Digital University

At first glance, gender research and Catholicism seem to have nothing to do with each other. Nevertheless, there is an office for theological gender research at the University of Bonn. Sister Jakoba is a research assistant and talks about the complex and historical connection between gender and the church. It is about the impact of this history on today's debates, both within the church and in socio-political terms.

The Deutschlandstipendium scholarship program seeks to support talented and high-achieving students from participating institutions who demonstrate a commitment to voluntary work. We asked a scholarship Holder and a donar about their experience and motives.

Managers need to show leadership, inspire and motivate their staff, and establish good working conditions. Professor Gerhard Blickle, head of Work, Organizational and Industrial Psychology and his team are studying the personality traits that managers need in order to perform these diverse tasks. Their work has highlighted the importance of narcissism as a personality trait.

A new way of working: The university's administration has not only moved into a new building, but has also completely redesigned its physical workspace: with open spaces for collaborative working, multifunctional meeting rooms and much more. Healthy, modern and, of course, excellent to adequately support the university's researchers: That is the goal!

Junior Professor Dr Julia Binter investigates cooperative research on cultural assets from colonial contexts in museums. She accompanies the restitution of cultural assets from Germany to Namibia with the question: How can knowledge creation in museums and cultural heritage be made more sustainable and fair? German colonial history still characterises our understanding of Namibian art today. The returned cultural artefacts tell their own story.
We also spoke to an expert from Namibia, Golda Ha-Eiros, who impressively explains the value of these cultural artefacts for her ancestors, for herself and for the next generation.

Accessibility is clearly an issue of increasing importance. Lowered curbs, for example, will make it easier for moms and dads out with a stroller to get around in the city. That also applies to individuals who depend on a wheelchair for mobility. Voice command is another useful technology, which helps blind people, for example, use a smartphone. I can also use speech-to-text technology to dictate a text message, while driving a car, for example.

A forest is more than just a bunch of trees ... it is a treasure trove of the natural world! Some 75 pupils of the Liebfrauenschule who wanted to learn about forest ecosystems and biodiversity underwent training to become “Tree Experts” as part of the EU-funded MULTIPLIERS project coordinated by the University of Bonn. This spring they visited the “Marteloscope”, which is a kind of classroom out in the middle of the one-hectare Kottenforst in Bonn.

BNTrAinee, a project funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and based at the University of Bonn, is developing AI-supported answers to specific research questions and is forging links between the University’s computer science teams and all manner of other subjects. This collaboration is now beginning to bear fruit, with computer science students joining forces with historians to create an algorithm that can help analyze old newspaper articles.

Have you ever moved a church altar? This is no problem for art history students at the University of Bonn. Deploying cutting edge simulation technology to digitally explore the Schwarzrheindorf Doppelkirche and its almost 875-year history, they are able to jump from the upper church to the lower church gallery into the knave and then look up into the rafters. Dr. Christian M. Stracke, coordinator of the ViCo digitalization project tells us that “the immersive 3D world offers students many opportunities to discuss objects and frescoes". He is working to coordinate the introduction of pioneering digital collaboration tools at the University of Bonn to improve university teaching.

A blank sheet of paper, a blinking cursor on the screen. The deadline is looming ever-closer, yet you are unable to write anything useful: for many students, writing term papers constitutes a major challenge. From choosing a suitable topic to correct citation, there are a number of hurdles to success. If these seem insurmountable, you can seek support from the Studierendenwerk's writing advice service.

They are the hidden backbone of the University of Bonn: around 750 employees in the central administration ensure that the 7800 employees can work and research as efficiently as possible. With the new service portal, the University is making it easier to access the necessary information from the University administration. All content can be found in one place. For the first time, however, they have been fundamentally reorganized thematically, checked, revised and processes presented in a more comprehensible way. Many inquiries can now be triggered at the click of a mouse, true to the motto: “Requested. Found. Done”.

Es ist Montag. Der eigene „digitale Zwilling“ warnt vor einem Herzinfarkt in vier Wochen und zwei Tagen. Er rät, dringend die Ernährung umzustellen und in der Herzklinik vorstellig zu werden – und rettet uns damit möglicherweise das Leben.

A listed building and a cutting-edge working environment—how can they possibly work together? Very well indeed, as demonstrated by a project realized at the University of Bonn. With the University Main Building in pressing need of renovation, 300 employees have been moved from the historic palace just down the road to the former Deutscher Herold building on Poppelsdorfer Allee. Here they are currently working in an innovative office environment that promotes new collaborative working practices.

