Under the umbrella of the “Bonn Science Region”, the economic development agencies of the city of Bonn, the Rhein-Sieg district and the Ahrweiler district have been cooperating with science and research institutions and their offices for transfer, public relations and career services for over 25 years.

Many services and networking opportunities thrive on direct exchange and personal contacts, as is the case with the Science Unit. For over 25 years, trade fair appearances, including at the Hannover Messe, have been part of the portfolio of services for research institutions and innovative companies. Due to the changed, also financial, conditions following the corona pandemic and the associated need to adapt offers, the first new ideas for measures in the three fields of action of technology transfer, recruitment of skilled workers and location awareness and identity are being developed in a joint regional strategy process, which are to be implemented together. The continuation and development of existing offers was also discussed and determined. 

The Bonn Region Sustainability Hub project focuses on networking between sustainability-oriented start-ups, existing companies and representatives of science; the Sustainability Hub is therefore also an exchange platform for business, science and society. Since November 2022, numerous events have already taken place with the participation of business and science. The “Stammtisch Nachhaltigkeits-Hub” has become a popular quarterly recurring format. With a changing thematic focus, the series of events always offers stakeholders new impetus and the opportunity to stay in touch. 

Many highly qualified young professionals are being trained in the region. The Economic Development Agency is committed to bringing them into contact with local companies and informing them about regional employment opportunities. It also advises employers on the recruitment of young academic talent.

With the “Next Stop: Job” series, the Economic Development Agency brings students, graduates and doctoral candidates into direct contact with employers in the region. A large number of students took advantage of the virtual visits and on-site visits to companies to find out about career entry opportunities and make contacts. Additional digital workshops offer students the opportunity to prepare for the company visits and obtain information on various career topics. Demand from companies also remains high, so the series of events will be continued. Due to the ever-increasing proportion of international students and graduates in Bonn, there is a great need for an English-language program. For this reason, Next Stop: Job is increasingly introducing employers who also hire students and graduates without fluency in German. In addition, the majority of the career workshops are offered in English. The Bonn Economic Development Agency works closely with the economic development agencies of the Rhein-Sieg and Ahrweiler districts and the contact persons for career topics at the University of Bonn, Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences, Alanus University, Koblenz University of Applied Sciences (RheinAhrCampus) and the IU International University in Bad Honnef.

As part of its efforts to secure skilled academic staff and retain graduates, the Science Office also regularly visits universities in the region to offer lectures and workshops for students and graduates. Regular events include the Career Day of the Career Service of the University of Bonn, the Day of Virtual Company Visits of the International Office of the University of Bonn and the PhD Day of the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences.

The third round of the GeoMentoring program ended at the beginning of 2024 with a total of ten successful tandems of mentees and mentors. The aim of GeoMentoring is to support Master's students of geography and geodesy at the University of Bonn in their professional orientation, especially in the field of geoinformation management, and to provide insights into everyday working life and regional networks. The mentors and mentees organize their own personal exchange process. In addition, joint networking appointments with presentations of different professional fields are offered by the mentors. Workshops on topics such as personality analysis, self-marketing and self-presentation, public image and feedback, as well as application documents provide the mentees with the best possible support in their career orientation and successful career entry. 
The next round of GeoMentoring will start at the end of 2024. 

The Office of Science is actively involved in networks such as the Geoinitiative Region Bonn, the interest group for the recruitment of specialists and skills development of the Cyber Security Cluster Bonn e.V., the GeoMINT@School initiative and the BION biodiversity network. The University of Bonn offers the iStart career program for refugees and international students as part of the DAAD funding program “NRWege Leuchttürme”. The Economic Development Agency supports this project by providing further contacts and advice as well as a coordinated range of workshops. Science marketing and innovation promotion help companies and scientific institutions to transfer knowledge, technology and expertise into marketable products and processes. 

Every two years, the Bonn Science Night offers universities and research institutions in the region the opportunity to showcase their research to the general public in Bonn's city center. The event provides a variety of ways to demonstrate how scientific knowledge can be gained and used. Nowadays, this is an integral part of third mission activities at universities and research institutes. The 14th Bonn Science Night took place in May 2024 under the motto “Freigeist”. It was part of a series of events dedicated to the theme “75 years of the Basic Law - Democracy made in Bonn”. 24 research and science institutions from the Bonn region presented current projects from various research and subject areas such as radio astronomy, artificial intelligence, aerospace, occupational health and safety, biodiversity and many more. As at the last Bonn Science Night in 2022, there was once again a tent city of knowledge in Bonn's city center: on Münsterplatz, Mülheimer Platz and in the Bonn Information Center, the exhibitors presented hands-on science with exciting hands-on stations, exhibits to try out as well as lectures and discussion rounds for interested visitors of all ages. 

 The event was advertised to specific target groups in advance via the Bonn Science Night social media channels. During the event, social media was used both for documentation and to increase the visibility of the individual exhibitors.
(Social) media are also used to disseminate contemporary science communication offers from, to and around the universities and research institutions in the region, whereby the Economic Development Agency sees itself primarily as a multiplier and platform in addition to its own offers. 

Through its role as a subsidy provider for the Deutsches Museum Bonn, the Economic Development Agency is closely involved in its further development into a central experience location and forum for artificial intelligence (AI).

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)