News

The Chamberonne river flows across both UNIL and EPFL campus. © 2025 UNIL

A scientific network around the Chamberonne river

— Scientists from UNIL, EPFL, and other institutions have joined forces to create a network aimed at turning the Chamberonne river – which flows across their campus – into an open-air observatory. Motivated by the major renaturation works starting next year on campus, the initiative aims to foster research and teaching projects centered on the river. 

Single-person households account for the largest share of residences in Vaud’s cities. © iStock Photos

Living differently will help reducing your home's carbon footprint

— An EPFL study measured the carbon footprint of 20’000 residential buildings in Vaud Canton. The authors’ findings show that a targeted approach will be key to lowering the emissions associated with residential real estate.

Fiber-optic cable deployment with EPFL assistant tenure track professor Julia Schmale, on the left. © Dominik GrÀff

Scientists deployed an innovative fiber optics in Greenland

— As part of the GreenFjord project led by EPFL, scientists have successfully tested a new fiber-optic technology to measure the dynamics of a glacier fjord in southern Greenland.

Alexis Berne, meilleur enseignant 2024 de la section Science et ingĂ©nierie de l’environnement - 2025 EPFL/Alain Herzog - CC-BY-SA 4.0

“I realized that, in Switzerland, you don't give students a zero!"

— Alexis Berne, an expert in precipitation and weather radars, has no qualms about setting off on research expeditions to the Antarctic. And his extended absences don’t seem to bother his students either, as they named him best teacher for the environmental sciences and engineering section for 2024.

Daniel McCurry, Aziza Chaouni and Katrin Beyer. © 2025 EPFL

Appointments of ENAC professors

— The Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology has appointed Daniel McCurry as Associate Professor of Water and Wastewater Chemistry and Aziza Chaouni as Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Architecture and Sustainable Construction. Katrin Beyer, currently Associate Professor, was nominated as Full Professor of Civil Engineering. Congratulations to all!

A test was carried out on eight plane trees. ©  srdjan111 /  iStock Photos

City trees provide cooling even in extreme heat

— Plane trees in cities have an important cooling effect even in extreme heat, according to a new study conducted by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) and EPFL. The next step is to identify which tree species are particularly effective at cooling.

two roe deer foraging, with manual annotations for each individual animal. Credit: A. Mathis (EPFL)

AI monitors wildlife behavior in the Swiss Alps

— Scientists at EPFL have created MammAlps, a multi-view, multi-modal video dataset that captures how wild mammals behave in the Swiss Alps. This new resource could be a game-changer for wildlife monitoring and conservation efforts.

31% of the samples contained traces of the compounds typically found in tire additives © iStock

Tire additives found deposited on fruits and vegetables

— A study by EPFL and the Swiss Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO) has found that tire additives enter into and pass through the food chain. Further research is needed to establish the implications for human health.

Biological particles may induce rain events that could contribute to flooding and snowstorms. 2025 CleanCloud/EPFL CC-BY-SA 4.0

Biological particles may be crucial for inducing heavy rain

— EPFL atmospheric and climate scientists show that biological particles may induce rain events that could contribute to flooding and snowstorms, owing to their ability to precipitate ice formation in clouds. They call for an update of meteorological and climate models.

The colourful holds in climbing gyms collect rubber abrasion from the soles, which also gets into the air. Photo: Aaron Kintzi/CeMESS

Chemicals from climbing shoes cause trouble in indoor halls

— A study led by researchers from EPFL and the University of Vienna shows that concentrations of concerning chemicals as high as those by a busy road can be found in the air of bouldering gyms.

Glacier-fed streams could well become greener in the future. © 2022 EPFL/Mike Styllas - CC-BY-SA 4.0

Glacier melt puts unique microbial ecosystems under threat

— A pioneering study has revealed how climate change is impacting glacier-fed streams and the essential microbiomes they contain – which could change radically by the end of this century.

© 2025 EPFL

New nominations and promotions at ENAC School

— The Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology has announced new appointments and promotions of professors at ENAC: Alexandra Kushnir, Andreas SchĂŒler, Peter Kummer, Dusan Licina, Priya Ramakrishna and Jan Skaloud. Congratulations to all of them!

The researchers and study's co-authors Wenlong Liao and Fernando Porté-Agel. © 2025 EPFL/Alain Herzog - CC-BY-SA 4.0

New study improves the trustworthiness of wind power forecasts

— By applying techniques from explainable artificial intelligence, engineers can improve users’ confidence in forecasts generated by artificial intelligence models. This approach was recently tested on wind power generation by a team that includes experts from EPFL.

The volunteers went out in the field, collecting sediment and invertebrate samples – indicators of water quality – at 35 sites. © Laureline Duvillard 2024 EPFL

A citizen-science initiative evaluates the impact of tire particles

— Twenty volunteers spent six months learning about the scientific method through a citizen-science initiative led by EPFL. The initiative was part of a study to determine how the microplastic particles released by tire wear are affecting lakes and rivers in Vaud Canton.

© iStock

Harnessing proteins to clean contaminated soil

— Scientists from EPFL work on sustainable approaches to soil remediation, like the use of naturally occurring microorganisms that can “eat” pollutants found in soil and the water table.

The research team around the CryoNanoSIMS instrument. © 2025 EPFL/Alain Herzog - CC-BY-SA 4.0

How cryogenic microscopy could help strengthen food security

— A joint EPFL and University of Lausanne research team reports on a novel observation of a plant protection mechanism in response to salt stress. The study opens new avenues of research to strengthen food security.

Taq polymerase. © Emphase / EPFL

The protein that revolutionized DNA sequencing

— DNA sequencing was revolutionized after scientists discovered a new bacterium in the hot springs of Yellowstone National Park, and today it’s a common research technique.

© 2024 EPFL

Satoshi Takahama nominated as Adjunct Professor

— Satoshi Takahama, currently Senior Scientist at EPFL, is nominated as Adjunct Professor in the School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC).

Departure of the AWACA convoy from the Adélie Coast.© Nicolas Pernin / French Polar Institute

In Antarctica to better understand the evolution of the ice cap

— A team of scientists from EPFL, CNRS, CEA and École polytechnique de Paris will be in Antarctica from December 2024 to mid-January 2025. As part of the AWACA project, they are installing innovative observation systems designed to predict the evolution of the ice cap over the next 100 years. Associate Professor Alexis Berne, Director of the Environmental Remote Sensing Laboratory at EPFL, is on site.

Aboard this icebreaker the Extreme Environments Research Laboratory set up gave its first results © EERL

Scientists quantify aerosols based on sea state

— A research team led by EPFL scientists has developed a system that provides key insight into the relationship between sea spray aerosols, sea state and atmospheric conditions. The system was mounted on an icebreaker and carried across vast regions of the Arctic to collect and analyze valuable data.