Research

Antibody testing can be a powerful tool for tracking the spread of SARS-CoV2 infections, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. A group of scientists from EPFL, UNIGE and HUG have now developed a reliable and cheap antibody test that can analyze more than 1,000 samples at once and requires a small drop of blood, such as that from a finger prick.

ETH Zurich and the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI are opening a joint research centre, the ETH Zurich - PSI Quantum Computing Hub. The goal is the investigation and realisation of quantum computers. In an interview, Gabriel Aeppli, head of PSI's Photon Science Division, and Christian Rüegg, director of PSI, talk about this special collaboration and highlight what quantum computers are expected to bring us.

ETH Zurich and the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) establish a joint centre for the development of quantum computers. Its aim is to advance the realization of quantum computers based on both ion traps and superconducting components. ETH Zurich provides 32 million francs for this centre, which will host around 30 researchers.

How do you get more people to have vaccinations? Gudela Grote firmly believes that it’s worth looking at team dynamics.

EPFL scientists are developing a completely new “brain stress test” for evaluating the mental status of patients with Parkinson’s disease, the second most prevalent neurodegenerative disease worldwide. It involves awakening the “ghosts” hidden in specific networks of the brain to predict the onset of hallucinations.

Another location for the Swiss Data Science Center will be established at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI. To this end, the ETH Board has approved an increase of five million Swiss francs in the budget of the strategic focus area Data Science. The main aim of this expansion is to help improve the evaluation and handling of the growing amounts of data from large and complex research infrastructures, sensor networks, and databases at PSI and the other three federal research institutes, Empa, WSL, and Eawag. The resources and expertise will be available to all institutes in the ETH Domain.

An international research team including scientists from ETH Zurich has shown that almost all the world’s glaciers are becoming thinner and losing mass’ and that these changes are picking up pace. The team’s analysis is the most comprehensive and accurate of its kind to date.

Mechanical engineers and mathematicians at EPFL have joined forces to gain a better understanding of the geometry and mechanics of two filaments in contact – as in the cases of knots and woven fabrics.

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have succeeded for the first time in looking inside materials using the method of transient grating spectroscopy with ultrafast X-rays at SwissFEL. The experiment at PSI is a milestone in observing processes in the world of atoms. The researchers are publishing their research results today in the journal Nature Photonics.

EPFL scientists have developed an algorithm that can work out the spatial pattern of gene expression inside the body without the need for microscopes and complicated equipment used currently.

Multi-resistant pathogens are a serious and increasing problem in today's medicine. Where antibiotics are ineffective, these bacteria can cause life-threatening infections. Researchers at Empa and ETH Zurich are currently developing nanoparticles that can be used to detect and kill multi-resistant pathogens that hide inside our body cells. The team published the study in the current issue of the journal Nanoscale.

The European Research Council has decided on the recipients of its lucrative Advanced Grants. Researchers at ETH Zurich were awarded two grants – one in political science and the other in climate research. ETH is set to receive around CHF 6.6 million.

Novel nanoparticles developed by researchers at ETH Zurich and Empa detect multi-resistant bacteria hiding in body cells and kill them. The scientists' goal is to develop an antibacterial agent that is effective where conventional antibiotics remain ineffective.

Buildings, districts and cities currently often have outdated energy systems. Homes must be made more energy-efficient and districts need to be supplied with renewable energy. In cities, the aim is to turn energy production and mobility into sustainable systems. This involves complex energy models that Kristina Orehounig is researching in her “Urban Energy Systems” department at Empa.

GenoRobotics is an interdisciplinary EPFL project to develop a portable, automated device for extracting and sequencing DNA in any type of environment. The project team hopes their invention will make it easier and faster to map our planet’s biodiversity.