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Archive Research 2024

91 articles
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  • Psychology

    Political Campaigns Can Induce Stress in Minorities

    How did the 2021 national marriage equality referendum campaign in Switzerland affect the well-being of the LGBTIQ+ community? A team led by researchers at UZH has shown that LGBTIQ+ individuals and their cisgender heterosexual allies exhibited more stress hormones during the controversial campaign.
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  • One Health

    Influenza viruses can use two entry points

    Most influenza viruses enter human or animal cells through specific pathways on the cells’ surface. UZH researchers have now discovered that certain human flu viruses and avian flu viruses can also use a second entry pathway to infect cells.
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  • Tumor biology

    Key Driver for Epithelial Cancer Development Identified

    A distinct signaling pathway called TNF-α drives the transformation of epithelial cells into aggressive tumor cells. During cancer progression, cells activate their own TNF-α program and become invasive - they spread into other organs.
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  • Genetic diversity

    Inheriting the Ability to Adapt

    Genetic diversity enables plants to adapt. Research conducted by plant geneticist Ueli Grossniklaus on the epigenetic inheritance of traits is opening up new opportunities for breeding crops.
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  • Linguistic diversity

    Languages Benefit from Biodiversity

    Linguistic diversity thrives best in biodiverse environments – such as a tropical rainforest. For the survival of the many small language communities in these areas, isolation is key. Linguist Balthasar Bickel explains the interesting parallels between biodiversity and linguistic diversity.
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  • Evolution

    Nature’s Sleeping Beauties

    According to evolutionary biologist Andreas Wagner, nature tirelessly produces new variations, many of which are not utilized. But when environmental conditions change, these dormant new talents spring into action.
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  • Mental health

    Striving for Perfection

    In our interview child and adolescent psychologist Dagmar Pauli talks about the influence of school and social media, boys with gaming addictions, and the problems facing transgender youth.
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  • Animal research and 3Rs

    UZH Researchers Win Swiss 3R Awards

    This year’s awards from the Swiss 3R Competence Centre all go to UZH scientists whose research contributes to replacing, reducing and refining animal experiments.
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  • Sociology

    Teacher bias

    A study involving over 14,000 ninth graders in Germany has uncovered significant grading biases associated with students’ gender, body size, ethnicity and parental socioeconomic status.
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  • URPP Global Change and Biodiversity

    "Biodiversity is our life insurance"

    Ecosystems are more stable and productive when they contain more species. This has been demonstrated impressively by researchers from the URPP Global Change and Biodiversity. The successful program is committed to ensuring that the value of biodiversity is better understood and appreciated in society.
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  • Regenerative Medicine

    Tailor-Made Cells

    In a few years, we’re likely to see personalized stem cells being used in the first clinical trials for heart patients. But there are still a few hurdles to overcome on the way from the lab to the clinic.
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  • Financing Climate Risks

    Crucial Gaps in Climate Risk Assessment Methods

    Researchers from the Universities of Zurich, Vienna and Utrecht have uncovered significant flaws in current climate risk assessment techniques that could lead to a severe underestimation of climate-related financial losses for businesses and investors.
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  • Cancer medicine

    Novel Blood Test Helps Improve Cancer Treatments

    UZH and USZ researchers have further developed a new blood test to analyze liquid biopsies of DNA fragments in the blood. The new method is fast and practical, without putting much of a strain on patients – and might help to treat cancer patients more individually in the future.
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  • Stem cell biology

    The Mechanism Behind Melanoma Resistance to Treatment

    In many cases of malignant melanoma, the effect of targeted treatment is lost over time. A research team from UZH and USZ has now discovered that a factor secreted by tumor cells is responsible for the resistance.
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  • Gender medicine

    Strong Hearts

    The heart is our most vital organ. But the heart muscle cells are sluggish. The cardiologist Carolin Lerchenmüller is exploring how these cells are regenerated and how the heart can be strengthened and protected.
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  • Permanent professorship

    UZH to Create Chair of Allergology and Asthma in Davos

    The Swiss Institute of Allergy and Asthma Research (SIAF) in Davos is to be significantly strengthened with the creation of a Chair of Allergology and Asthma. An agreement on this was announced on 21 June 2024 by representatives of the Graubünden government and the UZH.
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  • URPP LightChEC

    “Making the catalysts work for us”

    “The scientific strides we’ve made will hopefully allow us to kick-start the long-awaited technology of producing energy from artificial photosynthesis,” says director Greta Patzke in describing what’s been achieved thanks to the URPP LightChEC.
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  • Animal research

    “We now have robust figures”

