Past = Future in Perfect
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TRA Present Pasts: Past Worlds and Modern Questions - Cultures Across Time and Space

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The TRA Present Pasts works to overcome the eurocentric view of history through the transdisciplinary study of past cultural, political, social and economic constellations and their specific forms of communication. By developing new concepts of heritage and related practices we can better understand our own present day and ensure that we leave behind a sustainable legacy for future generations.

Research

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Projects

Learn more about ongoing funded TRA Present Pasts projects!

Offers

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News from the TRA

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What’s in a Name? — The Unknown Faces of History
Most people in history remain nameless, appearing in sources merely as numbers, traits or anonymous figures. A new research project launched by the Cluster of Excellence Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies (BCDSS) and the Department of History (IGW) at the University of Bonn is looking into how these nameless individuals can be analyzed and rendered visible in historical records. It has been awarded €370,000 in funding from the Volkswagen Foundation.
Mar 17, 2026
© Photo: M. Nour El-Din/redrawing: E. Kiesel
Spectacular discovery in the Sinai
The find is spectacular: an unusually old inscription dating back around 5,000 years in the southwest of the Sinai Peninsula shows in a terrifying manner how the Egyptians colonized the Sinai and subjugated the inhabitants. The scene prominently depicted on a clearly visible rock shows the Egyptians’ dominance in the form of a large man with his arms raised and a Sinaite with an arrow in his chest kneeling in front of him. Mustafa Nour El-Din from the Aswan Inspectorate at the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities discovered the unusual inscription in Wadi Khamila. Egyptologist Prof. Dr. Ludwig Morenz from the University of Bonn interpreted the scene: It announces the Egyptians’ colonial claim 5,000 years ago.
Jan 27, 2026
© Gregor Hübl/University of Bonn
New Heisenberg Professor at the University of Bonn
A new Heisenberg Professor has begun her work at the University of Bonn. Professor Laury Sarti, a medieval historian, is investigating the everyday mobility of people in the Middle Ages, considering not only the nobility but also ordinary individuals. Through its Heisenberg Programme, the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) enables researchers to pursue high-level projects and thus burnish their academic reputation even further. Sarti is receiving funding worth around €650,000.
Jan 06, 2026
© Photo: M. Qaim
Expensive food makes children fat
When food prices skyrocket during an economic crisis, it is primarily urban populations and people with low levels of education who are affected. This can have lifelong negative health consequences – such as stunted growth in children. A research team at the University of Bonn has now demonstrated such long-term effects using the example of the "Asian financial crisis" in the 1990s. At that time, turmoil on the financial markets led to a drastic increase in the price of rice, Indonesia's most important staple food, which left measurable traces in the development of children. The study was published in the journal "Global Food Security."
Jan 02, 2026

Highlights and Announcements

Get Involved in the TRA

As a member of the TRA, you can access funding opportunities, take part in events and build new networks. 

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Our Members

Our members are independent researchers from all faculties and central institutions, from PhDs to postdocs to professors. Together, they conduct research on current debates and related phenomena from the past.

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TRA members benefit from regular funding opportunities and the chance to network beyond disciplinary borders.

Meet our Researchers

Inter- and transdisciplinary research actively pursued at the University of Bonn and is promoted across faculty boundaries. The faces of the TRA Present Pasts are our Argelander Professor and the numerous dedicated researchers.  

© Gregor Hübl / Uni Bonn

TRA Present Pasts Spokesperson

Prof. Dr. Matthias Becher

© Boris Schafgans

TRA Present Pasts Spokesperson

Prof. Dr. Karoline Noack

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Joint Fellow BCDSS and TRA Present Pasts

Prof. Dr. Sophia Labadi

Contact

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Dr. Kim Alings

+49 228 73 54477

TRA manager | Strategic Development and Quality Assurance Unit
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Transdisciplinary Research Areas

Spaces for innovation in research and teaching - these are the six transdisciplinary research areas at the University of Bonn.

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University of Excellence

Since summer 2019, we have been one of eleven German Universities of Excellence. Read more about our research profile and our future concept.

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Research Funding

Research and Innovation Services at the University of Bonn will support you in all matters relating to your externally funded project.

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