Research

In order to guarantee the security of supply of our future energy system, we need not only an expansion of renewable energies, but also sophisticated control mechanisms that efficiently manage production, distribution and consumption. Empa researchers have therefore developed a predictive control algorithm that optimizes energy management at building level but without compromising user comfort.

Lorenz Hurni considers what constitutes maps and why they are also instruments of power – and reveals how the Swiss World Atlas deals with disputed names and unilateral name changes.

At the Illgraben debris­flow observa­tion station, WSL researchers are de­veloping early warning systems that combine seismology and artificial in­telligence. A trip to the perhaps most hostile place in Switzerland.

Small quantities, big effect: micropollut­ants in wastewater are increasingly recog­nised as environmental problems. Eawag researchers played a key role in developing a globally pioneering strategy to ensure wastewater treatment plants are fit to deal with these residues as well.

In 2024, PSI reported two breakthroughs  in connection with microchips, both on  a similar scale. Single­digit nanometre ranges can now be achieved in semicon­ductor production with photolithography and when analysing microchips – record levels of precision!

Gabriela Hug, Professor of Electric Power Transmission and Chair of the Energy Science Center at ETH Zurich, is convinced that the transformation to clean energy can succeed. However, it will take a little pioneering spirit and intelligent control of the power grids.

Language models are often not much more than toys; we are fascinated  by their abilities, but do they really bring any benefit? A new model from EPFL illustrates the potential of chatbots with medical knowledge to close a disastrous information gap in Africa.

Will there still be a need for human researchers when automation enters the laboratory? Battery researcher Corsin Battaglia and materials scientist Johann Michler from Empa believe that it  will be a case of working together, not against each other.

Laboratories play an important role in effective water quality monitoring. The Eawag department of Sanitation, Water and Solid Waste for Development (Sandec) is collaborating on the REACHLabs project, which is analysing the effectiveness of fit-for-purpose (FFP) laboratories in rural areas of low- and middle-income countries. FFP labs are laboratories designed to meet specific local operational and management needs of rural water supplies.

EPFL researchers have achieved a remarkable result: capturing and studying phase changes in quantum hardware, which hold promise for next-generation technologies like quantum computing and ultra-sensitive sensors.

Empa researchers from the nanotech@surfaces laboratory have experimentally recreated another fundamental theoretical model from quantum physics, which goes back to the Nobel Prize laureate Werner Heisenberg. The basis for the successful experiment was a kind of “quantum Lego” made of tiny carbon molecules known as nanographenes. This synthetic bottom-up approach enables versatile experimental research into quantum technologies, which could one day help drive breakthroughs in the field.

A newly published book describes how life-saving proton therapy was developed at PSI. Damien Weber explains why the full potential of the method has not yet been exploited.

Scientists at .Neurorestore (EPFL/CHUV/UNIL) have developed an approach that combines rehabilitation robotics with spinal cord stimulation to restore movement in people with spinal cord injuries. The technology enhances rehabilitation and enables activities like cycling and walking outdoors.

A modulator developed by researchers from ETH Zurich has broken the terahertz mark. The ultrafast component efficiently transmits large volumes of data into the fibre-optic network in a short space of time.

Storage hydropower plants contribute to the energy transition, but also affect river ecosystems. Sustainable management should not only account for individual hydropeaking events, but also their cumulative effects.