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When people talk about CERN, they inevitably think of the large-scale experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). But the European Laboratory for Particle Physics has even more to offer: A small but powerful experiment called FASER is currently being assembled at CERN, involving research teams led by Geneva physics professors Anna Sfyrla and Giuseppe Iacobucci and by Bern physics professor Akitaka Ariga. FASER proves: Even comparatively inexpensive experiments have the potential for groundbreaking scientific findings.
Image: CERNAlmost ten years ago, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN) made headlines with the discovery of the Higgs particle. These days, the LHCb experiment at CERN has published results that also have the makings of a real scientific sensation: studies of the so-called beauty quark suggest that there could be a fifth, super-weak force in addition to the four known forces of nature (electromagnetism, gravitation, strong and weak interaction). However, CERN researchers still have a lot of work ahead of them to confirm this spectacular hypothesis. At the forefront: particle physicists from the University of Zurich and EPF Lausanne
Image: LHCb, CERNUntil his retirement in 2017, Martin Pohl was a physics professor at the University of Geneva and worked on particle physics research projects for almost half a century. Drawing on this wealth of experience, a book has been written in which Pohl knowledgeably traces the developmental strands of this fundamental discipline. The culmination is the 'Standard Model' of particle physics - for Pohl a scientific highlight and a burden at the same time.
Image: Martin PohlSwiss Particle Physics researchers are very proud to announce that UZH people worked directly on this measurement and had a leading role on this analysis, EPFL and UZH are very prominent in LHCb in both analysis and hardware.
Image: LHCb, CERNRuth Durrer was the first woman to take an assistant professorship in theoretical physics at the University of Zurich. Almost 30 years have passed since this appointment, 30 years in which Ruth Durrer has left her mark on her field - cosmology and astrophysics - as a professor. Despite her personal success, the 63-year-old researcher cautions: "Women's careers in science are still far from being evident."
Image: PrivatUNESCO celebrates every year on 16 May the International Day of Light (IDL). It is a global initiative that provides an annual focal point for the continued appreciation of light and the role it plays in science, culture and art, education, and sustainable development, as well as in fields as diverse as medicine, communications, and energy.
Image: UNESCOThe workshop will be virtual and will include sessions with talks and discussions. A panel discussion will conclude the workshop.
Image: denisismagilov, stock.adobe.comGrants are awarded to promising high-level research projects in Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics carried out by individual scientists or research units in one of the S&T-lagging countries identified by TWAS.
The technical know-how that physicists use in research could soon serve in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. An international team of scientists with strong Swiss participation has developed a ventilator in record time that could help in the future against lung diseases like Corona, especially in countries with a precarious medical infrastructure.
Image: Foto: Maximilien Brice; Julien Marius Ordan/CERNThe CHEOPS space telescope detects six planets orbiting the star TOI-178. Five of the planets are in a harmonic rhythm despite very different compositions – a novelty. CHEOPS is a joint mission by the European Space Agency (ESA) and Switzerland, under the aegis of the University of Bern in collaboration with the University of Geneva.
Image: ESOIn the laboratories of modern physics the elementary components of matter are studied. To do this, scientists sometimes build artificial atoms to help them understand the laws of matter. A research team at the Paul Scherrer Institute (Villigen/AG) uses a specifically modified helium atom to determine the exact mass and other properties of pions. Pions could help to understand more precisely where atomic nuclei get their mass from.
Die Schweizerische Kommission für Polar- und Höhenforschung der Akademien der Wissenschaften Schweiz hat zusammen mit der Jungfraujochkommission der Akademie der Naturwissenschaften Schweiz den diesjährigen Nachwuchs-Forschungspreis «Prix De Quervain» auf dem Gebiet der Polarforschung vergeben. Prämiert wurde die Doktorarbeit von Dr. Lea Pfäffli, die sich mit dem Wissen um die Arktis zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts beschäftigt.
Where do the chemical elements from carbon and oxygen, to iron and lead that make up our world and ourselves come from?
ESA has signed an €86 million contract with an industrial team led by Swiss start-up ClearSpace SA to purchase a unique service: the first removal of an item of space debris from orbit.
