Transdisciplinary Research Area Technology and Innovation for Sustainable Futures

Sustainability means using resources in a way that the needs of today are met without neglecting or even disregarding the needs of future generations. This raises questions in a wide range of areas: poverty, hunger, food security, demographic change, health, protection of the environment, climate change and the responsible use of resources pose a global challenge for us all. To achieve progress with regards to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, our researchers apply an interdisciplinary approach focused on solutions combined with basic research, actively engage in global networks and collaborate with Bonn-based UN organizations.

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Hertz-Chair "Innovation for Planetary Health”
Prof. Dr. Ina Danquah

Ina Danquah sets a focus on „Planetary Health” within TRA Sustainable Futures

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Argelander-Professorship “Integrated System Modeling for Sustainability Transitions”
Jun.-Prof. Wolfram Barfuss

Wolfram Barfuss strives to reshape human-environment modeling to identify critical leverage points for sustainability transitions.

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Our TRA: Transcending classical disciplinary boundaries for the future

Unsere TRA: Für die Zukunft klassische Disziplingrenzen überschreiten

Bild © Universität Bonn / YouTube

At the Bonn Science Night in summer 2022 the speaker of TRA Technology and Innovation for a Sustainable Future, Prof. Jan Börner (Institute for Food and Resource Economics), and the former speaker Prof. Joachim von Braun (Center for Development Research) came to speak. Why is there a need for transdisciplinary research areas like the ones at the University of Bonn? What are the questions and problems that can only be addressed through a transdisciplinary perspective and cooperation? And what can transdisciplinary research look like?

The nutrition epidemiologist and speaker of the TRA Technology and Innovation for a Sustainable Future, Prof. Ute Nöthlings, presented the COPLANT study, which shows how transdisciplinary work can develop innovative approaches in research for important current problems.

News

Workshop for (post)doctoral researchers: "Change Agents for Sustainable Transitions: How can Individuals, Societies, Institutions, Technologies and Innovations bring knowledge into action?" (May 5, 2025). More information and Call for Contributions here.

Since fall 2024, TRA Sustainable Futures and the Cluster of Excellence PhenoRob jointly offer the "Public Interdisciplinary Lecture Series" (PILS). An overview of the upcoming lectures can be found here.

Our Open Call for seed funding is still available to all TRA members. Please feel free to contact us in advance if you have any questions.

The 'Innovation for Planetary Health' symposium on March 19, 2024 marked the opening of the Hertz Professorship of Prof. Dr. Ina Danquah at the University of Bonn. A report on the symposium can be found here.

TRA incubator grant 2024: Modelling for Sustainable Futures. A joint call by TRA Modelling and TRA Sustainable Futures to support highly innovative, cross-disciplinary research projects addressing new and relevant questions at the interface between Modelling in Mathematics or Computer Sciences and Sustainability Research. Deadline was May 19, 2024. More information can be found here.

TRA² - Transdisciplinary Research Prize: A joint call by the TRAs to fund highly innovative transdisciplinary research projects. Deadline was April 7, 2024. You can find more information here.

Missed a presentation from our lecture series "Innovation Pathways to Sustainability"? Videos of the presentations are available for viewing here, even after the event.

Members

The TRA Sustainable Futures currently has more than 220 members whose research is focused on the five priority themes of TRA Sustainable Futures.

Members Directory

Become a member of TRA Sustainable Futures!

As TRA member, you will have access to TRA funding and opportunities for networking beyond the borders of your own discipline.

Membership Application

Funding possibilities in TRA Sustainable Futures

The funding programmes offered by the TRA - including the Open Call, research awards and thematic or target group-specific calls - promote new and innovative research ideas from researchers at various stages of their careers.

More information on funding programmes

Funded projects

To date, TRA Sustainable Futures has financially supported more than 30 project ideas and projects. You can find some examples of the projects on our website.

To the projects

Transfer and Outreach

The topics of transfer and outreach play an important role for TRA Sustainable Futures. Find out here how the TRA is involved in these areas.

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Press releases

Animal products improve child nutrition in Africa

The consumption of milk products, eggs and fish has a positive effect on childhood development in Africa. This has been demonstrated in a recent study by the CABI's regional centre for Africa in Nairobi, Kenya and the University of Bonn. The researchers used representative data from five African countries with over 32,000 child observations. If the children had a diet containing animal products, they suffered less from malnutrition and related developmental deficiencies. The study has now been published in the journal PNAS.

Rainforest protection reduces the number of respiratory diseases

Rainforest protection is not only good for biodiversity and the climate – it also noticeably improves the health of humans who live in the corresponding regions. This is the conclusion drawn by a current study by the University of Bonn and the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais in Brazil. In this, the researchers show that measures to combat slash-and-burn techniques significantly reduce the concentration of particulate matter in the air. The number of hospital stays and deaths due to respiratory diseases thus also decreases. The results have been published now in the journal Nature Communications, Earth & Environment.

How Immune Cells “Sniff Out” Pathogens

Immune cells are capable of detecting infections just like a sniffer dog, using special sensors known as Toll-like receptors, or TLRs for short. But what signals activate TLRs, and what is the relationship between the scale and nature of this activation and the substance being detected? In a recent study, researchers from the University of Bonn and the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) used an innovative method to answer these questions. The approach that they took might help to speed up the search for drugs to combat infectious diseases, cancer, diabetes or dementia. Their findings have been published in the journal “Nature Communications.”

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.”