Archive Media Releases 2025

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13.08.2025 Glaciology

Falling Ice Drives Glacial Retreat in Greenland

When an iceberg calves, huge chunks of ice break off at the end of the glacier. These trigger high waves on the surface and underwater, pushing warmer sea water upwards. This accelerates the melting of the ice masses.

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12.08.2025 Technology development

AI Meets CRISPR for Precise Gene Editing

The powerful new method opens the door to more accurate modeling of human diseases and lays the groundwork for next-gen gene therapies.

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06.08.2025 Evolutionary Anthropology

Gorillas Move Between Groups

When female gorillas move to a new social group, they seek out groups with familiar females and avoid males they grew up with.

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29.07.2025 Corporate Due Diligence

Economic Success and Ethical Supply Chains Are Not Mutually Exclusive

Do supply chain due diligence laws harm the economy? A recent study found no long-term economic disadvantages for firms subject to such regulations.

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23.07.2025 Language Development

Preterm Infants More Likely to Experience Delayed Language Development

Differences in early language development, which is key to later communication skills, social interaction and academic success, emerge during infancy.

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14.07.2025 Evolutionary Medicine

Swiss Genome of the 1918 Influenza Virus Reconstructed

Researchers discovered that the virus already had key adaptations to the human host at the beginning of the world's deadliest influenza pandemic.

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26.06.2025 Evolutionary Anthropology

Baby talk – a human superpower?

Humans from different cultures use a form of child-directed speech. However, it appears that this characteristic is far from prevalent in non-human great apes.

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05.06.2025 Plant sciences

Fungal Resistance in Wheat: Preserving Biodiversity for Food Security

Wheat production is threatened by a major fungal disease: yellow rust. UZH researchers have found traditional wheat varieties from Asia that harbor several resistance-conferring genes.

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04.06.2025 Medical Microbiology

Study Traces Transmission Routes in Largest Diphtheria Outbreak in Western Europe in 70 Years

Data from the outbreak indicate transmission routes along established migration pathways into Europe. Although rapid interventions successfully contained the outbreak, these strains continue to cause new infections.

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28.05.2025 Microbiome and cell aging

Intestinal Bacteria Influence Aging of Blood Vessels

Researchers have shown for the first time that intestinal bacteria and their metabolites contribute directly to vascular aging.

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28.05.2025 Precision Medicine

43,000 Data Points against Melanoma

Every tumor is unique. In a new study, scientists from Zurich and Basel used advanced technologies to create individual profiles for precise tumor treatment.

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27.05.2025 Peer Effects

Your Best Friend’s Personality Can Shape Your Own

Students become more conscientious, open, and competitive when they spend time with friends who also exhibit these traits, according to the first study on how students’ personalities are shaped by their peers.

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21.05.2025 Cell biology

Live View: Stress-Induced Changes in Generations of Cancer Cells

Drugs that affect DNA replication, or radiation that causes direct DNA damage, lead to increasingly diverse offspring over multiple cell generations. This increases the tumor’s genetic complexity and facilitates the development of resistance to therapy.

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16.05.2025 Dies academicus 2025

UZH Awards Eight Honorary Doctorates

The University of Zurich has awarded honorary doctorates to historian Amy Nelson Burnett, legal philosopher Elisabeth Holzleithner, academic economist Laura Starks, linguist Elisabeth Gülich, conservationist Paula Kahumbu, theologian Herman Johan Selderhuis, banking expert Christian Rahn and horse trainer Fredy Knie Jr.

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15.05.2025 Natural History Museum

How Plants Communicate with Each Other

A new exhibition on plant communication marks the inclusion of botany at the University of Zurich’s Natural History Museum.

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15.05.2025 Agroecology

Dual Associations with Two Fungi Improve Tree Fitness

Tree species that form symbioses with two different types of mycorrhizal fungi cope better with water and nutrient scarcity.

