From Sep 2nd to Sep 4th the annual conference of the German Society for Plant Nutrition (DGP) was held in the beautiful Poppelsdorf Castle. The conference was locally hosted and organized by the INRES -Plant Nutrition.

There have never been so many ERC Starting Grants at once at the University of Bonn: no fewer than seven researchers have been successful with their applications in the highly competitive European Research Council (ERC) funding process. With their funding of some €1.5 million each, the researchers from the fields of ethics, mathematics, economics, soil science, computer science and astronomy will be able to realize their projects over the next five years.

Leaving some weeds between crops can help to combat pests on agricultural land, according to a new study carried out by the University of Bonn. This step has particularly positive effects in combination with other measures: the cultivation of different types of crops and planting strips of wildflowers. The results have now been published in the Journal of Pest Science.

The European Horticulture Congress in May 2024 in Bucharest, Romania attracted 700 participants from 67 countries. The congress was held in the Palace of Parliament, the largest administrative building (for civil use) worldwide built for Nicolae Ceauşescu. After 4 European congresses as ‘SHE’ in Vienna, Angers, Chania and Stuttgart (online), this 5th European congress was renamed EHC in line with the IHC (International Horticultural Congress).

Dr. Caroline Marcon has been awarded the Theodor Brinkmann Science Prize by the Faculty of Agriculture at Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn. During the Faculty Council meeting in April 2024, Dean Prof. Dr. Heiko Schoof recognized her exceptional habilitation thesis titled “Functional genomics of maize (Zea mays L.) seedling roots.”

Maize can grow successfully in very different local conditions. An international study headed by the University of Bonn has now demonstrated the important role of the plant root system. The researchers analyzed more than 9,000 varieties in the study and were able to show that their roots varied considerably – depending on how dry the location is where each variety was cultivated. They were also able to identify an important gene that plays a role in the plant’s ability to adapt. This gene could be the key to developing varieties of maize that cope better with climate change. The results were recently published in the prestigious journal Nature Genetics.

Plants adapt genetically over time to the special conditions of organic farming. This has been demonstrated in a long-term study conducted at the University of Bonn. The researchers planted barley plants on two neighboring fields and used conventional farming methods on one and organic methods on the other. Over the course of more than 20 years, the organic barley was enriched with specific genetic material that differed from the comparative culture. Among other things, the results demonstrate how important it is to cultivate varieties especially for organic farming. The results have now been published in the journal “Agronomy for Sustainable Development.”

This honor recognizes his outstanding scientific contributions to nematology and his commitment to the ESN. Prof. Grundler was a member of the Governing Board for several years and President of the ESN from 2006 to 2010. He has been President of the International Federation of Nematological Societies for two years and will hold this position until the organization of the next International Congress of Nematology in 2028.