News — University of Bonn

Mongolia Honors Two University of Bonn Researchers¹

Two archaeologists from the University of Bonn have been presented with major awards in recognition of their many years of successful research work in Mongolia. At a ceremony held at the Ministry of Education and Science of Mongolia in the capital Ulaanbaatar, State Secretary M. Batgerel pinned the Order of the Polar Star - the highest honor that the country can award to a foreign citizen - onto Professor Jan Bemmann’s lapel. Susanne Reichert received the Friendship Medal. The two researchers are currently working in Mongolia as part of Research Unit 5438, “Urban Impacts on the Mongolian Plateau - Entanglements of Economy, City, and Environment,” which has recently secured funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG).

Consortium Discovers 28 New Risk Genes for COVID-19²

A great many criteria determine whether or not we get seriously ill from COVID-19. Besides our age and any previous or existing conditions, they also include genetic factors. Right from the start of the pandemic, the “COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative” has been investigating the links between genetic factors and severe COVID-19. The international research consortium has now discovered 28 new risk factors, pushing the total number of candidate genes identified by the initiative up to 51. Its findings have now been published in the prestigious journal “Nature.”

Faculty of Catholic Theology Launches New Partnership³

The Faculty of Catholic Theology at the University of Bonn and the Luxembourg School of Religion & Society (LSRS) have signed a cooperation agreement to make the LSRS an An-Institut, a private institution affiliated with the University. A ceremony to mark the occasion is being held in the Grand Hall of the University Main Building from 2 pm to 4 pm on Monday, September 25, 2023 and will be followed by a reception. Representatives from the media and anyone else who is interested are cordially invited to attend. Please register by calling +49 228 737343, emailing dekanat.ktf@uni-bonn.de or going to https://terminplaner.dfn.de/Anmeldung-IPA-Uni.

⁴

Funding of €6.9 Million for Sepsis Research⁴

Every year some 75,000 people die from bacterial blood poisoning, or sepsis, in Germany alone. Survivors of sepsis often struggle with secondary and concomitant conditions due to the resulting impairment of the immune system, the so called “Immunesuppression”. The International Center for Clinical Research (ICRC) at St. Anne's University Hospital (FNUSA) Brno (Czech Republic) has founded the research consortium “BEATSep”. HORIZON EUROPA is funding it with around 6,9 million euros over the next five years. The project aims to study the cellular and molecular mechanisms causing the immune suppression in sepsis survivors. Prof. Dr. Bernardo S. Franklin, Institute for Innate Immunity of the University Hospital Bonn and member of the ImmunoSensation2 Cluster of Excellence of the University of Bonn, is involved in the project. He receives about 800,000 euros from the EU funding.

⁵

Cape Town conference to focus on future of Africa’s universities⁵

In the South African city of Cape Town, two professors at the University of Bonn will be joining forces with researchers from the University of the Western Cape (UWC), the University of Cape Town (UCT) and Stellenbosch University to put on an international conference from September 12 to 14, 2023 on the structure and future of African universities entitled “Negotiating the Fabric of the African University.”

⁶

Lisa Sauermann Returns to the University of Bonn⁶

The Hausdorff Center for Mathematics (HCM) at the University of Bonn has again succeeded in attracting a top mathematician back to Germany, as Lisa Sauermann has accepted an offer and recently started as Hausdorff Chair at the Bonn Cluster of Excellence; she comes to this high-profile position from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, US, where she was Assistant Professor. A University of Bonn alumna, Professor Sauermann became known for her outstanding mathematical talent as a young teen.

⁷

Supporting and Inspiring Schoolchildren⁷

The University of Bonn has today signed a school partnership agreement with the city’s Beethoven-Gymnasium. The two institutions are thus giving their existing cooperation an official framework that will be fleshed out in the coming years with a wide range of activities.

⁸

Agriculture study delivers unexpected results⁸

Farmers usually plant so-called cover crops after harvesting their main crop in the Fall. This prevents erosion of the soil and nutrient leaching. The roots of these crops also stabilize the structure of the soil. It had been assumed up to now that a mixture of different cover crops would result in particularly intensive rooting. However, a recent study carried out by the University of Bonn, University of Kassel and University of Göttingen found only limited evidence that this is the case. Instead, mixed cover crops grow thinner roots than when just one single type of cover crop is planted. This result was unexpected. It documents how little is currently understood about the interactions between plant roots. The study was published in the magazine “Plant and Soil.”

Previous 8 items ⁹
1¹⁰
...
40¹¹
41¹²
42⁹
43
44¹³
45¹⁴
46¹⁵
...
128¹⁶
Next 8 items ¹³

Links