Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI are looking for answers to essential questions concerning the underlying structures of matter and the fundamental principles of nature. They study the composition and properties of elementary particles – the smallest building blocks of matter – or investigate the structure of biological molecules and how they perform their function. The knowledge gathered in this way opens up new approaches to finding solutions in science, medicine and technology.
Find out more at Overview Fundamentals of Nature
PSI and AlphaSYNT: Pioneers on the Path to Sustainable Energy Technologies
AlphaSYNT and PSI are receiving support from the Aargau Cantonal Research Fund to scale up the reactor design to a double-digit MW capacity.
Physiklaborant-Lernender an der U19-Rollhockey WM
Diego G., Lernender Physiklaborant im 3. Lehrjahr, ist leidenschaftlicher Rollhockey-Spieler und schaffte es ins U19-Nationalkader für die Weltmeisterschaft vom 8. bis 14. September in Novara (ITA). Seine Erfahrungen und Eindrücke schildert er im folgenden Bericht.
Taking off with sustainable kerosene
Researchers around the world are working to find and optimise new ways of producing climate-neutral aviation fuel. At PSI, together with industry, they’re exploring a promising approach.
ESA Opens Innovation Center in Switzerland
The European Space Agency (ESA) is launching the "European Space Deep-Tech Innovation Centre" (ESDI) in collaboration with PSI, located in Park Innovaare.
Sample-position tracking using computer vision algorithms
In a collaboration between PSI and the Zurich University of Applied Sciences, a sample position tracking setup based on a computer vision algorithm was developed to automatically track the sample position. A factor of ten improvement on the overlap between consecutive x-ray absorption spectra was obtained when the automatic sample tracking was used.
Scientist careers: Weronika Ofierska, participant of CONNECT Round 4, now Lab Specialist at the Gübelin Gem Lab
The CONNECT program fosters exchange between highly qualified and ambitious female scientists and role models working in industry. In addition to direct matches between program participants and partner companies, the program encourages scientists to explore and pursue career options beyond academia. Every year, ca. 35 scientists and 3-4 partner companies, plus the federal administration, sponsors, universities of applied sciences and startups benefit from the program. In today's post, meet Weronika Ofierska who participated in CONNECT Round 4 and got encouraged to move to industry thanks to the program. She tells us about her journey from wanting to gain insights to make an informed decision on her future career, to the ‘girlhood’ and support she experienced, and what she is working on now.
New benchmark helps solve the hardest quantum problems
Quantum many-body problems involve the highly complicated process of predicting the behaviour of many interacting quantum particles. A newly developed benchmark helps to solve these problems.
Tag der Berufe
Mit der Swissmechanic gemeinsam in Lenzburg.
ESA comes to Switzerland
The signing of a contract between the European Space Agency ESA and PSI marks the start of the European Space Deep-Tech Innovation Centre ESDI.
60 years of the Hotlab
Switzerland’s longest-running nuclear facility, located at PSI, is celebrating its anniversary today.
Continuum Excitations in a Spin Supersolid on a Triangular Lattice
Magnetic, thermodynamic, neutron diffraction and inelastic neutron scattering are used to study spin correlations in the easy-axis XXZ triangular lattice magnet K2Co(SeO3)2. Despite the presence of quasi-2D “supersolid” magnetic order, the low-energy excitation spectrum contains no sharp modes and is instead a broad and structured multiparticle continuum. Applying a weak magnetic field ...
Best practices for harnessing operando X-ray absorption spectroscopy in electrocatalytic water splitting studies
X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) has found applications in a range of fields including materials, physics, chemistry, biology and earth science. XAS can probe the local electronic and geometric structure, such as the average oxidation state, coordination environment and interatomic distances, surrounding an element of interest. Thus, XAS is a valuable tool to inform catalyst design by tracking catalyst evolution under operating conditions, for example, via providing dynamic snapshots of the essential information.
Getting to the roots of a global health problem
Imad El Haddad analyses the chemical composition and health impacts of particulate matter at the Center for Energy and Environmental Sciences of the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI.
