News EPFL

Navigating the Gene Pool

Published:24.03.10 — Understanding how genes interact with each other is of paramount importance in developing better gene therapies. However, current gene screening techniques cannot directly inform us how genes interact with each other. In order to better understand the biological processes of gene interaction, the Laboratory of Intelligent Systems (LIS) at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), in collaboration with IBM, MIT and Harvard University, has developed a method to compare predictions and discovered a novel technique to find the best results.

The barrier shows giant variations

Published:22.01.10 — Published in "Nature Materials", the work of scientists from the Max Planck Institute, University of Trieste, King's College and EPFL provides the first local characterization of the potential barrier at the contact between a single molecule and a metal electrode. This has been achieved by combining scanning tunnelling spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations.

Stewart Cole is awarded for his work on TB

Published:08.12.09 — The Kochon Prize, which is awarded to persons, institutions, or organizations that have made a highly significant contribution to combating tuberculosis, was given to Stewart Cole, Director of the Global Health Institute at EPFL, and to Lucy Chesire, a leading international patient activist who has achieved important TB advancements at both global and regional levels, on the 5th of December this year. They will share the prize that consists of a medal and US$ 65,000.

At the Cross-roads Between Biology and Chemistry

Published:27.11.09 — The Ruzicka award was given this year to Karl Gademann – director, founder, and professor of the Chemical Synthesis Laboratory. He has been recognized for his work done in the field of natural substance synthesis. The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich) has awarded a sum of 10,000 Swiss francs to the professor, the highest figure in Switzerland for the field of Chemistry.

A better way to plan your travels

Published:20.11.09 — routeRANK, an EPFL start-up website in the Parc Scientifique allowing users to find the best way to their destination according to personalized criteria, has been chosen as a Microsoft Start-up of the Day for November 19th. Using a unique algorithm, the start-up’s founder and chairman Jochen Mundiger created an intelligent way to plan one’s trips that takes into account public transportation, car and air travel, while also giving you the CO2 emissions for those who wish to consider the ecological impact of their travels.

Launch of European Medical Device Accelerator (MDA)

Published:09.11.09 — Based at the Science Park next to Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, MDA aims to accelerate the development of revolutionary medical device technology ideas in Europe and to create entities ready for future financing or licensing.

EPFL ranked first in Europe in its field

Published:04.11.09 — The 2009 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), compiled by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, affirms EPFL’s top place among European Universities in the field of Engineering/Technology and Computer Sciences. Gaining three places from the 2008 rankings this year, the technical university in Lausanne, Switzerland ties Cambridge University as the 1st in Europe and 15th in the world in its field.