Presents a novel combination of essays with contributors from big research organizations, funding agencies and experts in economics
In naher Zukunft möchten wir verschiedenste Jugendprojekte im Kanton Aargau umsetzen. Geplant sind zum Beispiel naturwissenschaftliche Praktika, Exkursionen, Vorträge oder Mentorate für schriftliche Arbeiten.
Claudia Merlassino was born in Genoa, studied physics in Milan and completed her doctorate at the University of Bern in October 2019, since then she has been doing research at Oxford University in the UK. At the age of 28, the Italian experimental physicist has already made a remarkable journey as a researcher. She is now receiving the PhD prize in Swiss particle physics - among other things for her findings in the context of the most massive of all elementary particles.
The PhD Prize of the Swiss Society for Astrophysics and Astronomy (SSAA) was attributed this year to two laureates.
The most prestigious prize in Germany in the field of astronomy and astrophysics, the Karl Schwarzschild Medal, is awarded to Friedrich-Karl Thielemann – member of the MAP Presidium and former MAP President – in honour of his research on the boundary of nuclear physics and astrophysics.
On June 19th CERN Council adopted the update of the "European Strategy for Particle Physics 2020". This document updates an earlier strategy paper that was adopted by the Council in 2013, just after the Higgs discovery in 2012. It identifies the medium and long-term priorities of fundamental research in particle physics and thus forms an important basis for the construction of the European research infrastructure. The implications of this strategy update for Swiss particle physics are answered by Rainer Wallny, Professor of Particle Physics at ETH Zurich and President of the Swiss Institute of Particle Physics (CHIPP), the umbrella organisation of Swiss particle physics.
Mit einem interaktiven Erklärstück über Exoplaneten gewinnen Fabien Goubet und sein Team den Prix Média 2020. Die Preisjury zeigte sich beeindruckt von der Kreativität und der wissenschaftlichen Tiefe dieses Online-Beitrags zu Exoplaneten. Den Prix Média Newcomer erhält Michelle Isler für ihren Text zum Geschlechterverhältnis in der Berichterstattung über die Corona Pandemie. Mit grosser Gewandtheit und selbst erhobenen Daten rückt sie eine Realität aus dem Alltag in unser Bewusstsein.
The delta+ is a type of baryon, the family of sub-atomic particles to which the more well-known proton and neutron belong. A team of physics enthusiasts at the International School of Geneva is working intensively on these extremely unstable elementary particles. In September they will travel to Hamburg for an experiment at the renowned particle physics research institute DESY. They owe this extraordinary research trip to winning this year's “Beamline for Schools” (BL4S) competition at CERN.
Diese Woche erscheint der neue COSPAR-Bericht, der eine Übersicht über die Schweizer Aktivitäten rund um das Thema Weltraum gibt. Renato Krpoun, Leiter der Abteilung Raumfahrt (auch Swiss Space Office genannt) des Staatssekretariats für Bildung, Forschung und Innovation SBFI, nimmt dazu Stellung und betont dabei die Bedeutung der Zusammenarbeit von Wissenschaft und Industrie.
Die Europäische Physik-Olympiade, kurz EuPhO, stellte dieses Jahr 260 Mittelschülerinnen und Mittelschüler aus 53 Ländern vor physikalische Rätsel. Der Wettbewerb fand vom 21. – 26. Juli virtuell statt.
Une collaboration internationale entre des télescopes au sol et en orbite éclaire l’un des mystères de l’univers. L’alerte a été lancée par l’observatoire spatial Integral de l’ESA, dont les données scientifiques sont traitées à l’Université de Genève.
Axions are elementary particles with extremely low mass. So far they exist only in the brains of theoretical physicists, nobody has observed them. Really? Measurement results at detector XENON1T in Italy make one sit up and take notice.
Teams of researchers from EPFL and University of Zurich are members of the LHCb collaboraiton and have made major contributions to the construction and operation of the detector
Claudia Merlassino was born in Genoa, studied physics in Milan and completed her doctorate at the University of Bern in October 2019, since then she has been doing research at Oxford University in the UK. At the age of 28, the Italian experimental physicist has already made a remarkable journey as a researcher. She is now receiving the PhD prize in Swiss particle physics - among other things for her findings in the context of the most massive of all elementary particles.
