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Archive Research 2020

72 article
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Article list Research

  • UZH COVID-19 Vaccination Center

    «It always seems impossible, until it's done»

    Jan Fehr and his team have set up the first reference vaccination center for the canton of Zurich. Vaccinations started on Monday. In our interview, the head of UZH’s Public and Global Health Department talks about some of the personnel and logistical challenges involved in establishing the new center.
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  • Digitalization Initiative of the Zurich Higher Education Institutions

    DIZH Picking Up Steam

    In the next 10 years, the joint digitalization initiative by Zurich’s higher education institutions aims to explore the effects and opportunities of digitalization and develop innovative technologies. The initiative is now gradually taking shape, and the first round of calls for research and innovation projects has been launched.
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  • Office Vice President Research

    Elisabeth Stark Nominated as New Vice President Research

    The UZH Senate nominated Professor Elisabeth Stark for the position of Vice President Research at its meeting on 10 December 2020. The Board of the University will finalize her appointment on 21 January 2021.
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  • Sustainable UZH

    Roadmap for a Carbon-Neutral Future

    UZH aims to be a carbon-neutral institution in 10 years. The 2030 Implementation Strategy for the Sustainability Policy defines how this is to be achieved. We sat down with Lorenz Hilty, the UZH sustainability delegate, to talk about virtual conferences, sustainable research and making a peace deal with nature.
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  • Depression therapy

    Adrift on the Ocean

    Psilocybin, the active ingredient found in certain mushrooms, expands the boundaries of the self and reduces anxiety. Psychiatrist Franz X. Vollenweider wants to harness this effect to treat patients suffering from depression.
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  • Autobiography

    Midwife of One’s Own Story

    When we reminisce, we are working on our own sense of self. The older we get, the more we remember things in a positive light and rewrite our life story for the better.
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  • Epigenetics

    “Health is inherited”

    According to Isabelle Mansuy’s research, the epigenome – which can switch our genes on and off – can be modified, positively or negatively, by our lifestyle choices. At least some of these modifications are passed down through the generations.
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  • Coronavirus Research

    Sich selbst und andere schützen

    In the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, epidemiologist Milo Puhan, virologist Alexandra Trkola and immunologist Onur Boyman were able to quickly start research on the novel coronavirus thanks to UZH’s Pandemic Fund. Now, in the second wave, they tell us what they have achieved so far in our video series.
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  • NMR spectroscopy

    supermachine

    The new chemistry department building on the Irchel Campus will house the very latest in NMR spectroscopy technology. The equipment, which costs CHF 13.5 million, is being acquired together with ETH Zurich and the University of Basel.
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  • Origins of the E.G. Bührle Art Collection

    Art and Armaments

    A study led by UZH historian Matthieu Leimgruber shows how Zurich industrialist Emil Bührle became the richest man in Switzerland and how he built up his art collection. Leimgruber concludes that Bührle’s Oerlikon-based arms company allowed him to buy art on a grand scale. And he was no outsider, but rather a well-integrated member of the Zurich elite.
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  • Covid-19 Drive-In Test Center Dübendorf

    A Testing Lab on the Airfield

    The UZH Space Hub is supporting the new coronavirus drive-in test center managed by Balgrist University Hospital. The Space Hub director Oliver Ullrich and his team have set up a test laboratory at the military airfield in Dübendorf and are coordinating teams of UZH students to provide assistance. Starting this week, the center is also offering rapid antigen tests.
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  • Art History

    “Photography is highly political”

    UZH art historian Bettina Gockel is an expert in the history of photography and investigates techniques of color photography. Her research has yielded some surprising insights.
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  • 150 Years University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich

    “Worms don’t develop schizophrenia”

    The University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. The hospital, often referred to as the “Burghölzli”, has a rich and varied past. Paul Hoff, deputy director of the Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, looks back on historical developments in psychiatric care, with a focus on the doctor-patient relationship.
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  • Neurosciences

    The Mind and the Body

    The development of our consciousness and sense of self is closely linked to how we perceive our body.
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  • Evolutionary Biology

    New Blooms from the Uri Alps

    Evolutionary biologist Kentaro Shimizu gathers flowers from a Swiss alpine meadow and cultivates Japanese wheat in a garden on UZH’s Irchel Campus. He wants to find out how plants are adapting to climate change.
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  • Emotions Research

    Investigating the Consequences of Child Abuse in Different Countries

    Psychologist Monique Pfaltz researches the socio-emotional consequences of abuse and neglect in childhood. She recently launched an international initiative to carry out transcultural and transnational research projects.
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  • Graduate Campus

