Bonn Research Alliance (BORA)

The Fraunhofer Institute for Algorithms and Scientific ­Computing SCAI combines know-how in mathematical and computational methods with a focus on the development of innovative algorithms and their take-up in industrial practice – bringing benefits to customers and partners.

SCAI‘s research fields in Computational Science include machine learning and data analysis, optimization, multiphysics, energy network evaluation, virtual material design, multiscale methods, high performance computing, and computational finance.

In the field of bioinformatics, SCAI offers its customers comprehensive services in information extraction (text ­mining). Here, the most important application field is the ­modelling of neurodegenerative diseases.

Connections to university research are established through the chair of Prof. Dr. Michael Griebel at the University of Bonn.

As part of the largest organization for applied research in Europe, the Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems IAIS, based in Sankt Augustin/Bonn and Dresden, is one of the leading scientific institutes in the fields of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning and Big Data in Germany and Europe. Around 350 employees support companies in the optimization of products, services, as well as in the development of new technologies, and processes, and new digital business models. Fraunhofer IAIS is shaping the digital transformation of our working and living environments: with innovative AI applications for industry, health, and sustainability, with forward-looking technologies such as large-scale AI language models or Quantum Machine Learning, with offers for training and education or for the testing of AI applications for security and trustworthiness.

The Fraunhofer IAIS is at the center of a strong research and transfer network. There are many years of close cooperation in research with the University of Bonn and the "Bonn-Aachen International Center for Centre for Information Technology" (b-it), which is funded by the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, the University of Bonn, the RWTH Aachen, and the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences.

The German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) was founded in 2009 as a member of the Helmholtz Association and the first member of the German Centers for Health Research (DZG). Today, it consists of ten sites and pools expertise distributed nationwide within a single research institute. More than 1,100 professionals collaborate to understand the causes of diseases of the brain and the nervous system and to find novel approaches for effective prevention, therapy, and patient care. Worldwide, DZNE is one of the largest research institutes dedicated to these topic.

With some 600 employees, Bonn is the DZNE’s largest site as well as the seat of the Executive Board and the central administration. The location’s research covers a wide variety of topics and disciplines, ranging from studies in the laboratory to human clinical studies and population health studies.

The DZNE Bonn cooperates closely with the University of Bonn and the University Hospital Bonn.

The Max Planck Institute for Mathematics is a research institute for pure mathematics and belongs to the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften. With its well known guest program the institute aims at stimulating the exchange of ideas within the international mathematics community.

Together with the University of Bonn, the MPI for Mathematics runs the International Max Planck Research School on Moduli Spaces.

Since 2022, the MPI for Neurobiology of Behavior – caesar (MPINB) is one of the 85 Max Planck Institutes. As the name implies, the institute's research focus is on Neuroethology, the study of how an animal's nervous system produces behavior. Research at the MPINB is interdisciplinary and spans from imaging neural circuits at the nanoscale to analyzing neural activity during naturalistic behavior in freely moving animals.

The MPINB has two research departments and seven independent research groups (as of Feb 2023). The institute is part of a cluster for neurosciences in the Bonn-Cologne region and has multiple ties with the University of Bonn and the University of Cologne. In collaboration with the University of Bonn and the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), it runs the International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS) for Brain and Behavior to train the next generation of outstanding scientists.

The MPINB is run by the two scientific directors Jason Kerr and Kevin Briggman.

As an independent, non-profit organization, bicc (Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies) deals with a wide range of global topics in the field of peace and conflict research. Our vision is a more peaceful world. Our mission is to conduct critical, problem-oriented, policy relevant research in response to the problems posed by organized violence.

To do so, we engage in active exchanges with scholars and politicians as well as stakeholders in everyday practice and civil society. As a think tank, bicc seeks to engage in a dialogue with NGOs, governments, private organizations, research institutes and universities and well as with interested individuals.

The University of Bonn is home to the Chair of Peace and Conflict Studies held by bicc's Director, Prof. Dr. Conrad Schetter.

The German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS) is one of the world’s leading research institutions and think tanks for global sustainable development. Our work is based on the interplay between Research, Policy Advice and Training. IDOS is building bridges between theory and practice.

The research is theory-based, empirically driven and application-oriented. It provides the basis for the activities in policy advice of the Institute. We develop policy-relevant concepts, advises ministries, governments and international organisations, and refers to current policy issues. The training programmes of the Institute for university graduates and young professionals are integrated into the research and advisory process.

Since March 2020, Prof. Dr. Anna-Katharina Hornidge, Director of IDOS, holds the Chair of Global Sustainable Development at the University of Bonn.

The United Nations University (UNU) is the academic arm of the United Nations and acts as a global think tank. The mission of the Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) is to carry out cutting edge research on risks and adaptation related to environmental hazards and global change. The institute’s research promotes policies and programmes to reduce these risks, while taking into account the interplay between environmental and societal factors.

Research areas include climate change adaptation incorporating insurance-related approaches, environmentally induced migration and social vulnerability, ecosystem services and environmental deterioration processes, models and tools to analyze vulnerability and risks linked to natural hazards, with a focus on urban space and rural-urban interfaces. Research is always conducted with the underlying goal of connecting solutions to development pathways.

Beyond its research mandate, UNU-EHS is actively engaged in education. It offers the joint Master of Science degree programme “The Geography of Environmental Risks and Human Security” with the University of Bonn. UNU-EHS also hosts a number of international PhD projects and courses on global issues of environmental risks and sustainable development. The institute is based in Bonn, Germany.