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28.04.2025 Psychology

Personality Traits Shape Our Prosocial Behavior

Why do some people do more for the community than others? A new study now shows that personality traits such as extraversion and agreeableness correlate with volunteering and charitable giving.

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23.04.2025 AI and society

Current AI Risks More Alarming than Apocalyptic Future Scenarios

Most people are generally more concerned about the immediate risks of artificial intelligence than about a theoretical future in which AI threatens humanity. This is shown by a new study from the University of Zurich.

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22.04.2025 Psychiatry

Retinal Clues to Mental Health

A new study has shown that evidence of genetic susceptibility to schizophrenia can be found in the retina. This finding could help improve the early detection of the disorder.

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03.04.2025 Language evolution

Bonobos Combine Calls in Similar Ways to Human Language

Bonobos – our closest living relatives – create complex sequences of sounds that resemble human word combinations. A new study by researchers from the University of Zurich and Harvard University challenges the uniqueness of human communication.

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26.03.2025 Global species loss

The Devastating Human Impact on Biodiversity

Humans are having a highly detrimental impact on biodiversity worldwide. Not only is the number of species declining, but the composition of species communities is also changing. These are the findings of one of the largest studies ever conducted on this topic.

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24.03.2025 Precision medicine

Decoys Restore Antiviral Immune Defense

Defects in the immune system are caused by antibodies that inhibit important defense proteins. UZH researchers have now generated "decoy molecules" that can intercept these autoantibodies.

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18.03.2025 Animal research and 3R

Efficient Development of Drugs with Fewer Mice

With a novel technology, around 25 antibodies can now be tested simultaneously in a single mouse. This should speed up the R&D pipeline for new drugs and hugely reduce the number of animals required.

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12.03.2025 Autoimmune diseases

Promising Active Ingredient for Lupus Therapy

In lupus, the immune system attacks its own structures, causing inflammation and organ damage. A new study shows that natural active ingredient gluconolactone could offer a more targeted therapy.

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11.03.2025 Birth rate

Swiss Women Had More Children at Start of Coronavirus Pandemic

A UZH study on the impact of pandemics on fertility reveals an unexpected increase in births during the COVID-19 pandemic, contrasting with the significant decline during previous ones.

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04.03.2025 Personality in an Intercultural Context

African Young Adults Balance Self-Determination and Communalism

A new study from the University of Zurich shows that the cultural influence on the transition to adulthood in sub-Saharan Africa is more communal and less self-centered than in Western contexts.

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03.03.2025 Psychiatric research

ChatGPT on the couch: relaxation for stressed AI

Distressing news and traumatic stories can cause anxiety – not only in humans, but also in AI language models. Researchers have now shown that an elevated “anxiety level” in GPT-4 can be “calmed down” using mindfulness-based relaxation techniques.

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27.02.2025 Astrophysics

Young Star Clusters Give Birth to Rogue Planetary-Mass Objects

How do rogue planetary-mass objects form? An international team of astronomers used advanced simulations to show that these enigmatic objects are linked to the chaotic dynamics of young star clusters.

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26.02.2025 Psychiatry

Schizophrenia is Reflected in the Brain Structure

The symptoms of schizophrenia vary greatly from person to person. A new study shows how these differences manifest themselves in the structure of the brain.

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25.02.2025 Innovation Economics

Rising Wages Drive Innovation in Automation Technology

A new UZH study shows for the first time that higher minimum wages for low-skill jobs drive firms to develop automation technologies. Rising wages for high-skill labor, in contrast, can hamper this effect.

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19.02.2025 Glaciology

Melting Glaciers Increase Loss of Freshwater Resources and Rise Global Sea Levels

The melting ice from glaciers worldwide is leading to an increased loss of regional freshwater resources. Since the year 2000, glaciers have been losing 273 billion tons of ice annually.

