Transdisciplinary Research

Transdisciplinary Research Areas

Spaces for innovation in research and teaching—this is what the six Transdisciplinary Research Areas (TRAs) at the University of Bonn provide. They are where top researchers work together across faculty boundaries on key academic, scientific, technological and societal issues relevant to our future.

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© Uni Bonn

The six TRAs

Eine Wissenschaftlerin und ein Wissenschaftler arbeiten hinter einer Glasfassade und mischen Chemikalien mit Großgeräten.
© TRA Modelling

Mathematics, Modelling and Simulation of Complex Systems

How do complex systems work? How mathematical models come together with observational methods, computer-aided simulations and creative flair.

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

Building Blocks of Matter and Fundamental Interactions

How do the various components that matter is made from interact with one another? How do complex structures form on completely different length scales?

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© Volker Lannert/Uni Bonn

Life and Health

Understanding the complexities of life and coming up with new strategies for healthcare. Find out more about the TRA Life and Health.

Eine Wissenschaftlerin und ein Wissenschaftler arbeiten hinter einer Glasfassade und mischen Chemikalien mit Großgeräten.
© Marvin Bongiovi

Individuals, Institutions and Societies

Studying complex relationships between individuals, institutions and societies and developing new perspectives on micro- and macrophenomena.

Eine Wissenschaftlerin und ein Wissenschaftler arbeiten hinter einer Glasfassade und mischen Chemikalien mit Großgeräten.
© AdobeStock 288369706

Past Worlds and Modern Questions. Cultures Across Time and Space

We promote and connect up research into the prerequisites for modern societies, the conditions under which they develop and the processes by which heritage is negotiated.

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© Volker Lannert/ Uni Bonn

Innovation and Technology for Sustainable Futures

The TRA Sustainable Futures explores institutional, research-based and technology-driven innovations for promoting sustainability.

Latest news from the TRAs
University of Bonn Welcomes New Schlegel Professor

The University of Bonn has appointed yet another outstanding Schlegel Professor financed from Excellence funding. Prof. Dr. Laura Münkler is Professor of Public Law and the Philosophy of Law and will drive forward transdisciplinary research. Besides the philosophy of law, her main areas of focus are legal theory, constitutional and administrative law and healthcare law, especially the foundations of the democratic state governed by the rule of law.

New method measures the 3D position of individual atoms

Since more than a decade it has been possible for physicists to accurately measure the location of individual atoms to a precision of smaller than one thousandth of a millimeter using a special type of microscope. However, this method has so far only provided the x and y coordinates. Information on the vertical position of the atom – i.e., the distance between the atom and the microscope objective – is lacking. A new method has now been developed that can determine all three spatial coordinates of an atom with one single image. This method – developed by the University of Bonn and University of Bristol – is based on an ingenious physical principle. The study was recently published in the specialist journal Physical Review A.

New findings on the immune system

T follicular helper cells (Tfh) are essential for strong antibody-mediated reactions of our immune system during infections and vaccinations. However, if they get out of control, this can cause diseases such as autoimmunity, allergies or cancer. Researchers from the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the Cluster of Excellence ImmunoSensation2 at the University of Bonn investigated the underlying mechanisms of Tfh cell development in a mouse model and thus decoded their internal networking. They hope that this will lead to new strategies for the development of highly effective vaccines and new therapies to combat various diseases. The results have now been published in the renowned journal "Science Immunology".

Artificial intelligence recognizes patterns in behaviour

Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University, the University Hospital Bonn and the University of Bonn have created an open-source platform known as A-SOiD that can learn and predict user-defined behaviors, just from video. The results of the study have now been published in the journal "Nature Methods".

Transdisciplinary research—realizing a vision

For over 200 years, the University of Bonn has been synonymous with top-level research that has benefited teachers, seasoned researchers and those just embarking on their academic careers.

TRAs and their role in the Excellence Strategy

The University of Bonn’s success in the Excellence contest is down partly to the strong track record of discipline-specific research in its various faculties, which laid the foundations for six Clusters of Excellence—more than at any other university in Germany. However, the University’s six Transdisciplinary Research Areas (TRAs) also make a significant contribution to its Excellence Strategy. The funding secured since 2019 has been channeled into developing and expanding the TRAs as the mainstay of the University of Bonn’s research profile. They are already having an impact not only within the University itself but also in wider society, in technology and in the political sphere.

Science Festival—where visitors young and old can find out all about the TRA

Representatives of the six Transdisciplinary Research Areas (TRAs) were on hand to introduce themselves and their work at the 2023 Science Festival, which was all about “hands-on science for everybody.”

Wissenschaftsfestival

New spaces for inter- and transdisciplinary approaches

The basic idea behind setting up the TRAs was that inter- and transdisciplinary approaches will be the only way to meet many of the challenges that the future holds. Besides a strong track record of discipline-specific research, which at universities is traditionally organized along faculty lines, new structural spaces were to be created to encourage transdisciplinary approaches and give them a framework.

The TRAs are now an integral part of the innovative research culture embraced at the University of Bonn. They provide spaces for innovation in research and teaching that are tackling the interdisciplinary scientific, technological and societal challenges of the future. Creating new network structures is helping to promote efforts to set up and expand new research areas that raise the University’s profile. Over the years, therefore, it has developed six areas in which it now boasts outstanding quality. Each TRA is also linked to a Cluster of Excellence at the University of Bonn.

