Transdisciplinary Research Area Technology and Innovation for Sustainable Futures

Sustainability means using resources in a way that the needs of today are met without neglecting or even disregarding the needs of future generations. This raises questions in a wide range of areas: poverty, hunger, food security, demographic change, health, protection of the environment, climate change and the responsible use of resources pose a global challenge for us all. To achieve progress with regards to the UN Sustainable Development Goals¹, our researchers apply an interdisciplinary approach focused on solutions combined with basic research, actively engage in global networks and collaborate with Bonn-based UN organizations.

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About the TRA

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Research

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Offers

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Network

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Research Professorships of the Transdisciplinary Research Area

Hertz-Chair "Innovation for Planetary Health”
Prof. Dr. Ina Danquah

Ina Danquah sets a focus on „Planetary Health” within TRA Sustainable Futures

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Argelander-Professorship “Integrated System Modeling for Sustainability Transitions”
Jun.-Prof. Wolfram Barfuss

Wolfram Barfuss strives to reshape human-environment modeling to identify critical leverage points for sustainability transitions.

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Our TRA: Transcending classical disciplinary boundaries for the future

Unsere TRA: Für die Zukunft klassische Disziplingrenzen überschreiten

Bild © Universität Bonn / YouTube

At the Bonn Science Night in summer 2022 the speaker of TRA Technology and Innovation for a Sustainable Future, Prof. Jan Börner (Institute for Food and Resource Economics), and the former speaker Prof. Joachim von Braun (Center for Development Research) came to speak. Why is there a need for transdisciplinary research areas like the ones at the University of Bonn? What are the questions and problems that can only be addressed through a transdisciplinary perspective and cooperation? And what can transdisciplinary research look like?

The nutrition epidemiologist and speaker of the TRA Technology and Innovation for a Sustainable Future, Prof. Ute Nöthlings, presented the COPLANT study, which shows how transdisciplinary work can develop innovative approaches in research for important current problems.

News

The University of Bonn organizes a summer school "Digital Innovation in Nutritional Epidemiology" from August 25 to 29 for academics with a background in nutrition science, health sciences, natural sciences, epidemiology and public health, preferably at MSc or PhD level. The application deadline is on June 22. More information and the application form can be found here⁸.

This year, we are calling on all TRA members to submit applications for seed funding of research projects within our Open Call⁴ 2025 by March 23. If you have any questions, please contact us in advance.

Workshop for (post)doctoral researchers: "Change Agents for Sustainable Transitions: How can Individuals, Societies, Institutions, Technologies and Innovations bring knowledge into action?" (May 5, 2025). More information and Call for Contributions here⁹.

Since fall 2024, TRA Sustainable Futures and the Cluster of Excellence PhenoRob jointly offer the "Public Interdisciplinary Lecture Series" (PILS). An overview of the upcoming lectures can be found here¹⁰.

The 'Innovation for Planetary Health' symposium¹¹ on March 19, 2024 marked the opening of the Hertz Professorship of Prof. Dr. Ina Danquah at the University of Bonn. A report on the symposium can be found here. ¹²

TRA incubator grant 2024: Modelling for Sustainable Futures. A joint call by TRA Modelling and TRA Sustainable Futures to support highly innovative, cross-disciplinary research projects addressing new and relevant questions at the interface between Modelling in Mathematics or Computer Sciences and Sustainability Research. Deadline was May 19, 2024. More information can be found here.⁴

TRA² - Transdisciplinary Research Prize: A joint call by the TRAs to fund highly innovative transdisciplinary research projects. Deadline was April 7, 2024. You can find more information here.¹³

Missed a presentation from our lecture series "Innovation Pathways to Sustainability"? Videos of the presentations are available for viewing here¹⁴, even after the event.

Members

The TRA Sustainable Futures currently has more than 220 members whose research is focused on the four priority areas of TRA Sustainable Futures.

Members Directory ¹⁵

Become a member of TRA Sustainable Futures!

As TRA member, you will have access to TRA funding and opportunities for networking beyond the borders of your own discipline.

Membership Application ¹⁶

Funding possibilities in TRA Sustainable Futures

The funding programmes offered by the TRA - including the Open Call, research awards and thematic or target group-specific calls - promote new and innovative research ideas from researchers at various stages of their careers.

More information on funding programmes ¹⁷

Funded projects

To date, TRA Sustainable Futures has financially supported more than 30 project ideas and projects. You can find some examples of the projects on our website.

To the projects ¹⁸

Transfer and Outreach

The topics of transfer and outreach play an important role for TRA Sustainable Futures. Find out here how the TRA is involved in these areas.

More information ¹⁹

Press releases

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Domestic Robots from Bonn Win the German Open²⁰

The University of Bonn’s NimbRo team masterfully defended its title at the German Open household robot competition, held March 13-16 in Nuremberg. University of Bonn’s robots for assistance with day-to-day tasks were developed by the Autonomous Intelligent Systems working group at the Institute of Computer Science. Capable of grasping and dropping objects and navigating everyday environments, they interact with human beings via voice dialogue system.

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University of Bonn Wins with Escape Room About Energy in Outer Space²¹

A team of students guided by the Argelander Institute for Astronomy at the University of Bonn has won a competition organized by Wissenschaft im Dialog (WiD) with a communication-centered idea for a modular escape room called “2051: Energie im Weltraum” (“2051: Energy in Outer Space”). The project team is to receive €10,000 to make its idea a reality between now and the end of the year.

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Africa: Better roads promote greater dietary diversity²²

A balanced diet is important for reducing hunger and malnutrition. Researchers thus advocate that small farmers in low- and middle-income countries should try to produce as many different foods as possible for their own consumption. However, a new study is now questioning this recommendation to some extent. It suggests that good access to regional markets is more important than farmers growing a large diversity of crops on their own smallholding. Better-functioning markets increase the variety of foods available locally, which benefits the population as a whole. The results are being published in the journal “Nature Food.”

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Animal products improve child nutrition in Africa²³

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.