phd uni bonn

Universität Bonn

Doctorate in Mathematics

The Bonn Mathematics doctoral program is based at the Bonn International Graduate School in Mathematics (BIGS). BIGS as one part of the Hausdorff School for Mathematics (HSM) belongs to the HCM (Hausdorff Center for Mathematics).

The doctorate usually lasts three years and graduates are awarded the title "Dr. rer. nat.". A prerequisite for doctoral studies is a first degree. This is normally a Master's degree, in exceptional cases a Bachelor's degree is also sufficient.

For non-subject-specific questions about a doctorate at the University of Bonn, you are welcome to contact the Bonn Graduate Center . Among other things, it offers qualification workshops for those interested in doing a doctorate and doctoral candidates.

Qualification

The 'Bonner Graduiertenzentrum' offers seminars and workshops for students interested in a Ph.D. and for doctoral students.

Financing During the Doctorate

BIGS can possibly arrange for financial support options for the period of the doctorate.

You can apply to BIGS via an online portal, which will be activated by the application deadlines.

Doctorate at the Faculty

If you have any questions about doctoral studies at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (MNF), please contact the Doctoral Office.

Universität Bonn

Agricultural Faculty

Doctorate at the Faculty of Agriculture

If you are interested in doing a doctorate at the Faculty of Agriculture, you need a confirmation of supervision from a professor and / or funding. We recommend that you carry out detailed research to find out whether your research topic fits into one of our projects or research areas and only then contact the professors. Without a research focus or an idea of the topic you would like to research, there is little point in making an inquiry.

There are several opportunities to do a doctorate at the Faculty of Agriculture. Detailed information on the application and registration process can be found on the doctoral pages .

There are many different collaborative projects in which the Agricultural Faculty is involved and in which a doctorate is potentially possible. In particular, the Collaborative Research Center DETECT and the PhenoRob Cluster of Excellence offer a large number of doctoral students the opportunity to do a doctorate on interesting research questions. You can also keep an eye on the job vacancies at the University of Bonn and search the websites of the institutes for doctoral positions.

If you are given the opportunity to do your doctorate as part of a project, funding is usually available through project funds. It is also possible to apply for scholarships. Please note that the programs are very competitive and chances of being accepted are only possible for highly qualified applicants.

Graduate School BIGS Land and Food

The Graduate School of the Faculty of Agriculture does not award scholarships, but offers a structured accompanying program alongside the doctorate, with interesting courses (primarily soft skills) and a social framework program. Please note that this is not a full-time professional course program with coursework to be completed for the doctorate. The application for the BIGS Land and Food must be submitted to the doctoral office in addition to the registration for the doctorate.

The Bonn International Graduate School for Development Research (BIGS-DR)

The Faculty of Agriculture works closely with the Center for Development Research. It offers a structured doctoral program with accompanying specialist training (six-month full-time courses). There is the possibility of receiving a scholarship, the selection is very competitive.

Further PhD programs

Further PhD programs of the Faculty of Agriculture (in cooperation with Forschungszentrum Jülich) are the JUMPA program with a double degree with the University of Melbourne in Australia and various training networks within the framework of the EU Horizon 2020 program (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions), such as MANNA or SOPLAS .

For an active exchange and socializing, the Graduate School runs a PhD Café together with the International Affairs Unit. We meet every 14 days on Fridays (12 - 2 p.m.) at the International Affairs Unit at Katzenburgweg 9. All PhD students of the faculty are welcome. Philipp Gutbrod will provide information on the dates.

The International Office of the University of Bonn has a wide range of offers for doctoral students, including German courses, intercultural training, social events and the placement of a pro-buddy (a doctoral student from Bonn, as a buddy to help with formalities, arrival and getting to know each other).

PhenoRob Graduate Training Program

The PhenoRob Cluster of Excellence supports its doctoral students with an interdisciplinary portfolio of courses as part of a graduate training program. Our offer ranges from research-oriented courses on mobile robotics to soft skills courses on video production. The program is tailored to the needs of our doctoral students and promotes interdisciplinarity within our cluster.