    Five percent of all therapies tested on animals end up being approved for use in human medicine. The Center for Reproducible Science at UZH has published a large systematic review study showing how well results from animal research translate into medical advances for humans.
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  • URPP Evolution in Action: From Genomes to Ecosystems

    “UZH is a leader in evolutionary biology research”

    How do organisms and pathogens evolve and adapt to the environment? This was the question that the URPP Evolution in Action sought to address. The program allowed UZH to put its considerable research competence in evolutionary biology to excellent use, says the initiator and former co-director Beat Keller.
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  • Psychology

    Gender Equality Linked to Men Eating More Meat

    In wealthier countries with greater gender equality, men are more likely to eat meat more frequently than women, a new study reveals. The findings could inform strategies for promoting plant-based and cultured meat as viable alternatives to traditional meat consumption.
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  • Speech Sciences

    Human Brains Can Tell Deepfake Voices from Real Ones

    Do our brains process natural voices and deepfake voices differently? Research conducted at the University of Zurich indicates that this is the case. In a new study, researchers have identified two brain regions that respond differently to natural and deepfake voices.
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  • Brain research

    First Week after Birth Is Critical for Development of Senses

    UZH researchers have found that the maturation of the senses for smell and touch is closely linked in mice and that this strong interaction takes place within a narrow developmental time window. The findings underline the importance of environmental stimuli for brain assembly in early life and the interdependent development of the senses.
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  • Sociology

    Peers Crucial in Shaping Boys’ Confidence in Math Skills

    A study from the University of Zurich has analyzed the social mechanisms that contribute to the gender gap in math confidence. While peer comparisons seem to play a crucial role for boys, girls’ subjective evaluations are more likely to be based on objective performance.
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  • Reproducible Research

    Scientific Community Reflects on Fundamental Research Standards

    Reproducible research results is a key standard in the sciences. At the inaugural Swiss Reproducibility Conference, researchers will discuss the best ways to meet this requirement – including how to cope with growing data volumes and the pressure to publish.
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  • Conclusion University Research Priority Programs

    Time to Take Stock and Think Ahead

    UZH’s University Research Priority Programs tackle pressing societal problems. They enable researchers to apply their expertise in selected research fields and help them develop long-term solutions. The programs of the second series have now concluded, with an event marking the occasion last week.
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  • URPP Dynamics of Healthy Aging

    Leading the Way in Research on Aging

    The recently-concluded UZH University Research Priority Program Dynamics of Healthy Aging achieved some impressive results. The World Health Organization even adopted the healthy aging model developed in Zurich.
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  • Computer vision and machine learning

    Bio-Inspired Cameras and AI Help Drivers Detect Pedestrians and Obstacles Faster

    Artificial intelligence (AI) combined with a novel bio-inspired camera achieves 100 times faster detection of pedestrians and obstacles than current automotive cameras. The new system can significantly improve the safety of automotive systems and self-driving cars, as UZH researchers show.
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  • Evolutionary Anthropology

    Cultural Networks of Central African Hunter-Gatherers Have Ancient Origin

    Extensive social networks between hunter-gatherers groups in the Congo Basin existed long before agriculture arrived in the region. This continent-wide interexchange preserved a cultural diversity that evolved thousands of years ago, as UZH researchers show based on musical instruments, vocabulary and genetic data.
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  • Robotics

    UZH Robotics Research Leads the Way

    Davide Scaramuzza has been awarded the IEEE Kiyo Tomiyasu Award. In the interview below, the professor of robotics and perception explains why a drone needs agility and low latency and which progress is needed to improve the autonomy of drones in the future.
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  • Gender medicine

    The Thing with Mice

    For many years, the male mouse was thought to be the measure of all things in pre-clinical research. Over time, scientists have come to realize that it is medically necessary to work with experimental animals of both sexes.
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  • History

    How Japan Reached Out to the World

    What role did Japanese migrants play in the emergence of modern Japan in the 19th century? Martin Dusinberre reconstructs the voyages of the Yamashiro-maru steamship and re-examines methods of historical scholarship.
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  • Gender medicine

    Protective Genes

    Men are more likely to develop and die of cancer, and most types of cancer affect more men than women. This is not only down to genes, but also behavior.
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  • Evolutionary Biology

    Limited Adaptability Makes Freshwater Bacteria Vulnerable to Climate Change

    Freshwater bacteria with small genomes frequently undergo prolonged periods of adaptive stagnation. Based on genomic analyses of samples from European lakes, UZH researchers uncovered the surprising evolutionary strategies. Understanding these evolutionary dynamics is key to safeguarding ecosystem services.
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  • Population Genetics