Das Finale der Physik-Olympiade hätte eigentlich schon im März stattfinden sollen. Wegen der Coronavirus-Pandemie wurden die Prüfungen auf den 6. Juni verschoben und online durchgeführt. Die 24 Finalistinnen und Finalisten stellten ihr Können von zuhause aus unter Beweis. Als am 27. Juni die Resultate verkündet wurden, war die Spannung gross.
The Prix Schläfli, one of the longest-running science prizes in Switzerland (since 1866), is awarded by the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT) to young scientists for excellent articles resulting from PhDs in each of the following disciplines: Biology, Chemistry, Geosciences and Mathematics.
19 June 2020, 12:00
When analyzing data from the XENON1T detector for dark matter, a signal excess was observed. The UZH researchers do not yet know for sure where this unexpected signal comes from. They say the origins could be relatively banal, but they could also indicate the existence of new particles or hitherto unknown properties of neutrinos.
To recognise the International Day of Light 2020 and the 60th anniversary of the laser, the Swiss Physical Society (SPS) publishes a detailed report by René Salathé (EPFL) to record the development and milestones in laser science from 1960 to 1980 in Switzerland.
This media update is part of a series related to the 2020 Large Hadron Collider Physics conference, which took place from 25 to 30 May 2020. Originally planned to take place in Paris, the conference was held entirely online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ALICE, CMS and LHCb collaborations present new measurements that show how particles containing charm quarks can serve as “messengers” of hadrons and the quark–gluon plasma, carrying information about these forms of matter. This media update is part of a series related to the 2020 Large Hadron Collider Physics (LHCP2020) conference, taking place 25–30 May 2020.
Researchers from the University of Geneva, have confirmed the existence of the Proxima b extrasolar planet using measurements from the Swiss-built ESPRESSO spectrograph.
He challenged the standard model of cosmology in his dissertation by demonstrating that dwarf galaxies have not invariably chaotic motions, but can also orbit around the main axis of their parent galaxy in an orderly fashion. This got Oliver Müller the Prix Schläfli award in Astronomy.
The orbits of dwarf galaxies, forces in materials such as Teflon, tracing history through pollen, a new protective layer at root tips – these are the topics for which the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT) has awarded the Prix Schläfli 2020 to the four most important insights gained by young researchers at Swiss universities. Alice Berhin (Biology), Oliver Müller (Astronomy), Robert Pollice (Chemistry) and Fabian Rey (Geosciences) receive the prize for the findings arrived at in their dissertations. Four of the candidates for the Prix Schläfli award were also selected as Young Scientists at the internationally prestigious 70th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting.
Positron emission tomography (PET) helps medical doctors to detect cancer and many other diseases. A team of researchers led by ETH Professor Günther Dissertori is working on a new generation of PET scanners that could in future be of great use in pharmacological research and in the treatment of Alzheimer's patients. The technical innovation is based, among other things, on fundamental research at CERN.
Vom 15. bis 21. April 2020 fand die European Girls Mathematical Olympiad zum ersten Mal online statt. Da die jungen Mathematikerinnen wegen der Coronavirus-Pandemie nicht wie geplant in die Niederlande reisen konnten, kam der Wettbewerb zu ihnen. Vier Schweizerinnen kämpften von zuhause aus um Medaillen – mit Erfolg.
FCC - these three letters stand for the vision of a new ring accelerator that could be built at the European particle physics laboratory CERN in Geneva. With this long-term goal in mind, Swiss physicists founded the CHART research initiative five years ago. Now the demonstrator of a powerful magnet is available. If the tests are successful, a very first step towards decisive progress in infrastructure for basic research, but also in applications such as, e.g., innovative instrumentation for medical therapies will be achieved.
CHEOPS has reached its next milestone: Following extensive tests in Earth's orbit, some of which the mission team was forced to carry out from home due to the coronavirus crisis, the space telescope has been declared ready for science. CHEOPS stands for “CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite”, and has the purpose of investigating known exoplanets to determine, among other things, whether they have conditions that are hospitable to life.
