The Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, which is over 200 years old, is an internationally operating, cooperation- and focus-oriented research university with a wide range of currently around 200 Bachelor's and Master's degree courses, some of which are part-time. More than 31,000 people study at the seven faculties of this comprehensive university, around 4,500 of whom come from abroad. Around 1,700 of the 6,400 doctoral students are foreign nationals. The university has around 7,700 employees, including 692 professors. Together with Bonn University Hospital with more than 8,300 employees, it is one of the largest employers in the region. Over 300 partner universities worldwide represent the excellent international network.

With its six Clusters of Excellence and successful overall concept, the university has been a University of Excellence since 2019. Among other things, this status enables the university to expand its international position and better recruit academics. The City of Bonn supports the University of Bonn in its projects through a joint “Memorandum of Understanding”, which regulates the basis of cooperation and its development. Regular exchanges take place at various levels. The Economic Development Agency cooperates closely with the University, for example in the areas of career advice, start-up and innovation support and science communication. To this end, it works closely with the Transfer Center enaCom, the Career Service, the Department of International Affairs and various university institutes. The cooperation between enaCOM and the Digital Hub Region Bonn makes start-up activities even more visible in Bonn's city center. The University of Bonn is an important player in the Bonn Region Sustainability Hub project.

Founded in 1995, the university has around 9,000 students and around 1,100 employees, including 150 professors. It currently offers around 40 Bachelor's and Master's degree courses in Sankt Augustin, Rheinbach and Hennef. More than half of its 1,300 graduates each year remain in the region. The award of the independent right to award doctorates to the NRW Doctoral College enables an independent doctoral procedure at H-BRS. The Centre for Science and Technology Transfer ZWT promotes cooperation with companies and organizations and advises on funding programmes and exploitation aspects. The Bonn Economic Development Agency works closely with the ZWT and the CENTIM (Center for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and SMEs) and supports the Start-up-Manufaktur. This is an initiative of the SUPRA project (Start-up Program Rheinbach Sankt Augustin), which is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy as part of the EXIST program. H-BRS is also contributing its expertise to the Bonn Region Sustainability Hub. 

Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences is a state-recognized art university with two locations (in Alfter and Mannheim) and part of the Bonn art scene. The university, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2023, currently has around 2,000 students and over 250 employees (including around 90 professors) and offers 32 full and part-time degree programs. Contacts with local companies are being expanded, particularly in the Department of Business, including in the joint project Sustainability Hub Region Bonn.

The RheinAhrCampus Remagen is one of three locations of the Koblenz University of Applied Sciences. The strong practical orientation of the degree course and the teaching of interdisciplinary knowledge in the fields of “Mathematics and Technology” and “Economics and Social Sciences” prepare the approximately 2,500 students in around 20 degree courses for the job market. As a regional innovation and service center, the campus is integrated into the regional health network and the science region and also offers numerous part-time distance learning courses. The economic development agency works closely with the university in the areas of transfer, regional development, start-up support and securing skilled workers.

The caesar research center became the Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology of Behavior at the beginning of 2022. The institute, which was previously associated with the Research Foundation, has since become a full member of the Max Planck Society.

The largest EU location of the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) will strengthen Bonn as a science location in the field of climate and sustainability research. The ECMWF is a global scientific leader in the field of weather forecasting and climatology. Among other things, it carries out its tasks in the EU Earth observation program “Copernicus” from Bonn.

The six Fraunhofer Institutes, with locations in Bonn, Sankt Augustin, Wachtberg and Euskirchen and over 1,900 employees, stand for non-university cutting-edge research in the field of ICT technologies and form an interface between science and industry. 

In order to further develop the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft's research portfolio in the fields of “Technology Analysis and Strategic Planning” and “Radiation Effects”, the Fraunhofer Institute for Technological Trend Analysis INT will be integrated into the Fraunhofer Institute for Communication, Information Processing and Ergonomics FKIE in the future.

Together with the University of Bonn, RWTH Aachen University and Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences, the Fraunhofer Institute Center Birlinghoven is part of the Bonn-Aachen International Center for Information Technology. The Cyber Security course at the University of Bonn is just one example of the close cooperation between the Fraunhofer Institutes and the universities. The Bonn Economic Development Agency is actively involved in the boards of trustees of Fraunhofer FKIE and Fraunhofer SCAI.