No fewer than four apprentices from the University of Bonn have come out of their apprenticeship top of their training year. To mark this achievement, the University has presented them and their training teams with certificates, which were handed over in person by Holger Gottschalk, Provost of the University of Bonn.

What is time? Does it even exist separately from us humans? And what keeps us “in time”? An event from the series entitled “Die Exzellenzuniversität Bonn lädt ein” (“An invitation from the University of Bonn, a University of Excellence”) took an interdisciplinary look at the big issue of time, offering an evening of fascinating insights, surprising facts and ample food for thought.

An international research team led by the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) and involving the University of Bonn has mapped the cold, dense gas of future star nurseries in one of our neighboring galaxies with an unprecedented degree of detail. The data will enable the researchers for the first time to mount an in-depth study of the conditions that exist within the gas during the early stages of star formation outside the Milky Way at the scale of individual star-forming regions. Their findings have now been published in the Astronomy and Astrophysics journal.

The Archdiocese of Cologne has decided to reorganize its training of priests. This was announced by Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki and Regens Regamy Thillainathan at the annual meeting with the professors of the Faculty of Catholic Theology on Wednesday, December 13, 2023, in Cologne. From now on, the domicile ("Konvikt") and seminary will be housed together in the "House for Pastoral Services" in Cologne. The planned establishment of residential groups close to the University of Bonn will enable candidates for the priesthood to live and study in Bonn at the University of Excellence.

Carvedilol is a beta blocker that is often prescribed to lower blood pressure or prevent heart attacks. Professor Evi Kostenis from the Institute of Pharmaceutical Biology at the University of Bonn has contributed to a better understanding of how this drug works as the corresponding author for an article published in the journal “Nature Communications.” Kostenis’s research team has been presented with a €10,000 PHOENIX Pharmaceutical Science Prize in recognition of this important discovery. 

The University of Bonn has hosted a delegation of vice-chancellors from six universities in Ghana. The summit, which was also attended by representatives from the German Rectors’ Conference, was aimed at consolidating existing partnerships and instigating new ones. In Ghana, one of the focus countries for the University of Bonn’s international cooperation, it maintains a strategic partnership with the University of Ghana, among others.

Body size differences between females and males in northern Europe during the early Neolithic period (6,000 to 8,000 years ago) may reflect cultural factors in play. The findings of an international research project led by the University of Pennsylvania (USA) suggest that differences in stature during that period cannot be explained solely by genetics and diet. Eva Rosenstock of the University of Bonn is involved in the study, the results of which have now been published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour. 

From biodegradable plastic to cement manufactured in a climate-neutral way and leather made sustainably from fungi, biobased business management and biotechnological processes can do much to turbocharge the climate-friendly transformation of industry and a resource-efficient circular economy. The government of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) has now assembled a Bioeconomy Advisory Board to strengthen the state as a center for the bioeconomy and undertake a comprehensive analysis of the opportunities and risks. The independent body of 15 counts not one but two specialists from the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Bonn among its members in the shape of Professor Monika Hartmann and Professor Ralf Pude.