Der Exzellenzcluster PhenoRob unterstützt seine Doktoranden durch ein interdisziplinäres Angebotsportfolio im Rahmen eines Graduiertenkollegs. Unser Angebot reicht von forschungsorientierten Kursen zur mobilen Robotik bis hin zu Soft-Skills-Kursen zur Videoproduktion. Das Programm ist auf die Bedürfnisse unserer Doktoranden zugeschnitten und fördert die Interdisziplinarität innerhalb unseres Clusters.

Dr. Sarah Nischalke

Advisor - International

[email protected]

+49 228 73-3877 | +49 160 91104774

Katzenburgweg 9

Universität Bonn

Doctoral Studies

Are you thinking about pursuing a doctoral degree at the Faculty of Protestant Theology in Bonn? Below you will find an overview of the steps to take as well as important documents to download.

Currently, you are undertaking your doctoral studies with a doctoral supervisor. You can choose between our doctoral program leading to a Dr. theol. dregree (requires konwledge of German at C2 level) and our new Ph.D. program (no knowledge of German needed).

The Doctoral Regulations and Ph.D. Regulations form the legal basis for your doctoral studies. In our Ph.D. program, you can choose from different majors .

Step 1: Doctoral Supervisior

First, find a doctoral supervisor for your dissertation project. You may ask any professor or private lecturer of the Faculty's departments .

Next, fill in the supervision confirmation form (PDF file for download) and get your supervisor to sign it.

Before you register, please also carefully read the  information on doctoral studies (only available in German) and information on the Ph.D. program at our faculty .

Step 2: Registration

Now you can register for your doctoral studies by sending the supervision confirmation form and the completed Hochschulstatistikfragebogen (questionnaire for statistical purposes) to the Office for Doctoral Affairs by e-mail.

For the registration of your dissertation project, you must also submit the following (original or certified copy):

• Degree Certificates
• Language certificates
• Transcript of Records
• School leaving certificate

Certificate Doctorate Plus

The certificate Doctorate plus can be acquired in the following tracks: Research, Research Management, Business and Organizations Track.

The certificate is jointly issued by the Bonn Graduate Center and its cooperating institutions: Career Center, Human Development, Bonn University and State Library, International Office, Gender Equality Office and Bonner Zentrum für Hochschullehre.

Step 3: Writing Phase

After finding your subject and preparing a synopsis in consultation with your supervisor, it is up to you to write, discuss and perhaps already present parts of your thesis.

In addition to writing the dissertation, the Ph.D. program includes structured doctoral studies , i.e. participation in courses and two international congresses. Details can be found in the information sheet .

It generally takes 3 years full-time to write a PhD thesis, and obviously longer if part-time. In addition to a monograph, the Ph.D. program also offers the option of a cumulative dissertation.

Step 4: Application for the Doctoral Examination

You have completed your thesis? Congratulations!

Submit at least 3 printed copies of your thesis as well as an electronic version to the Office for Doctoral Affairs. The  application form for admission to the doctoral examination andthe required attachments must also be submitted.

Expect a period of nine months between the submission of your thesis and the doctoral examination.

Step 5: Oral Defence or Viva

Get in touch with possible examiners early on.

Once your thesis has been evaluated and accepted by the examination board a date will be set for your oral examination and announced to you by e-mail. Vivas take place on a fixed date, whereas dates for disputations are arranged individually.

If you are defending your thesis in a a disputation , you must submit your arguments to the Office for Doctoral Affairs at least 6 weeks before the date.

Further Procedure

After your successful doctoral examination, you will receive a written confirmation. However, you may not use your doctoral title until you have been awarded your doctorate certificate.

The condition for this is, for example, the submission of a contract for the publication of your doctoral thesis. For alternatives, kindly refer to your Doctoral or Ph.D. Regulations.

There will be a graduation ceremony , to which you, your supervisor and the the second examiner will be invited. You are also welcome to bring other guests with you.

At the graduation ceremony you will receive a certificate and may take the doctoral oath if you would like to. Following the ceremony, you will be given written confirmation that you are now entitled to use the doctoral title .

Your thesis should be published within a year of graduating , otherwise you need to apply for an extension. 7 published copies must be submitted, into which specific details must be inserted by you – the Office for Doctoral Affairs has a template you can use.

And what now? The Career Service of Bonn University can advise you on further career opportunities.

