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.

Click here for the TRA 4 network

Click here for our Research Profile.

Click here to go to our members area.

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. Martin Böse⁸⁸ (Dean of the Faculty of Law and Economics)
Prof. Dr. Stephan Conermann (Dean of the Faculty of Arts)
Prof. Dr. Hans-Martin von Gaudecker (Spokesperson of the TRA Institutions)
Prof. Dr. Helmut Löhr (Dean of the Faculty of Protestant Theology)
Jun.-Prof. Dr. Jacqueline Lorenzen (Argelander Professorship of TRA 'Individuals & Societies)
Jun.-Prof. Dr. Julia Mink (Argelander Professorship of TRA ‚Individuals & Societies’)
Prof. Dr. Andreas Odenthal (Dean of the Faculty of Catholic Theology)
Prof. Dr. Christiane Woopen (Hertz Chair of TRA ‚Individuals & Societies’)
Prof. Dr. Thomas Dohmen (Spokesperson of the Cluster of Excellence ECONtribute)

Representatives Professorate:

Prof. Dr. Markus Gabriel (Faculty of Arts)
Prof. Dr. Dennis Lehmkuhl (Faculty of Arts)
Prof. Dr. Laura Münkler (Faculty of Law and Economics, Schlegel-Professorship)
Prof. Dr. Cornelia Richter (Faculty of Protestant Theology)
Prof. Dr. Caja Thimm (Faculty of Arts)
Dr. Jan Voosholz (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)
Johannes Fröh (mid-level faculty, Faculty of Protestant Theology)
Simone Jost (administrative and technical staff, Faculty of Law and Economics)
Melanie Wolff Metternich (administrative and technical staff, Faculty of Arts)
Fabio Urrich (representative, Faculty of Law and Economics)
N.N.

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).

Press releases

Will customers accept a little in their cafeteria meals?

We eat too much meat in Germany and this not only has a negative impact on health but is also damaging for the environment and climate. Cafeteria owners are increasingly open to the idea of serving smaller portions of meat – especially for cost reasons. But how do you encourage their customers to choose smaller portions of meat? Researchers at the University of Bonn have been investigating this question at a cafeteria in a rehabilitation clinic. The desired effect was the biggest when the team at the cafeteria simply served smaller portions of meat and only topped them up when this was requested by customers. This approach was also largely accepted by patrons. The results have now been published in the journal “Environment and Behavior.”

Seven ERC Starting Grants for the University of Bonn

There have never been so many ERC Starting Grants at once at the University of Bonn: no fewer than seven researchers have been successful with their applications in the highly competitive European Research Council (ERC) funding process. With their funding of some €1.5 million each, the researchers from the fields of ethics, mathematics, economics, soil science, computer science and astronomy will be able to realize their projects over the next five years.

Immersing Ourselves in New Worlds: Where Theology Meets Cognitive Research

What happens when we look at a late antique image? In what order does our gaze wander over the individual elements? Where does it linger? What bodily reactions do such images or early Christian narratives trigger in us? Attempts to answer questions like this are going well beyond merely interpreting early Christian works. A research project embarked on by the University of Bonn together with the University of St Andrews is now bringing Ancient Studies and Cognitive Science together. One key theme is immersion, a concept usually associated more with the world of gaming.

University of Bonn Secures Two New Research Groups

The German Research Foundation (DFG) has given its approval for a new Centre for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences and a Research Unit at the University of Bonn. In the Finance and Inequality Centre for Advanced Studies, the researchers led by Professor Christian Bayer and Professor Carsten Burhop are looking at the relationship between the growth of the financial sector and inequality from a historical angle. In the field of mathematical physics, meanwhile, Professor Claude Duhr is the speaker for a new Research Unit for particle physics. The DFG will be funding the two projects to the tune of several million euros over the next four years.