Research Profile: Top-Level Research

The University of Bonn has stood for top-level research for over 200 years. The founding professors already saw Bonn as a research university aimed at answering scientific, social and technological questions. Researchers, teachers and early-career researchers all benefit from this today, taking advantage of established German and global networks and strong scientific and social partnerships—with measurable effect.

Transdisciplinary Research

The six Transdisciplinary Research Areas (TRAs) at the University of Bonn create spaces for innovation in research and teaching.

More about our TRAs

Excellence in Research and Teaching

“We invest in people. We foster networks. We create impact.” We follow this strategy to create the ideal environment for creative scientific work by outstanding researchers that extends beyond our six Clusters of Excellence and to promote talented researchers at all career levels.

Excellence Strategy

The Best Minds

The outstanding research performed by our researchers is shown by the many awards that have been received.

Excellent Researchers

Cooperative Research Culture

Innovative top-level research in many national and international partnerships and collaborative projects sets us apart.

Collaborative Projects

Diverse Appointments

The diversity of our externally funded professorships is a sign of our close cooperation with economy and society.

Externally Funded Professorships

What sets our research profile apart?

01.

Excellence

The University of Bonn is one of eleven German Universities of Excellence and the only university with six Clusters of Excellence. Recent decades have seen us produce more Nobel Prize and Fields Medal winners than any other German university.

02.

Networked

Embedded in the UN city of Bonn and a region of cutting-edge research, the University of Bonn is one of the leading research-oriented universities in Germany.

03.

Transdisciplinary

Our seven faculties cover a broad range of disciplines. This strong range of disciplines is supplemented by six cross-faculty, interdisciplinary “Transdisciplinary Research Areas” (TRAs) that create areas for exploration and innovation to facilitate academic exchange.

04.

Comprehensive Support

Our goal is to create the ideal conditions for internationally networked research to attract and develop the best researchers. Our Argelander Program for Early-Career Researchers offers comprehensive support to promote early independent research.

Transdisciplinary Research Areas

Transdisciplinary Research Areas (TRAs) focus our research on key scientific, technological and social issues of the future and create areas for exploration and innovation.

Mathematics, Modelling and Simulation of Complex Systems

How do complex systems actually work? Interaction of mathematical modelling, classical observational methods, data simulation and creative spirit.

TRA Modelling

Building Blocks of Matter and Fundamental Interactions

How do the building blocks of matter interact? How do complex structures emerge at the different length scales of nature? Find out more about our research.

TRA Matter

Life and Health

Understanding the complexity of life - developing new strategies for health.
Read more about TRA Life and Health.

TRA Life and Health

Individuals, Institutions and Societies

Complex relationships between the individual, institutions and societies – developing new views of micro- and macrophenomena.

TRA Individuals & Societies

Past Worlds and Modern Questions. Cultures Across Time and Space

We foster and network research on the preconditions and conditions of the emergence of modern societies as well as on negotiation processes of heritage.

TRA Present Pasts

Innovation and Technology for Sustainable Futures

The TRA Sustainable Futures researches institutional, science- and technology-based innovations in the field of sustainability.

TRA Sustainable Futures

Latest Research and Teaching News

New findings on blood clotting

A deficiency in blood plasma coagulation factor XIII leads to a disruption in the cross-linking of fibrin, the "glue" in blood coagulation. The enzyme therefore plays an essential role in blood clotting. Researchers at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn, together with Thermo Fisher Scientific in the Netherlands, deciphered the previously unknown structure of the Factor XIII complex using cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), even at the atomic level. This enabled them to visualize the effects of disease-causing, clinically relevant factor XIII mutations in the structure of the coagulation complex. Their results have now been published in the print edition of the journal “Blood”.

Two ERC Consolidator Grants in Medicine

Not one but two researchers at the University of Bonn and the University Hospital Bonn are to receive much-sought-after Consolidator Grants. Awarded by the European Research Council (ERC), they provide millions of euros in funding for outstanding research projects. Professor Philipp Vollmuth is developing an AI foundation model that is expected to set new benchmarks for the use of AI in radiology, while Privatdozent Dr. med. Michael Sommerauer—who recently swapped the University of Cologne for Bonn—is researching the early detection of Parkinson’s disease.

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.

How peasants become heroes in Icelandic sagas

University of Bonn specialist in Scandinavian Studies Valerie Broustin examined the Icelandic cycle of legendary sagas known as the Hrafnistumannasögur in a case study. Her findings could lead to a paradigm shift in researching this literary genre. The results have now been published in a book.

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.

The Chemistry of Outer Space

The University of Bonn has recruited a pioneer in astrochemistry in the shape of Professor Serena Viti, who has been appointed designated Hertz Professor in the Matter Transdisciplinary Research Area. The aim of her Hertz Professorship, which she intends to take up in 2026, will be to establish astrochemistry at the University of Excellence in order to build a structural bridge between astrophysics and chemistry. Professor Viti is currently working at Leiden University but will already be spending time researching and teaching at the University of Bonn over the next two years in order to establish the research field for her Hertz Professorship.

Easy Access to Artificial Intelligence

SMEs and research institutions have increasing need for expertise and computing capacity for their AI research. Prominent academic institutions of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, led by the University of Bonn, have jointly formed the AI service center WestAI to provide AI services and proprietary AI research in support of business and research. The state-of-the-art computing infrastructures of RWTH Aachen and Forschungszentrum Jülich are utilized for the services. As of now, interested outside parties can request computing time for AI projects via the WestAI website. At present the services are provided free of charge thanks to funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

Bonn in the TOP 50 Worldwide in Multiple Subjects

The University of Bonn has once again demonstrated its excellence as a research institution in the latest Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2024—part of the high-profile Shanghai Ranking. Mathematics and Economics held on to their respective first-place rankings in Germany, enjoyed for several years now. Agricultural Sciences now ranks third nationally.

We think without borders

With our magazine, we give you an insight into the research and teaching being done at our University. We focus on our transdisciplinary research and the work that we are undertaking in our six Clusters of Excellence. By virtue of their reputation and sheer number, they are without parallel in the entire German university sector.

Find out more about us in the reports on the University, on our research and on some of our favorite places in Bonn—an extremely likeable city that is home to numerous international organizations.

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Contact

Research and Innovation Services

+49 228 / 73-60915
GZDez7@verwaltung.uni-bonn.de

The research division manages the entire research process - from initial information on funding, handling third-party funded projects and the exploitation of results.

Also see

Transdisciplinary Research Areas

The six Transdisciplinary Research Areas (TRAs) at the University of Bonn create spaces for innovation in research and teaching.

More on TRAs

Clusters of Excellence

The University of Bonn has six Clusters of Excellence, more than any other university in Germany.

Our Clusters

NeurotechEU

NeurotechEU is an alliance that have set themself the mission of building an innovative, trans-European network of excellence for brain research and technologies.

Learn more