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

Technology and Innovation 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

How obesity also affects the next generation

Children born to obese mothers are at higher risk of developing metabolic disorders, even if they follow a healthy diet themselves. A new study from the University of Bonn offers an explanation for this phenomenon. In obese mice, certain cells in the embryo’s liver are reprogrammed during pregnancy. This leads to long-term changes in the offspring’s metabolism. The researchers believe that these findings could also be relevant for humans. The study has now been published in the journal Nature.

Bharat Desai Receives Humboldt Research Award

Bharat Desai, Professor of International Law at Jawaharlal Nehru University in India, has been honored with a Humboldt Research Award. He was nominated for the €60,000 prize by Professor Stefan Talmon, an international law expert at the University of Bonn, and will now spend a year working in Bonn alongside his host.

The Fascinating World of Beetles

Over 400,000 beetle species have been described to date, making them the largest order of any liv-ing thing. Each individual one triggers spontaneous emotions in us: some people will let out a loud, shrill scream if they see a black beetle, while most will find ladybirds especially charming. When you have someone taking as close a look as photographer Carolin Bleese has done and a researcher as besotted with beetles as is Professor Dr. Nicholas Gompel from the Institute of Organismic Biology at the University of Bonn, then you get some completely new angles on the humble beetle. Running until August 31, 2025, the new special exhibition in P26 entitled “Fascinating Beetles” will display the images that have resulted from the collaboration between the two.

Decoding Complex Structures Through Mathematics

The German Research Foundation approved a new Collaborative Research Center (CRCs) at the University of Bonn. 19 principal investigators and their working groups will study the mathematical structures underlying complex phenomena in areas of criticality. The spokesperson of the CRC is Leibniz Prize winner Professor Angkana Rüland of the Hausdorff Center for Mathematics—Cluster of Excellence. The Collaborative Research Center will receive nearly four years of DFG funding of approximately seven million euros.

Cornelia Richter Becomes the First Female Bishop in the History of the Protestant Church of Austria

As of January 1, 2026 Professor Cornelia Richter, Chair of the Senate and Professor at the University of Bonn Faculty of Protestant Theology, will be the first female bishop to serve as head of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession (A.B.) in Austria. An afternoon synod held Friday, May 23, the Theology professor from Bad Goisern was elected to the office of Bishop by an overwhelming majority of convened delegates from all over Austria. University of Bonn Rector Michael Hoch congratulated the Senate Chair on her election.

Most successful University in the competition, having received eight Clusters of Excellence

A huge success for the University of Bonn: today, all six of the University of Bonn's existing Clusters of Excellence were selected for further funding in the nationwide Excellence Competition. In addition, both newly applied Bonn cluster initiatives will receive funding from the federal and state governments. This means that Bonn will be represented by a total of eight clusters in the coming funding period - more than at any other university in Germany.

Agri-PV enjoys comparatively high acceptance

Photovoltaic systems are increasingly being installed not only on roofs but also on open land. This does not always meet with citizens’ approval. What is known as agrivoltaics (Agri-PV), however, is viewed more favorably, as researchers at the University of Bonn have now been able to show. In this case, the solar cells are installed in spaces used for agriculture – such as on pastures or as a canopy over grapevines. According to a survey of almost 2,000 people, this form enjoys much higher acceptance than normal solar parks. The study has been published in the journal “Land Use Policy.”

Sensation through the legs: What flies do and don’t perceive when walking ...

How do insects perceive mechanical stress? This is a question of interest in many different fields including comparative morphology, neurobiology and robotics. A team led by Dr. Brian Saltin of the Bonn Institute of Organismic Biology has developed a computer model to study the fruit fly Drosophila, focusing on the creature’s tiny sensory organs for perceiving mechanical stress located near its leg joints. Using this newly developed model, the researchers have been able to study how the position, orientation and material properties of these sensors influence their function. Simulations run have shown how in normal forward walking these sensory organs appear not to be activated solely through the force of footfall. The findings have now been published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface.

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