Come and find out at the Scientifica festival from 30 August to 1 September. Get a sneak preview with our teaser video. More …

What goes on in our brains and bodies when we feel under threat? Psychiatrist Dominik Bach researches how we react to fear and how disturbing memories can be made less painful. More …

Humans and machines have a long history of co-existence, but artificial intelligence (AI) threatens to disrupt this delicate balance. Will machines become more intelligent than we are? Will they ultimately take over and enslave us? More …

The Teaching Fund project “Siegfried goes YouTube – Alte Mären in neuen Medien” aims to utilize modern media such as video and podcasts in literary analyses. In the first of its four semesters, the project focused on the Nibelungenlied. More …

New interior models of Jupiter based on data gathered by NASA’s Juno mission suggested that the giant gas planet might not have a small compact core but rather a diluted, “fuzzy” one. Now, an international team with researchers of the University of Zürich and the NCCR PlanetS has found an explanation for this surprising Juno result. More …

Structural biology has long played an essential role in drug development. Thanks to enormous progress in recent years, the field is now on the brink of a revolution. A symposium is bringing the stars of the scene together in Zurich. More …

Are you still looking for a good read for your summer holiday? Take our summer quiz and find out about remarkable, surprising and fun facts from the University of Zurich. The UZH News team is off into the summer break. We hope you enjoy your summer! More …

An untouched mountain paradise, fresh air, the freedom of life on the alp. The Heidi anime series from 1974 shaped the Japanese image of Switzerland for decades. And the Japanese Heidi also claimed a space in children’s hearts across Europe. Now, Heidi in Japan is the subject of a symposium at UZH and an exhibition at the Swiss National Museum. Masterminding the two events is art historian Hans Bjarne Thomsen. More …

DNA tracing has become an indispensable tool when it comes to solving crimes. And now microbes are expanding the possibilities. A research group at UZH has conducted a study in which they examined bacteria in tissue samples for use in forensics. More …

Even though glaciers react relatively slowly to rising temperatures, Switzerland will have to adjust to a future without these magnificent ice masses. We will manage – but the challenges facing Asian countries are far greater. More …

Algorithms accompany our every click on the internet. Facebook and Google use them to analyze our online behavior. Communications expert Michael Latzer researches what algorithms do and how they shape our view of the world. More …

UZH chemist Sandra Luber has set her sights on achieving artificial photosynthesis. A successful outcome could enable major climate issues to be solved in one fell swoop. However, there are still many hurdles to overcome. More …

Policymakers are tasked with keeping a close eye on systemic risks to financial stability. But banking’s regulators seem to have a blind spot when it comes to climate change and the financial risks it poses. More …

Syphilis sailed back to Europe with the voyagers who discovered America – and stayed. With the use of penicillin, "Cupid's disease" started to die out and gradually fell into oblivion. But not for long. Having reappeared at the turn of the millennium, cases have been recorded in Switzerland too. More …

Robotics professor Davide Scaramuzza has qualified to compete in an international drone racing series that will pit autonomous quadcopters against drone pilots. A million dollars await the winner. More …

The cultural identity of managers can influence the way an organization finances itself. An economist at UZH has shown that companies led by Italian-speaking people take up credit more often than those managed by German-speakers. More …

Huge floating solar islands on the ocean that produce enough energy to enable CO2-neutral global freight traffic - it sounds like science fiction, but researchers have now figured out how it might be possible. More …

Height – and the influence it has on our health – is the topic of an international symposium currently taking place at UZH. For example, research shows that tall women in Switzerland are more likely to develop cancer than shorter women. More …

Maintaining mental fitness as we age is a goal we all aspire to. But how can we achieve this? In a recent talk, neuropsychologist Martin Meyer explains why social interaction and physical activity do more to improve your mental performance than brain training exercises. More …

Our Solar System may contain alien comets that were stolen from another star flying past 4.5 billion years ago. Far away in a distant cluster of young stars, a similar close encounter might have also sent the inter-stellar visitor “Oumuamua” flying on its way towards us, and there must be many more of these free-floating objects in the Galaxy. These are results of a new study by astrophysicists at the University of Zurich. More …