The Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) is promoting dialogue between researchers and the public by funding 18 communication projects this year. Each of the projects sheds light on different areas of current scientific research.
Researchers supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) have demonstrated a microscopic system in which light can be converted into a mechanical oscillation and back. This interaction is so strong that it becomes possible to control the motion of the oscillator at the level where quantum mechanics governs its behaviour.
The SNSF received 63 pre-proposals in response to a call for proposals for the fourth series of National Centres of Competence in Research (NCCRs). The evaluation of the pre-proposals will be completed by the end of October 2012.
On 12 January 2012, Karl Gademann, professor at the chemistry department of the University of Basel, was presented with the National Latsis Prize. Around hundred guests from science and politics attended the ceremony at the Rathaus in Berne, where they heard a speech honouring the prize winner’s achievements and speeches on other scientific topics (see "On this Subject").
Gabriele Gendotti, a lawyer from the canton of Ticino, is the new president of the Foundation Council of the SNSF. The former national councillor and member of the cantonal government replaces Hans Ulrich Stöckling at the helm of Switzerland's most prominent research funding organisation.
In mid-December 2011, the Executive Committee of the Foundation Council unanimously re-elected the members of the Presiding Board of the National Research Council. Additionally, they chose new presidents in three divisions and elected five new members to the National Research Council due to the expiry of various mandates as of 1 April 2012.