The Department of Geography and the city of Bonn offer a great range of opportunities for international students: both for studying at the University of Bonn and in an international city with many offers for young students. This is shown in two newly produced films aimed primarily at international incoming students.

“It's really difficult and depressing to keep reading and researching about how people and ecosystems are suffering from climate change,” says Prof. Dr. Lisa Schipper from the Department of Geographical Development Research at the University of Bonn. As a scientist, she was involved in the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Now, in a commentary in the renowned journal “Nature Climate Change”, she argues that science also needs discussions about emotions. We asked Lisa Schipper about this.

Our first stop on the bus journey from Nairobi to Nanyuki was on the edge of the East African Rift Valley with a misty view of Mt Longonot. A place that most geography students only know from their introductory lectures as a prime example of the formation of rift valleys and the shifting of tectonic plates. But the field school we attend is not just about looking at landscapes or observing the structures of cities, it's about practising how to do research in the field.

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the University of Bonn have renewed their partnership, reinforcing their commitment to leveraging space technology in response to growing threats from natural and human-made disasters. This five-year agreement, signed today in Vienna, extends the "Spaceborne Earth Observation Applications for Emergency Response and Disaster Risk Reduction" (SPEAR) project, focusing on African nations. Head of the SPEAR II project is Prof. Klaus Greve from the Department of Geography, who retired in 2023.

The Violence Protection Working Group has developed a guideline for dealing with gender sensitivity and violence protection in courses with overnight stays, which will initially be implemented for one year from the summer semester 2025. 

Prof. Dr. Maria Christina Fragkou visited the Department of Geography on a Bonn International Fellowship, which was applied for by Prof. Dr. Jessica Budds (Development Geography and Environmental Governance Research Group) and Dr. Juliane Dame (Cultural Geography Research Group).

With 17 exhibitors and almost 100 participants, the 17th careers and internship fair was once again very well attended.

This year, four researchers have won the International Paper Award of the Department of Geography at the University of Bonn.