Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

882 million francs invested in research in 2021

Bern (ots) - Last year, the SNSF selected around 1800 research projects for funding. It also launched new funding measures because Swiss researchers are not able to participate in important areas of the Horizon Europe programme. Expanding knowledge and solving problems. That is what thousands of SNSF-funded research teams do at Swiss universities and other higher education institutions. Their curiosity and their ...

Gravestones show that Neolithic people were skilled builders

Bern (ots) - People 5000 years ago were already skilled builders and probably lived in the same place for generations - an old burial site reveals Stone Age secrets. A Neolithic grave discovered in 2012 near Oberbipp (BE) has turned out to be a real treasure trove for science. After ten years, a multidisciplinary research team co-funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation has published the last study on this subject ...

Scientific images that ask questions

Bern (ots) - The SNSF Scientific Image Competition casts an unconventional light on research conducted in Switzerland. The jury for the 2022 edition has recognized 14 works that provoke, amaze and often amuse. The winning images will be exhibited at the Biel/Bienne Festival of Photography in May 2022. A virtual rendering of a historic building, the dance of neurons, a floating saucer and decomposing cadavers are just some ...

Weather data predict risk of hospital congestion

Bern (ots) - A team of researchers supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation has developed a mathematical model that anticipates flu peaks in hospitals based on weather data. When too many people fall ill at the same time, hospitals run the risk of congestion, as the Covid-19 pandemic showed to a certain extent. The flu virus can cause the same problems. A team of researchers supported by the Swiss National ...

Show me your posts, and I'll tell you if you're burned out

Bern (ots) - Artificial intelligence helps to detect burnout. Researchers supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation have developed a promising technique based on automatic analysis of text data. Burnout refers to a state of profound physical and mental exhaustion. It is difficult to detect because its symptoms can overlap with those of depression and anxiety. But artificial intelligence may hold the key to better ...

Leaking atmospheres seal the fate of planets

Bern (ots) - A new tool makes it possible to model the escaping atmosphere on exoplanets without overbooked space telescopes. All planets lose their atmosphere. Each day, around 90 tonnes of hydrogen and helium escape from Earth in the direction of space - but don't panic; at this rate, we've still got enough to last another 150 billion years. Our neighbour Mars is in a less enviable position. Today, its atmosphere is one ...

Fjords in the Swiss Plateau

Bern (ots) - A team of researchers supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation drilled a borehole into the Bernese subsoil. Their discoveries have now been published: a few hundred thousand years ago, fjords shaped the face of the Central Plateau. A few hundred thousand years ago, inhabitants roaming the Swiss Plateau could feast their eyes on a spectacular scene. The Alpine peaks descended steeply into a huge lake - a veritable fjord landscape. A team of researchers ...

Elderly people deal surprisingly well with stress

Bern (ots) - There are very few areas where the over-60s' cognitive abilities deteriorate under acute stress. They even have an advantage over young people when it comes to working memory. Have you ever been in an interview and suddenly been unable to think of a name because you were nervous? Or have you forgotten what you wanted to say while giving a presentation? Laboratory researchers are confronting their study ...

India: using co-working spaces to recycle e-waste sustainably

Bern (ots) - A team of Swiss and Indian scientists are developing an environmentally responsible, solidarity-based business model that aims to reduce the pollution associated with e-waste recycling. In India, more than 90% of e-waste is handled by the informal sector. While this provides income for many families, it also often has a negative impact on the environment and on workers' health. Introducing and enforcing ...

Animal experiments and 3R: Interview with animal ethicist Herwig Grimm

Animal experiments and 3R: Immune cells live in a complex world

Bern (ots) - Some research relies almost entirely on animal models. An example is the SNSF-funded project on virus surveillance in the mouse brain. "The immune system has a place where it is born, a place where it is educated and a place where it goes to work." Natalia Pikor, research group leader at St. Gallen cantonal hospital, is studying one of the most complicated systems in the bodies of vertebrate animals and ...

