Events

ThinkJourney: "From Intelligence to Personhood—AI as a Challenge to Our Self-Image" Together with renowned experts from academia and society, we embark on a weekly journey of thought during the semester, exploring desirable futures in different areas of life. Our guests present their research and engage in discussion with students, young scientists, and interested members of the public. At the end of the semester, the journeys of thought are followed by a joint excursion to a location relevant to the topic. Registration via this email: jungesdenken@uni-bonn.de

Together with renowned experts from academia and society, we embark on a weekly journey of thought during the semester, exploring desirable futures in different areas of life. Our guests present their research and engage in discussion with students, young scientists, and interested members of the public. At the end of the semester, the journeys of thought are followed by a joint excursion to a location relevant to the topic. Registration via this email: jungesdenken@uni-bonn.de

Together with renowned experts from academia and society, we embark on a weekly journey of thought during the semester, exploring desirable futures in different areas of life. Our guests present their research and engage in discussion with students, young scientists, and interested members of the public. At the end of the semester, the journeys of thought are followed by a joint excursion to a location relevant to the topic. Registration via this email: jungesdenken@uni-bonn.de

ThinkJourney: " From “Animal Machines” to “Machines for Animals”: Are New Technologies in Animal Husbandry a Step into the Future or a Step Backward for Animal Welfare Research?" Together with renowned experts from academia and society, we embark on a weekly journey of thought during the semester, exploring desirable futures in different areas of life. Our guests present their research and engage in discussion with students, young scientists, and interested members of the public. At the end of the semester, the journeys of thought are followed by a joint excursion to a location relevant to the topic. Registration via this email: jungesdenken@uni-bonn.de

Together with renowned experts from academia and society, we embark on a weekly journey of thought during the semester, exploring desirable futures in different areas of life. Our guests present their research and engage in discussion with students, young scientists, and interested members of the public. At the end of the semester, the journeys of thought are followed by a joint excursion to a location relevant to the topic. Registration via this email: jungesdenken@uni-bonn.de

Together with renowned experts from academia and society, we embark on a weekly journey of thought during the semester, exploring desirable futures in different areas of life. Our guests present their research and engage in discussion with students, young scientists, and interested members of the public. At the end of the semester, the journeys of thought are followed by a joint excursion to a location relevant to the topic. Registration via this email: jungesdenken@uni-bonn.de

Together with renowned experts from academia and society, we embark on a weekly journey of thought during the semester, exploring desirable futures in different areas of life. Our guests present their research and engage in discussion with students, young scientists, and interested members of the public. At the end of the semester, the journeys of thought are followed by a joint excursion to a location relevant to the topic. Registration via this email: jungesdenken@uni-bonn.de

Winter Institute Part I: Part I "Dualism and Non-Duality in the Age of Artificial Intelligenge" In Kyōto, we will focus on non-duality as a philosophical, cultural, and ethical orientation. How can we think AI without resorting to substantial dualisms? What can be learned from Japanese and broader Asian traditions of thought – Kyoto School philosophy, Buddhist epistemologies, Daoist ontologies, and process-relational metaphysics such as the recent We- Turn – that view reality as fundamentally interconnected and dynamic rather than as composed of separable entities? This leg of our programme is geared to approaches that engage with non-dual or relational approaches to AI and cognition.

Fall Institute Part II: "Dualism and Non-Duality in the Age of Artificial Intelligenge" In New York, the focus will shift toward dualism and the enduring philosophical importance of differentiation, separation, and embodiment. The humanities have long been concerned with the specificity of human existence, arguing for and explicating the irreducibility of consciousness, intentionality, and meaning. Against current tendencies to ascribe autonomy or mental capacities to AI systems, we will revisit the philosophical grounds for distinguishing between artificial and actual intelligence. This event invites approaches that critically defend, refine, or transform dualistic frameworks.

Further information will follow shortly for the conference “Enabling Democracy,” which will take place from September 30 to October 2, 2026, at the University of Bonn.

This workshop discussed problem areas and possible solutions for improving support for vulnerable groups during reconstruction in the Ahr Valley. Pascal Koffer berichtete von seinen Erfahrungen in der psychosozialen Notfallversorgung nach der Flut und der Erkenntnis, dass diese u.a. zu einer geringeren Belastung und einem positiven Umgang mit Stresssituationen bei Betroffenen führen. Frauke Weller vom Wassersportverein Sinzig e.V. gab interessante Einblicke in das Inklusionsprojekt WassAHR, in dem insbesondere Kindern mit Behinderungen positive Erfahrungen mit Wasser vermittelt werden. Gefordert wird eine Ausweitung der finanziellen und ideellen Unterstützung von psychosozialen Hilfs- und Beratungsangeboten sowie Begegnungsstätten und sozialen Netzwerken. Zudem ist eine zentrale Anlaufstelle der Verwaltung für sämtliche Belange der regionalen Hilfsorganisationen und Vereine erklärter Wunsch der Teilnehmer:innen.

