CROSS 2026

• Bruno HERBELIN (SV, INX-SV, LNCO), EPFL
• Silvio IONTA (FBM, IONTA Lab, HOP), UNIL

This CROSS Project combines neuroscience, engineering, and art to explore how sound and music can evoke mental images, especially in people with low vision. A unique public event called “Cinema sans images” will offer immersive sound sessions to participants, followed by anonymous interviews via chatbot. The goal is to collect and analyze hundreds of personal experiences so as to better understand how visual impairment affects imagination and visual imagery. This research could improve education, therapy, and assistive technologies for visually impaired individuals. The project is led by experts from UNIL, EPFL, and artist Luca Forcucci. It promotes inclusive science and public engagement through art. Results will be shared openly to benefit future research and innovation.

• Hamest TAMRAZYAN (CDH, DHI-GE), EPFL
• Emanuela BOROS (CDH, DHI, DHLAB), EPFL
• Stéphanie PREZIOSO (FSSP, IEP), UNIL
• Hanna PEREKHONDA (FSSP, IEP), UNIL

This project investigates how cultural narratives are manipulated online in contexts of conflict, focusing on Wikipedia as a key platform of influence. Combining natural language processing, network analysis, and historical interpretation, the project will detect and analyze forms of digital cultural weaponisation related to Armenia and Ukraine. By developing a prototype detection tool and interpretive framework, it aims to illuminate how cultural heritage and identity are digitally contested and transformed.

• Marsh ALASTAIR (STI, IMX, LMC), EPFL
• Karen SCRIVENER (STI, IMX, LMC), EPFL
• Joel MILLWARD-HOPKINS (FGD, IGD), UNIL
• Julia STEINBERGER (FGE, IGD), UNIL

There is potential to reduce society’s material demand whilst also improving human wellbeing worldwide; however, the implications of this approach for the cement sector and its decarbonization plans is so far unclear. The aim of this project is to answer the question: if Decent Living Standards-led approaches for guiding construction demand are adopted worldwide, what potential does this have to close the ‘emissions gap’ in the cement sector? We will investigate the global cement requirements of construction in a future where Decent Living Standards are secured for all. We 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. This study will build on previous research by 1) improving the detail and granularity in which the demand for cement-based construction materials is modelled, and 2) improving consideration of inequalities.

• Klaus SCHÖNENBERGER (Essential Tech Center), EPFL
• Guido PALAZZO (HEC, SGS), UNIL

This project addresses the growing risks of dual-use technologies—innovations such as AI, robotics, and synthetic biology that can bring societal benefit but also be misused for harm. Academic institutions remain largely unequipped to prepare researchers for these dilemmas. To fill this gap, we will develop an educational framework and a prototype digital tool that introduce anticipatory ethical reflection into STEM education. Through interactive scenarios, students and researchers will explore real-world cases of dual-use risk, strengthening their ability to recognize unintended consequences. The initiative will be tested at EPFL and UNIL as a proof of concept, with the long-term aim of scaling it to other institutions in Switzerland and beyond. By embedding ethical foresight early in the innovation process, the project seeks to foster a culture of responsibility and peace-oriented science.

• Sophia HAUSSENER (STI, IGM, LRESE), EPFL
• Roberto VALENZA (STI, IGM, LRESE), EPFL
• Jean-Philippe BONARDI (HEC, SGS), UNIL

Up to 500,000 tons of microplastics enter the global marine environment each year. Microplastics are considered among the most complex organic waste to be recycled due to their mixed composition and particle size below 5 mm. Their well-documented direct effects on marine flora, fauna and ecosystems are further aggravated by the recent evidence of the presence of microplastics in human blood and brain. In the PETALS project, the feasibility of the production of green hydrogen while partially recycling the polymer PET in microplastics integrating CO₂ capture will be studied. The project will develop an interdisciplinary methodology to study the process at EPFL and UNIL from the technological, business and policy perspectives to maximize the societal impact. Inputs and feedback will be received from experts in different non-academic fields like microplastics collection and recycling, CO₂ capture or green hydrogen production.

• Alexandre TERRIER (STI, IBI-STI, LBO), EPFL
• Ferath KHERIF (FBM, CHUV, LREN), UNIL
• Adeliya LATYPOVA (FBM, CHUV, LREN), UNIL

While low socioeconomic status (SES) is consistently linked to poorer brain health and accelerated brain aging, the exact biophysical mechanisms behind this are poorly understood. To address this critical gap, the project PHYSOC was developed as a collaborative effort between the Laboratory for Research in Neuroimaging (LREN) at UNIL-CHUV and the Laboratory of Biomechanical Orthopedics (LBO) at EPFL. The project will create the first physics-based model to provide a mechanistic explanation for how social inequality becomes biologically embedded. Using longitudinal, multimodal MRI data from the population-based cohort, the team will develop a novel finite element inverse model to estimate subject-specific biophysical parameters and to test how these parameters vary with SES measures.