Find important documents as PDF files for download.

Office for Doctoral Affairs

[email protected]

+49 228 73-60034

Dean's Office

[email protected]

+49 228 73-7366

Research Projects

Get an overview of the current research projects at the Faculty of Protestant Theology.

Continue here

Examination Office

The Examination Office will support you with formal and organisational questions regarding your doctorale studies.

The Dean's Office is your contact for all questions concerning the Faculty in Bonn as a whole.

BIGS clinpopscience

• info[at]bigs-clinpopscience.de
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BIGS Clinical and Population Science

Welcome to the Bonn International Graduate School Clinical and Population Science. BIGS Clinical and Population Science offers a structured 3-year PhD program covering a wide range of research activities in both individual and population health areas. As an interdisciplinary research program, BIGS Clinical and Population Science combines the resources of two different Faculties, (Medicine and Agriculture) and also works in close collaboration with top-level independent research institutes located in Bonn, such as the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE). This program offers diverse research opportunities with a methodological emphasis on genetics, imaging, and biostatistics. In this world-class research environment, our students work with excellent scientists on highly relevant projects, learning the latest techniques.

Quicklinks:

Stay in contanct:, research groups.

Our research environment is highly collaborative with more than 20 participating research groups employing interdisciplinary approaches. Our PhD students have the opportunity to conduct thesis research on projects such as the Rhineland Study, the DELCODE cohort of people with subjective cognitive decline, the Spinocerebellar Ataxia study ESMI, or the DietBB Competence Cluster in Nutrition Research.

Anthropology

Biomechanics, clinical studies, epidemiology, health services research, teaching program.

BIGS Clinical and Population Science prepares researchers to translate scientific findings into improvements in human health. For this, our program provides an excellent introduction to a wide range of topics and to the innovative technologies that drive clinical and population science  research. Training measures are complemented by mentoring, soft skills courses and comprehensive career development programs. Our goal is to inspire our talented students to make high-impact and innovative research contributions and to foster their scientific career. As all courses are held in English, enrollment in the program requires advanced English language skills.

Admissions Info

JOIN THE BIGS CLINICAL AND POPULATION SCIENCE COMMUNITY

We are delighted that you would like to participate in our international, structured doctoral program at the University of Bonn. Doctoral students have the opportunity to apply to more than 20 research groups. If  you are interested in this international doctoral program in clinical and population science – APPLY NOW!

Our doctoral students are prospective translational scientists from all over the world. More than 60 doctoral students are currently enrolled at our graduate school, of whom about 50% come from abroad!
 Students are represented by the BIGS CPS Student Council. If you have any questions about the Graduate School, don’t hesitate to contact us! To find out more about the people behind the Student Council, read more!

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University of Bonn

The University of Bonn was founded almost 200 years ago and is considered to be one of Germany's and indeed Europe's most important institutes of higher education. As home of learning to over 27,000 students, we enjoy an outstanding reputation both at home and abroad. The University of Bonn is one of the world's leading research based Universities and therefore it is no surprise that we operate on an international level. We particularly specialize in the fields of research and teaching and this has led to our evolving into the position of a truly prominent international institution.

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Universität Bonn

Department of Economics / BGSE

• Department of Economics

Doctoral Program (PhD) with integrated MSc Economic Research

Our two-year program Master of Science in Economics with a specialization in Economic Research (MSc/ Economic Research) prepares you for independent academic research, providing you with the skills to push the knowledge frontier in economics. It is the gateway to our doctoral program in Economics.

In fact, your admission to the MSc/Economic Research program comes with a conditional offer of progression to our doctoral program which lasts for another three years.