    The Roots of the Mapuche

    The ancestors of the Mapuche people settled in South America more than 5,000 years ago. For a long time, they lived in relative isolation and in defiance of the Incas and Spanish. A notable study aids our understanding of their genetic history, and that of South America.
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  • Precision Medicine

    Fighting Cancer with SMARTdrugs

    With “SMARTdrugs” a team of researchers from UZH with international partners aims to create a new class of therapies: “radiotheranostics”. These drugs combine diagnostic and therapeutic radionuclides in a supramolecular compound with the purpose of imaging and treating tumors.
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  • Musicology

    UZH Acquires Important Richard Wagner Manuscript

    The University of Zurich has made a spectacular acquisition of an important manuscript by Richard Wagner (1812 to 1883). In Eine Mitteilung an meine Freunde (“A Message to My Friends”), the composer takes autobiographical and artistic stock and looks to the future. The manuscript, which was written in Zurich, will now undergo further scholarly analysis at UZH.
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  • Business Administration

    CEOs’ Human Concern Translates into Higher Stock Price

    CEOs’ expressions of empathy correlate with positive stock performance, a study led by the University of Zurich shows. The researchers analyzed data from conference calls between CEOs and financial analysts during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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  • Psychology

    Culture-Specific Trauma Responses in Switzerland

    According to a new study, the culture-specific sequelae of trauma found in Switzerland align with the norms of a competitive and individualistic society. Post-traumatic coping strategies in Switzerland tend to involve closer connections to nature.
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  • Pharmacology

    Happy Mums, Healthy Babies

    One in 10 women suffer from depression during pregnancy. The illness often goes untreated and can have negative effects on the child. Now, in a large-scale international project, UZH researchers are analyzing the biological interactions at play and seeking treatment methods that are safe for mother and child.
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  • Ethnology

    New Dawn in the Land of Seven Rivers

    Market economy replaces socialism: in the booming seven rivers region of Kazakhstan, ethnologist Peter Finke is examining how new social structures and ownership conditions are emerging amid legal uncertainty and loss of trust.
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  • UZH Delegation in Washington D.C.

    On a Mission for Biodiversity Partnerships

    US institutions are among UZH’s most important partners in research and development. To foster academic exchange, the UZH President visited important cooperation partners with a group of scientists. The thematic focus was on the areas of global change and biodiversity.
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  • Institute for Eastern European Studies

    “Cultural war on the West”

    A new institute is being established at UZH to gain a better historical, political and cultural understanding of Eastern Europe. Slavonic studies scholar Sylvia Sasse and historian Jeronim Perović talk about the “Russian world” and the war in Ukraine and its impact.
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  • Symposium on stem cells

    Strengthening Ties with Japan

    UZH and Kyoto University work together closely in the field of stem cell research. As part of this collaboration, a high-level conference is taking place in Zurich this week with researchers from both countries. The event was organized by stem cell researcher Melanie Generali.
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  • Gender Medicine

    The Right Medicine for Women and Men

    Many illnesses have sex- and gender-specific causes and symptoms, many of which have received little research attention thus far. That, however, is about to change. UZH has established the first professorial chair in gender medicine in Switzerland to advance research in this field.
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  • IceAgeCam

    Experience Ice Ages and Climate Change Up Close

    The new IceAgeCam installation on Felsenegg gives an impressive demonstration of the human influence on climate change. Visitors can immerse themselves in an interactive experience of the changing glacial landscapes. It is the result of an interdisciplinary project involving researchers from UZH, the University of Lausanne and the Zurich University of the Arts.
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  • New Department

    University Steps up Data Science

    UZH is responding to the rise of data science by establishing the Department of Mathematical Modeling and Machine Learning. DM3L for short, it combines UZH’s strong basic research in mathematics with practical applications and will offer a new study program from fall 2025. Here are four examples.
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  • Cancer medicine

    An Immunotherapy to Overcome Resistant Leukemia

    Researchers at UZH and USZ have discovered why a specific mutation makes the cancer cells of an aggressive type of blood cancer resistant to CAR T-cell therapy. They also show that a concomitant pharmacotherapy or genetically improved CAR T-cells makes the immune therapy effective again.
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  • Paleontology

    Ancient Giant Dolphin Discovered in the Amazon

    Measuring between 3 to 3.5 meters, 16 million years old: Paleontologists from the University of Zurich have announced the discovery of a new species of freshwater dolphin in the Peruvian Amazon region. Surprisingly, its closest living relatives can be found in the river dolphins of South Asia.
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  • Initiative Sustainable Finance

