Research

An international collaboration with EPFL has developed a method to improve the performance of COVID-19 contact-tracing apps by taking into account a user’s recent contacts, risk levels and shared information about tests and symptoms.

There has been a floating laboratory on Lake Geneva called LéXPLORE since 2019. Natacha Tofield-Pasche, limnologist at EPFL and project leader of LéXPLORE, and Damien Bouffard, researcher at Eawag and member of the LéXPLORE steering committee, tell us what is being studied there and why this research platform is unique.

EPFL engineers are pioneering an energy-saving technology that uses fiber optics to boost the performance of supercomputers.

Norway experiences dangerous landslides due to its clay-rich soil. For her Master’s thesis in civil engineering at EPFL, Mathilde Metral outlined steps that the country’s geotechnical engineers can take to improve the predictive computer model they’re currently developing. 

Researchers propose a new framework for how satellite DNA, sometimes called “genomic junk,” is essential in the organization of chromosomes in cells. They suggest this quickly-evolving DNA is one reason different species are unable to successfully interbreed.

EPFL researchers found that, if expressed too early during embryonic development, one of the genes that orchestrate the formation of limbs can lead to a rare disorder of bone growth.

EPFL scientists have developed a deep learning-based method called LiftPose3D, which can reconstruct 3D animal poses using only 2D poses from one camera. This method will have impact in neuroscience and bioinspired robotics.

ETH Zurich researchers have developed a new type of laminate that changes colour as soon as the material is deformed. This way, the materials researchers can kill two birds with one stone: a lightweight composite material that inspects itself.

EPFL has teamed up with Vaud Canton’s Office for Civil Protection and General Health Office to deploy targeted mobile COVID vaccination centers and inform high risk groups about the importance of getting vaccinated in order to stem the pandemic.

The spotted wing drosophila (SWD) is a well-known pest blighting agricultural land. A study conducted by the Cantons of Zug and Zurich alongside the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) now shows that this invasive alien insect also affects the forest ecosystem.

EPFL Summer Series: How science works. Science is based on coherent reasoning, while intuition follows a more disjointed path. But scientific research couldn’t succeed if scientists didn’t listen to their gut feelings every once in a while.

Toxic substances in the environment can harm the nervous system of fish embryos. Now, researchers at Eawag have developed a computer model that helps to better understand how the damage occurs.

Artificial intelligence can help predict the three-dimensional structure of proteins. Beat Christen describes how such algorithms should soon help to develop tailored artificial proteins.

A “paradox and setback” forced EPFL scientists to dig deeper when seeking a means to boost the power of immunotherapy in lung cancer. Understanding the problem – and finding the solution – has led to a promising potential therapy for some patients.

In central Europe, the frequency of droughts is increasing because of climate change, but some forests today are having trouble adjusting. Data from a 30-year experiment now reveal how susceptible managed Norway spruce and silver fir forests are to drought. However, silviculture can improve their resilience, i.e. how quickly and effectively they can recover from drought. That is the conclusion drawn by a research team led by WSL, as reported in the journal Global Change Biology.