News

Researchers at Empa, together with international partners, have published the largest open battery dataset to date in a new data format. The data from Empa's Aurora robot platform sets new standards for quality, traceability, and collaboration in international battery research – and is expected to significantly accelerate it.

In the 2nd quarter 2024, 38.7% of people in employment worked part time, representing an increase of 13.3 percentage points compared with 1991. Part-time employment is widespread among women, espe-cially mothers with children living at home, and among people of ordinary retirement age. By European comparison, Switzerland has the second-highest part-time employment rate after the Netherlands. These are some of the results from the “Part-time employment in Switzerland 2024” publication (available in German and French only) by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).

Ten years on, holders of a qualification obtained in 2012 who continued to pursue education and training had an income around CHF 400 to 1 300 per month higher than those who did not. Income depends very much on the field of education in which the qualification was obtained, and is higher in technical, finance or management and administration fields. Income trends are also strongly influenced by the course of a person’s life and their age. These are the main findings of a new publication from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), which provides an overview of the incomes of the 150 000 people who obtained a qualification at upper-secondary or tertiary level in 2012.

The Director of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), Florian Schütz, will be attending this year's cybertech conferences in Osaka and Tokyo. During his visit to Japan from 1 to 4 September, he will take part in various events, panels and bilateral talks with representatives from industry and government.

A new preliminary report (aviation) is available on the website of the Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board STSB.

A new final report (aviation) is available on the website of the Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board STSB.

Two in three higher education graduates changed jobs in the five years following their graduation in 2018. Almost a quarter saw their hierarchical position rise after one to five years following graduation, which generally resulted in a higher income (+13% to +18%) and greater satisfaction in their new job (up to +47%). These are some of the results of the second Swiss Graduate Survey (EHA), conducted in 2023 by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).

On 1 September, the 7th meeting of the Indo-Swiss Joint Committee on Science and Technology took place in Bern, co-chaired by Martina Hirayama, State Secretary for Education, Research and Innovation, and Abhay Karandikar, Secretary of the Department of Science and Technology. The discussions centred on bilateral cooperation in research and innovation. The next meeting is expected to be held in India in 2027.

In cooperation with the industry sector SWISS ASD (Aeronautics, Security and Defence), an amalgamation of internationally operating companies in security and defence technology as well as aviation, the Federal Office for Defence Procurement armasuisse is launching the “Swiss Defence Industry Day” for the first time on 28 August 2025. The industrial event will take place at the Swiss Embassy in Washington D.C. and on the periphery of the “Emerging Technologies for Defense Conference”. The goal of the “Swiss Defence Industry Day” is to establish international contacts as well as to promote Switzerland as an attractive location for the armament industry.

The Paul Scherrer Institute PSI is getting a new high-performance computing cluster: Merlin-7 – a platform for sophisticated simulations and data analyses. Merlin-7 is not located at PSI in Villigen, however, but at the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS) in Lugano. It is part of Alps, currently the eighth-fastest supercomputer in the world. With this, PSI and CSCS are launching a new era of computer-based science in Switzerland.

During a visit to Switzerland by Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko, the two countries announced projects involving Swiss companies that will be supported as part of Ukraine's reconstruction. The twelve projects receiving funding are in the areas of infrastructure (energy, housing), public transport, health and humanitarian demining. The Swiss private sector will therefore be able to support Ukraine's reconstruction efforts through its expertise and innovative, high-quality products.

What happens to titanium implants once they are inside the human body? Why are they sometimes rejected or even break? Empa researcher Martina Cihova is exploring these questions at the interface between implants and human tissues and cells, where materials science meets medicine. She was recently awarded an Ambizione Grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) to support her research.