Assistant Professor Dr. Vera Traub from the Institute for Discrete Mathematics at the University of Bonn is joining nine other researchers in being awarded the €200,000 Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize by the German Research Foundation (DFG).

The German Research Foundation (DFG) has accepted mathematician Dr. Illia Karabash from the University of Bonn onto its Heisenberg Programme. This provides five years’ worth of funding that enables researchers to complete high-quality projects and thus further increase their academic and scientific reputation. Karabash’s research is geared toward the mathematical optimization of optical resonators, a key component in quantum computing. 

Nearly 300 guests attended the opening event of the “An Invitation from the University of Excellence Bonn” series on June 14, 2023 and were treated to an informative and wide-reaching evening. Alongside talks about Argelander’s research and its enduring importance, the impact of his work was also explored through artistic means. By the time the event concluded, one thing was clear: there’s plenty of call for another such event.

Grants from the European Research Council (ERC) are awarded to outstanding researchers and are worth millions of euros in funding. Assistant Professor Yongguo Li from the Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Bonn has now obtained a much-sought-after ERC Starting Grant. The researcher is investigating how the lipid metabolism can be influenced so as to “burn” as many calories as possible, thus opening up potential new ways to treat obesity and diabetes.

Ten doctoral students from the Center for Development Research (ZEF) of the University of Bonn have embarked on a research trip to the Japanese capital Tokyo and the island of Hokkaido. They will be tackling some urgent questions relating to the marine environment, agriculture and resource management at the University of Tokyo over the next eight days. The group has a decidedly international makeup, with the doctoral students from the ZEF hailing from Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, India, Namibia, Nigeria, Sweden, the Philippines, Tanzania and the US. They will be writing a blog about their journey and their research activities in the field, which they will be carrying out together with a group of ten researchers from the University of Tokyo and its International Program in Agricultural Development Studies (IPADS). 

Containing little fat but lots of protein, mushrooms are also rich in beta-glucans and soluble dietary fiber. They are believed to bring health benefits and can help us feel more full after eating, qualities that could inform a strategy for people who are severely overweight, or obese. Nutritionists from the University of Bonn now want to investigate this idea in more detail and are inviting overweight adults to take part in their trial.

What is love? And how does love work? What is beauty? These were the questions tackled in the inaugural Annemarie Schimmel Lecture. Jordanian Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, a professor of philosophy, explored the topic on three consecutive days - an evening talk in Bonn Minster followed by two further events in the University of Bonn’s Grand Hall. 

What legal levers can cities pull in order to reinvent themselves as green, equitable, productive and healthy places to live in the spirit of the New Leipzig Charter of 2021? What legal constraints are they subject to? And what answers do constitutions provide to the question of an environmentally sustainable transformation and the social sustainability challenges that it brings? These and other questions are being tackled by the legal expert Jun.-Prof. Dr. Jacqueline Lorenzen, a new Argelander Professor at the University of Bonn. Within the Individuals, Institutions and Societies Transdisciplinary Research Area (TRA), she is working at the interface between law, economics and the social sciences.