Universität Zürich

01/09/2026

A single unexplained particle interaction could bring us one step closer to understanding 85% of the matter in our universe.

🌌 The LUX-ZEPLIN experiment has recorded its most compelling hint of dark matter to date. The signal cannot currently be explained by any known phenomenon. But one event is not enough to claim a discovery: more data are needed to determine what researchers have detected.

UZH physicist Bjoern Penning and his team are helping to answer that question. Their contributions range from operating a detector system that nearly doubles LZ's sensitivity to dark matter to reconstructing, modeling and analyzing data. Penning also helped lead the research group whose work resulted in the latest findings.

👉 Find out how UZH researchers are contributing to the search for dark matter: https://lnkd.in/ehmab3mD

01/09/2026

UZH researchers have developed a novel therapy for multiple sclerosis that is designed to stop the misguided immune response without suppressing the immune system as a whole.

An initial clinical trial shows that the approach is safe and well tolerated. In addition, the demonstrated mechanisms of action are highly promising. The principle could also be applied for treating other autoimmune diseases.

“After more than two decades of development work, we’ve now cleared the first clinical hurdle to enable us to deliver the therapy to patients,” says Roland Martin from UZH’s Institute of Experimental Immunology.

However, the rest of the clinical development work is very costly and can no longer be conducted solely in an academic environment. This is why the researchers have set up the biotech company Cellerys. A forthcoming trial will investigate the clinical efficacy of the therapy once the required funding has been secured.

👉 Learn more: https://www.news.uzh.ch/en/articles/media/2026/multiple-sclerosis-autoimmune-response.html

31/08/2026

At Scientifica 2026, a record-breaking 40,000 visitors explored the work of more than 1,500 researchers, students and start-ups from the University of Zurich and ETH Zürich.

🔎 For nine days, the science festival transformed campuses and locations across Stadt Zürich and Dübendorf into places of discovery. More than 70 additional events across the city brought research even closer to the public. The result: countless encounters, new perspectives and a shared fascination with research.

👉 Relive Scientifica 2026 in pictures: https://www.news.uzh.ch/en/articles/news/2026/look-back-at-scientifica.html

31/08/2026

It's time for the first Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony in Zurich this week! Don't have a ticket? 👉 Join the free UZH Watch Party at our main building this Thursday: https://www.uzh.ch/de/events/agenda.html?event=68319

See you there! 🥳🤩

After 35 years in the USA, the world-famous Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony is moving to Europe for the very first time 🎉

On 3 September 2026, the 36th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony will take place in Zurich: complete with brilliant ideas and unusual discoveries.

🌟 The ceremony honors achievements that make people laugh, then think. It celebrates science that surprises us, challenges assumptions and sparks curiosity far beyond academia.

🇨🇭 The move to Zurich is made possible through a collaboration between the University of Zurich and institutions of the ETH Domain. Together, we are bringing one of the world’s most unconventional science event to Switzerland.

💡 Or as Swiss Ig Nobel Prize winner and UZH researcher Milo Puhan puts it: “The Ig Nobel Prize makes research visible, and does so with a wink.” His research showed that playing the didgeridoo can reduce snoring and sleep apnea (Yes! Share this with your sleep-deprived friends and family members!).

🎟️ Tickets are available at https://eventfrog.ch/de/p/wissenschaft-und-technik/the-36th-first-annual-ig-nobel-prize-ceremony-7446575553581194400.html

28/08/2026

See you this Saturday and Sunday! Wir freuen uns auf Euch 🥳
Programm am Wochenende: https://scientifica.ch/zentrum/

Exhibitions, shows, lectures, and much more: Experience research through direct exchange with researchers at Scientifica 2026.

🤩 Up to 1000 researchers will present current research projects spanning the full range of topics explored at the two universities. Whether you are interested in artificial intelligence and robotics, the future of medicine, the state of our natural environment, or the pressing questions facing society, take the opportunity to engage directly with researchers from UZH and ETH Zürich.

At exhibition booths and in hands-on workshops, you can conduct your own experiments and discover more about yourself and the world around you. Shows and Science Slams present science in an entertaining way, while Science Cafés explore current issues from different perspectives. Guided tours offer exclusive insights into laboratories and workspaces that are not normally open to the public.

📍 Join us for the final weekend of Scientifica 2026 on 29 and 30 August at the City Campus.

👉 Learn more and plan your visit: https://scientifica.ch/en/center/

The science festival Scientifica is co-organized by UZH and ETH Zurich in partnership with the Stadt Zürich and Switzerland Innovation Park Zurich. It takes place from 22 to 30 August in and around Zurich.

26/08/2026

Five years ago, 1,000 volunteers buried underwear and tea bags throughout Switzerland as part of a citizen science project. Two months later, their condition revealed just how active the soil organisms were at each location. 🩲

🌱 The study by UZH and Agroscope shows that land use had the greatest impact on decomposition. The underwear decomposed most rapidly in private gardens and least rapidly on lawns. However, faster decomposition isn’t automatically better: in gardens, for example, it can also indicate an excess of nutrients.

💡 The results highlight just how strongly land management can influence soil life and soil quality. With the “underwear index”, the researchers are also proposing a vivid method for making biological processes in the soil visible and understandable.

👉 Read more here: https://www.news.uzh.ch/en/articles/media/2026/buried-underwear.html
👉 More on the citizen science project “Underwear as Evidence”: http://www.beweisstueck-unterhose.ch

26/08/2026

The eyes of are all over Zurich 👀 Why? Because this weekend, Switzerland's largest science festival will take place at UZH and ETH Zürich Zentrum!

💡 Under the theme "How We Create Knowledge", visitors will experience a weekend full of research and science in direct exchange with researchers. Visit the many exhibits, shows, talks and workshops for free — check out the program here: https://scientifica.ch/en/center/ 💙

🚆 Of course, the best way to get to Scientifica is by public transport. Plan your trip now: https://www.zvv.ch/de/fahrplan-und-informationen/fahrplan.html?tab=connections

24/08/2026

Got a curious kid at home? 🎒 Around 3,500 of them join our Children’s University of Zurich each year. Registration for fall opens August 31.

24/08/2026

Wissenschaft für Gross und Klein! 🧪💥🔬

An der Scientifica 2026 im UZH und ETH Zürich Zentrum gibt’s auch für kleine Forschende jede Menge zu entdecken: Zauberer, Chemieshow, Familienquiz und vieles mehr!

📍 Am 29. und 30. August von 11 bis 17 Uhr an der UZH und ETH: https://scientifica.ch/zentrum/

Kommt vorbei und entdeckt gemeinsam die Welt der Forschung! 🔎💥🚀

24/08/2026

Die Scientifica in der Tagesschau 🤩 Hier kann man den Beitrag zur Scientifica 2026 in der Tagesschau-Hauptausgabe vom Samstag nachschauen: https://www.srf.ch/play/tv/tagesschau/video/schweizer-wissenschaftsfestival-scientifica-2026?urn=urn:srf:video:cae92b7a-f905-4ed7-bf11-249852868553

💡 Die Scientifica geht diese Woche weiter mit spannenden Events von Montag bis Freitag in der Stadt Zürich (Programm und Gratis-Tickets hier: https://scientifica.ch/stadt/) und dem krönenden Abschluss am nächsten Wochenende auf den Zentrum-Campus der UZH und ETH Zurich (Programm: https://scientifica.ch/zentrum/). Wir freuen uns auf Sie!

An Ständen und Workshops präsentieren über 1000 Forschende an der Scientifica, dem Wissenschaftsfestival der ETH Zürich und der Universität Zürich, ihre Projekte.