Institute of Geosciences

The University of Bonn has honored Dr. Anna Zoporowski from the Meteorology and Geophysics teaching unit at the Institute of Geosciences in the Earth Sciences department and 13 other lecturers for their outstanding commitment with the Teaching Awards 2025. The prize recipients were chosen by students themselves. Professor Klaus Sandmann, Vice Rector for Teaching, Learning and University Development presented the prize certificates at a ceremony on the Hofgarten lawn in Bonn as part of the Universitätsfest attended by over 7,000 people. Dr. Anna Zoporowski is a lecturer in the Meteorology and Geophysics teaching unit at the Institute of Geosciences in the Earth Sciences department and teaches modules such as “General Geophysics”, “Mathematical Methods in Geophysics”, “Introduction to Geophysics”, “Tectonophysics” and numerous additional courses with great commitment to students on the B. Sc. Meteorology and Geophysics, M.Sc. Physics of the Earth and Atmosphere, B.Sc. Geosciences and M.Sc. Geology.  In her role as course manager and student advisor for the Meteorology and Geophysics teaching unit, she also provides outstanding support and guidance to students with competence, passion and commitment. Dr. Anna Zoporowski also coordinates international student exchanges in the teaching unit.

OER stands for Open Educational Resources. In short, this means learning materials that are available to everyone free of charge.There are learning materials in all conceivable subject areas and levels that are provided with open licenses: the so-called Creative Commons or CC licenses. This means that the materials can be used, shared, edited, mixed, stored and reproduced.

Joost Hase from the Geophysics Section at the Institute of Geosciences at University of Bonn has been awarded the second place in the ABC/J Research Award 2025 for Early Career Scientists. His work is entitled “Model inference and uncertainty quantification in complex resistivity imaging”. In his research, he is developing new methods for model-based inversion and uncertainty quantification in complex resistivity imaging (CRI) - a method for imaging electrical properties of the subsurface using induced polarization (IP).

The EGU (European Geoscience Union) took place in Vienna at the beginning of May: an international conference by and for 20,000 geoscientists, most of whom took part on site, but also online. Among others, a few people from our institute went there and informed themselves and networked in the most diverse sub-areas of meteorology.

In a national survey, we are shedding light on the expectations, hopes and challenges of first-year meteorology students. Our aim is to better understand what drives young students - and where they need support. The results will provide valuable insights into how to make the start of their studies more successful.

We congratulate Jun.-Prof. Dr. Leonie Esters, Junior Professor of Climate Monitoring, on successfully passing the midterm evaluation of her tenure track professorship.

We are pleased to welcome our new interim professor, Dr. Christoph Renkl, who joined the institute in the Meteorology Section on March 15th.

Welcome to Prof. Dr. Marcel Thielmann! He took over the newly established Chair of W2 Geophysics/Geodynamics on March, 1st 2025 and introduces himself in this news post: "I am a geodynamicist with a focus on developing and applying mathematical and computational models to understand the physical processes that control deformation of the Earth’s surface and interior. I am particularly interested in the interplay between processes on different scales. Current research projects range from deep earthquakes, flow of complex fluids through porous media, the rheology of Earth's lower mantle and the interaction between deep Earth processes and surface deformation." Welcome to the Geophysics Section and the Institute of Geosciences!