    Building Bridges

    The Department of Finance at the University of Zurich has launched the "Initiative in Sustainable Finance". Its aim is to become a leading global center for research in this area and to promote dialogue between science, business, politics, and society.
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  • University museums / exhibitions

    UZH Opens New Natural History Museum with Four Dinosaurs

    The new Natural History Museum of the University of Zurich brings together zoology, paleontology, anthropology and botany under the same roof. The museum opens with four new dinosaur skeletons and various other additions that shine a light on how evolution and biodiversity have shaped life on our planet.
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  • Citizen Science Zurich

    A Safe Space for Delicate Topics

    The Seed Grants of the Citizen Science Zurich initiative support a range of pilot projects that bring together UZH researchers and members of the public. One such project, Hair SALON, aims to provide women in Lesotho with crucial sexual and reproductive health services in hair salons.
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  • INTeRCePT Research Project

    Better Prognosis for Blood Cancers

    Being handed a diagnosis of cancer often turns people’s lives upside down. When the cancer is blood cancer, the impact is even more dramatic. Although the chances of recovery have improved greatly in recent years, recurrences are still relatively common. A research team led by Thorsten Zenz is working on reducing the risk of relapse.
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  • Scientific Research Stations

    Researching in the Wild

    UZH’s Faculty of Science operates research stations in far-flung places, where researchers analyze the effects of climate change or observe mountain chimps and meerkats in their natural environment, among other things. Five of these stations are presented below.
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  • Astronomy

    Earth as a test object

    If a space telescope like LIFE were to observe planet Earth from a distance of around 30 light years, it would find signs of a temperate, habitable world. Physicists at ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich reached this conclusion with the help of observations of our own planet.
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  • mTORUS

    Helpful Viruses

    Researchers at UZH and ETH Zurich have rediscovered a long-neglected treatment for urinary tract infections – bacteriophages. These viruses can be used to fight bacterial infections without the side effects caused by antibiotics. However, approval is still a long way off.
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  • Behavioral economics

    Combination of Group Competition and Repeated Interactions Promotes Cooperation

    How did cooperative behavior prevail in human evolution? Researchers from the Universities of Zurich, Lausanne and Konstanz have challenged two prevailing explanations – repeated interactions on the one hand or group competition on the other. Instead, both mechanisms synergistically contribute to fostering cooperation effectively.
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  • Collegium Helveticum

    Tax History

    Historian Madeline Woker is conducting research into tax (in)justice as a fellow at the Collegium Helveticum. Last Friday, she organised a panel discussion with the economist Gabriel Zucman, who has published the “Global Tax Evasion Report 2024”.
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  • Biomedicine

    Cracking the Code of Neurodegeneration

    Scientists at UZH have developed an innovative neural cell culture model, shedding light on the intricate mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration. Their research revealed a promising therapeutic target in the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD).
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  • UZH Life

    Bribery and Brutality

    Oliver Diggelmann has written about the upheavals in post-socialist Hungary, Felix Uhlmann about the logic of senseless violence. Both UZH legal scholars published a novel last year, which places them within a long tradition of writers with legal backgrounds.
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  • One Health

    Rabid Dogs in Uganda

    Every year, many people in Uganda die from rabies after being bitten by a dog. Veterinary epidemiologist Sonja Hartnack is working together with Makerere University in Uganda on ways to effectively combat the deadly virus.
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  • FAN Award

    Heart Defects, the World of Work, and Algorithms

    Melanie Ehrler, Simon Walo and Regina Weder are being honored with this year’s FAN Awards in recognition of their outstanding research work. Their three topics of research are the development of children with heart defects, the future of work, and the legal conditions for the use of AI in public administration.
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  • Plant science

    Asexual Propagation of Crop Plants Gets Closer

    When the female gametes in plants become fertilized, a signal from the sperm activates cell division, leading to the formation of new plant seeds. This activation can also be deliberately triggered without fertilization, which opens up new avenues for the asexual propagation of crop plants.
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  • Biomedical Technology

    Visualizing Multiple Sclerosis with a New MRI Procedure

    The loss of myelin sheaths in the brain is a hallmark of multiple sclerosis. Researchers at ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich have now developed an MRI method that maps the condition of this nerve insulation layer more accurately than before.
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  • Informatics

    Mining Coins

    Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin were created to circumvent the monopoly on money held by nation states and central banks. The digital currencies were to function more democratically and be widely disseminated. But the opposite has happened, blockchain researcher Claudio Tessone notes.
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  • Psychiatric diseases