Study Program : Doctoral Program with Integrated MSc Degree : MSc & Doctoral Degree Duration: 5 Years Start of Study : Winter Term (October) Language: English Application Period: End of November - January 15

Alumni Testimonials

"I associate the University of Bonn above all with my co-authors and friends, as well as my time as a student, which I enjoyed very much. I am grateful for the world-class education I received at the University of Bonn and especially at the Bonn Graduate School of Economics, which made my academic career possible." ~Philipp Strack, winner of the Clark Medal and BGSE Alumnus

"I greatly enjoyed the versatility of research, featuring myriads of challenges and room for development and improvement of one’s ability. Doing research requires analytical thinking about an issue for prolonged amounts of time. Yet, this process leaves much space for creativity, for instance, in the way you approach a problem or design an experiment. Along the way, I learned that I quite like the process of writing up research results, but then also enjoyed the opportunity to convey my research to other researchers and journalists through presentations and interviews. Not only did the research environment at the BGSE and University of Bonn enable me to make these experiences, but the regular interactions with fellow researchers who share a common curiosity about how the world works made it a thoroughly enjoyable experience." ~Luca Henkel, BGSE Alumnus

"I truly enjoyed my time in Bonn. Be it the afternoons discussing research in one of the many cozy cafes, the days going road cycling in the beautiful outdoors, or the evenings spent with the great friends I’ve made in Bonn (both in- and out of university). (I could go on...) At the BGSE, what I valued most was the academic freedom - getting to work at my own topics, at my own pace - and the huge family of theory peers, postdocs, and faculty, all working on similar sorts of topics. I learnt a lot from them in countless fruitful conversations." ~Axel Niemeyer, BGSE Alumnus

"Studying in Bonn was a wonderful experience, and I am very grateful for the numerous opportunities. A highlight of my PhD was definitely my research stay at Yale University as part of the BGSE’s exchange program. Also, I highly value the open and friendly research environment in Bonn and the strong research network at the BGSE and its cooperating institutes ECONtribute and the CRC." ~Sophie Kreuzkamp, BGSE Alumna

"The University of Bonn was an excellent place for my research. Apart from being home to world-class researchers, the university provided all the necessary infrastructure to pursue my research interests. This allowed me to have a hands-on experience with cutting-edge scientific practices." ~Cavit Destan, BGSE Alumnus

"I highly appreciated not only the BGSE's inspiring research environment, but also its flexibility and comprehensive support that allowed me to visit both the European Central Bank and the University of Notre Dame (U.S.) during my Ph.D. studies. Moreover, I liked the strong sense of community in Bonn's economics department and greatly enjoyed the many get-togethers, summer parties, soccer games, and other social events." ~Matthias Gnewuch, BGSE Alumnus

"The collaborative research environment at the BGSE allowed me to deepen my knowledge and get to know many other researchers. I had the freedom to work on the topics that I am most passionate about which made it a lot of fun at the same time. Bonn is also a great place to live because it offers a high quality of life with its rich history, cultural scene, and picturesque surroundings along the Rhine." ~Fabian Schmitz, BGSE Alumnus

"The richness of research inspiration and opportunities allowed me to experiment with many different methods and topics, which was a lot of fun. For example, I ran lab-in-the-field experiments in Papua New Guinea, online surveys about macroeconomic expectations in the US, lab experiments in Bonn, and international surveys among academic economists. I also love the city. The combination of a small but flourishing city connected to a dense metropolitan area, nearby nature, and the warm-hearted people of the Rheinland is invaluable." ~Peter Andre, BGSE Alumnus

"I enjoyed the freedom we BGSE students were granted, both with regards to topics and to when and how we work. It allowed me to work on things that I feel passionate about and take advantage of amazing opportunities outside of work. Also Bonn is a fantastic city with many fun hobbies to pursue, amazing people and lots of opportunities to enjoy nature." ~Klara Roehrl, BGSE Alumna

"A big advantage of the BGSE is the financial support and office space it offers to its doctoral students. Moreover, the high degree of cooperation between fellow students, regular interactions with professors and postdocs and demanding course work, all together enables one to make the most out of their studies and research." ~Renske Stans, BGSE Alumna from the Netherlands

"Bonn, as a leading European university in the field of quantitative economics, not only offers outstandingly rigorous coursework but also enables the students to conduct high-quality research. The office and grant structure, as well as the regular contact to professors, facilitates a collaborative environment in which everyone is constantly gaining knowledge while also enjoying the wide range of cultural activities Bonn offers." ~Paul Voß, BGSE Alumnus

Course of Study: MSc Economics/Economic Research (two years)

The MSc/Economic Research offers graduate-level courses in microeconomics, macroeconomics, and econometrics. With this comprehensive training, you will then be able to choose among a variety of advanced courses, especially topics courses that cover subjects at the current research frontier. Moreover, you will participate in one of the five weekly workshops and learn about our faculty’s research projects, meet advanced doctoral students and renowned guests. In your fourth semester, you will write your master thesis which will be the starting point for your first PhD research paper. 

