Based on previous studies of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is known that a specific form of white immune cells, natural killer (NK) cells, make an important contribution to the early antiviral immune response against SARS-CoV-2. An international team led by the University of Bonn has now found that in severe courses of COVID-19, the ability of natural killer cells to prevent pathological proliferation of fibrous tissue in the lungs is often impaired. Major parts of the study were conducted at the University Hospital Bonn and the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE). The results have been published online in advance in the reputed journal "Immunity". The print version will appear shortly.

Chemists at Goethe University Frankfurt have developed two new classes of materials in the field of nanomaterials and investigated them together with their cooperation partners at the University of Bonn: For the first time, they have succeeded in producing a nano-ball from silicon atoms and a building block for a diamond-like crystal of the semiconductor elements silicon and germanium. The two new classes of materials have application potential, for example, in the miniaturization of computer chips, in high-resolution screens for smartphones, or in solar cells and light-emitting diodes with maximum efficiency. 

The Greek historian Herodotus described the fertile land in Egypt as a "gift of the Nile". The Nile made life in the desert possible in the first place, and people have also dealt with it culturally for thousands of years. The island Elephantine is located at the mythological place of origin of the river Nile. Why was it associated in ancient Egypt with the image of an elephant splashing water? In his new book, Prof. Dr. Ludwig D. Morenz, an Egyptologist at the University of Bonn, combines the answer to this question with other findings from the region near Aswan.

In the current university ranking of the British magazine Times Higher Education (THE), the University of Bonn has once again improved its position in a global comparison and is ranked 112th among the more than 1,600 educational institutions evaluated worldwide. In Germany, Bonn is in 10th place. For the World University Ranking, various indicators were surveyed in the areas of research, teaching, knowledge transfer and internationality.

For their research on novel "nanobodies" against the SARS-coronavirus-2, the team around Dr. Florian I. Schmidt of the Institute of Innate Immunity at the University of Bonn has been selected as one of ten winners in the Life Sciences category of the Falling Walls Foundation. 

The tremendous advances made in experimental life sciences in recent years provide a wealth of data on how organisms function. To gain biomedical knowledge from these data, both mathematical modeling and numerical analysis techniques in conjunction with experimental data are essential. At a joint symposium of the Clusters of Excellence Hausdorff Center for Mathematics and ImmunoSensation2 as well as the Transdisciplinary Research Areas "Modelling" and "Life and Health" of the University of Bonn, the professors working at the interfaces and their colleagues presented their research and invited to participate.

Prof. Dr. Joachim von Braun, Director of the Center for Development Research (ZEF) at the University of Bonn, together with other scientists, formulates seven priorities to end hunger and protect the planet in the high-profile journal Nature. 

Opening up a new approach to research on slavery and dependency - that is the aim of the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies (BCDSS) at the University of Bonn. The Cluster of Excellence has now been strengthened by three outstanding female scholars: The historians Julia Hillner and Claudia Jarzebowski as well as the Americanist Pia Wiegmink will take up professorships at the Cluster starting in fall, completing the team of professorships established there as part of the Excellence Strategy. Christoph Witzenrath, also a historian, already researches and teaches at the BCDSS. At a reception in the university's Rector's Office, Rector Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Michael Hoch now officially presented the appointment certificates to the four Cluster Professors.