The T2K Collaboration has published new results showing the strongest constraint yet on the parameter that governs the breaking of the symmetry between matter and antimatter in neutrino oscillations.
With many people across the world staying at home these days, the European Space Agency (ESA) has curated a selection of activities for you to pass time and learn more about space science in the meantime.
Raphael Angst von der Kantonsschule Im Lee (ZH) und die Gymnasiastin Yanta Wang aus Oberwil (BL) haben für ihre Leistungen an der Schweizer Mathematik-Olympiade Gold gewonnen. Vier Mittelschülerinnen und Mittelschüler gewannen bei dem Wettbewerb Silber, sechs holten sich Bronze.
Scientists at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW) have spent around ten years building the Spectrometer / Telescope for Imaging X-rays (STIX). Since 10 February, the research instrument is travelling to the Sun. It will provide accurate measurements of the solar atmosphere and the solar wind and will also cover the polar regions of the Sun that cannot be observed from Earth.
Vier junge Forschende aus der Schweiz Franck Le Vaillant, Oliver Müller, Robert Pollice und Sabine Studer wurden auserkoren am international prestigeträchtigen 70. Lindauer Treffen der NobelpreisträgerInnen Ende Juni teilzunehmen. Die Akademie der Naturwissenschaft (SCNAT) nominiert jährlich geeignete Kandidatinnen und Kandidaten aus den jungen Forschenden, die für den Prix Schläfli nominiert worden sind.
With its European particle physics laboratory CERN, Geneva attracts many researchers to Switzerland. This was also the case with François Drielsma (28). In a doctoral thesis supervised by Prof. Alain Blondel (University of Geneva), the Belgian-born scientist investigated a completely new way to build a particle accelerator.
Particle physicists from all over Europe are currently discussing the future of European particle physics, when the current ring accelerator LHC will be decommissioned around 2035. Next May, the decision could be taken launch technical and financial feasibility studies for the construction of a new, even more powerful particle accelerator.
This week’s drafting session marks final discussions for the update of the European strategy for particle physics
Solar Orbiter is a mission led by the European Space Agency (ESA) to observe our closest star, the Sun. The launch from Cape Canaveral, USA, is now foreseen on the morning of 10 February (CET). The Spectrometer / Telescope for Imaging X-rays (STIX) is one of the 10 instruments on board and was developed in Switzerland by the "Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz" (FHNW).
Elementary particle physics and the large-scale CERN research facility have repeatedly inspired artists to engage with modern scientific research. The latest example is the movie 'Les Particules' by French-Swiss filmmaker Blaise Harrison (39). In this art piece scientific research serves as an escape and dream world for an adolescent.
The relief was huge when the Soyuz Fregat rocket with CHEOPS on board took off shortly before 10 a.m. MEZ on Wednesday, 18 December 2019. The spectators at the University of Bern followed the ESA live coverage from Kourou, French Guiana, with great applause.
Lesya Shchutska (pronounced: Schutska) is 33 years old and already Professor of Elementary Particle Physics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL). "At the moment I can't imagine doing anything other than physics," says the researcher, who deals with particles that so far only exist in the minds of theoretical physicists.
At the occasion of the Swiss Geoscience meeting in Fribourg in November 2019, the ACP Award for Atmospheric Research was presented to Daniele Nerini for his PhD thesis “Ensemble precipitation nowcasting: limits to prediction, localization and seamless blending”.
Under the motto "still 24 experiments until Christmas" 24 entertaining physics experiments are offered to do yourself, which are provided in a German and an English version.
In deep underground tunnels of former mines near the Japanese Alps, teams of scientists with Swiss participation are researching various types of elementary particles. Over the next few years, powerful research instruments will be put into operation with which scientists want to discover the nature of neutrinos. The hoped-for results could lead to solving of deep puzzles in our understanding of the universe.