From the very beginning of the MSc/Economic Research program, we can offer grants of €1,465  per month.

If you already have completed a master‘s degree with a less research-oriented focus, you will also enroll in the MSc/Economic Research as the coursework, the early participation in the weekly workshops, and the thesis are an integral part of the PhD program. In addition, this structure offers you the opportunity to receive a second master's degree (as long as you do not already have a master's degree from our department) as well as a doctoral degree in the course of a combined graduate program. 

• 3 PhD-Level Basic Courses in Microeconomics, Macroeconomics and Econometrics
• Mathematics for Economists
• All 4 Courses with a passing grade
• 3 Level-II Courses in Microeconomics, Macroeconomics and Econometrics
• One Selected MSc Course, Preferably Topics Course
• GPA over the eight 1st year courses minimum 2.5
• 2-4 Selected MSc Courses, Focus on Topics Courses
• BGSE Workshop Participation
• 0-2 Selected MSc Courses, Focus on Topics Courses
• MSc Thesis with a Minimum Average of 2.3
• Find First Supervisor for the Dissertation Stage

Course of Study: Doctoral Program (three years)

After the successful completion of the MSc/Economic Research program, you can start straight into research, and you will be offered a grant or contract for another three years. During these years of doctoral studies (dissertation phase), you will continue to interact with other doctoral students, postdocs, faculty, and international guests in weekly seminars, reading groups, and summer schools. You will present your research projects in our workshops as well as at conferences abroad, and write the papers that will become part of your thesis.

You will have the opportunity to visit one of our partners of the European Doctoral Program (EDP) or another leading university worldwide for a research stay abroad. This will allow you to extend your network beyond Bonn and to present and discuss your research with leading scientists working at one of our partner organizations.

In addition to state-of-the-art training at the frontier of economic research, we offer an array of further training for a broader set of soft skills in cooperation with the Bonn Graduate Center (BGC) , e.g., training in presentation skills, project management, writing, or networking. Towards the end of your doctoral studies, you will benefit from our intense job market coaching, and you will proceed to a promising career as our many alumni have done in the past.

• Brown Bag Presentation
• Find Second Supervisor
• Finish First Paper
• Workshop Presentation
• Finish Second Paper
• Find Third Supervisor
• Finish Third Paper
• Thesis Submission
• Job Market Preparation

During the first semester, our students take three PhD-level basic courses in microeconomics , macroeconomics , and econometrics plus the course mathematics for economists .

In coming semesters, doctoral candidates deepen their knowledge in advanced courses. Topics courses cover subjects of the current research frontier and prepare for independent research.

All these courses are listed in the online course catalog of Bonn University.

Exemplary syllabi

Related links, workshops & seminars.

From the third semester on, students participate in one or more of the BGSE workshops where current research projects are discussed.

Additionally, the institutes of our department offer workshops and seminars where colleagues and international guests talk about their research projects.

Brown Bag Seminar

This seminar for doctoral students at the start of their dissertation phase will take place again in the winter semester 2022/23. Details tba.

Additional  Workshops

BGSE Students  have the opportunity to take part in special lectures, events and workshops of our partner institutions briq, IZA & Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods.

Exchange Programs

The BGSE is one of the founding partners of the European Doctoral Program (EDP). The EDP opens up the way for doctoral students of the BGSE to spend time at one of the EDP-Partners in Barcelona, Florence, London, Louvain-la-Neuve, Paris, and Tel Aviv, to participate at the annual doctoral student conference, the EDP-jamboree, and to benefit from the EDP’s long-established and firm tradition to integrate graduate students into the international academic community.

The BGSE has a regular student exchange with Yale University. Bachelor students from Bonn who plan to go for a doctoral degree can apply for the UC Berkeley Exchange Program.

Universität Bonn

Universitäten Köln und Bonn

PhD program Bonn and Cologne

To begin PhD studies, an MSc degree (or equivalent) is required, and candidates need to find a suitable supervisor and research project. During the MSc phase there is ample opportunity for this (for instance through research internships).

