Storys aus BERN

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

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 ...

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

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 ...

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

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 ...

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

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, ...

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

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 ...

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

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 ...

SIFEM AG

First SIFEM investment in Nepal - and first cooperation between SIFEM and SDC

Bern (ots) - The Swiss Investment Fund for Emerging Markets (SIFEM) made its first investment in Nepal, a focus country of Switzerland's development cooperation.SIFEM supports NMB Bank Limited with a loan of USD 12 million that will be used for lending to local businesses.This investment will give micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) access to finance and will ...

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

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, ...

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

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 ...

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

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 ...

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

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. ...

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

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 ...

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

Detecting microplastics in the environment

Bern (ots) - Geochemist Denise Mitrano has found a way to track how micro- and nanoplastic particles spread through the environment. For this work, she is receiving this year's Marie Heim-Vögtlin Prize from the Swiss National Science Foundation. Man-made plastic pollutes the environment. When broken down into micro- and nanoparticles, it poses an increasing problem not only for the oceans and their inhabitants, but also ...

SWISSAID

Press Release: Women Farmers’ Rights And Autonomy Critical For Global Food Security, says Swiss Study

New Study: "Autonomy Through Agroecology" UN Food Systems Summit (UNFSS), United Nations, New York, 23 September 2021. Women Farmers’ Rights And Autonomy Critical For Global Food Security, says Swiss Study Berne |New York, 21 September 2021 - The report "Autonomy Through Agroecology" with case studies of six ...

Justice Initiative

Child abuse in Europe: Victims' groups launch initiative to come to terms with European abuse cases

Bern, Switzerland (ots) - At an international meeting in Switzerland, victims' groups from all over Europe launched the large-scale "Justice Initiative". With this political initiative, abuse of children, especially in state and church institutions, is to be comprehensively dealt with for the first time in all European countries. A motion to bring the processing of ...

Thömus AG

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Mathias Flückiger wins the UCI Mountain Bike Overall World Cup

SWI swissinfo.ch

"SWI plus" - Your rendez-vous with Switzerland, now in English

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

Cancerous tumours: how likely are they to metastasise?

Bern (ots) - A very aggressive type of cancer has provided a team of researchers supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation with an answer to the question of which tumour cells are at risk of spreading. Cancer treatment is sometimes complicated by the heterogeneity of the cells that form the tumour mass. The problem is how to identify the few cells that are capable of triggering metastases. Thanks to work carried ...

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

Clinical research: patients and the public have their say

Bern (ots) - The Swiss National Science Foundation has been funding clinical studies on under-researched topics in medicine since 2016. In a first, it successfully involved representatives of patients and the public in evaluating applications. The aim of the SNSF's Investigator Initiated Clinical Trials (IICT) programme is to answer medical questions that are important to society but not a priority for industry. This ...

SWI swissinfo.ch

In partnership with Europe's public service media, SWI swissinfo.ch offers "A European Perspective"

Schweizerischer Nationalfonds / Fonds national suisse

The complex organisation of an ant colony

Bern (ots) - A study on predatory ants, supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation, explains how small differences between individuals can change the collective organisation of the colony. The colonies of social insects are complex systems that are entirely self-organised. Scientists who looked at the demographic, genetic and morphological structure of ant colonies were able to show how this self-organisation ...

Wyss Academy for Nature

New forms of engagement at the Wyss Academy

Bern, Switzerland (ots) - The exhibition and meeting space "Habitat" of the Wyss Academy for Nature in Bern will newly present the work "Morphologies", which explores the moment of wonder towards nature that is common to art and science. At the same time, the Wyss Academy is addressing a pressing issue in the field of sustainable development: Engaging with people from research, politics, business, and agriculture on four ...

SIFEM AG

SIFEM played its counter-cyclical role in 2020 - and Dr Dominique Biedermann elected as new SIFEM Board member

Bern (ots) - In 2020, the Swiss Investment Fund for Emerging Markets (SIFEM) committed a total of USD 85.6 million to ten new investments and concluded the year with a negative operating result of CHF -28.6 million, amid the global COVID-19 crisis. More than ever, SIFEM has been able to play its counter-cyclical ...

swissuniversities

swissuniversities and Wiley sign transformative Open Access agreement

Bern (ots) - swissuniversities has concluded a new Read&Publish agreement with John Wiley & Sons. It will provide students and researchers from over 40 Swiss higher education and research institutions access to the Wiley Online Library with over 1'450 journals. At the same time, this agreement enables authors affiliated to these institutions to make their scientific ...