News Archive

Paleoecology researchers at the University of Bern are contributing their knowledge to the development of a pollen monitor that uses artificial intelligence to improve the lives of allergy sufferers.

(Article only available in German)
July 29, 2024

How many species does the Botanical Garden of the University of Bern (BOGA) attract with its diversity of plants and structures? In order to obtain as accurate a picture as possible of the biodiversity on its grounds, BOGA, together with around 20 experts, has counted the animals, fungi and wild plants on its grounds for the second time. As a result, the preliminary number of wild species has risen to around 1,400. On 4 and 5 September 2021, BOGA will turn biodiversity into an experience for visitors with a 24-hour theme day.

(Article only available in German)
September 1, 2021

Biodiversity in Swiss cities is surprisingly high. But the densification of urban areas is putting it under pressure. How can we design urban areas to be close to nature? Experts will explore this question in a series of lectures at the Botanical Garden of the University of Bern.

(Article only available in German)
May 19, 2021

Ein Team der Universität Bern und des Wasserforschungsinstituts Eawag beschreibt sieben endemische Felchenarten der Berner Oberländer Seen – vier davon wurden vorher noch nicht wissenschaftlich beschrieben, zwei erst in den letzten Jahren als eigenständige Arten erkannt. Eine Felchenvielfalt wie in Thuner- und Brienzersee gibt es in der Schweiz sonst höchstens noch im Vierwaldstättersee.

(Article only available in German)
November 12, 2020

Instead of purchasing a large number of carbon offset certificates to achieve climate neutrality by 2025, the University of Bern is, in a participatory process, working on a long-term Climate Neutrality 2030 Roadmap, explains Vice-Rector Heike Mayer in the video.

September 18, 2024

Drought and heavy rainfall are threatening livelihoods in the Ethiopian highlands. Since 1981, researchers from Bern and Ethiopia have been working with the local population to develop solutions. The approach is now being extended to other regions as part of a “Cluster for Research Excellence”.

September 3, 2024

Nitrogen from fossil fuels and agriculture affect the climate. A research team led by the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry with the participation of the University of Bern has investigated exactly how.

July 24, 2024

How does climate change affect the risk of flooding in Switzerland and why are new protective measures necessary? Andreas Zischg from the Mobiliar Lab for Natural Risks at the University of Bern explains.

(Article only available in german)
June 26, 2024

A team including researchers from the Laboratory for High Energy Physics at the University of Bern has successfully measured the interaction rates of neutrinos at unprecedented energies using the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN.

July 16, 2024

On 25 May 2022 at 18:30, a lecture as part of the lecture series of the Collegium generale of the University of Bern will focus on the end of the universe. Michele Weber, Professor of Experimental Particle Physics at the University of Bern, researches the Big Bang and knows which processes characterise both the birth and the eventual death of our universe.

(Article only available in German)
May 20, 2022

The Bernese theoretical astrophysicist Kevin Heng has achieved a rare feat: On paper, he has derived novel solutions to an old mathematical problem needed to calculate light reflections from planets and moons. Now, data can be interpreted in a simple way to understand planetary atmospheres, for example. The new formulae will likely be incorporated into future textbooks.

August 30, 2021

Kevin Heng, Christophe Lovis and Sascha Quanz are exploring distant planets in other solar systems. Among other things, they are searching for life. In doing so, they are always pushing the boundaries of what is possible. An encounter with three project leaders from the NCCR PlanetS.

(Article only available in German)
June 21, 2021

Thomas Stocker is one of the figureheads of the University of Bern and a climate researcher of international renown. Among other things, he had a leading position on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Now, he is being given emeritus status. In this interview, he takes a look back at his career, tells us about an offer he once received from Cambridge and talks about orchids and racing bikes.

June 20, 2024

A great success for Audrey Vorburger: she was elected to an expert committee of the European Space Agency (ESA), which will define the scientific goals of the ESA's next major space mission. In an interview, the astrophysicist tells us how it came about and why Uranus is her favourite planet.