It is also possible to go directly to PhD studies with an MSc degree in physics or a related field taken outside the BCGS. Comparing the BCGS program with the Anglo-Saxon system, the coursework component of a PhD in the US or UK roughly corresponds to our Master program, the research component corresponds to our PhD.

PhD candidates do not need to meet any deadline and may apply throughout the year. 

Note: BCGS does not provide funding for PhD applicants. Funding is usually provided by the research groups.

The faculties in Bonn and Cologne have different registration regulations for PhD students. Details for both locations can be found below.

PhD Cologne

For students who have already obtained or are about to obtain their master's degree, the first step towards the PhD is to find a PhD advisor. The best way is to contact directly one (or several) of the professors or other research group leaders. In most of the cases, one can apply throughout the year (even if no PhD positions are advertised). For applicants from outside of Cologne it is useful to send a CV, information about previous academic achievements and research experience.

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ZEF 25 years

The center for development research, international doctoral program (bigs-dr), research with the global south, zef's research projects.

AFAS organized second Summer School at ZEF in Bonn

Latest Publications

Environmental impacts of genetically modified crops

Deconstructing the climate migration myth: Assessing the impact of the 2022 floods on the movement of local populations in rural Punjab

[PDF | 463.03KB]

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates ICAE conference 2024 in New Delhi

ZEF in the press

ONE Conference 2022: Interview with Prof. Joachim von Braun

Bessere Ernten trotz Trockenheit - Wie Afrikas Landwirtschaft krisenfester werden kann

Upcoming events, sustainable solutions, shared futures: development research for the 21st century.

ZEF's international conference is fully booked !

ZEF Public Lecture: Can we deconstruct the Ivory Tower? - Balancing journalistic and scientific writing styles for a broader audience

Speakers: Anna Balkenhol and Janine Traber (informationsstelle südliches afrika e.V. - ISSA)

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BIGS-DR Students‘ News

Zef junior researchers wendy chávez páez and serena olivera at the 35th international geographical congress in dublin, ireland.

ZEF junior researchers Wendy Chávez Páez and Serena Olivera held presentations at the 35th International Geographical Congress in Dublin, Ireland (August 23 - 30, 2024).

09/10/2024 BIGS-DR Students

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BIGS-DR Alumni News

Zef alumnus aziz a. karimov takes on new position at the food and agriculture organization of the united nations (fao).

ZEF alumnus Aziz A. Karimov joins the FAO Ukraine team in Kyiv as the head of the Assessment and Analysis Unit

07/11/2024 BIGS-DR Alumni

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Exploring Global South-South Connections

Tackling South America’s environmental challenges by strengthening international academic cooperation

Blue Health for all!? One Health Day 2023 at ZEF

Activists and academics for women’s land rights

A would-be match made in heaven

Zef's research projects worldwide.

Overview about current research at ZEF

ZEF latest social media posts

Public lecture by Prof. Miriam Cooke: Arab feminism and politics

Launch of The Malabo Montpellier Panel Report

"Wir müssen weniger Fleisch essen"

Research & capacity development, doctoral program, publications.

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Universität Bonn

Medical Faculty

Graduate Schools & Doctorate Programs

In graduate schools, doctoral students go through a multi-year curriculum that teaches subject-specific methodological competencies, basic scientific work, and soft skills.

The Faculty of Medicine participates in the Bonn International Graduate Schools (BIGS) with several structured graduate schools. Third-party funded graduate schools include the DFG-funded international graduate school 2168 "Bonn & Melbourne Research and Graduate School" and the graduate school GRK 1873.

Many of the graduate program offerings are also open to members of other academic study communities to allow for exchange between different scientific fields. The university-wide Doctorate plus program opens up an additional opportunity for academic and extracurricular skill development for doctoral students.

The faculty thus offers internationally competitive, structured doctoral training at the highest scientific level. University-wide guidelines for international graduate schools guarantee excellent education conditions for doctoral students. They also include collaborations between university research focus areas and collaborative projects as well as with non-university research institutions. The financial endowment of the graduate schools ensures their continous operation and coordination. The aim is also to award scholarships for excellent students in order to further increase international visibility and competitiveness.