Openness and cooperation

The TRAs are open to all researchers active at the University of Bonn and its partner institutions who are able to contribute to the specific topics being studied in them. The support that they give to academic and scientific partnerships also makes the TRAs incubators for new collaborative projects, ideas for which are discussed in workshops and lecture series. Financial support has already been secured for new research ideas, open-science initiatives and teaching projects as well as the groundwork for new Collaborative Research Centers and Research Training Groups. Conducting transparent research into and in dialogue with society is a key pillar of the University’s new research profile.

Hertz Chairs

Named after the University of Bonn physicist Heinrich Hertz (1857–1894), the Hertz Chairs lie at the heart of our efforts to promote excellence. They are filled with researchers of international repute who are leading lights in their field of expertise and burnish the profile of our Transdisciplinary Research Areas. These professors are based centrally within the University and given the freedom to establish new areas of research, forge links between disciplines and inject significant fresh momentum where they see fit.

Dominik Bach
© Gregor Hübl / Uni Bonn

Artificial Intelligence and Neurosciences
Prof. Dr. Dr. Dominik Bach

Within the TRA Life and Health, Dominik Bach is establishing a major new area of focus where the neurosciences meet psychiatry and computer science.

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© Meike Böschemeyer/Uni Bonn

Global Heritage
Prof. Dr. Paul Basu

A Hertz Professor in the TRA Present Pasts, Paul Basu is experimenting with decolonial approaches to cultural heritage and museum studies in transcultural contexts.

Prof. Ina Danquah
© Gregor Hübl/Universität Bonn

Innovation for Planetary Health Prof. Dr. Ina Danquah

Ina Danquah investigates the interactions between climate change, nutrition and health. She is Hertz Chair within the TRA Sustainable Futures.

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© Reiner Zensen/Christiane Woopen

Life Ethics Prof. Dr. Christiane Woopen

Within the TRA Individuals and Societies, Christiane Woopen is studying four dynamics of our time that are interacting on a systemic level— technologization, economization, ecologization and globalization—as well as the associated processes of transformation.

Clausius Professorship

The Clausius Professorship was established to mark the 200th anniversary of the University of Bonn physicist Rudolph Clausius (1822–1888). It was awarded to a particularly exceptional early-career researcher from the Blocks of Matter and Fundamental Interactions Transdisciplinary Research Area.

Lena Funcke
© Gregor Hübl / Uni Bonn

Asst. Prof. Dr. Lena Funcke

Lena Funcke is studying the development of new models and computer-aided calculation methods to tackle the questions that lie at the heart of particle physics.

Argelander Professorships

Supporting researchers at all stages of their careers is one of the main aims of the University of Bonn in its role as a University of Excellence. This is why the Argelander Professorships (named after the University of Bonn astronomer Friedrich Wilhelm August Argelander, 1799–1875) were set up. These tenure track professorships are specifically intended to help outstanding early-career researchers and enable them to explore and further develop their research interests at the interface between individual disciplines and beyond subject and faculty boundaries.

Wolfram Barfuss
© Gregor Hübl / Uni Bonn

Integrated System Modeling for Sustainability Transitions
Asst. Prof. Dr. Wolfram Barfuss

Wolfram Barfuss, Argelander Professor in TRA Sustainable Futures, strives to reshape human-environment modeling to identify critical leverage points for sustainability transitions.

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© Gregor Hübl/Uni Bonn

Critical Museums and Heritage Studies
Asst. Prof. Dr. Julia Binter 

Julia Binter is a member of the Global Heritage Lab in the TRA Present Pasts. Her transcultural research is paving the way for new partnerships with the natural sciences and theologies.

Florian Brandl
© Gregor Hübl / Uni Bonn

Mathematics—Economics and Computer Science
Prof. Dr. Florian Brandl

Florian Brandl’s work in the TRA Modelling and the Hausdorff Center for Mathematics combines methods and approaches taken from economic theory, mathematics and computer science.

Patrycja Kielb
© Gregor Hübl / Uni Bonn

Biohybrid Research
Asst. Prof. Dr. Patrycja Kielb

By focusing on “bio-spectro-electrochemistry,” Patrycja Kielb’s work is helping to advance molecular science research in the TRA Matter.

Jacqueline Lorenzen
© Gregor Hübl / Uni Bonn

Sustainability and Environmental Transformation Law
Asst. Prof. Dr. Jacqueline Lorenzen

Jacqueline Lorenzen’s research in the TRA Individuals and Societies is focused on legal issues connected with sustainable urban development.

Julia Mink
© Gregor Hübl / Uni Bonn

Environmental Economics, Sustainability and Inequality
Asst. Prof. Dr. Julia Mink

Julia Mink is conducting research at the interface between environmental and healthcare economics in the TRA Individuals and Societies.

Elena Reckzeh
© Gregor Hübl / Uni Bonn

Organoids and Chemical Biology
Asst. Prof. Dr. Elena Reckzeh

Elena Reckzeh is combining chemical biology and organoid research in order to further expand the “Construction” strand of the research profile in the TRA Life and Health.

Ana Ivonne Vazquez-Armendariz
© Gregor Hübl / Uni Bonn

Organoid Biology
Asst. Prof. Dr. Ana Ivonne Vazquez-Armendariz

With her expertise in human lung organoids, Ana Ivonne Vazquez-Armendariz is adding a new dimension to the research profile in the TRA Life and Health.

Contact

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Dr. Ines Heuer

Strategic Development and Quality Assurance
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Dr. Eva Drews

Strategic Development and Quality Assurance
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