Research and Teaching with the best minds

Research and Teaching at the University of Bonn

The University of Bonn is one of eleven Universities of Excellence in Germany and the only university with six Clusters of Excellence. Our seven faculties cover a broad range of disciplines. These strong disciplines are supplemented by six cross-faculty, interdisciplinary “Transdisciplinary Research Areas” (TRAs) that create spaces for exploration and innovation where key scientific, technological and social challenges are addressed.

Postdoc
© Volker Lannert/Uni Bonn

Transdisciplinary Research Profile

The research profile of our University of Excellence is based on our six Transdisciplinary Research Areas (TRAs), and is further strengthened by six Clusters of Excellence, countless collaborative projects and outstanding researchers.

Frau Professor Margherita Disertori vom Hausdorf Center for Mathematics hält eine Mathematikvorlesung vor Studierenden.
© Volker Lannert/Uni Bonn

Teaching Profile

We aim to create a passion for science in young people and help them develop their individual professional and personal skills as best possible. The overall orientation of study and teaching at the University is based on ten principles.

Wissenschaftler im Hofgarten
© Volker Lannert/Uni Bonn

Researchers and Teachers

The University provides a range of services to help increase the time available for research and teaching. These range from providing advice on submitting applications and handling third-party funded projects, all the way to consulting on teaching methods. Learn about our Welcome Center and funding lines for international exchange, among other things.

Angebote Forschende und Lehrende
© Ulrike E. Klopp/Uni Bonn

Doctoral Students and Postdocs

We want to give talented early-career researchers the opportunity to perform independent research and help them achieve their goals both within and outside academia. The Argelander Program provides orientation, cross-disciplinary training and funding for early-career researchers.

Transfer enaCOM
© Volker Lannert/Uni Bonn

Knowledge and Technology Transfer

enaCom Transfer Center sees itself as an intermediary, translator and catalyst between science and stakeholders outside the scientific community. Its work focuses on making research results obtained at the University of Bonn available for the benefit of society.

Forschung und Lehre - 2
© Frommann/Uni Bonn

Quality Assurance

Academic integrity and high quality teaching are our top priorities. Learn about our quality assurance measures, Guidelines for Safeguarding Good Research Practice and your contact persons.

Latest Research and Teaching News
Fossils Permit Glimpse into the Future

In what is an intriguing mix of past and future, an international team of researchers, including some from the University of Bonn, has stumbled upon a surprising window to the past in Kourou in French Guiana. In the clay underneath the new launch pad for the forthcoming Ariane 6 launch vehicle, the interdisciplinary team has uncovered a remarkable collection of fossils stretching back 130,000 years. Covering over 270 species in total, including bony fish, sharks and numerous plants, they reflect the kind of climatic conditions that calculations suggest are set to reoccur in the year 2100. The team’s findings have now been published in the “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA.”

All Countries’ Agri-Environmental Policies at a Glance

There can be no analysis without data. In this spirit, researchers from the University of Bonn and the Swiss Federal Institution of Technology (ETH) Zurich have published a database containing over 6,000 agri-environmental policies, thus enabling their peers as well as policymakers and businesses to seek answers to all manner of different questions. The researchers have used two examples to demonstrate how this can be done: how a country’s economic development is linked to its adoption of agri-environmental policies and how such policies impact soil erosion. Their study has now been published in “Nature Food.”

Maize genes control little helpers in the soil

Tiny organisms such as bacteria and fungi help to promote the health and function of plant roots. It is commonly assumed that the composition of these microbes is dependent on the properties of the soil. However, an international team of researchers led by the University of Bonn has now discovered when studying different local varieties of maize that the genetic makeup of the plants also helps to influence which microorganisms cluster around the roots. The results, which have now been published in the prestigious journal Nature Plants, could help to breed future varieties of maize that are better suited to drought and limited nutrients.

Phosphorus Absorption Improved and Zinc Content Increased

A new variety of rice that is adapted to life in low-phosphorus soils, that contains an exceptionally large amount of zinc and that was developed specifically for the conditions in Madagascar where it is grown, has recently been certified in the country. The variety was created under the leadership of plant scientist Professor Matthias Wissuwa from the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS) and the PhenoRob Cluster of Excellence at the University of Bonn which he joined as a visiting professor in spring 2023,  together with the Africa Rice Center and the National Centre of Applied Research for Rural Development in Madagascar (FOFIFA)

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Clusters of Excellence

200+

Degree Programs

545

Professors

Our Research Profile

The research profile of our University of Excellence is defined by six Transdisciplinary Research Areas (TRAs), each of which has a Clusters of Excellence at its core. The TRAs focus our research on key scientific, technological and social issues of the future. Outstanding researchers, strong disciplines and a cooperative research culture have always formed the basis of our research profile.

Transdisciplinary Research Areas

The six Transdisciplinary Research Areas (TRAs) at the University of Bonn create spaces for innovation in research and teaching.

Excellence Strategy

“We invest in people. We foster networks. We create impact.” Our strategy for excellence in research and teaching.

Clusters of Excellence

The University of Bonn has six Clusters of Excellence, more than any other university in Germany.

Promotion of Early-Career Researchers

We offer many support services for doctoral students and postdocs to promote early independent research.

Research Networks

Innovative top-level research in many national and international partnerships and collaborative projects sets us apart.

Outstanding Researchers

The outstanding research performed by our researchers is shown by the many awards that have been received.

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