Research
Geographical research in Bonn is mainly focused on the following five research focus areas: Water Futures, Risk and Security, Governing Transformations, Inequality and Justice and Land Surface Dynamics. Research and teaching within these key fields is divided into nine academic areas.
News on our Research
New open-access book: African Futures in the Making
he new open-access publication “African Futures in the Making”, edited by Prof. Dr. Detlef Müller-Mahn and Prof. Dr. Michael Bollig, was published in February 2026 in association with the Collaborative Research Center “Future Rural Africa”. This edited volume features 11 contributions and examines the impacts of climate change, globalization, and changing resource practices on rural areas in sub-Saharan Africa.
SOZIAHR workshop: Meeting places in the Ahr Valley
On 3 November 2025, representatives from politics, administration and civil society came together at Koblenz University of Applied Sciences (Remagen campus) for a workshop organised as part of the SOZIAHR project to discuss meeting places in the Ahr Valley. During a gallery walk, participants identified 43 facilities and observed initial differences in their spatial distribution and target groups. In the following discussion, participants addressed current challenges and developed key objectives for the future, including long-term funding models, stronger cooperation between actors and improved support for volunteers.
Geographical health research: GIUB and GHC sign cooperation agreement
On 7 January 2026, the long-standing collaboration between the GeoHealth Centre and the Department of Geography at the University of Bonn was secured for the long term through a cooperation agreement. This strengthens Bonn's position as an important location for geographical health research. The cooperation in research and teaching, previously shaped significantly by Prof. Dr. Thomas Kistemann, will be continued under the leadership of PD Dr. Timo Falkenberg and Apl. Prof. Dr. Carsten Butsch. Key areas of joint research are urban health and health in the Global South.
Emma Minja successfully defends her dissertation on contested hydropower development in Tanzania
On December 18, 2025, Emma Athanasio Minja successfully defended her dissertation “Contested Waters: Historical Legacies of Hydropower Dams, and Future-Making in Tanzania’s Rufiji Basin (1960s–2010s)”. The dissertation was supervised by Prof. Dr. Detlef Müller-Mahn (Department of Geography, University of Bonn) and Prof. Dr. Ulrike Lindner (Department of History, University of Cologne). Congratulations!