Further information about the project can be found here: https://www.geographie.uni-bonn.de/en/research/research-groups/rg-hoerschelmann/research?set_language=en

On June 11, 2025, representatives of numerous aid organizations, associations, and foundations in the Ahr Valley gathered for a workshop at Koblenz University of Applied Sciences in Remagen. The aim was to develop strategies for better cooperation, clear responsibilities in crisis situations, and the strengthening of volunteer work. The key outcome was a proposal to establish an alliance of all aid actors. The event was organized by the “SOZIAHR” project at the University of Bonn. On June 11, 2025, representatives of numerous aid organizations and associations—including Malteser, Kinderschutzbund Ahrweiler, Regionalteam Bethel, Stiftung Ahrtal, and many others—gathered for an intensive exchange at Koblenz University of Applied Sciences, Remagen campus. The aim of the workshop was to develop strategies for better support of aid structures in the Ahr Valley, with a particular focus on cooperation, coordination, and the promotion of volunteer work.

The history of the three major religions – Christianity, Judaism, and Islam – is marked by common origins as well as conflicts and even wars. What role does the coexistence of religions play in Germany, how can it be made fruitful, and what role does the concept of reconciliation play in this? After a welcome address by Prof. Dr. Volker Kronenberg, Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Bonn Academy, Bishop Dr. Franz-Josef Overbeck, Bishop of Essen, and Prof. Dr. Mouhanad Khorchide, Director of the Center for Islamic Theology at the University of Münster, will discuss peaceful coexistence of religious communities together with Rabbi Yitzchack Mendel Wagner, Rabbi of the Jewish Community of Krefeld, will discuss peaceful coexistence among religious communities. Moral theologian Prof. Dr. Dr. Jochen Sautermeister from the University of Bonn will moderate the evening.

To mark 100 years since Joseph A. Schumpeter joined the University of Bonn (Wintersemester 1925/26), the Center for Advanced Studies: Finance and Inequality (CASFI) will host the conference „Schumpeter@100: Firm Dynamics, Growth, and Heterogeneity“, to be held February 19–20, 2026 at the University of Bonn. The conference will bring together researchers from macroeconomics, finance, and economic history to discuss new insights into firm dynamics, growth, and inequality. The program will consist of two half-day sessions, providing ample opportunity for presentations and discussions. Confirmed speakers include Marc J. Melitz (Harvard University) as keynote, along with scholars from around the world.

The first Workshop of the Center for Advanced Studies "Finance and Inequality" (CASFI) includes various presentations to discuss the state of the research on the topic of finance and inequality. Over the course of two days, participants presented and discussed current research projects exploring the complex and evolving relationship between financial systems and economic inequality across time and countries. The workshop provided an open and collaborative environment for early-stage ideas as well as advanced work, encouraging critical engagement and interdisciplinary exchange. It also served to strengthen the growing research network of the CAS and to shape its agenda moving forward.

The 2nd Workshop of the Center for Advanced Studies Finance & Inequality (CASFI) brought together researchers from economic history, financial economics, and macroeconomics to present and discuss ongoing projects that explore the multifaceted relationship between financial systems and economic inequality.

The 3rd workshop of the Center for Advanced Studies "Finance and Inequality" (CASFI) took place in June 12, 2025. This event brought together scholars to explore recent developments in the field. The goal of the event was a productive exchange among researchers in economic and financial history, as well as macroeconomics, who are working on the link between finance and inequality. We are especially pleased that Kris Mitchener was among the participants.

Search frictions in the product market have been widely studied as a foundation of monetary theory. More recently, they have also been advanced as a possible explanation for demand-side fluctuations. This paper develops a monetary model with product market search frictions to evaluate the quantitative relevance of these frictions to the short-term effects of monetary policy on output. In the model, due to matching uncertainty in the product market, firms operate with unutilized capacity and households carry unused liquidity, and changes to the nominal interest rate have effects on output. I discipline the degree of matching uncertainty by its implications on money velocity and capacity utilization. Absent matching uncertainty, a one percent reduction in the nominal interest rate increases consumption by 0.07%. Matching uncertainty can amplify this effect by a factor of four.

This paper characterizes the transition dynamics of a continuous-time neoclassical production economy with capital accumulation in which households face idiosyncratic income risk and cannot commit to repay their debt. Therefore, even though a full set of contingent claims that pay out conditional on the realization of idiosyncratic shocks is available, the equilibrium features imperfect insurance and a non-degenerate cross-sectional consumption distribution.When household labor productivity takes two values, one of which is zero, and the utility function is logarithmic, we characterize the entire transition dynamics induced by unexpected technology shocks, including the evolution of the consumption distribution, in closed form. We then use these analytical transition results to study the speed of convergence in income per capita of a poor (low TFP) to a rich (high TFP) economy and the evolution of consumption inequality over time in response to an increase in idiosyncratic income risk.