-up.
Apr 02, 2025 15
© Adobe Stock (AI generated) / Beyond Binaries
16
Opening Up: Volkswagen Foundation Funds Two Projects at the University of Bonn16
Not one but two projects at the University of Bonn—on queer Islamic theology and culinary sensory analysis—have each been awarded funding of around €300,000 as part of the Volkswagen Foundation’s Open Up program. The aim of the Open Up funding initiative is to explore entirely new fields of science.
Apr 01, 2025 16
© Bild: PhenoRob
17
PhenoRob Cluster of Excellence Invites You to Attend a Career Fair17
The PhenoRob Cluster of Excellence Career Fair is all about connecting the artificial intelligence (AI) and agriculture experts of tomorrow with high-profile non-academic employers. Students, doctoral candidates and graduates of the University of Bonn are invited to expand their network of professional contacts on May 9 from 1 pm to 6 pm.
Mar 31, 2025 17
© Photo: Barbara Fommann / Uni Bonn
18
Marvin: the Supercomputer Redefining Research at the University of Bonn18
Marvin the supercomputer has been available to researchers for exactly a year. The University of Bonn is now taking a look back over 365 days in which its computing power has helped bring countless projects to life. At an event on the Poppelsdorf Campus, researchers and other staff recently had the opportunity to celebrate a whole year of successful high-performance computing (HPC) and crown the three most exciting projects from all manner of different disciplines.
Mar 26, 2025 18
© © R. Reischke, K.Kuijken, B.Giblin and the KiDS team
19
Kilo-Degree Survey Confirms Standard Model of Cosmology19
An international research team has analyzed data from 41 million galaxies in order to estimate the distribution of matter in the universe. The data confirm a long-established model – much to the team’s surprise.
Mar 25, 2025 19
© Image: University Hospital Bonn (UKB) / Dr. Inka Väth
20
Deciphering the sequence of neuronal firing20
How does the brain retain a sequence of events in memory? Researchers from the University Hospital Bonn (UKB), the University of Bonn, the University Hospital Tübingen and the University of Tübingen investigated this question. Using a unique measurement technique with implanted electrodes in the human brain, they were able to test a widely accepted theory of memory processes for the first time. The response pattern of the nerve cells did not align with the theory, but could be explained by a new model. The results have now been published in the journal "Nature Neuroscience".
Mar 24, 2025 20
© Photo: University of Bonn / Barbara Frommann
21
The Future of Peace: Focusing on Post-War Societies21
Following two successful intensive programs over the past few winters, which looked at current challenges in Eastern Europe and research in exile, the Cologne/Bonn Academy in Exile (CBA) is now considering the question of how societies can be shaped after a war is over with its first-ever spring school. The event will give researchers in the fields of law, politics, history, cultural studies, philology and linguistics the opportunity in lectures and rounds of discussions to grapple with the issue of peace and post-war societies on March 24 and 25, 2025.
Mar 17, 2025 21

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

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.

Also see

Transdisciplinary Research Areas

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

More on TRAs1

Clusters of Excellence

The University of Bonn has six Clusters of Excellence, more than any other university in Germany.

Our Clusters6

NeurotechEU

NeurotechEU is an alliance that have set themself the mission of building an innovative, trans-European network of excellence for brain research and technologies. 

Learn more23

Links

  1. https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/research-and-teaching/research-profile/transdisciplinary-research-areas
  2. https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/research-and-teaching/research-profile/excellence-strategy
  3. https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/research-and-teaching/research-profile/awards-and-prizes
  4. https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/research-and-teaching/research-profile/collaborative-research-projects
  5. https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/research-and-teaching/research-profile/diverse-professorships/diverse-appointments
  6. https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/research-and-teaching/research-profile/excellence-strategy/clusters-of-excellence
  7. https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/research-and-teaching/doctoral-students-and-postdocs/argelander-program-early-career-researchers
  8. https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/research-and-teaching/research-profile/transdisciplinary-research-areas/tra-1-modelling
  9. https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/research-and-teaching/research-profile/transdisciplinary-research-areas/tra-matter
  10. https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/research-and-teaching/research-profile/transdisciplinary-research-areas/tra-3-life-and-health
  11. https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/research-and-teaching/research-profile/transdisciplinary-research-areas/tra-4-individuals
  12. https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/research-and-teaching/research-profile/transdisciplinary-research-areas/tra-5
  13. https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/research-and-teaching/research-profile/transdisciplinary-research-areas/tra-6-sustainable-futures
  14. https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/news/059-2025
  15. https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/news/058-2025
  16. https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/news/057-2025
  17. https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/news/056-2025
  18. https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/news/052-2025
  19. https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/news/kilo-degree-survey-confirms-standard-model-of-cosmology
  20. https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/news/049-2025
  21. https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/news/044-2025
  22. https://www.uni-bonn.de/de/forschung-lehre/forschung-und-lehre-medien/we-think-without-borders.pdf
  23. https://www.neurotecheu.uni-bonn.de/en