Press 2025

Tilo Freiherr von Wilmowsky Honorary Award for Prof. Matin Qaim¹

Prof. Dr. Matin Qaim has received the Tilo Freiherr von Wilmowsky Honorary Award from the “Verbindungsstelle Landwirtschaft-Industrie” (VLI). Since 2012, the association has presented the award annually to individuals who have rendered outstanding services to German agribusiness. The prize has now been awarded at the VLI spring conference in Frankfurt.

Agri-PV enjoys comparatively high acceptance²

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.”

Climate change is lifting South Africa out of the ocean³

South Africa is slowly lifting out of the water – by up to two millimeters per year depending on the region. It had been assumed up to now that this phenomenon was due to mantle flow in the Earth’s crust. However, a study carried out by the University of Bonn now provides another explanation: Droughts and the associated water loss are the main reason for this land uplift. The results have now been published in the “Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth.”

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DynamoBot - a PhenoRob Startup⁴

At the PhenoRob and University of Bonn Start-Up DynamoBot, we are building the next generation of precision farming and precision weed management for farmers.

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Poster prize for "Mixture Toxicology"⁵

The awarded poster “Mixture toxicity of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in zebrafish larvae and HepG2 cells” was created by Shuhan Wang, with suggestions and guidance from Dr. Benedikt Bauer and Prof. Dr. Henning Hintzsche from the Department of Food Safety, Institute of Nutritional and Food Science.

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Seven Subjects among the Top 100 Worldwide⁶

Higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) has published its international subject rankings for the year, in which 1,747 universities from around the world, including the University of Bonn, are compared based on various indicator criteria. Once again this year, the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences achieved excellent rankings.

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Green insurance – an important tool for pesticide reduction? The example of wine in France⁷

At a press conference on April 26, John Barker, Director of the International Wine Organization, announced a 10% drop in world wine production by 2023. Extreme environmental conditions – such as heavy rainfall in vineyards – have led to the development of fungal diseases (mildew, powdery mildew, black rot, etc.) in certain regions, and to crop failure.

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UAV-based Spot Spraying Against Plant Diseases⁸

Plant diseases often exhibit a patchy distribution within fields. The application of fungicides, however, is often based on environmental conditions and visual assessment and then, in practice, is homogeneous over entire fields. A site-specific control of plant diseases with robotics and drone technology provides the potential to improve the efficacy of disease control while reducing the negative impact on agricultural ecosystems..

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