    Stress Influences Brain and Psyche Via Immune System

    Under chronic stress, a particular enzyme found in cells of the immune system enters the brain. In mice, it causes them to withdraw and avoid social contact. This new connection between body and mind in stress-related mental illness could lead to new treatments for depression.
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  • Chinese Studies

    Utopias Made in China

    Chinese science fiction is thriving, with Mark Zuckerberg and Barack Obama counting themselves as fans. The Chinese government has recognized the genre’s potential and is ramping up the creation of utopias – which is impacting the country’s digital culture.
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  • Virology

    Alexandra Trkola Awarded US$3 Million Grant

    The renowned virologist from the University of Zurich receives the major award from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for vaccine studies in well-studied groups of people living with HIV in Switzerland and South Africa.
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  • TRANSFORM

    Eastern Europe and Bioimaging

    UZH is pooling its research expertise in a variety of fields, including Eastern European studies and bioimage analysis. A new interdisciplinary institute for Eastern European studies and the recently established BioVisionCenter were made possible thanks to seed funding from the university’s TRANSFORM program.
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  • Brain research

    Firing Nerve Fibers in the Brain Are Supplied with Energy on Demand

    Specialized cells in the brain respond to the electrical signals of active nerve fibers and provide them with energy on demand. If this process is disabled in mice, the nerve fibers are severely damaged as the animals age – resembling the defects of neurodegenerative diseases.
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  • Space Research

    Green Light for LISA

    The ESA’s most expensive and complex mission, the LISA space antenna, has reached a major milestone: it has passed the stage of intensive testing by experts in the Mission Adoption Review process. Project member Professor Philippe Jetzer of UZH explains why this is such a significant step for the LISA consortium.
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  • Sociology

    Young People from Poorer Families Make Fewer Friends

    A new study has found that children growing up in low-income families have fewer opportunities to make friends and to socially integrate at school. Researchers from the University of Zurich and the University of Stockholm examined data from over 200 school classes in Sweden and reached this conclusion.
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  • alliance of universities

    Una Europa Boosts European Cooperation

    Una Europa is a unique alliance of 11 European research universities, including UZH. We asked Vice President Gabriele Siegert about how joining the alliance in 2022 has benefited research at UZH and its international outlook.
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  • Medicine

    Complement System Causes Cell Damage in Long Covid

    Long Covid patients suffer from chronic symptoms such as fatigue or shortness of breath. This is to some extent due to a part of our immune system, the complement system. UZH researchers identified a pattern in the blood proteins for better diagnoses and more targeted treatments.
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  • Laboratory Animals

    Less Stress, Better Research

    Urs Meyer, professor at the Institute of Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology at UZH, and his team have developed a new method of orally administering pharmaceutical substances to mice. The new method benefits both the animals and the researchers. The method will now be rolled out more widely as part of the National Research Programme 79, “Advancing 3R”.
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  • Global Health

    “We can only solve problems together”

    Infectious diseases and antibiotic resistance spread around the world via trade and travel routes. Together with partners in India and Uganda, the infectious diseases specialist Jan Fehr is looking for solutions to global health problems.
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  • World Economic Forum

    When the Private Becomes Public

    Next week, the elite of science and politics will meet at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos to talk about current global challenges. Digitalization and data protection are high on the agenda. UZH law scholar Adrian Künzler is a consultant and member of the WEF Global Future Council on the Future of Metaverse.
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  • UZH in the Media

    Top Ten Media Releases 2023

    Stories about research at UZH resonated all over the world, with artificial intelligence (AI) proving a particularly popular topic in 2023. The greatest global media response, however, was triggered by the study on abuse in the Catholic Church.
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  • Zurich’s Senior Citizens University UZH3

    Seeing the World Anew

    Zurich’s Senior Citizens University UZH3 exercises the brain cells of adults over sixty. Combined with sport and social activities, lifelong learning is a health asset in people’s later years. Research carried out by UZH psychologist Burcu Demiray also backs this up.
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  • UZH Spin-Offs, Annual Round-Up

    From Lab to Market

    In the last year, eight new spin-offs were created at the University of Zurich to bring research-based ideas to market readiness. The new companies are developing innovative approaches for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, lead poisoning, blood cancer and endometriosis, the improvement of spinal surgery, better diagnostics in oral health, and simplification of satellite data analysis.
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  • Evolutionary medicine

    Early Primates Likely Lived in Pairs

    Primate social organization is more flexible than previously assumed. According to a new study led by UZH, the first primates probably lived in pairs, while only around 15 percent of individuals were solitary.
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