Transdisciplinary Research Area 'Individuals, Institutions and Societies'

Each of us is part of society. But how do we, as individuals, affect society and how does it influence us in our own actions? What does this look like for institutions? How can institutions be designed to sustainably ensure equal opportunities and social cohesion in the age of globalization and digitalization?
These are questions that fall within the transdisciplinary research area (TRA) "Individuals, Institutions and Societies". The scientists in this TRA are investigating key influences on our social and economic decisions: Resource conservation, protection of art and cultural assets, morality and ethics, and determinants of human agency and motivation.

About the TRA 4
Learn more about goals and the organization of the transdisciplinary research area.

Research
Read here about the research profile, topics and funded projects of our TRA.

Offers
Information on offers, funding opportunities and events of our TRA can be found here.

Network
Here you can learn more about our network, our members and about our cooperation partners.
You want to do transdisciplinary research yourself, realize a project or network? Become a member of our TRA!
Callings in the TRA 4
Renowned reinforcement for the University of Bonn: Ethicist Christiane Woopen, agricultural economist Matin Qaim and theologian Klaus von Stosch fill new professorships of excellence. With the first High Profile Professorships financed by Excellence funds, three top-class scientific personalities are coming to the University of Excellence to open up new fields of research and provide important impulses in various disciplines.
Funding opportunities of TRA 4 'Individuals & Societies'

We support your third-party funding application from the idea to networking, start-ups and service to the application:
- Idea: Use TRA-specific calls, programs and events
- Network: find cooperation partners, develop & discuss ideas in workshops
- Start-up: launch projects & apply for (financial/ideal) funding for start-ups or events
- Service: Application consulting for TRA and third-party funds
- Application: project support and contact to specific consulting and service institutions
Die „Großen Herausforderungen“, wie die Folgen des Klimawandels, die Frage nach Mobilität und Migration sowie die rasanten Veränderungen der Gesellschaft durch Digitalisierung und Künstliche Intelligenz betreffen alle Menschen. Die Frage nach der angemessenen Wahrnehmung, Beschreibung, und Deutung dieser Phänomenkomplexe ist zentral, denn bereits ihre Semantisierung formiert durch die Nutzung bestimmter Konzepte, Kategorien, Sprachbilder und Wertungsmuster mögliche Akteur*innen und Handlungsräume. Verschiedene Semantisierungen führen so zu jeweils bestimmten Vorstellungen von Agency und Integrität innerhalb der aufgemachten Zukunftsszenarien. Genau dieses Verhältnis soll im Projekt untersucht werden. Innovativ ist dabei die analytische Verbindung der Begriffe Semantisierung, Agency und Integrität. Diese werden als sich im Wechselverhältnis gegenseitig konstituierend verstanden, wodurch das Prozesshafte des Ringens um eine adäquate Zukunftsbeschreibung herausgearbeitet und konzeptualisiert werden kann.
20. - 22.11.2022 | University of Bonn
An international Conference of the Research Group “Autonomy and autonomous Systems” of the Universities Bonn & RWTH Aachen
Autonomy, originally a core concept of the Enlightenment epitomizing aspirations of modernity, has become one of the central and particularly high-profile concepts in debates on digital transformations.
Just ask "Dr. Google"? For many consumers, the Internet is the first port of call for questions about health. The skills that are helpful when dealing with online health information and how competencies can be strengthened are currently the subject of much discussion and research. In the project "Orientation aids in dealing with online health information" (OriGes), the websites www.gesund-im-netz.net for adults and www.klick2health.net for adolescents were further developed as orientation aids for dealing with online health information from 2020 to 2022. To mark the successful conclusion of the project, we cordially invite you to our public closing event. We look forward to presenting the results to you and discussing them with you. The event will take place hybrid.
Thursday, December 1, 2022
17:30 - 19:30
To sharpen and further develop its scientific profile, the university has established six transdisciplinary research areas (TRAs). As novel innovation-promoting organizational structures, the TRAs direct university research toward central scientific, technological, and societal issues of the future. They serve as creative and explorative platforms.
The support of scientists at all career stages is one of the highest priorities of the Excellence University of Bonn. In this context, the Argelander Tenure Track Professorship Program is specifically dedicated to supporting excellent junior researchers and enabling them to develop their own independent research at the interface between the disciplines.
Applications are invited for an open position of an
Argelander Assistant Professor (W1) for Legal Aspects of Sustainability and Ecological Transformation (tenure track to W2)
to be filled as soon as possible within the Transdisciplinary Research Area “Individuals, Institutions and Societies” (TRA Individuals and Societies) of the University of Bonn ́s excellence initiative.
Freshly appointed to the Faculty of Protestant Theology at the University of Bonn and immediately successful in acquiring one of the highest-ranking top grants of the European Union: Ethicist and Theologian Prof. Dr. Matthias Braun receives a coveted Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). This is associated with funding of 1.5 million euros for the next five years. The researcher and his team are studying the ethical and societal impact of digital twins in healthcare.
From the CRISPR Cas9 gene scissors to artificial intelligence and reprogrammed cells: New technologies are always associated with ethical questions for research and application, to which there are no easy answers. irecs, the new collaborative project funded by the European Union, aims to strengthen principles of research ethics in as many disciplines as possible. Under the leadership of the University of Bonn, 17 partner organizations from Germany and abroad have joined forces to drive the project forward. The EU is funding the project with a total of 4.5 million euros over the next three years.
How do pollution and climate change affect health and the associated costs? How do people adapt to their environmental conditions, and what factors are crucial for such adaptability? Julia Mink, new Argelander Professor at the University of Bonn, addresses these and other questions. In the Transdisciplinary Research Area "Individuals, Institutions and Societies", she will work at the interface of environmental and health economics.
The Academy of Sciences and Literature has admitted six new members. Among them is Humboldt Professor Aimee van Wynsberghe. The AI ethicist from the University of Bonn has become a full member of the Humanities and Social Sciences Class.
Press review
- Traueranzeigen zu Alheydis Plassmann (03.12.2022)
- Poträt von Julia Mink (29.11.2022)
- Matthias Braun receives ERC Starting Grant (22.11.2022)
- Bonner Exzellenzforschung zu Umweltfragen. Gesellschaftliche Kosten des Klimawandels (09.10.2022)
- „Die Welt braucht neue Lösungen“ Ein Gespräch mit Hans-Georg Soeffner über Annäherungen von Konfliktparteien in Kriegs- und Krisenzeiten. (07.09.2022)
- Zentrum für Versöhnungsforschung nimmt Arbeit in Bonn auf (29.08.2022)
- Auszeichnung für Christiane Woopen (09.05.2022)
- Wilhelm-Weber-Preis für Medizinethikerin. Medizinethikerin Christiane Woopen in der Kommende Dortmund ausgezeichnet (08.05.2022)
- „Demokratisierung und Machtstrukturen“ Ringvorlesung zu Demokratie und Herrschaft Forschende der Uni Bonn stellen neue Ergebnisse (14.04.2022)
- Rethinking Privacy after this Pandemic (06.04.2022)
- Bonner Ringvorlesung über Versöhnung: Wissenschaftlicher Zweikampf zum friedvollen Miteinander (01.11.2021)
Contact
André Beauducel
Thomas Dohmen
Johanna Tix
Poppelsdorfer Allee 24
53115 Bonn