The Swiss Federal Supervisory Board for Foundations gave the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) a clean report on its handling of the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) “sesam”, which was discontinued at the end of September 2009. It concluded that there were no grounds for the allegation that the SNSF violated statutory regulations within the framework of the NCCR, as a group of interests from Basel asserted in its complaint filed with the Supervisory Board for Foundations.
The penetration of calcium ions, which cause muscle cells to contract, is visible under a TIRF microscope. This innovative microscope, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), sheds unique light on what sets healthy muscles apart from diseased ones.
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.
The Swiss National Science Foundation has approved 28 additional technology transfer projects for National Centres of Competence in Research in the hopes of stimulating the economy both in the short and medium-term. The projects are being funded by the Swiss federal government as part of its measures to stabilize the economy. With this, a total of 25 million CHF will be invested into developing new technologies.
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.
Should imams and Muslim religious teachers be allowed to train at Swiss universities in future? The majority of Muslims living in Switzerland advocate the idea, as do Swiss authorities, universities and legal experts. This is the result of a religious studies survey conducted as part of the National Research Programme “Religious Communities, State and Society” (NRP 58).
Between 1993 and 2003 the number of journeys by commercial vehicles within the Swiss conurbations rose by half. The volume of freight, however, has not risen. The number of trips by vans and trucks is having an adverse effect on the quality of life. Half of the nitrogen dioxide emissions by road vehicles are generated by freight traffic. Moreover, mutual obstruction of passenger and freight traffic flows is increasing. A growing number of vans and trucks are involved in accidents (approximately 30% of cases in 2003). As part of the National Research Council's programme on "sustainable development of the built environment"(NFP 54), the freight transport situation in urban areas was analysed and a package of suitable measures prepared. Concrete plans of action have thus been worked out for the Zurich, Lugano and Chur agglomerations.
Our large intestines are heavily populated by bacteria and as such really do not have space for newcomers. Despite this, Salmonella are able to multiply there. In a project funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation, a group led by Wolf-Dietrich Hardt from ETH Zurich is uncovering the remarkable strategies used by the feared diarrhoea pathogens. A small number of the Salmonella sacrifice themselves by attacking the intestinal cells. Although this kills them, they succeed in causing inflammation. The inflamed intestine excretes mucus, which ultimately accelerates the growth of the remaining salmonella in the intestine. Thus the bacteria benefit from the death of their sister cells.
In 2008, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) allocated over 660 million Swiss francs in funding to research projects. This includes currently funding for around 5,700 young researchers. Nevertheless, the SNSF fears that in the medium term Switzerland could experience a shortfall of junior academics. As a result, it intends to boost funding to young researchers.
Rapid prototyping processes that were originally developed for producing industrial samples have recently been adopted by clinical medicine. The ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research at the University of Berne uses computed tomography data to produce individual three-dimensional models of organs. These help surgeons when they are planning and performing complex operations such as the removal of liver tumours. Using anatomically accurate, detailed models helped surgeons at Berne’s Inselspital hospital with spatial orientation and made it easier for them to use surgical instruments precisely.
The PermaSense project launched by the Universities of Zurich and Basel, ETH Zurich and EPF Lausanne operates two networks of sensors that transmit wireless data. One of these sensor networks is on the Matterhorn. Over a period of several years, the small sensors will collect a series of data that includes rock movements, freezing and thawing processes and temperatures in the bedrock. The second network is on the Jungfraujoch. The technology used by the sensor networks offers new ways of collecting outstanding-quality data in difficult terrain. For example, the data can be used to investigate the processes underlying rock falls in permafrost zones as a result of climate changes.
Launched in 2003, the National Research Programme “Right-wing extremism – causes and countermeasures” (NRP 40+), has now been completed. One conclusion is that the way liberal societies see themselves departs from many of their citizens’ need for a national identity and for the rejection of anything that is unfamiliar. Right-wing extremism is either ignored or exaggerated. Both are a hindrance to objective discussion.
Protein crystallography started 50 years ago with simply structured molecules. Now researchers from the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) “Structural Biology” are exploring ever larger, ever more complex proteins. By doing so they are gaining a greater insight into the secrets that lie hidden in the detailed structure of the molecules. The new findings are often used in the development of new medicines. For example, the elucidation of the structure of fatty acid synthase, the protein responsible for fatty acid production in mammal cells, creates a new springboard from which to develop new, more precise – and therefore more effective – cancer inhibitors.
Under the auspices of National Centre of Competence in Research IM2, researchers at the Idiap Research Institute have developed an innovative conference archiving solution. By combining several technologies derived from the smart meeting room concept with the extraction and analysis of information from video sequences, they have been able to come up with a system that is both simple to use and reliable. The researchers have set up a company called Klewel to market their innovative technology. Prestigious customers such as Nestlé, Unicef or ACM are already using their services.