Does the history of our languages match the history of our genes? A team of scientists at the University of Zurich and the Max-Planck-Institute have revealed a large number of matches – but also widespread mismatches in around 20 percent of cases, including in Malta, Hungary and Namibia. More …

News media is reaching fewer and fewer people. Young adults consume just seven minutes of news per day on their smartphones. This poses a problem for democracy: news-deprived people are less interested in politics, have lower rates of participation in the political process and have less trust in political institutions. More …

Do people who can read and write understand spoken language better than those who are illiterate? Research carried out by a UZH researcher with collaborators in India has found that handwriting, specifically the type of writing system used for a language, influences how our brains process speech. More …

A workspace exhibition at the Ethnographic Museum examines the commercial collecting practices of Borys Malkin, using objects and contemporary documents that came to Zurich in 1969. More …

Historians Monika Dommann and Marietta Meier are working on cases of abuse on behalf of the Catholic Church. Their project exemplifies how historical scholarship can engage in the public discussion of a controversial topic. More …

While learning new things seems to come naturally to children and young people, the older we get the more difficult we find it to acquire new skills. But it’s like sailing – you can make progress even with a headwind, you just have to know how. More …

Learning is itself a skill that must be learned. The best ways to do this and the requirements for success are current topics of research at UZH. The new UZH Magazin examines how our ability to learn changes over the course of our lives, how good teaching works, and what goes on in our brains when we learn. The current issue is published jointly by the University of Zurich and UZH Alumni. More …

The aging population is a global challenge that requires local solutions – to help people lead healthier lives for longer. In the Healthy Longevity Innovation Cluster, researchers from UZH and the University of Queensland are developing innovative approaches to provide targeted support to older people. More …

Happy couples clash over the same issues as unhappy ones, and have just as many conflicts – but they argue differently, shows a large-scale long-term psychological study from UZH. More …

In times of war, the media fulfill a vital function as information providers. The quality of coverage about the war in Ukraine has been relatively high, a study by the University of Zurich has now shown. Swiss media have been offering reports on the war from various perspectives, providing background information and using images carefully. However, the media depend on external sources and have failed to cover some regions indirectly affected by the conflict. More …

Health issues and loss, social isolation and mental health problems – the pandemic has had a drastic effect on our society. But how have the youngest members of society been coping with these changes? Researchers at the University of Zurich have found that the presence of parents and caregivers is enough to mitigate the pandemic’s negative effects on the social development of infants. More …

When words fail, gestures can help to get the message across – especially for people who have a language disorder. An international research team has now shown that listeners attend the gestures of people with aphasia more often and for much longer than previously thought. This has implications for the use of gestures in speech therapy. More …

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently listed a new sibling diagnosis for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), termed complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD). An international team with the involvement of the University of Zurich has now summarized the symptoms of the long-awaited new diagnosis and issued guidelines for clinical assessment and treatment. More …

2021-2030 has been declared the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing by the World Health Organization. Research into healthy longevity and the development of innovative approaches to aging have been a strategic priority at UZH for several years now. The creation of the new Healthy Longevity Center provides an added boost and a firm footing for research in this increasingly important area. More …

Genetically modified crops could contribute to making agriculture more sustainable and productive, says Ueli Grossniklaus. This new green genetic engineering has so far met with skepticism – but the challenges of climate change and the global grain crisis may change people’s views. More …

Researchers at UZH are exploring sustainable agriculture and the future of food, from transforming our eating habits and growing our own greens to breeding crops with new techniques, distributing seeds more fairly and farming with biodiversity in mind. The latest UZH Magazin explores how we can eat and produce food in a way that benefits both our own health and the health of our planet. More …

Crypto art fever is lighting up tech communities and the traditional art world alike, fueling intense speculation. An interdisciplinary conference organized by UZH will examine the phenomenon from artistic, technological and legal perspectives. More …

As part of the national Open Research Data Action Plan, swissuniversities is providing CHF 32 million for projects in the area of open research data. UZH vice presidents Elisabeth Stark and Christian Schwarzenegger see this as a great opportunity to integrate UZH's Open Science Policy into research practices. More …

Humans and apes are social creatures. We need each other. We depend on each other. It's what binds us together. But that doesn't mean we always get along. More …

What is needed to turn "good" drones used for humanitarian purposes into "ethical" drones? And how can ethical values be integrated in the use and development of new technologies? Dr. Ning Wang reports on the role of the DSI in helping humanitarian organizations integrate ethical values into innovation practices. More …