    Clear Criteria for Authorship

    Academic authorship was the theme of this year’s Graduate Campus event. An expert panel discussed the subject from a variety of perspectives.
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  • Identity

    Me, Myself and I

    Role models and biological factors shape who we are. But our selves change throughout our lives. Over time, it is not only our appearance, our relationships and our circumstances that change, our identity changes too – and yet we feel we are still the same.
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  • Gender Medicine

    Women's Hearts Age Differently

    Cardiologist Catherine Gebhard’s research focuses on why certain diseases affect women and men differently. For the gender medicine pioneer, the corona pandemic is both a textbook example and a call for action at the same time.
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  • Biology

    Prestigious award for pioneer of proteomics

    Ruedi Aebersold, a professor of molecular systems biology at UZH and ETH Zurich, is to receive the Swiss Science Prize Marcel Benoist. Aebersold is being honored for the part he has played in founding and advancing the field of proteomics, a branch of biology that is seen as the foundation of the personalized medicine of tomorrow.
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  • Physiology

    Maternal Elixir

    Mothers' milk has always been subject to superstitious beliefs and questions. How long should mothers breastfeed? What if it doesn't work? UZH human biologist Thierry Hennet's aim is to find rational arguments, and to identify how breastmilk protects babies from infections.
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  • Fall Semester 2020 Ringvorlesungen

    Lectures on Humans, Health and Pestalozzi’s Legacy

    The University of Zurich’s latest round of public Ringvorlesungen explores what it means to be human, education in the age of technology, health in a digital society, and gender in the Middle Ages. The lecture series kicks off on 15 September.
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  • UZH Start-Up

    Teaching More Efficiently

    A University of Zurich start-up has developed an innovative learning and assessment platform for teachers. Thanks to the platform’s cutting-edge technology, teaching staff can individualize and mark exams through an automated process.
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  • Georg Friedrich Götz Award

    Georg Friedrich Götz Award

    Cancer researcher and physician Steffen Böttcher from the Medical Oncology and Hematology Clinic, and neuroscientist Silvia Brem from the University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, have been presented with the Georg Friedrich Götz Award. The prize is awarded annually for outstanding contributions in the field of medical research.
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  • Medicine

    Comprehensive Cancer Center

    Around 40,000 people are diagnosed with cancer in Switzerland every year. In this interview with UZH News, Markus Manz, the new chair of the Comprehensive Cancer Center Zurich (CCCZ), explains why he’s convinced that close collaboration between clinicians and researchers will give a renewed boost to efforts to develop innovative approaches in cancer medicine.
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  • Evolution

    The harsher the environment, the more help parents receive

    Cooperative childcare is essential for us humans. It allowed us to evolve larger brains, to better learn from one another, and to be more social. But why did human evolution take this course?
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  • Graduate Campus

    UZH-Graduate-Campus

    The goal of the Graduate Campus is to create the best possible framework for junior researchers. Ulrike Müller-Böker, who directed the Graduate Campus from August 2016 to July 2020, and departmental head Claudine Leysinger take stock and look ahead.
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  • Botany

    Plethora of Plants

    The herbaria of the University of Zurich and ETH house many historical plant discoveries, some of which are up to 300 years old. Now the paper-mounted plant samples are being digitized and made available for global use – in large part thanks to the work of committed volunteers.
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  • Research Integrity

    Assuring Transparency and Fairness

    UZH’s new integrity ordinance enters into force on 1 September 2020. It defines scientific misconduct and how to deal with it, with a particular emphasis on preventing misconduct by means of training and education.
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  • Covid-19 Survey

    Most 22-Year-Olds Followed FOPH Recommendations

    The long-term study z-proso has examined the effects the coronavirus pandemic has had on the lives of young adults in Zurich. On the whole, the pandemic has been a challenging time for the around 700 participants, whose daily lives were at times thrown into disarray. Nevertheless, many of the young adults were able to adopt positive ways of dealing with the difficulties.
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  • Strategic Partnership with Kyoto University

    When Tradition Meets Modernity

    The University of Zurich and Kyoto University are entering into a strategic partnership. Japan’s second-oldest university and UZH are stepping up their cooperation in research and teaching and increasing efforts to support junior academics.
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  • UZH-Spin-off

    Precision Predictions for Hydropower Plants

    The UZH spin-off ExoLabs has developed a model that can predict snowmelt and help hydropower operators generate energy more efficiently. The innovative business idea has now won the funding and support of the European Union.
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  • UZH Journal 2/20

    On Thin Ice

    Our glaciers are melting. Glaciologist Michael Zemp believes that a reduction in air travel among the scientific community is inevitable.
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  • Medicine

