Research

Switzerland has set itself the goal to stop greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050. With this net-zero target, it wants to contribute to limiting climate warming globally to less than 1.5 degrees C. The scenarios of the Competence Centres show that the net-zero goal is technically achievable by 2050. But this requires coordinated and comprehensive adaptations across a range of areas that affect society as a whole.

Niel Schröter’s research at PSI has focused on exotic materials and demonstrated their fascinating electronic states for the first time. His work has now been recognised through one of the Swiss Physical Society’s annual awards. He plans to build on this basic research in future and pave the way for quantum computers.

Switzerland has considerable capacity for carbon storage and a bright future in shallow geothermal energy. These are the two main findings presented in Innosuisse’s final report on the 2013–2020 Energy Funding Programme, in the chapter on geo-energy. Lyesse Laloui, a full professor in civil engineering at EPFL, is the chapter’s author and the head of a research group on this topic.

Many everyday activities rely on electricity. As we look to 2050, this dependence is set to increase, with demand for electricity in Switzerland likely to rise to 50 percent. The increased demand can only be met by transforming the energy system.

EPFL’s new Center for Quantum Science and Engineering (QSE Center) will establish and promote programs for cross-disciplinary research, education and innovation in the fields of quantum science and engineering.

Skintegrity.CH is a transdisciplinary consortium for the largest organ of humans, the skin.

EPFL scientists have developed a new system that addresses two top priorities of the energy transition: clean hydrogen production and large-scale energy storage. Their technology could be particularly useful in transportation applications.

EPFL summer series: how science works. Citizens and scientists have two very different ways of reasoning. While citizens find comfort in certainty, scientists need to continually challenge the facts. Is it possible for these two groups to find common ground?

Roe deer are among the few mammals whose embryos go into a particularly long period of dormancy. Using modern molecular methods, ETH Zurich researchers have shown for the first time exactly what happens to the embryo during this phase. They have identified signals that control the embryo`s awakening.

An international collaboration with EPFL has developed a method to improve the performance of COVID-19 contact-tracing apps by taking into account a user’s recent contacts, risk levels and shared information about tests and symptoms.

There has been a floating laboratory on Lake Geneva called LéXPLORE since 2019. Natacha Tofield-Pasche, limnologist at EPFL and project leader of LéXPLORE, and Damien Bouffard, researcher at Eawag and member of the LéXPLORE steering committee, tell us what is being studied there and why this research platform is unique.

EPFL engineers are pioneering an energy-saving technology that uses fiber optics to boost the performance of supercomputers.

Norway experiences dangerous landslides due to its clay-rich soil. For her Master’s thesis in civil engineering at EPFL, Mathilde Metral outlined steps that the country’s geotechnical engineers can take to improve the predictive computer model they’re currently developing. 

Researchers propose a new framework for how satellite DNA, sometimes called “genomic junk,” is essential in the organization of chromosomes in cells. They suggest this quickly-evolving DNA is one reason different species are unable to successfully interbreed.

EPFL researchers found that, if expressed too early during embryonic development, one of the genes that orchestrate the formation of limbs can lead to a rare disorder of bone growth.