environment and climate research
In Lake Constance, sticklebacks are occupying increasingly varied habitat types - in recent years even including the open and deep waters of the lake. In an Eawag review undertaken as part of the "SeeWandel" project, these uniquely diverse ecological adaptations are explained in terms of renewed contact between three stickleback lineages - including one originating from the Baltic region, whose genetic material is as yet rarely observed in other Swiss lakes.
A researcher from the University of Geneva has compiled the scientific literature of the last five years linking emotion and climate change, highlighting the main levers that will make it possible to strengthen behaviour in favour of sustainable development.
For Switzerland to become climate neutral, there's no way around electric mobility. But to get e-cars going, the public must push for charging stations where people live, argues Anthony Patt.
Chemical engineers at EPFL have developed a graphene filter for carbon capture that surpasses the efficiency of commercial capture technologies, and can reduce the cost carbon capture down to $30 per ton of carbon dioxide.
Using the extinct niobium-92 atom, ETH researchers have been able to date events in the early solar system with greater precision than before. The study concludes that supernova explosions must have taken place in the birth environment of our sun.
Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI and the partner institute Empa have started a joint initiative called SynFuels. The goal is to develop a process for producing kerosene from renewable resources. In this way liquid fuel mixtures of the highest quality, which would allow the most residue-free combustion possible and thus be suitable for aircraft propulsion, should be obtainable using carbon dioxide and hydrogen from renewable resources.
Selected Jobs
Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin oder Wissenschaftlicher Miarbeiter Programmkoordination 80% Schweizerischer Nationalfonds (SNF), Bern
Projekt- und BauleiterIn Gewässerökologie und Naturschutz Büro für ökologische Optimierungen GmbH, Tuggen
Wissenschaftliche/-r Mitarbeitende/-r im Bereich Resilience Engineering und Risk Assessment 60-80% Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften, ZHAW, Zurich
Switzerland has been at the forefront of climate research. The Nobel Peace Prize 2007 went to Al Gore and all the members of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Among those honoured are a number of Swiss scientists. Switzerland has decided to strengthen its leading position in climate research through several research initiatives and programs.
Research institutions
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Eawag, the aquatic research institute, is part of the ETH group.
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The Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research is a leading institution for climate research based at the University of Bern.
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WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research in Davos is an Institute of the ETH Domain .
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The Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL in Birmensdorf/Zurich is an Institute of the ETH Domain .
Research programs
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NCCR Climate: The Swiss National Science Foundation SNSF funds a long term climate project under the National Centre for Competence in Research (NCCR) scheme, the NCCR Climate. This NCCR is a network grouping the universities of Bern, Fribourg and Geneva, the Zurich Federal Institute of Technology, a number of Federal agencies, and the Swiss Re reinsuring company. It was established in 2001 with the aim of contributing substantially towards this concern and to better understand the climate system by carrying out interdisciplinary research on its variability and its potential for change. It includes such topics as historical climate change, the development of computer models to diagnose and forecast climate events, and the impact of climate change on ecosystems.
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The World Climate Research Program WCRP is an international program sponsored by several international organisations. It identifies knowledge gaps, prioritizes needs and leads world-class research into climate variability and climate change to meet end-user requirements and policy needs.
Platforms
- Database allowing an overview of environmental research in the broad sense, covering themes as varied as the origins of the Earth, the understanding of natural processes or the solving of concrete environmental problems.
- The platform for cleantech, launched by the Swiss Government, provides all kind of information on cleantech for researchers and companies (only in German and French). Cleantech cover all products and services having a positive and sustainable effect on environment and climate.
Forums
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Proclim is the Swiss forum for climate and global change issues. It seeks to facilitate both integrated research activities and the necessary linkages among scientists, policy-makers and the public at home and abroad . Its aims are the integration of Swiss research in international programs , s upport for interdisciplinary collaboration and dialog and information exchange and dialog with decision makers.
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The Swiss Committee on Polar Research (SCP) is a common forum of the Swiss Scientific Academies. Its main tasks are the national spreading of polar research results and informations through public events and publications.
Other useful links
- Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology
- Swiss Biological Records Center ( Centre Suisse de Cartographie de la Faune) gathers, manages and diffuses information on the distribution and the ecology of fauna in Switzerland.
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Swiss Village in Masdar City: Masdar City, located in Abu Dhabi, is the world’s first carbon-neutral zero waste city. Switzerland is a close partner of Masdar City: A Swiss Village is being realised in the first construction phase of Masdar – the opening is scheduled for 2011. The Swiss Village is to offer a balanced mix of uses with offices, research labs and light manufacturing facilities, restaurants and shops, a Swiss business hub, a Swiss private school, apartments as well as the Swiss Embassy and an embassy residence.
Associations and agencies for renewable energies
- Information about solar energy at Swissolar, the Swiss Association for solar energy.
- The association for geothermic power Geothermie fosters the use of geothermic energy in Switzerland.
- The Agency for renewable energies and energy efficacy (AEE) lobbies for renewable energies.
Portals in the field of renewable energies
- www.energieforschung.ch, a page of the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE), provides information about activities of the Swiss Government.
- The platform for cleantech, launched by the Swiss Government, provides all kind of information on cleantech for researchers and companies (only in German and French). Cleantech cover all products and services having a positive and sustainable effect on environment and climate.
Last job offers
- Health - 5.3
Chargé-e de cours HES «Expertise en radiodiagnostic général» 50% - Environment - 5.3
Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin oder Wissenschaftlicher Miarbeiter Programmkoordination 80% - Computer Science - 5.3
Wissenschaftliche/r Mitarbeiter/in Smart Region Lab (50-60%) - Architecture - 5.3
Assistent / Assistentin Innenarchitektur (50%) - Agronomy/Food Science - 5.3
Modélisation d’éléments nutritifs excrétés par le bétail laitier - Agronomy/Food Science - 5.3
PostDoc: Modellierung von Nährstoffausscheidungen in Milchviehherden - Art and Design - 5.3
Senior Wissenschaftliche/r Mitarbeiter/in (60-80%) - Pedagogy - 5.3
Doktorand*in Englischdidaktik im Projekt TRACE