Animal experiments and 3R: mucous membrane as a model

Bern (ots) - In an SNSF-funded project, researchers are studying how bacteria infect the lungs. They are developing an alternative to animal testing that complements existing methods. When bacteria enter our lungs or live in our guts, they physically interact with our own cells that line the openings of our body like a protective layer. Some bacteria help us digest, others make us sick. Alexandre Persat from EPF Lausanne ...

Animal experiments and 3R: Wound healing in mice and cell cultures

Bern (ots) - Research projects involving animal experiments employ a variety of methods. An SNSF-funded project on skin diseases, ulcers and cancer exemplifies this. Sabine Werner, professor of cell biology at ETH Zurich, studies how wounds heal. Knowledge of cell and tissue processes helps to better understand, diagnose and treat certain skin diseases. Here the focus is not primarily cuts and abrasions but rather wounds ...

Gut bacteria linked to infant sleep patterns

Bern (ots) - A study funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation shows that the link between sleep behaviour and intestinal flora is already present in infancy. The gut flora of infants is connected to their sleep patterns. This effect is evident from the age of three months, as sleep researchers Salome Kurth of the University of Fribourg and Sarah Schoch of the University of Zurich have now shown. For example, ...

Wastewater provides new insight into Covid-19 dynamics

Bern (ots) - An interdisciplinary team funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation shows that the R number of coronavirus can be estimated quickly and cost-effectively from wastewater. Since the start of the coronavirus (Sars-Cov-2) pandemic, many public health measures have been decided based on its dynamic of spread, more precisely, on the reproductive number of the virus, known as the R number. This value indicates ...

Shadows can damage solar panels

Bern (ots) - Shadows not only reduce the performance of photovoltaic modules integrated into buildings - they may also shorten their lifespan. "Over the next 30 years, Switzerland will need at least 20 times more solar panels to ensure its future energy supply as envisaged in the Energy Strategy 2050", according to Alessandro Virtuani, a physicist at EPFL. The majority of these panels will have to be installed on buildings, as Switzerland, like some other countries, does not ...

Innovative research into new vaccines

Bern (ots) - Projects taking part in the National Research Programme "Covid-19" (NRP 78) of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) are pursuing highly promising approaches in a drive to develop new vaccines. Three research groups have adopted interesting approaches to the highly topical issue of vaccines. The team led by Steve Pascolo is investigating ways of improving functionality and stability of mRNA vaccines, ...

Heterosexual norms impact same-sex couples

Bern (ots) - Society stigmatises homosexuals. Individuals who internalise this stigma are more critical of their partners when under stress, according to a study funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation. Couples handle stressful episodes better when partners support and listen to each other. Homosexual couples are no exception. But in contrast to other couples, homosexuals also face the enduring stigma of ...

The ethical dilemma of forensic therapy

Bern (ots) - Therapy and reporting to the judiciary - psychiatric professionals in prison have a conflict of loyalties. How do they deal with it? The treatment of people for whom a therapeutic measure has been ordered by the court creates a conflict of loyalties for medical professionals. A study(*) supported by the SNSF reveals how they deal with this in practice. Approximately one thousand people in Switzerland are ...

Women's session in parliament: SNSF supports motion

Bern (ots) - At the women's session, taking place this week in Bern, research funding will be a topic of debate. A motion proposes to link third-party research funding to gender equality standards. Women are still significantly underrepresented in research: the share of women professors is currently 24 per cent; in research projects funded by the SNSF, women hold a 39 per cent share, spread across different career stages. ...

SNSF opposes initiative to ban animal and human experimentation

Bern, 14.10.2021 (ots) - The Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) strives consistently and continuously to improve the quality of research. A ban on animal and human experiments would massively restrict the opportunity to gain knowledge and adversely affect Switzerland as a research hub. On 13 February 2022, the Swiss electorate will vote on the initiative to ban animal and human experiments. Acceptance of the ...