A vortex, vortex and a half

Published:05.09.10 — Whirlwind polaritons in quantum optoelectronics laboratory! Physicists at the EPFL have managed to observe for the first time a phenomenon that the theory had predicted there are more than 20 years. The results are being published in Science.

A laser shines light on the catalytic converter

Published:05.09.10 — Catalytic converters are encountered everywhere in our cars and in the chemical industry. However, the chemical reaction is not well understood. A discovery made at the EPFL may help to shed light on a field with high economic and ecological stakes.

The Secrets of Longevity

Published:14.07.10 — GENETICS – A complex network of genes, in combination with a low-calorie diet and exercise, appears to be a key factor in a long life expectancy. Professor Johan Auwerx’s team has published an article on this topic in Cell magazine. 

A prize from the W.A. de Vigier Foundation for Aïmago

Published:21.06.10 — The W.A. de Vigier Foundation has chosen its five best Swiss start-ups of the year. Each one is to receive a venture capital of 100,000 Swiss francs.

Superconductivity boosted in nanostructures

Published:10.06.10 — An international research team led by Prof. Klaus Kern (Laboratory of Nanoscale Science, EPFL) has demonstrated that quantum size effects can boost the superconductivity of nanostructured materials.

New Swiss Research Centers

Published:15.04.10 — The Swiss Minister Didier Burkhalter has presented eight new research centers today, the 15th of April. An important announce for research in the Lake Geneva region, it underscores the cutting-edge competences of the region’s institutions—for among the eight national projects, four are shared between institutions along the lake from Geneva to Lausanne. UNIGE, UNIL, and EPFL will benefit from around 58 million Swiss francs over the next three years from this collaboration that supports excellence in chemical biology, neuroscience, robotics, and social sciences. For more information about these National Centers of Competences in Research (NCCR), visit the website of the Federal Department of Home Affairs.

The assembly of protein strands into fibrils

Published:12.04.10 — Researchers at ETH Zürich, EPF Lausanne and at the University of Fribourg have evidenced a basic general mechanism describing how filamentous proteins assemble into ribbon like structures, the so-called Amyloid fibrils. Combining experiments and theory, they could explain how denatured milk proteins assemble into ribbon like structures composed of up to five filaments. These findings are shining a surprisingly new light on the assembly of these proteins.