Hardly any elementary particle occurs more frequently in the universe than the elusive neutrino. The investigation of the almost massless tiny particle is a focus of current elementary particle physics. Perhaps the most important contribution to the understanding of neutrino has been made over twenty years by the Japanese Super-Kamiokande detector, in which several Swiss research groups are involved. A visit to the Japanese mountains.
The PhD Prize of the Swiss Society for Astrophysics and Astronomy (SSAA) is awarded this year to Oliver Müller for his dissertation on "Small-scale cosmology with dwarf galaxies" conducted at the University of Basel.
Neutrinos are ubiquitous yet elusive particles that could shed light on the early evolution of the universe. As one of the world’s major laboratories for neutrino physics, Fermilab partners with leading organizations around the globe to get a firmer grasp on these subtle particles.
The two researchers from the Astronomical Observatory of the University of Geneva share this extraordinary distinction with James Peebles, Professor Emeritus at Princeton University in the United States. The Nobel Prize was awarded to the Swiss scientists for the discovery in 1995 of the first planet outside our solar system.
Der Nobelpreis für Physik geht in diesem Jahr zu einer Hälfte an Michel Mayor und Didier Queloz von der Universität Genf für die Entdeckung des ersten Exoplaneten. Zur anderen Hälfte geht der Preis an James Peebles für Entdeckungen zur physikalischen Kosmologie.
In 2025, the 'Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment' (DUNE) will be launched in the north of the USA, with which physicists want to learn more about neutrino - a still mysterious elementary particle. An important component of the DUNE experiment is currently being prepared by scientists from the University of Bern.
The Astronomy Day in Schools initiative is an IAU100 Global Project with the vision of mobilising the astronomical community to organise activities in schools. This is a special opportunity for students to directly interact and engage with astronomers in their communities, and to learn about the important role of astronomy in our lives.
Die ANG geht unter die Podcaster
Michał Rawlik, scientist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ) is awarded the CHIPP Prize 2019. The 29-year-old researcher receives the award for his doctoral thesis on the electric dipole moment of the neutron. The experiment he co-developed could one day help answer the question of why there is much more matter in the universe than antimatter.
The PhD Prize of the Swiss Society of Crystallography (SGK/SSCr) is awarded to Dr Luzia Germann for her thesis "Investigation of Solid State Reactions of Molecular Functional Materials by in situ X-ray Powder Diffraction". The award ceremony will take place during the society's Annual Meeting, Sept. 4, 2019 at EPFL Valais in Sion.
This Factsheet contains recommendations to shape Open Access and Open Data so that they foster scientific progress and benefit society in Switzerland.
Vom 11. bis zum 22. Juli 2019 fand in Bath die Internationale Mathematik-Olympiade statt. Das Schweizer Team erhielt drei Bronzemedaillen und eine Ehrenmeldung.
Fünf Jugendliche aus der Schweiz nahmen an der Internationalen Physik-Olympiade teil, welche vom 7. bis zum 15. Juli 2019 in Tel Aviv stattfand. Sie wurden mit zwei Bronzemedaillen und einer Ehrenmeldung ausgezeichnet.
The 69th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting dedicated to physics just ended. We had a great week of vivid discussions between 39 Nobel Laureates and 580 young scientists from 89 countries most of them Physicists but not only.
The Prix Schläfli, one of the longest-running science prizes in Switzerland (since 1866), is awarded by the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT) to young scientists for excellent articles resulting from PhDs in each of the following natural science disciplines: Biology, Chemistry, Geosciences and Astronomy.
In die Schuhe eines Physikers schlüpften fünf Schweizer Gymnasiasten. Nach einer Experimental- und Theorieprüfung wurden drei von ihnen mit einer Honorable Mention ausgezeichnet.
Achtzehn Schweizer Gymnasien, die in den Bereichen Wissenschaft und Technik besonders aktiv sind, werden mit dem MINT-Label (Mathematik, Informatik, Naturwissenschaften und Technik) der Akademie der Naturwissenschaften Schweiz ausgezeichnet.
A labyrinth of mirrors, a shiny pot, countless cables and digital displays. Visiting Matteo Fadel at his workplace at the University of Basel, he first takes us to the laboratory where he tracks strange quantum phenomena. Somewhere in the midst of all this apparatus, several hundred atoms are trapped and brought into a state that still causes physicists a lot of headaches today.