Technology Briefing: AI in Manufacturing Processes
When: Thursday, November 28, 2024, 13.30 –18.00h
Where: Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen PSI, Auditorium (PSI West)
Register today – we look forward to seeing you!
Marius Köppel defends his thesis on the Mu3e Data Acqusistion System
Marius Köppel has defended his PhD on the data acquisition system for Mu3e at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz.
Russell McKenna and Andreas Pautz on Energy Production in Switzerland
“If we exclude individual measures, it just means that we need more of the others.”
Kagome breaks the rules at record breaking temperatures
Discovery of quantum phenomenon at accessible temperatures could be useful for quantum technologies.
A complex promise
There’s more to climate-neutral aviation than just reducing emissions during flights. A PSI study analyses what is needed to achieve this long-term goal.
"Quantum Magnet Lunch" retreat in Amden
Our "Quantum Magnet Lunch" team - consisting of the QPS group, as well as Markus Müller's team and Gabriel Aeppli - met in Amden to review the ongoing research themes and set the agenda for the coming year.
Reentrant multiple-q magnetic order and a “spin meta-cholesteric” phase in Sr3Fe2O7
Topologically nontrivial magnetic structures such as skyrmion lattices are well known in materials lacking lattice inversion symmetry, where antisymmetric exchange interactions are allowed. Only recently, topological multi-q magnetic textures that spontaneously break the chiral symmetry, for example, three-dimensional hedgehog lattices, were discovered in centrosymmetric compounds, where they are instead driven by frustrated interactions. Here we show that ...
PSI at this year's "Open-i"!
Open-i is Switzerland's leading innovation platform and will be held on November 21 & 22 in Zurich – PSI will be there as a "Science Partner"!
On the way to light-controlled medicine
PSI researchers have elucidated the structure of special photoreceptors.
Julius Springer Price 2024
Prof. Thomas Lippert, Editor in Chief at Applied Physics A, awards Prof. Boris Chichkov the 2024 Julius Springer Prize for Applied Physics.
XRnanotech wins Swiss Excellence Product Award 2024
The PSI spin-off XRnanotech AG has won the Swiss Excellence Product Award 2024 in the SME category and was recognized for its outstanding developments in the field of Fresnel lenses and diffractive optical elements (DOEs).
Soldering on a big stage
Whoever makes it onto the podium here is one of the world's best professional talents: PSI electronics engineer Melvin Deubelbeiss won the silver medal at WorldSkills 2024.
Skyrmion topology quantified in 3D
Researchers from an international collaboration between the United States of America and Switzerland have performed three-dimensional magnetic imaging of a magnetic skyrmion using soft X-ray laminography. This allowed for the investigation, in three dimensions, of the topological profile of the magnetic skyrmions.
iLab and Synfuels at the Energy Days! at the Swiss Museum of Transport
October 18, 19, and 20, 2024
The iLab from the Paul Scherrer Institute will be part of the Energy Days with exciting workshops. Discover how we can store renewable energy using innovative technologies like Power-to-Gas and drive the energy transition forward.
Mit dem Fanuc Industrieroboter zum erfolgreichen Bauprojekt
Im Herbst 2023 haben wir einen Fanuc Industrieroboter gekauft. Nach langem Warten wurde dieser am 1. Februar 2024 am PSI angeliefert. Leider musste der Roboter erst noch auf seine ersten Aufgaben warten, da ich zuerst noch meine praktische Abschlussarbeit beenden musste.
Unlocking the secrets of proteins
This year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry goes to three researchers who have made a decisive contribution to cracking the code of proteins – important building blocks of life. However, developing applications from this knowledge, for example in medicine, requires research institutes such as PSI.
Dual-site reaction mechanism for the simultaneous reduction of nitrous and nitric oxides
We have applied three spectroscopic techniques (XAS, EPR and DRIFTS) in combination withe modulated excitation and catalytic data to decipher and propose the complete reaction mechanism of the simultaneous reduction of N2O and NO