Mar 10, 2023 | Two Empa researchers appointed professors at ETH Zurich
The ETH Board has awarded the title of Professor to two Empa researchers: Corsin Battaglia, Head of the Materials for Energy Conversion Laboratory, and Dorina Opris, who leads the Functional Polymeric Materials Group.
Dec 22, 2022 | Award at the «Swiss Innovation Challenge»
The Empa spin-off Perovskia Solar has been awarded second place at the Swiss Innovation Challenge, leaving more than 100 competitors behind. The prizes were presented by Federal Councilor Guy Parmelin. Perovskia Solar...
Dec 20, 2022 | Reason for multi-billion Euro construction damage elucidated
After extensive analyses, Empa researchers found the cause of the concrete scandal in County Donegal, Ireland, where structural damage has been causing red faces and protests for years: Concrete walls of thousands of...
Dec 15, 2022 | A tabletop accelerator facility
EuPRAXIA is the first European project that develops a compact particle accelerator research infrastructure based on novel plasma acceleration concepts and laser technology. An Empa Team led by Davide Bleiner and...
Dec 14, 2022 | Collecting solar energy from both sides
Bifacial thin film solar cells based on copper indium gallium diselenide or CIGS can collect solar energy from both their front and their rear side – and thus potentially yield more solar electricity than their...
Dec 13, 2022 | New study: Energy Future 2050
With a new project, Energy Future 2050, the Association of Swiss Electricity Companies VSE together with Empa shows based on various scenarios what Switzerland's energy supply could look like by 2050. Take-home message:...
Dec 9, 2022 | ETH Board appoints Lorenz Herrmann
The ETH Board appointed Lorenz Herrmann as a new member of the Empa's Directorate at its meeting on 7-8 December 2022.
Dec 8, 2022 | Surfaces with antiviral properties
Using a new analytical method, Empa researchers have tracked viruses as they pass through face masks and compared their failure on the filter layers of different types of masks. The new method should now accelerate the...
Dec 5, 2022 | Innosuisse Certificate for Empa spin-off
Founded in February 2018 as an Empa spin-off, the start-up company MIRO Analytical received one of the coveted Innosuisse Certificates in October. The certificate reflects the remarkable progress the young company made...
Dec 1, 2022 | Distinguished Senior Researcher: Dominik Brunner
Internationally recognized atmospheric scientist and Distinguished Senior Researcher at Empa: Dominik Brunner is a scientist who has explored his subject area from many angles – with a weatherproof motivation and...
Dec 1, 2022 | Professorship for Empa researcher
Empa researcher Thijs Defraeye has been appointed Special Professor Data and Simulations for Self-care Postharvest Fresh-food Supply Chains at the University of Wageningen's group of Food, Quality and Design. Defraeye...
Nov 29, 2022 | Medical technology
Hearing-impaired people whose auditory nerve is still intact can often be helped with a cochlear implant. But inserting the implant into the inner ear is not without risks, as facial nerves can be damaged in the process....
Nov 24, 2022 | Open Research Data Management (ORD)
A consortium with researchers from the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Empa and ETH Zurich has won funding of almost CHF1.3 million for a three-year project on open and reproducible materials science research. The project...
Nov 23, 2022 | Wearables for healthcare
With sensors that measure health parameters and can be worn on the body, we do let technology get very close to us. A collaboration between Empa and designer Laura Deschl, sponsored by the Textile and Design Alliance...
Nov 22, 2022 | Plastic pollution: Scientists raise red flag
Next week the UN intergovernmental negotiating committee (INC) on plastic pollution will meet in Uruguay to develop an international legally binding instrument against plastic pollution. There is concern among scientists...
Nov 17, 2022 | Empa's Zukunftsfonds – Funding ambitious research
Empa researchers are developing a medical chip in collaboration with the ETH Zurich and the Cantonal Hospital of St.Gallen that will allow statements to be made about the effect of substances on babies in the womb. The...
Nov 16, 2022 | New compendium: Everything you need to know about battery storage systems
Although they are indispensable nowadays, there is still a lack of knowledge and skepticism about batteries. The Forum Energy Storage Switzerland therefore compiled a compendium on research, development, potential and...
Nov 15, 2022 | Two researchers honored as "influencers"
Every year, scientists whose publications have been most frequently cited are selected. They are considered to be particularly influential in their field. This year, two Empa scientists are featured on the coveted list.
Nov 11, 2022 | Swiss architecture award for NEST unit
The NEST unit HiLo is one of the eleven winning projects of this year's Swiss architecture award, Arc Award. With its innovative, resource-saving approaches, the project stood out from the field of 359 submitted projects...
Nov 10, 2022 | Award for Empa innovation
Every year, TIME publishes a list of the most important inventions of the year. This year, Gustav Nyström and his team from Empa's Cellulose & Wood Materials Laboratory made it onto the list with their biodegradable...
