New CROSS projects tackle technology, culture, and the environment
© 2025 EPFL
The CROSS (Collaborative Research on Science and Society) program has chosen six projects for its 2026 call. These projects combine the natural sciences and engineering with the humanities and social sciences to address some of society's most pressing challenges.
The CROSS program, jointly supported by EPFL and the University of Lausanne, funds interdisciplinary projects led by teams of researchers from EPFL and UNIL to address important societal and technological issues.
The selected projects will study cinema for the visually-impaired, the weaponisation of cultural heritage, and dual-use technology, along with microplastics, cement construction, and brain structure.
Each project will receive up to 60,000 Swiss francs, divided between the two institutions.
2026 CROSS PROJECTS
Cinema without images for the visually impaired
- Bruno HERBELIN (SV, INX-SV, LNCO)
- Silvio IONTA (FBM, IONTA Lab, HOP)
Taking a field research-based approach to gathering new data on visual imagery perceived during a concert, the project poses a simple but fundamental question: what is the impact of vision disorders on the production of auditory-induced mental images?
Narrative wars: Detecting the weaponisation of cultural heritage in the digital sphere
- Hamest TAMRAZYAN (CDH, DHI-GE)
- Emanuela BOROS (CDH, DHI, DHLAB)
- Stéphanie PREZIOSO (FSSP, IEP)
- Hanna PEREKHONDA (FSSP, IEP)
This project explores the weaponization of culture on Wikipedia by detecting manipulations of heritage narratives. Using NLP and cultural analysis, it focuses on Ukraine and Armenia to develop a prototype detection tool and conceptual framework.
Modelling the cOnstruction required to secure hUman welLbeing and implications for decarbonizing the global cEment industry (MOULE)
- Marsh ALASTAIR (STI, IMX, LMC)
- Karen SCRIVENER (STI, IMX, LMC)
- Joel MILLWARD-HOPKINS (FGD, IGD)
- Julia STEINBERGER (FGE, IGD)
The project will investigate the global cement requirements of construction in a future where Decent Living Standards are secured for all. The project will thus assess the extent to which this demand-side approach could close the sector’s ‘carbon emissions gap’ and reduce reliance on carbon capture.
When innovation harms: anticipating the dual use of technology
- Klaus SCHÖNENBERGER (Essential Tech Center)
- Guido PALAZZO (HEC, SGS)
The dual-use of technology—where innovations are unknowingly developed in ways that enable harmful or violent applications—represents a critical and urgent challenge for science and society. This project will develop an educational framework and prototype tool to equip STEM researchers and students with the awareness needed to anticipate these risks.
PETALS - Circular green hydrogen from microplastics with integrated CO2 capture: Technology, business and policy aspects
- Sophia HAUSSENER (STI, IGM, LRESE)
- Roberto VALENZA (STI, IGM, LRESE)
- Jean-Philippe BONARDI (HEC, SGS)
The production of hydrogen while partially recycling the PET in microplastics with an integrated CO2 capture will be studied. A technology demonstration in the lab (EPFL) will be coupled with business and policy analyses (UNIL) to determine the best strategy for creating societal impact.
PHYSOC: Temporal dynamics of brain structure and socioeconomic status: an inverse modeling analysis
- Alexandre TERRIER (STI, IBI-STI, LBO)
- Ferath KHERIF (FBM, CHUV, LREN)
- Adeliya LATYPOVA (FBM, CHUV, LREN)
This project develops a physics-based model of how socioeconomic status (SES) modulates brain aging. Using FEM inverse modeling on longitudinal MRI data, we will determine biophysical parameters to provide the first mechanistic explanation for social gradients in brain health.