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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.

Eine Wissenschaftlerin und ein Wissenschaftler arbeiten hinter einer Glasfassade und mischen Chemikalien mit Großgeräten.
Fakultätsschilder beim Absolventenfest © Volker Lannert/Uni Bonn

Seven Faculties

The University of Bonn has divided its teaching and research activities into seven faculties, which are themselves subdivided into institutes, departments and even clinics. The faculties constitute the heart and center of the University.

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 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.

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
University of Bonn Establishes Translation Hub
Since the beginning of February 2026, the University of Bonn has been home to the new North Rhine-Westphalian Coordination Office for Translation Matters in Higher Education (‘Landeskoordinationsstelle für Übersetzungsangelegenheiten im Hochschulwesen des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen’). It is developing an online platform offering sample translations, translation resources and training sessions, while serving as a central contact point for translation-related questions. The platform is scheduled to launch in late April 2026.
Digital Conservation
Research on ancient DNA is surging, but how can it be ensured that human remains of irreplaceable significance are preserved? This is the question investigated by an international research team led by the University of Bonn. Their findings have now been published in the journal “PLOS ONE.”
AI with Locality Awareness
The University of Bonn is hosting a new Emmy Noether Group devoted to AI methods. Junior Professor Marc Rußwurm is developing AI methods for fusing different types of geodata to arrive at a uniform geospatial representation. The German Research Foundation (DFG) will be providing up to 1.4 million euros in funding for the research group over the next six years. The Emmy Noether Program is a framework designed to enable selected postdocs and assistant professors on fixed-term contracts to obtain the qualifications necessary to hold a university professorship.
Neues Teleskop auf chilenischem Berg öffnet Fenster zum Universum
Thirty-four years after scientists at the Cornell University first conceived it, the Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST) now rises above the Atacama Desert, near the summit of Cerro Chajnantor in Chile’s Parque Astronómico Atacama. FYST will help answer some of the most important questions in astronomy, including how the universe works, the nature of dark energy and dark matter, how galaxies form and evolve and what happened in those mysterious first moments after the Big Bang.
Pinpointing Europe’s Digital Dependencies
From computer chips and cloud computing to artificial intelligence, Germany and the rest of Europe want to become less dependent on digital technologies from abroad by driving forward their own innovations. The Center for Advanced Security, Strategic and Integration Studies (CASSIS) at the University of Bonn has now prepared a policy brief, in cooperation with the Vodafone Institute for Society and Communications, Vodafone’s European think tank. The paper tackles the continent’s “digital trade deficit” and shows how hidden trade dependencies on the US and China are raising questions about the effectiveness of current European strategies.
New Focus Center for AI Start-Ups at Universities in North Rhine-Westphalia
TU Dortmund University and the University of Bonn are forming the AI Center for Entrepreneurship NRW (AICE.NRW). The new center will benefit universities throughout North Rhine-Westphalia, providing targeted, needs-based support for start-ups with business models around artificial intelligence (AI). Launched in January 2026, AICE.NRW has been granted 1.5 million euro for a three-year term by the state of NRW and the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under the Start-up Fokuszentren.NRW program.
Gerd Faltings to Receive the 2026 Abel Prize
For the first time ever, the Abel Prize has gone to a German—and this one is based at the University of Bonn! Mathematician Professor Gerd Faltings will receive the award in a ceremony in Oslo on May 26, 2026. The accolade has been presented every year since 2003 by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters in the presence of the country’s king Harald V. Professor Faltings is a Professor Emeritus of the University of Bonn and a former director of the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics (MPIM) in the city.
Dishwashing with side effects: Kitchen sponges release microplastics
Kitchen sponges are among the most frequently used household items – and may also represent a previously underestimated source of microplastics. Researchers led by the University of Bonn investigated how many plastic particles are released from sponges during dishwashing and their environmental impacts. The findings show that while measurable amounts of microplastics enter the environment each year, the largest share of environmental impact from manual dishwashing is caused by water consumption. 

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.

Clusters of Excellence

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

NeurotechEU

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

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