Gases that are harmful to health and the climate are produced wherever livestock are kept. Although there are various ways of supposedly reducing these emissions, it is often impossible to say with any certainty how effective they are. This is because recording precise levels of harmful gases has so far been a laborious, costly and time-consuming process. A Germany-wide joint project is now setting out to change that with the help of more than €10,5 million in funding from the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture. The official funding certificate has been presented yesterday by Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir at a ceremony in Potsdam. Among other things, the methods being developed are intended to identify particularly efficient ways of reducing emissions.

At the career fair organized by the Cluster of Excellence PhenoRob together with the Faculty of Agriculture and the Theodor Brinkmann Foundation students, PhD students and graduates of the University of Bonn were able to expand their professional network and make new contacts.

Nitrogen as a fertilizer can increase yields. However, too much nitrogen can also have negative effects, such as groundwater pollution, high energy consumption in fertilizer production and the generation of climate-relevant gases. Science is therefore looking for ways to help crops thrive with less nitrogen. Researchers at the University of Bonn have discovered gene variants of the nitrate sensor NPF2.12 that trigger a signal cascade chain at low soil nitrogen levels. This induces stronger root growth, resulting in improved nitrogen utilization. The study had already been published online in advance in "New Phytologist." The final version has now been published.

Students and graduates of the University of Bonn are welcome to participate in the first PhenoRob Career Fair to expand their professional network.

Livestock farming produces large quantities of greenhouse gases, especially methane, which is particularly harmful to the climate. Among other things, it escapes during the storage of animal excrement, the slurry. A study by the University of Bonn now shows that methane emissions can be reduced by 99 percent through simple and inexpensive means. The method could make an important contribution to the fight against climate change. The results have now been published in the journal Waste Management.

Grants from the European Research Council (ERC) go to outstanding researchers and provide funding worth millions. At the University of Bonn, two people are receiving coveted ERC Consolidator Grants: Prof. Dr. Annaliese Mason from the Institute of Crop Sciences and Resource Conservation (INRES) and Prof. Dr. Dennis Lehmkuhl from the Institute of Philosophy.

The KoGa would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Jaenicke once again, who has given the KoGa a face over all these years, has shown a lot of presence and has been involved in numerous third-party funded projects. Thank you, Hannah, and a similarly good hand in your future tasks!

The Christ Child arrived a few days early this year at the field laboratories of Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Bonn: the Rectorate had invested significantly and approved four new large vehicles for a total of more than 500,000 euros for the sites essential for agricultural research. Only last week, the last of the ordered tractors was delivered and could now be handed over to the users by Provost Holger Gottschalk. In the future, the tractors will benefit research and teaching, and in particular the PhenoRob cluster of excellence.