For successful fertilization, sperm should move forward rapidly and be shaped correctly. The unique structure of the sperm cells forms during spermiogenesis. Now, researchers from the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the Transdisciplinary Research Unit "Life & Health" at the University of Bonn have found that fertility problems in both mice and humans can be caused by loss of so-called cylicines. This causes defects in head and tail structure of sperm. The results of the study have now been published in the scientific journal "eLife".

Dermatologist Prof. Jörg Wenzel of Bonn University Hospital and University of Bonn has collaborated with Incyte, a U.S.-based global biopharmaceutical company, to develop a strategy for treating patients with severe pruritus (prurigo nodularis) with ruxolitinib cream. The University of Bonn and Incyte have now entered into an agreement whereby Incyte has acquired the rights to a related joint patent application from Bonn.

The new Collaborative Research Center (CRC) "NuMeriQS: Numerical Methods for Dynamics and Structure Formation in Quantum Systems" aims to advance the understanding of dynamics and structure formation in quantum systems. The German Research Foundation (DFG) is setting up the CRC at the University of Bonn to strengthen cutting-edge research. Forschungszentrum Jülich and the Max Planck Institute für Kohlenforschung are also involved. The start is planned for April 2024. Over the next three years and nine months, around eight million euros will flow into the research network. The Transdisciplinary Research Area "Matter" at the University of Bonn supported the creation of the CRC.

Innovations in AI-assisted social sciences, sustainable agriculture and medicine are being funded in the third round of prototyping grants by the Transfer Center enaCom at the University of Bonn. Whether an AI solution for better understanding of scientific communities, a robot that treats weeds differently depending on the species, or a preventive nasal spray - scientists from the University of Bonn and the University Hospital Bonn are developing innovative prototypes for practical challenges of our time. With the prototyping grants, their research findings are prepared for a planned commercialization. The grants with a funding amount of up to €50,000 are regularly awarded by the Transfer Center.

The Universitätsgesellschaft Bonn (UGB) has awarded its prizes for exceptional doctorates and student engagement at its traditional winter soirée. The funding association gave out prize money totaling €19,000 to young academics.

Do primary school children influence the snack purchases of their peers? A study by the University of Bonn reveals that they do indeed. In the presence of friends or classmates, kids are more likely to choose the unhealthier, but also the cheaper option. These findings can support policymaking aimed at motivating primary schoolers to make healthier choices. The study was recently published in the journal Appetite.

Another big success for the University of Bonn in securing grants from the European Research Council (ERC), with three researchers receiving an ERC Consolidator Grant: Professor Jan Hasenauer of the LIMES Institute, Professor Florian I. Schmidt of the Institute for Innate Immunity and Dr. Evgeny Shinder of the Mathematical Institute.

How can reducing greenhouse gas emissions, more efficient energy use and animal welfare be balanced even more successfully in livestock farming in the future? This was the question tackled by a team of authors led by Professor Wolfgang Büscher and Inga Tiemann from the Animal Husbandry Technology Department, which is part of the Institute of Agricultural Engineering at the University of Bonn. Their contributions have now been published alongside those of many other researchers in the VDI Roadmap entitled “Agriculture Technology 2030.”