Controlling the amount of phosphate in cells, the processes involved in catalysts, land use in Madagascar and a paradox of quantum physics – these are the topics for which the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT) has awarded the Prix Schläfli 2019 to the four most important insights gained by young researchers at Swiss universities. Murielle Delley (Chemistry), Matteo Fadel (Physics), Rebekka Wild (Biology) and Julie Zähringer (Geosciences) receive the prize for the findings arrived at in their dissertations. For the first time, six of the candidates for the Prix Schläfli in Physics were also selected to participate in the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting.
Radioactive waste from nuclear power plants can take a long time to decay. For plutonium-239 the half-life - that is the time until half of the atoms of a sample have decayed - is no less than 24,000 years. But this is nothing compared to the half-life of the noble gas xenon-124, as an international research team with collaborators from the University of Zurich has now shown.
From 2026, the performance of the large-scale experiments at the European particle physics laboratory, CERN, in Geneva will be significantly increased. The preliminary work for the upgrade of the large particle accelerator LHC and the associated detectors is currently in full swing. An important contribution is made by the University of Bern, where doctoral student Armin Fehr (26) and his colleagues are working on a component for the ATLAS detector. This component will enable the read-out of the greatly increased data rates from 2026 onwards.
200 junge Frauen aus 50 Ländern lösten anspruchsvolle mathematische Probleme in Kiew. Das Schweizer Team gewann Bronze und eine Ehrenmeldung.
Das Projekt Event Horizon Telescope (EHT, dt. Ereignishorizont Teleskop) hat zum Ziel, die ersten Fotos der Umgebung der schwarzen Löcher M87* im Virgo-Cluster und Sgr A* (Sgr = Sagittarius = Schütze) im Zentrum der Milchstrasse zu machen.
CERN in Geneva is the leading particle physics laboratory worldwide. Large particle accelerators based on the most innovative technologies are used there for fundamental research. One year ago, the innovation park “PARK INNOVAARE” in Villigen (AG) launched, together with CERN, the BIC of CERN program: it supports start-ups and high-tech micro-companies using CERN technologies for commercial applications. These days the second call for proposals has started.
What do you think are the most important questions that ESA's future science missions should tackle? Now is your chance to tell us. Günther Hasinger, ESA Director of Science, is inviting the public to share their views on the questions that Voyage 2050, ESA's space science programme for the 2035-2050 time frame, should address. This public consultation opened in March and will run until the end of June.
Zwei junge Zürcher Mittelschüler gewinnen Gold bei der Schweizer Mathematik-Olympiade 2019. Wer die Schweiz am internationalen Wettbewerb vertritt, wird im Mai entscheiden. Bereits startklar ist das Frauenteam, das in die Ukraine reist. Dort findet vom 7.-13. April die European Girls’ Mathematical Olympiad statt.
The Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences have been requested by the Confederation to prepare roadmaps for research infrastructures for the various scientific fields. These roadmaps will provide a basis for decision-making on the allocation of federal funding for costly research facilities over the period 2025–2028. SCNAT is responsible for implementing this new procedure within the Swiss Academies, and Secretary General Jürg Pfister believes that it offers the scientific community an opportunity for wider involvement.
The LHCb collaboration at CERN has seen, for the first time, the matter–antimatter asymmetry known as CP violation in a so-called D0 meson. LHCb is one of the four large experiments performed at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) with Swiss participation of Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and University of Zurich.
Fünf junge Schweizer haben sich für die Internationale Physik-Olympiade vom 7. bis 15. Juli in Tel Aviv, Israel qualifiziert. Sie gewannen Gold an der 23. Schweizer Physik-Olympiade 2019.
Gravity accompanies us in our everyday lives—from early morning, when we get out of bed, to late evening, when we drop tiredly onto the mattress. Although no other force of nature shapes our lives as much as gravity, we still know little about it. Many scientists around the world are working to uncover the secrets of gravity. One of them is researching in Canton Aargau: the 32-year-old particle physicist Anna Soter.