Nov 8, 2022 | Virtual reality
Together with EPFL and ETH Zurich colleagues, an Empa team is developing next-generation VR gloves that will make virtual worlds tangible. The glove is to be tailored to each user and capable of being produced largely...
Nov 2, 2022 | Green technology
Farmers once ensured rich harvests of hay by systematically irrigating meadows. In the canton of Zurich, environmentalists are bringing these methods back to life to create a valuable idyll with high biodiversity – using...
Oct 26, 2022 | Portrait Wim Malfait
Belgian-born Wim Malfait is a trained geologist who once searched for gold on behalf of a mining company. Today, he heads the Building Energy Materials and Components laboratory, which develops, among other things,...
Oct 25, 2022 | Integration on a chip
Extreme miniaturization of infrared (IR) detectors is critical for their integration into next-generation consumer electronics, wearables and ultra-small satellites. Thus far, however, IR detectors have relied on bulky...
Oct 20, 2022 | Sustainability
Nearly half of all fruit and vegetables produced globally are wasted each year, according to the United Nations. This has implications for food insecurity, climate change, and for economic security and mobility of the...
Oct 19, 2022 | Climate change
Limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees requires the energy system to be restructured as quickly as possible. But the speed of this transformation is physically limited. An Empa study now calculates the influence of...
Oct 19, 2022 | Rubber production
The substitution of petrochemical materials with those obtained from renewable raw materials is an important step towards increasing sustainability. In just two years of intensive and open collaboration between Empa and...
Oct 17, 2022 | Using digitalization to prevent trees from dying
Planting trees is an effective means of combating heat islands in cities. However, it is particularly difficult for young trees to survive in an urban environment. The OST – Eastern Switzerland University of Applied...
Oct 14, 2022 | OLMA St. Gallen
At this year's OLMA, Federal President Ignazio Cassis visited the joint stand of Empa and Switzerland Innovation Park Ost, where two current research projects are on display.
Oct 12, 2022 | Successful financing round for Empa spin-off Nahtlos
Nahtlos, an Empa spin-off, has received 1 million Swiss francs in a first round of financing from a network of business angels from Switzerland and Liechtenstein and from the Startfeld Foundation. With this funding,...
Oct 10, 2022 | Gaining power
One year after announcing an efficiency record, Empa scientists have achieved a new mark of 22.2% for flexible CIGS solar cell on polymer film. Solar cells of this type are especially suited for applications on...
Oct 5, 2022 | Intelligent assistance system to reduce airplanes' environmental footprint
The approach and landing of passenger jets is often a burden for people and the environment. The DYNCAT project, in which Empa researchers are working with partners in Switzerland, Germany and France, is aiming at...
Oct 5, 2022 | SME prize for Kyburz Switzerland AG – also thanks to Empa know-how
Kyburz Switzerland AG is the winner of the "Prix SVC Wirtschaftsraum Zürich 2022" awarded by the Swiss Venture Club. The company, based in Freienstein in the canton of Zurich, produces electric vehicles and is developing...
Oct 4, 2022 | Empa Young Scientist Fellowship
Lukas Gerken has been awarded an Empa Young Scientist Fellowship for his research project to make radiation therapy for cancer patients more effective and at the same time gentler. The young Empa researcher is being...
Sep 29, 2022 | Empa Innovation Award 2022 for spin-off viboo
This week, the Empa Innovation Award was presented for the eleventh time. The award honors outstanding projects that bridge the gap between lab and practical applications. This year's winner is viboo. The Empa spin-off...
Sep 27, 2022 | High-tech for quieter tracks
To reduce rail noise for residents, noise barriers or quieter wheel systems and brakes are not the only options. An inconspicuous component under the railway tracks is a beacon of hope for quieter rail traffic for a team...
Sep 21, 2022 | 3D printing of the future – following nature's example
An international research team led by drone expert Mirko Kovac of Empa and Imperial College London has taken bees as a model to develop a swarm of cooperative, 3D-printing drones. Under human control, these flying robots...
Sep 19, 2022 | Portrait Hannes Pichler
For the research institutes Empa and Eawag, Hannes Pichler developed the strategy for an innovative and sustainable campus. In planning "co-operate", the head of Empa's real estate management was also able to draw on...
Sep 15, 2022 | Electronics
In the FOXIP project, researchers form Empa, EPFL and the Paul Scherrer Institute attempted to print thin-film transistors with metal oxides onto heat-sensitive materials such as paper or PET. The goal was ultimately not...
Sep 14, 2022 | Dübendorf Research Campus
This is how Augmented Reality (AR) works: The co-operate AR app allows virtual insights into co-operate, the new research campus of Empa and Eawag in Dübendorf. Visitors can already see what the campus will look like one...