    Space Bones

    Microgravity in space could help us manufacture human tissue. Researchers at the UZH Space Hub sent stem cells to the International Space Station (ISS) to explore this idea. The samples have now returned to earth.
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  • Economic History

    Launchpads to Prosperity

    The plague claimed countless victims in the Middle Ages and early modern period. According to economist Joachim Voth, it also made Europe rich.
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  • International Relations Office

    Joining Forces

    The University of Zurich and Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin are entering into a strategic partnership. This will enable Zurich and Berlin to step up cooperation in medical research and teaching. The first joint priority area is digitalization in medicine.
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  • Neuroeconomics

    Giving Makes Us Feel Happy

    Generosity entails costs. Its benefit to us, though, is indeterminate. Why are we nonetheless generous toward others? Neuroeconomist Philippe Tobler has peered into the brains of generous people and discovered an answer to that question.
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  • Next Generation Sequencing

    New Method Revolutionizes Corona Testing

    State-of-the-art sequencing technology can analyze billions of DNA fragments in a matter of hours. A group of researchers at the Functional Genomics Center Zurich has demonstrated how this high-speed method can be leveraged to increase coronavirus testing capacities: Hundreds of thousands of samples could be processed each day.
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  • Research Project "Corona Immunitas"

    Journey out of the Lockdown

    The coronavirus isn't going anywhere anytime soon. As long as there is no vaccine, policymakers need reliable information about the level of infection within the population. Milo Puhan, an epidemiologist at UZH, is leading a national study that investigates this very issue.
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  • Covid-19-Research Projects

    “Can anyone hear me here?”

    How do UZH professors give lectures to an empty room? How have churches gotten through the crisis? The special circumstances created by the coronavirus pandemic have raised new questions for research. We present two current projects.
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  • AI and the Ideal Market

    How Markets Are Getting Smarter

    Computer scientist Sven Seuken uses artificial intelligence to design complex electronic markets that aim to benefit vendors and customers in equal measure.
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  • AI and Health

    AI and Health

    Artificial intelligence is already commonplace in healthcare, lightening doctors’ workloads and helping them make medical decisions. The legal issues have yet to be resolved, however.
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  • KI und Fairness

    Becoming smarter together

    From checking loan applications to selecting job applicants, decisions are increasingly being made with the aid of artificial intelligence. While AI doesn’t make them any fairer, it can make us wiser, says ethicist Markus Christen.
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  • The Prejudices

    The Secret Life of Algorithms

    Algorithms sort the internet for us. The problem is, no one knows exactly how they decide. Information scientist Anikó Hannák is trying to change this. What she’s finding out in the process offers food for thought.
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  • AI and Our Jobs

    Not less work, but different

    Artificial intelligence is changing the way we work. Information scientist Abraham Bernstein predicts that it won’t make us redundant. But there will be new forms of collaboration between humans and machines that will open up new and interesting avenues.
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  • Covid-19 Research

    Are We Immune Enough?

    There are still many unanswered questions around the coronavirus: How many people in Switzerland are immune? How long does immunity last? And how can high-risk patients be quickly identified and given the best treatment? Three UZH researchers told us in these video interviews about their search for the answers.
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  • Fundraising

    “More than just a source of funding”

    How does effective fundraising for science work? What’s the best way for researchers and donors to work together? These were the topics discussed by NOMIS Foundation Managing Director Markus Reinhard, UZH Vice President Research Michael Schaepman, and UZH Foundation CEO Martin Gubser.
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  • Reading Minds

    Thanks to neurotechnology, it could soon be possible to read people’s thoughts, says linguist Balthasar Bickel. While fascinating from a me­dical perspective, it’s also incredibly dangerous.
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  • Pandemic Fund

    UZH Researchers in the Fight Against Coronavirus

    The UZH Foundation has launched a fundraising campaign for urgent research projects tackling the Covid-19 pandemic. The focus is on research into antibodies to determine immunity and improvements in treatment.
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  • Astrophysics

    Scientists achieve simultaneous simulation of gravitation and magnetism of a protoplanetary disk

    Researchers from the Universities of Zurich and Cambridge have succeeded for the first time in creating a single computer-simulated model that combines processes in the development of planets that were previously simulated separately. In their novel simulations on the Piz Daint supercomputer, they identified a new kind of friction mechanism that could solve a ubiquitous problem in astrophysics.
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  • Anthropology

    The Social Life of Dolphins

    With their ability to maintain life-long friendships and form coalitions within wide social networks, the dolphins in Shark Bay, Australia, display a complex social life. This is a sign of intelligence, says anthropologist Michael Krützen.
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  • The University of Zurich’s New COVID-19 Test Center

    “We’re bridging a gap”

