Politics

Exploration and utilisation of resources from the world’s oceans is not equally distributed across the globe. Although many of these resources originate in the Global South, they are mostly being researched by just a few countries from the North. Accordingly, this is also where most of the benefits and profits are flowing to, despite the Convention on Biological Diversity. This was the finding of an analysis of literature from the last 50 years.

The President of the ETH Board outlines his vision: to support the autonomy of the institutions and to create synergies with all the country's actors in research, including universities and universities of applied sciences. (3/3)

An alliance for excellence supported by multiple public, private and academic actors, the "TRUST VALLEY" was launched on Thursday, October 8, 2020. Cantons, Confederation, academic institutions and captains of industry, both local and international, come together to co-construct this pool of expertise and encourage the emergence of innovative projects.

Bans and simple measures alone won’t solve the problems in plant protection. Robert Finger presses for a comprehensive pesticide policy.

Climate activists were sentenced yesterday in the second instance. Sonia Seneviratne explains why climate researchers got involved in this trial and expressed their views in a public statement.

In the view of its president, Michael Hengartner, the ETH Board should encourage the creation of platforms to promote discussion between the worlds of science and politics. (2/3)

During the coronavirus pandemic the government is relying more than ever on scientific expertise and has set up the "Swiss National COVID-19 Science Task Force" in response to the crisis. In August the Task Force will have a new mandate and a new Chair: Martin Ackermann, Professor of Molecular Microbial Biology at ETH Zurich and Head of Eawag's Environmental Microbiology Department.

The ETH Board has had a new president, Michael Hengartner, since 1 February 2020. In this interview, he looks back on his first few months in this post and his first major act: the launch of a scientific task force to combat the coronavirus pandemic, which formed the basis for the Swiss National COVID-19 Science Task Force. (1/3)

SwissCovid – a tracing app developed in part by EPFL – has been made available to the general public on 25 June, one month after the pilot tests began. The app will be a useful tool in stemming the spread of the disease as the number of cases in Switzerland is back on the rise.

A new social-ecological approach allows complex relationships in ecosystem governance to be modelled as abstract but easily grasped networks.

The "Black Lives Matter" protests in the wake of George Floyd's death in the US have spilled over into Europe and Switzerland as well. ETH President Joël Mesot and Renate Schubert, the Executive Board's Delegate for Equal Opportunities, explain why this issue also affects ETH Zurich, and stress the importance of diversity for the university.

After Australia, Siberia is burning, indicating that the frequency of such events is on the rise, with myriad dire consequences: devastated ecosystems, risk of desertification, CO₂ emissions, toxic particles, further climate impacts... An expert in atmospheric processes at EPFL, Athanasios Nenes shares his views about it.

126 Swiss researchers, including 6 from Eawag, want to draw the attention their Swiss compatriots to the scientific evidence showing the link between the emergence of pandemics and human disturbance of the natural environment.

Using exhaust gas measurements taken from the roadside, a team from the University of York and Empa was able to prove the Dieselgate scandal has led to positive results. The forced retrofitting of thousands of VW diesel engines saves the environment throughout Europe considerable amounts of Nitrogen oxide (NO_x).

The Internet in its current form is outdated, believes Adrian Perrig. He’s set on creating an Internet where society would regain more control.