The TRA 4 'Individuals, Institutions and Societies'

How do we as individuals affect society and how does society in turn influence us in our actions? What role do institutions play here and how can they be designed to sustainably ensure equal opportunities and social cohesion in the age of globalization and digitization?

In order to do justice to this broad spectrum of questions, many perspectives must be taken. Economic questions are combined with legal, political, sociological, cultural, media-related and religious ones. This list is certainly not complete, but it makes clear that many disciplines are needed to do justice to such a transdisciplinary research area (TRA).

In the TRA 4 (under the short title 'TRA Individuals and Societies'), members of the Faculty of Law and Economics, the Faculty of Philosophy, and the two Faculties of Theology conduct research on these questions; in addition, our members include members of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, the Faculty of Medicine, and other scientific institutions.

Inspiration from tradition

A challenge for the researchers of the TRA 'Individuals & Societies' is often the data situation. If existing data, such as official statistical surveys by offices and authorities, cannot be used, the researchers become active themselves. To this end, they use large-scale empirical studies, surveys and laboratory experiments such as those conducted at BonnEconLab, one of the oldest laboratories for experimental economic research.

The BonnEconLab goes back to Reinhard Selten. The later Nobel Prize winner for economics (1994) founded the lab as early as 1984. His courage to think differently still inspires researchers today - and we would like to build on this in the TRA 'Individuals & Societies': because Bonn scientists not only conduct research on individuals, institutions and societies, they also strive to give back the knowledge they have gained, for example in the context of collaborations that extend beyond scientific research institutions into politics and the living world.

Our vision: collaboration beyond the boundaries of specialist disciplines

The most important tasks of the TRA 'Individuals & Societies' include the promotion of inter- and transdisciplinary collaborations and the establishment of new collaborative research projects. In order to achieve this, the TRA is designed as an interactive platform for networking and scientific exchange. It thus offers a variety of points of contact for established scientists as well as for young researchers.

Network & Cooperation Partners

The TRA 'Individuals & Societies' connects with its questions various actors from the faculties of the University of Bonn and existing research institutions, such as the Forum Internationale Wissenschaft, the Käte Hamburger Center for Advanced Study in the Humanities 'Law as Culture', the 'Forschungskolleg normative Gesellschaftsgrundlagen', the International Center for Philosophy, the Graduiertenkolleg NRW Digitale Gesellschaft and many others.

TRA 4 network

Click here for our member directory.

Become a member of TRA 4!

Organization of TRA 'Individuals & Societies

Spokesperson

Prof. Dr. André Beauducel
Institute for Psycholgy

Prof. Dr. Hans-Martin von Gaudecker
Institute for Applied Microeconomics

Steering Committee

Born members:

Prof. Dr. André Beauducel (Spokesperson of the TRA Institutions)
Prof. Dr. Stephan Conermann (Dean of the Faculty of Arts)
Prof. Dr. Hans-Martin von Gaudecker (Spokespersonof the TRA Institutions)
Prof. Dr. Jürgen von Hagen⁸⁸ (Dean of the Faculty of Law and Economics)
Jun.-Prof. Dr. Jacqueline Lorenzen (Argelander Professur der TRA 'Individuals & Societies)
Jun.-Prof. Dr. Julia Mink (Argelander Professorship of TRA ‚Individuals & Societies’)
Prof. Dr. Cornelia Richter⁹⁹ (Dean of the Faculty of Protestant Theology)
Prof. Dr. Andreas Odenthal (Dean of the Faculty of Catholic Theology)
Prof. Dr. Christiane Woopen (Hertz Chair of TRA ‚Individuals & Societies’)

Representatives Professorate:

Prof. Dr. Clemens Albrecht (Faculty of Arts)
Prof. Dr. Dr. Wolfgang Durner¹² (Faculty of Law and Economics)
Prof. Dr. Louisa Specht-Riemenschneider¹⁴ (Faculty of Law and Economics)
Prof. Dr. Caja Thimm¹⁵ (Faculty of Arts)
Prof. Dr. Florian Zimmermann¹⁶ (Faculty of Law and Economics)

Representatives of the Status Groups:

Jakob Wegmann (mid-level faculty, Faculty of Law and Economics)
Jan Voosholz (mid-level faculty, Faculty of Arts)

Simone Jost (administrative and technical staff, Faculty of Law and Economics)
N.N. (administrative and technical staff)

Julian Esders (representative, Faculty of Law and Economics)
Debora Eller (representative, Faculty of Arts)

Management

Johanna Tix

Manager TRA 'Individuals & Societies'
Strategic Development and Quality Assusrance

TRA 'Individuals & Societies' student assistants:

Andrea Haag

Faculties

The TRA 'Individuals & Societies' is closely linked to four faculties of the University of Bonn:

The deans of these four faculties are members of the TRA 'Individuals & Societies' Steering Committee.

Set of rules

All important information about the structure, objectives and legal basis of TRA 'Individuals & Societies' can be found in our statute.

Funding

Within the framework of the Excellence Strategy of the German Federal and State Governments, the TRA 'Individuals & Societies' is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Ministerium für Kultur und Wissenschaft des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen (MKW).

The TRA 'Individuals, Institutions and Societies' in fact and figures

Press releases

A Transdisciplinary Win

A team of University of Bonn researchers wins a funding competition conducted by the Life and Health transdisciplinary research area.

Research Studying Research

In what ways do evaluation and reward systems influence the conduct and results of research studies? This is the question addressed by Dr. Oliver Braganza of the University of Bonn and University Hospital Bonn, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Utrecht, the University of Duisburg-Essen and colleagues from the University of Bonn. Titled “The cultural evolution of scientific practice—from simulation to experimentation,” the project is to receive around 1.8 million euros in funding from the Volkswagen Foundation over the next four years.

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.

Why Are People Climate Change Deniers?

Do climate change deniers bend the facts to avoid having to modify their environmentally harmful behavior? Researchers from the University of Bonn and the Institute of Labor Economics (IZA) ran an online experiment involving 4,000 US adults, and found no evidence to support this idea. The authors of the study were themselves surprised by the results. Whether they are good or bad news for the fight against global heating remains to be seen. The study is being published in the journal “Nature Climate Change.”