    On 30 March a new COVID-19 test center was opened on the premises of the UZH Center for Travel Medicine. In this interview with UZH News, Professor Jan Fehr, the director of the center, explains why a new test facility is important and who it is primarily geared to.
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  • Detecting Sars-CoV-2

    Virologists on the Frontline

    Staff at the University of Zurich’s Institute of Medical Virology have been working flat out and are now able to carry out around 800 to 1,000 coronavirus tests a day. Alexandra Trkola, who heads the institute, explains what determines the quality of a good diagnosis.
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  • Computers are not curious

    People and intelligent machines learn in similar ways, says philosopher Hans-Johann Glock. Unlike humans, however, computers do not pursue their own goals – not yet, at least.
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  • Mental Health

    “We want to relieve the burden on family doctors”

    Birgit Watzke does research into specialist care provision for people with mental health needs.
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  • Mercator Awards

    Citizen Science, Humanitarian Aid in Uganda, Customs and Norms

    Their innovative and original research projects won over the jury: This year’s Mercator Awards go to Simon Etter and Barbara Strobl at the Department of Geography, the ethnologist Maria-Theres Schuler, and lawyer Oliver William.
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  • Sustainability

    Free Train Travel

    An ecological overhaul of business and society is the task of a lifetime. But it’s achievable, says sustainability researcher Kai Niebert. The money is there, what is needed is courage and the political will.
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  • Academic Careers

    Academic Careers

    Quantifiable metrics like the journal impact factor should not be the only way of assessing scientific outputs, said Stephen Curry of Imperial College London at an event held at UZH.
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  • Phonetics

    The Voice Catcher

    Our voices are as individual as our appearance. Phonetician Volker Dellwo knows how to decode their special characteristics. He is also developing cloned voices.
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  • Sustainability

    Repairing Instead of Replacing

    The power of digitalization could help us save energy and optimize product life cycles. That would be good for the environment. But the possibility is yet to be harnessed.
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  • Designer Crops

    Thanks to the CrisprCas9 gene editing method, it is now possible to quickly and precisely breed resilient plants – an important contributor to sustainable agriculture. In Switzerland, however, the cultivation of genetically modified crops is not currently permitted.
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  • Astrophysics

    Why Uranus and Neptune are different

    The two outermost giant planets of the solar system have similar masses, but are also have striking differences. Researchers of the NCCR PlanetS at the University of Zurich have found an explanation for this long-standing mystery: Two different giant impacts could have had completely separate effects.
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  • Innovation

    Creating an Entrepreneurial Culture

    UZH already has a strong reputation for driving innovation. Entrepreneurship and innovation are now to be given even more of a boost to make students and junior researchers more aware of career paths outside the traditional routes, explains Michael Schaepman, Vice President Research.
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  • Saving the World

    Green Investment

    A mere fraction of the wealth of the super-rich would be enough to make our economy more sustainable – assuming it’s invested the right way.
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  • Study of Religions

    The Fate of the Nameless Dead

    What happens to boat refugees who never reach the other shore? This question preoccupies religious studies scholar Daniela Stauffacher. She researches the official treatment of and rituals performed for migration victims in southern Italy.
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  • Digitalization Initiative

    “Vote of confidence in Zurich as a research hub”

    The Parliament of the Canton of Zurich yesterday unanimously resolved to provide 108 million francs of funding for the DIZH, the ground-breaking joint initiative by Zurich’s higher education institutions.
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  • Biology

    Cellular Traitors

    When it comes to disease-causing viruses, medicine is still waiting for a breakthrough. The reason lies in the special way these quasi-living organisms function. Viruses don’t simply attack us; they live in constant symbiosis with us.
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  • 20 years of Unitectra

    “We can’t be everybody’s darling”

    Technology transfer office Unitectra recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. In the interview below, Managing Director Adrian Sigrist explains what has changed and why the organization has thrived.
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  • Medicine

    Fixing Hearts, Saving Lives

    Artificial heart valves save many lives. But the problem is that a prosthesis is never as robust as the real thing. This is why UZH Professor Maximilian Emmert wants to get the human body to rebuild the damaged valves itself.
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  • In the Spotlight

    Political Whiz Kid

    Political scientist Fabrizio Gilardi and his colleagues established the Digital Democracy Lab.
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  • Urban Psychology

    Happy Places

    Some parts of Zurich are colorful and full of life, while others appear drab and empty. Psychologist Alice Hollenstein knows what brings joy to city dwellers – and what doesn’t.
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  • Open Science

    Science Opens Up

    Open science is gaining momentum. According to Mark Robinson and Marc Thommen, the open science delegates newly appointed by UZH to support the transformation to greater cooperation, the movement will bring about major changes in the academic system.
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