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13.02.2025 Medical microbiology

Curbing the Global Spread of Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Cases of bacterial sexually transmitted infections are on the rise worldwide. The University of Zurich has now developed a new method for genome sequencing and discovered a previously unrecognized strain of chlamydia

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04.02.2025 Geriatric Medicine

Omega-3s Can Slow Down Aging Process

A daily intake of one gram of omega-3s can slow down biological aging by up to four months, according to an analysis of clinical data from the international DO-HEALTH study led by the University of Zurich. For the first time, epigenetic clocks were used to measure the aging process.

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30.01.2025

Martin Nellen Appointed New Head of Communications at UZH

Martin Nellen has been appointed as the new Head of Communications at the University of Zurich (UZH). He will take up his role on 1 March 2025, succeeding Beat Müller, who has been heading the office on an interim basis since February 2024.

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30.01.2025 Environment and climate

Climate Change Increases Risk of Successive Natural Hazards in the Himalayas

An international research team reconstructed the Sikkim flood disaster in the Himalayas in October 2023 that triggered a deadly and devastating 20-meter flood wave.

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20.01.2025 Interdisciplinary research

Global Trust in Science Remains Strong

Led by UZH and ETH Zurich, a team of 241 researchers conducted the largest post-pandemic study of trust in science, societal expectations and public views on research priorities.

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15.01.2025 Computational Linguistics

Automatic Speech Recognition on Par with Humans in Noisy Conditions

Current ASR systems achieve remarkable accuracy and may even surpass human performance. While they need to be trained on an incredible amount of data, humans acquire comparable skills in less time.

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08.01.2025 Zoo animals

Rethinking Population Management in Zoos

Until now, zoos used contraception to avoid surplus animals. Scientists argue for preserving breeding populations and raising awareness of conservation challenges by allowing animals to reproduce naturally and culling surplus animals.

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Article list Media Releases

Falling Ice Drives Glacial Retreat in Greenland

AI Meets CRISPR for Precise Gene Editing

Gorillas Move Between Groups

Economic Success and Ethical Supply Chains Are Not Mutually Exclusive

Preterm Infants More Likely to Experience Delayed Language Development

Swiss Genome of the 1918 Influenza Virus Reconstructed

Baby talk – a human superpower?

Fungal Resistance in Wheat: Preserving Biodiversity for Food Security

Study Traces Transmission Routes in Largest Diphtheria Outbreak in Western Europe in 70 Years

Intestinal Bacteria Influence Aging of Blood Vessels

43,000 Data Points against Melanoma

Your Best Friend’s Personality Can Shape Your Own

Live View: Stress-Induced Changes in Generations of Cancer Cells

UZH Awards Eight Honorary Doctorates

How Plants Communicate with Each Other

Dual Associations with Two Fungi Improve Tree Fitness

Personality Traits Shape Our Prosocial Behavior

Current AI Risks More Alarming than Apocalyptic Future Scenarios

Retinal Clues to Mental Health

Bonobos Combine Calls in Similar Ways to Human Language

The Devastating Human Impact on Biodiversity

Decoys Restore Antiviral Immune Defense

Efficient Development of Drugs with Fewer Mice

Promising Active Ingredient for Lupus Therapy

Swiss Women Had More Children at Start of Coronavirus Pandemic

African Young Adults Balance Self-Determination and Communalism

ChatGPT on the couch: relaxation for stressed AI

Young Star Clusters Give Birth to Rogue Planetary-Mass Objects

Schizophrenia is Reflected in the Brain Structure

Rising Wages Drive Innovation in Automation Technology

Melting Glaciers Increase Loss of Freshwater Resources and Rise Global Sea Levels

Curbing the Global Spread of Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Omega-3s Can Slow Down Aging Process

Martin Nellen Appointed New Head of Communications at UZH

Climate Change Increases Risk of Successive Natural Hazards in the Himalayas

Global Trust in Science Remains Strong

Automatic Speech Recognition on Par with Humans in Noisy Conditions

Rethinking Population Management in Zoos

Select Year