Metadata

Title: TRA Present Pasts: Past Worlds and Modern Questions
Category: undergraduate
UUID: cc7eb11d8d3546b3bba3cc61a9bfe4ec

Source URL: https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/research-and-teaching/research-profile/transdisciplin...
Parent URL: https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/research-and-teaching/research-profile
Crawl Time: 2026-03-24T03:59:55+00:00

TRA Present Pasts: Past Worlds and Modern Questions

Source: https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/research-and-teaching/research-profile/transdisciplinary-research-areas/tra-5 Parent: https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/research-and-teaching/research-profile

The TRA Present Pasts works to overcome the eurocentric view of history through the transdisciplinary study of past cultural, political, social and economic constellations and their specific forms of communication. By developing new concepts of heritage and related practices we can better understand our own present day and ensure that we leave behind a sustainable legacy for future generations.

Research

Learn more about our research profile!

Our research1

About Us

Learn about our hard facts!

About us2

Projects

Learn more about ongoing funded TRA Present Pasts projects!

Our projects3

Offers

Seed funding - Networking - Events. Find out about our offers here!

Our offers4

News from the TRA

Notifications

What’s in a Name? — The Unknown Faces of History5

Most people in history remain nameless, appearing in sources merely as numbers, traits or anonymous figures. A new research project launched by the Cluster of Excellence Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies (BCDSS) and the Department of History (IGW) at the University of Bonn is looking into how these nameless individuals can be analyzed and rendered visible in historical records. It has been awarded €370,000 in funding from the Volkswagen Foundation.

Mar 17, 2026 5

Spectacular discovery in the Sinai6

The find is spectacular: an unusually old inscription dating back around 5,000 years in the southwest of the Sinai Peninsula shows in a terrifying manner how the Egyptians colonized the Sinai and subjugated the inhabitants. The scene prominently depicted on a clearly visible rock shows the Egyptians’ dominance in the form of a large man with his arms raised and a Sinaite with an arrow in his chest kneeling in front of him. Mustafa Nour El-Din from the Aswan Inspectorate at the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities discovered the unusual inscription in Wadi Khamila. Egyptologist Prof. Dr. Ludwig Morenz from the University of Bonn interpreted the scene: It announces the Egyptians’ colonial claim 5,000 years ago.

Jan 27, 2026 6

New Heisenberg Professor at the University of Bonn7

A new Heisenberg Professor has begun her work at the University of Bonn. Professor Laury Sarti, a medieval historian, is investigating the everyday mobility of people in the Middle Ages, considering not only the nobility but also ordinary individuals. Through its Heisenberg Programme, the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) enables researchers to pursue high-level projects and thus burnish their academic reputation even further. Sarti is receiving funding worth around €650,000.

Jan 06, 2026 7

Expensive food makes children fat8

When food prices skyrocket during an economic crisis, it is primarily urban populations and people with low levels of education who are affected. This can have lifelong negative health consequences – such as stunted growth in children. A research team at the University of Bonn has now demonstrated such long-term effects using the example of the "Asian financial crisis" in the 1990s. At that time, turmoil on the financial markets led to a drastic increase in the price of rice, Indonesia's most important staple food, which left measurable traces in the development of children. The study was published in the journal "Global Food Security."

Jan 02, 2026 8

View all Notifications9

Highlights and Announcements

[### The Global Heritage Lab

Get Involved in the TRA

As a member of the TRA, you can access funding opportunities, take part in events and build new networks.

Our Members

Our members are independent researchers from all faculties and central institutions, from PhDs to postdocs to professors. Together, they conduct research on current debates and related phenomena from the past.

Members of the TRA Present Pasts13

Join us!

TRA members benefit from regular funding opportunities and the chance to network beyond disciplinary borders.

Membership application14

Vacancies

Research Assistant (WHF) (m/f/d), at the Global Heritage Lab (10-12h/Week), Deadline: 18.02.202615

Meet our Researchers

Inter- and transdisciplinary research actively pursued at the University of Bonn and is promoted across faculty boundaries. The faces of the TRA Present Pasts are our Argelander Professor and the numerous dedicated researchers.

TRA Present Pasts Spokesperson

Prof. Dr. Matthias Becher

Critical Museum and Heritage Studies Professorship

Jun.-Prof. Dr. Julia Binter

TRA Present Pasts Spokesperson

Prof. Dr. Karoline Noack

Joint Fellow BCDSS and TRA Present Pasts

Prof. Dr. Sophia Labadi

Contact

Dr. Kim Alings

alings@uni-bonn.de

tra5@uni-bonn.de

+49 228 73 54477

TRA manager | Strategic Development and Quality Assurance Unit

TRA Present Pasts: Past Worlds and Modern Questions

Research

About Us

Projects

Offers

News from the TRA

Notifications

Highlights and Announcements

Get Involved in the TRA

Our Members

Join us!

Vacancies

Meet our Researchers

TRA Present Pasts Spokesperson

Prof. Dr. Matthias Becher

Critical Museum and Heritage Studies Professorship

Jun.-Prof. Dr. Julia Binter

TRA Present Pasts Spokesperson

Prof. Dr. Karoline Noack

Joint Fellow BCDSS and TRA Present Pasts

Prof. Dr. Sophia Labadi

Contact

Read more...

Transdisciplinary Research Areas

University of Excellence

Research Funding

Links