The latest edition of the Swiss research magazine Horizonte is out. It presents a wide selection of projects supported by the SNSF. The focal point of this edition is "use-inspired basic research". Horizonte is published in German and French.
Researchers are sending out invitations for an exciting journey on 18 November: from the infinitely large to the infinitely small. Researchers from the National Centre of Competence (NCCR) "Nanosciences - Impact for life sciences, perennity, new information and communication technologies" will be on board.
The latest edition of the Swiss research magazine Horizonte is out. It presents a wide selection of projects supported by the SNSF. The focal point of this edition is "We are water". Horizonte is published in German and French.
The latest edition of the Swiss research magazine Horizonte is out. It presents a wide selection of projects supported by the SNSF. The focal point of this edition is "Art and Research". Horizonte is published in German and French.
A project of NCCR "Trade Regulation" is to be awarded the prestigious td-award in recognition of its transdisciplinary approach to developing new rules for the protection of cultural diversity.
Switzerland deals flexibly and pragmatically with plurilingualism. It does this successfully. Nevertheless, immigration and increasing international integration are posing new challenges to schools, economy and administration. If the potential of multilingualism can be tapped, it will be beneficial to the community. These are some of the conclusions of the National Research Program 56 “Language diversity and language skills in Switzerland.”
The recording of the presentations for the press conference on the conclusion of NRP 56 “Language Diversity and Linguistic Competence in Switzerland“ can be found here (duration: 32 minutes).
Religions have a tendency to set themselves apart from other faiths in order to safeguard their identity and position themselves. Often enough, the means to this end are derogatory. A study conducted by the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) "Mediality – Historical Perspectives" examines how people went about this in the Middles Ages. In a 15th century illustration, for instance, Christians are shown mocking pagans who are holding a somewhat unusual procession.
The National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) on "Iconic Criticism – The Power and Meaning of Images" is addressing the wider public with a movie series. The topic of the current selection of cinematic gems explores the question of the fictionality of documentaries and the documentary nature of feature films.
As Baudelaire and Proust were well aware, sensory perception and emotions are intimately linked. Odours are indeed powerful stimulants for the human brain. Now, for the first time, researchers from the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) Affective Sciences have succeeded in demonstrating that the evaluation of olfactory perceptions actually follows a very strict order.
In its constant endeavour to supply information targeted to needs, the SNSF now offers a news-service. Researchers and others can build their own personal information menu made up of SNSF scientific and foundation news topics, and then subscribe to it.
Researchers from the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South have succeeded in creating an atlas mapping 70 facets of poverty distribution in the Lao PDR in high geographic resolution. The atlas gives policy-makers in Switzerland and decision-makers at local level a tool for optimizing the management of development projects.
As part of the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) “Mediality”, Martina Stercken from the University of Zurich has reinterpreted the first map of the Swiss Confederation, which dates from 1480. The historian has shown how Albrecht von Bonstetten, Dean of Einsiedeln Monastery, attempted to establish the still very heterogeneous Swiss Confederation as a politically uniform area within the Concert of Europe. He did so by following the tradition of the mappae mundi, the maps of the world produced during the High and Late Middle Ages. These represent the inhabited world as a circle with Jerusalem – the centre of Christianity – in the middle. By replacing Jerusalem with the Rigi, the three-peaked queen of mountains, and the world with the Swiss Confederation, he gives the country salvation-historical significance: its existence is obviously the will of God.