PSI

The new research project SURE (SUstainable and Resilient Energy for Switzerland) started on May 4. Over the next six years, ten research institutions under the project lead of the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI will study how Switzerland can ensure its energy supply is as sustainable and resilient as possible in the coming decades.

ETH Zurich and the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI are opening a joint research centre, the ETH Zurich - PSI Quantum Computing Hub. The goal is the investigation and realisation of quantum computers. In an interview, Gabriel Aeppli, head of PSI's Photon Science Division, and Christian Rüegg, director of PSI, talk about this special collaboration and highlight what quantum computers are expected to bring us.

Another location for the Swiss Data Science Center will be established at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI. To this end, the ETH Board has approved an increase of five million Swiss francs in the budget of the strategic focus area Data Science. The main aim of this expansion is to help improve the evaluation and handling of the growing amounts of data from large and complex research infrastructures, sensor networks, and databases at PSI and the other three federal research institutes, Empa, WSL, and Eawag. The resources and expertise will be available to all institutes in the ETH Domain.

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have succeeded for the first time in looking inside materials using the method of transient grating spectroscopy with ultrafast X-rays at SwissFEL. The experiment at PSI is a milestone in observing processes in the world of atoms. The researchers are publishing their research results today in the journal Nature Photonics.

SwissFEL, the new large research facility at PSI, has been in regular operation since January 2019. And it turns out that this X-ray free-electron laser really is as compact, high-performance, and versatile as planned. "The Swiss Army knife of FELs" is what PSI researcher Henrik Lemke likes to call this large research facility. In an interview, he talks about the latest research successes.

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have studied for the first time how chemical reactions in clouds can influence the global climate. They found that isoprene, the dominant non-methane organic compound emitted into the atmosphere, can strongly contribute to the formation of organic aerosols in clouds. They published their results today in the journal Science Advances.