Among other things, it is the only place in North Rhine-Westphalia that trains teachers in agricultural science. Following an eight-year hiatus, the first students began their teaching degrees at the newly established BZL on October 1, 2011. The integration of agricultural sciences makes Bonn the only place in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia that trains vocational schoolteachers in agricultural science or in nutrition science and home economics. The latter subject is only taught at vocational schools, and teachers are trained in the “Grüne Berufe” (nature-related professions) for the school-based part of the training courses in Bonn. The BZL is also home to students preparing to teach one of 18 subjects at grammar schools. However, the future teachers do not just engage in an intensive study of their sciences alongside students who are doing a degree program in the subject. “Outstanding, highly motivated teachers are not only a guarantee of schoolchildren who’ll have a good level of education in their subject,” says BZL Director Robert Steegers. “They also get future students excited about the topic and the idea of studying in Bonn.”