The CHIPP Prize is to reward annually the best PhD student in Experimental or Theoretical Particle Physics. In the evaluation, emphasis will be given to the quality of PhD scientific work and to its relevance within the student's research group, as well as to novel ideas brought up by the candidate.
The Periodic Table of Chemical Elements is one of the most significant achievements in science, capturing the essence not only of chemistry, but also of physics and biology. 1869 is considered as the year of formulation of the modern concept of the Periodic System by Dmitri Mendeleev (and others). 2019 is the 150th anniversary of this formulation and has therefore been proclaimed the "International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements (IYPT2019)" by the United Nations General Assembly and UNESCO.
Since 1920, the Foundation has awarded the Marcel Benoist Swiss Science Prize in recognition of outstanding research which is of importance to human life. In 2019, the prize of CHF 250,000 will be awarded in the fields of mathematics, natural sciences or engineering.
In Zeiten, in denen sich viele Länder Europas abschotteten, eröffnete die Schweiz die international ausgerichtete Forschungsstation Jungfraujoch. Mehrere Nobelpreisträger haben dort geforscht. Die Station erhält 2019 gleich zwei Auszeichnungen als bedeutende historische Stätte der Naturwissenschaften. Die Europäische Physikalische Gesellschaft honoriert die Verdienste in der Physik und die Akademie der Naturwissenschaften Schweiz jene in der Chemie.
Professor Laura Baudis (U. Zurich) was elected Chair of the SAC by representatives of the member countries of the group which coordinates research in Astroparticle Physics in Europe. Professor Teresa Montaruli (U. Geneva) was elected Chair of the General Assembly.
Die Plattform MAP der Akademie der Naturwissenschaften (SCNAT) trauert um Gustav Andreas Tammann, einen bedeutenden Forscher auf dem Gebiet der extragalaktischen Astronomie und Kosmologie.
In spring 2020 the European particle physics community will decide on a new European Strategy highlighting the strategic long-term goals in this important field of fundamental research. In December 2018 Swiss scientists – organized by the Swiss Institute of Particle Physics / CHIPP – have formulated their input to the new European Strategy. Günther Dissertori – professor at ETH Zurich, member of the CHIPP Executive Board and incoming Scientific Delegate of Switzerland in the CERN Council – explains the main points of the Swiss strategic input.
Prof. Ernst Meyer (Uni. Basel) is the new President of the Platform MAP starting in 2019. He succeeds to Prof. Friedrich-Karl Thielemann (Uni. Basel), who served for six years (2013-2018) as President and stays in the Presidium for another three-year term.
Neutrinos are electrically neutral and very light elementary particles, which interact only weakly with other matter and are therefore difficult to observe. From 2025, a new neutrino experiment in the US aims contributing to a better understanding of the neutrinos. At the University of Bern physicists are currently working on the prototype for a detector to be used in the upcoming experiment.
PiA offers 24 entertaining physics experiments to do yourself again this year. Due to the great interest from abroad, physics will be available in English during Advent, just like last year.
Laetitia Laub was born and raised near Lausanne. She studied mathematics and physics at the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). Since August 2017, the 24-year-old junior scientist is writing her doctoral thesis in theoretical physics at the University of Bern. In her thesis she deals with the anomalous magnetic dipole moment of the muon and the reaction of this particle in the magnetic field. "Many people are currently working on this theoretical problem with the aim of further reducing the calculation error of the dipol moment. This is also because a better experimental value for the dipole moment will be probably found at Fermilab in the US and J-Parc experiment in Japan soon, " says Laetitia Laub.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 2018 with one half to Arthur Ashkin (USA) and the other half jointly to Gérard Mourou (France) and Donna Strickland (Canada). Ashkin invented optical tweezers that grab particles, atoms, viruses and other living cells with their laser beam fingers. Mourou and Strickland paved the way towards the shortest and most intense laser pulses ever created by mankind.
The “Alexander Friedrich Schläfli Prize” of the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT) is one of the oldest prizes in Switzerland. Since the first awarding in 1866, 108 young talents in different natural science disciplines have been distinguished.
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