Interdisciplinary Graduate Schools

Scimed doctoral  academic study community.

Doctoral  Academic study community for Human medicine

BIGS Clinical and Population Science

For Human medicine specialists

ImmunoSciences and Infection

Grk 2168: international graduate academic study community "bonn and melbourne research and graduate school", bigs immunosciences and infection, neurosciences, bigs neurosciences                               , international max planck research school (imprs) for brain and behavior, synaptic micronetwork in health and disease                                                 (sfb1089), pharmacology, bigs drug sciences, grk 1873: "pharmacology of 7tm-receptors and downstream signaling pathways", cardiovascular diseases, irtg trr 259 "aortic disease".

Universität Bonn

Habilitationsausschuss

Der Habilitationsausschuss hat die Aufgabe, über die Zulassung zur Habilitation zu entscheiden und die Qualität der eingereichten Habilitationsschrift sowie der Lehrleistungen zu evaluieren.

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How the brain processes the number zero How the brain processes the number zero

Researchers from bonn and tübingen clarify the neuronal basis of the mathematical concept of "zero".

Despite its importance for mathematics, the neuronal basis of the number zero in the human brain was previously unknown. Researchers from the University Hospital Bonn (UKB), the University of Bonn and the University of Tübingen have now discovered that individual nerve cells in the medial temporal lobe recognize zero as a numerical value and not as a separate category "nothing". The results have now been published in the journal "Current Biology".

The concept of the number zero has been central to the development of number systems and mathematics and is widely regarded as one of humanity's most important cultural achievements. "Unlike other numbers such as one, two or three, which represent countable quantities, zero means the absence of something countable and at the same time still has a numerical value," says co-corresponding author Prof. Florian Mormann from the Department of Epileptology at the UKB, who is also a member of the Transdisciplinary Research Area (TRA) "Life & Health" at the University of Bonn. In contrast to positive natural numbers, the concept of the number zero only emerged late in human history over the last two millennia. This is also reflected in childhood development, as children are typically only able to understand the concept of zero and associated arithmetic rules at around the age of six.

Neurons signal the number zero

How this concept is represented by nerve cells in the human brain has not yet been investigated. The researchers from Bonn have now joined forces with neurobiologists from the University of Tübingen to get to the bottom of this question. To do this, they showed neurosurgical patients, who had had hair-thin microelectrodes inserted into their temporal lobes at the UKB in preparation for surgery, numerical values from zero to nine. The numerical values were shown as Arabic numerals on the one hand and as sets of dots on the other - including an empty set. "Meanwhile, we were able to measure the activity of individual nerve cells and actually found neurons that signaled zero," says Esther Kutter, who is the first author of the study. "Such neurons responded to either the Arabic numeral zero or the empty set, but not to both."

Number zero is a numerical value for neurons

In both cases, there was a numerical distance effect in which neurons reacted weaker, but measurably, also to the neighboring number one. "So at the neuronal level, the concept of zero is not encoded as a separate category "nothing", but as a numerical value integrated with other, countable numerical values at the lower end of the number line," says Prof. Dr. Andreas Nieder from the Institute of Neurobiology at the University of Tübingen, and Prof. Mormann adds: "Despite this integration, the empty set is encoded differently from other numbers at the neuronal population level, especially in the case of point sets. This could explain why the recognition of the empty set also takes longer at the behavioral level than for other small numbers." For Arabic numerals, however, this effect was not found at either the neural or behavioral level. From this, the researchers recognize the importance of symbolic representations, for example through Arabic numerals, for the integration of the number zero on the number line in the human brain.

The study was funded by the German Research Foundation DFG via the priority program SPP 2205.

Esther F. Kutter, Gert Dehnen, Valeri Borger, Rainer Surges, Andreas Nieder, Florian Mormann: Single-neuron representation of nonsymbolic and symbolic number zero in the human medial temporal lobe; Current Biology: DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2024.08.041

Prof. Florian Mormann, MD, PhD Department of Epileptology, University Hospital Bonn TRA "Life & Health", University of Bonn Phone: (+49) 228 287-15738 E-mail: [email protected]

Prof. Andreas Nieder, PhD Institute of Neurobiology, University of Tübingen Phone +49 (0)7071 29-75347 E-mail: [email protected]