(Article only available in German)
March 16, 2022

From components for ice drills for Antarctic research to optical laboratory instruments and parts for satellites for space research: Jan Heidegger has already made everything as part of his polymechanics apprenticeship in the workshop of the University of Bern's Institute of Physics.

(Article only available in German)
July 8, 2021

The former Director of the Physics Institute and Professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Bern, Hans Balsiger, has died at the age of 83. Balsiger made a significant contribution to strengthening the global reputation of the University of Bern's Institute of Physics in the field of space research.

(Article only available in German)
January 26, 2021

Political scientist Lukas Fesenfeld is intensively engaged in the political feasibility of a transformative climate and food policy. Because Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine can drastically damage the food situation in the global South, Fesenfeld has initiated an appeal to politicians.

(Article only available in German)
April 7, 2022

Compared to other regions of Switzerland such as the Jura and the northern Alps, the lynx population in the south-western Swiss Alps has an unexpectedly low density. To explain this, researchers led by Raphaël Arlettaz from the Institute of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Bern have tested four hypotheses. They came to the conclusion that poaching is the main cause of the extremely low lynx density. This is supported by the discovery of a network of trap systems.

June 25, 2021
(Article only available in German and French)

Swiss mountain regions are certainly innovative when it comes to finding solutions to specific challenges in peripheral areas. With a new online inventory of these "social innovations", the Institute of Geography and the Tourism Research Centre at the University of Bern, in collaboration with the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), want to make the authorities and the population more aware of the innovative potential of mountain regions.

(Article only available in German and Franch)
March 10, 2020

More and more organisers of major events are declaring war on waste. Nevertheless, tonnes of rubbish are often left lying around. So is the sustainable event more illusion than vision? An event co-organised by the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) at the University of Bern showed that there is no one-size-fits-all solution, but there is still a lot that can be improved - if you tackle it properly.

(Article only available in German)
February 11, 2020

With the Master in Precision Engineering, the University of Bern and the Bern University of Applied Sciences BFH are jointly offering a completely new degree programme in the field of precision engineering from the autumn semester of 2022. Director of Studies Jürgen Burger tells us what students can expect.

(Article only available in German)
March 15, 2022

It could be a milestone on the path to detecting life on other planets: Scientists under the leadership of the University of Bern and of the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS detect a key molecular property of all living organisms from a helicopter flying several kilometers above ground. The measurement technology could also open up opportunities for remote sensing of the Earth.

June 18, 2021

The US research laboratory "Fermilab" has published the eagerly awaited results of the experimental measurement of the so-called anomalous magnetic dipole moment of the muon. As members of the "Muon g-2 Theory Initiative", researchers from the University of Bern have calculated the same physical quantity theoretically in parallel based on the standard model. The deviation of the experimental measurement from the theoretical calculation could indicate the existence of new particles.

(Article only available in German)
April 7, 2021

Researchers from the University of Bern, PSI, and ETH Zurich, together with international partners, have demonstrated in an elaborate experiment at PSI that the electric dipole moment of the neutron is significantly smaller than previously assumed. It has thus become less likely that the existence of matter in the universe can be explained by this dipole moment.

February 28, 2020

Researchers at the University of Bern are among the most cited scientists in the world. The annual list of Highly Cited Researchers includes researchers whose work ranks in the top 1% of cited scientific publications in their respective fields. In 2020, researchers from Bern from various fields such as medicine, epidemiology, biology, environment/ ecology or Cross-Field have been recognized on the list.

November 18, 2020

When two researchers – one Israeli, the other Palestinian - met at a conference, they bonded over a mutual interest in a parasite and realized that science can indeed cross borders. This ethos is at the heart of the summer school they went on to found, the Middle Eastern Biology of Parasitism (MeBoP), which is hosted by the University of Bern.