Using a low-cost sensor and the Global Navigation Satellite System Interferometric Reflectometry (GNSS-IR), river water levels can be monitored around the clock. The water level data are automatically transmitted via cellular networks to an analysis center. Researchers at the University of Bonn developed the method several years ago and tested it on the Lower Rhine. With support from the European Space Agency (ESA), the monitoring system is now also being used in Africa and the Asia-Pacific region.

In sub-Saharan Africa, many people are undernourished or malnourished. A new study by the Universities of Bonn and Ghana shows how rising incomes and urbanization are influencing dietary patterns of local populations. According to this, the wealthier segments in African countries are increasingly eating like people in Western industrialized countries. Although this improves their supply of important nutrients, it also has a greater negative impact on the environment. The study also looks at how this environmental damage can be minimized. It has been published in the journal ‘Sustainable Production and Consumption.’

The University of Bonn will be celebrating 150 years of geodesy in the city on Tuesday, April 21, 2026. With a special ceremony, the University’s Institute of Geodesy and Geoinformation will be acknowledging its long tradition in research and teaching while also turning its thoughts to the future. Specifically, it will be asking what contributions geodesy will need to make to society, science and technology over the coming decades.

The University of Bonn is hosting a new Emmy Noether Group devoted to AI methods. Junior Professor Marc Rußwurm is developing AI methods for fusing different types of geodata to arrive at a uniform geospatial representation. The German Research Foundation (DFG) will be providing up to 1.4 million euros in funding for the research group over the next six years. The Emmy Noether Program is a framework designed to enable selected postdocs and assistant professors on fixed-term contracts to obtain the qualifications necessary to hold a university professorship.

Researchers at the University of Bonn have conducted a review study to examine the methods used to research consumer behaviour in supermarkets.

Investigating and combining new and existing technologies with Indigenous knowledge systems – that is the aim of ‘iakumama 2050.’ The new research project by the Center for Development Research at the University of Bonn (ZEF) pursues the goal of developing scenarios for how humans and nature can live together in regions affected by armed conflicts and raw material extraction. The Volkswagen Foundation is funding the project, which begins in July 2026 and will then be funded for one and a half years.