The imposition of a package of sanctions on Russia in response to Vladamir Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine  temporarily led to a drastic increase in energy costs. The University of Bonn responded to these developments by devising and implementing a University-wide energy strategy, which aimed to reduce energy consumption by 20 percent within a year—with impressive success, as a recent evaluation shows.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine and Hamas’ attack on Israel are just two of the many conflicts that continue to shake the world. War would just seem to be part of human nature. Although making this observation 230 years ago, the polymath Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) then proceeded to formulate a 100-page blueprint for perpetual peace. Professor Rainer Schäfer from the Digital Kant Center NRW in Bonn discusses the practicality of Kant’s concept and its relevance for the 21st century.

He was the founder of the German Enlightenment. His thinking was cosmopolitan, despite never having left Königsberg. Immanuel Kant was born 300 years ago in Königsberg, now Kaliningrad. His philosophical and academic achievements remain. The Categorical Imperative may still be familiar to many from school. This edition of forsch presents two key areas of Kant studies conducted in Bonn, reveals what you can expect in Bonn this year, and provides some scintillating insights that will help you shine during the Kant tercentenary.

The track winds through sand and stone, taking its travelers where the Internet reception is poor and the starry night sky is magnificent. After a 10-year hiatus, egyptologist Ludwig Morenz and his team have returned to a remote camp near Serabit el Khadim. The researchers are working to digitize thousand-year old inscriptions. This is where alphabetic writing began, with the Canaanite transformation of the complicated Egyptian hieroglyphs into individual letters.

From the 2024 summer semester onward, the app will include student IDs, Deutschlandsemesterticket (public transport ticket), the University's canteen menu and staff ID rolled into one.

Analyzing thousands of historical newspapers at the touch of a button, automatically detecting carcinomas and burial mounds: artificial intelligence will also change research. But what is the best way to go about it? The University of Bonn has developed a system that is unique in Germany, in which researchers and computer science students collaborate both in the development of AI and machine learning solutions and to reach a shared understanding of artificial intelligence and research data. 

Every Monday, seven digitalization managers at the University of Bonn meet to discuss the digital future. From teaching and room planning tools to workflow automation and topics relating to the University’s overarching IT governance, they discuss ongoing digitalization projects in the faculties or pass on feedback from the faculties and departments. News, open questions and adjustments are all on the agenda in order to create bespoke digital structures for the University. Where are the stumbling blocks? Who still needs to be brought on board? Digital managers collaborate with key players in the University to create the structures for its digital transformation.

The University Council of the University of Bonn was established 15 years ago. No one knows the body better than Professor Dieter Engels, who has served as chairperson of the council for the last 10 years. Professor Engels recently embarked upon his third term of office. Andreas Archut caught up with him for an interview.

An African Savannah. Something is moving in the head-high grass. Your pulse quickens. Your pupils dilate. You grip your spear tighter. Suddenly, a massive elephant crashes through the grass. Hertz Professor Dominik Bach and his team use AI and virtual reality simulations of this and other similar scenarios to learn how the brain and body function in extreme situations so as to reach a greater understanding of these responses and work to address anxiety.

The state premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hendrik Wüst, visited the Humanoid Robots Lab at the University of Bonn on Thursday afternoon. Talks centered on current research projects in the field of robotics and the challenges associated with the use of robots in human environments. The state premier was able to enter virtual reality with a robot and watch a three-armed robot harvesting peppers.

The University of Bonn has once again recruited an exceptional talent: Ina Danquah has been appointed as the new Hertz-Chair “Innovation for Planetary Health” at the “University of Excellence Bonn”. The Hertz-Chair combines various disciplines in a unique manner. Danquah is a nutritional scientist and expert in public health and epidemiology. Her Hertz-Chair contributes to the Transdisciplinary Research Area “Sustainable Futures”. In addition, Danquah is one of the three directors of the Center for Development Research (ZEF) at the University of Bonn. 

The University of Bonn has once again appointed an outstanding Schlegel Chair. Lawyer Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Birke Häcker came from the University of Oxford, where she headed the Institute of European and Comparative Law. She will establish new research fields and generate fresh impulses at the University of Bonn. Her main areas of expertise are core private law and comparative law with a special focus on the English common law. However, she is also particularly interested in the interfaces between private law and commercial and business law, tax law, as well as public law. She views herself as a bridge builder between the disciplines and the legal cultures in various different jurisdictions.

Constantly increasing data volumes, ever more complex calculation and modeling—working with large amounts of data is crucial in many fields of research. The new high-performance computer "Marvin" now makes it easier for University of Bonn researchers to leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning. Featuring a scalable GPU partition, Marvin is among the world’s top 500 most powerful computers. Funded in part under the Excellence program, the acquisition of Marvin comes as part of the University of Bonn digital strategy.