Fascinating research,
or “what are they actually doing there?”
In these pages, we would like to present the Paul Scherrer Institute to an interested public in a generally comprehensible way. Here you can learn more about the research topics we are working on and the unique large-scale facilities we are using to find answers to a variety of scientific questions.
Research at the Paul Scherrer Institute
Further Information
- Research at PSI can be divided into three fields:
- Matter and Material
- Energy and Environment
- Human Health
The scientific results gained at PSI help us understand the world around us by shedding light on the processes behind various physical and biological phenomena. At the same time, they constitute the basis for novel developments in technology and medicine. More about Research at the Paul Scherrer Institute.
Large-Scale Facilities at the Paul Scherrer Institute
Further Information
- The large-scale facilities at PSI:
- Swiss light source SLS
- Neutron source SINQ
- Muon Source SμS
- Proton accelerators
- Access to the large-scale facilities for external users:
- User service PSI
In order to allow as many scientists as possible to benefit from the opportunities offered by PSI, the Institute provides access to the facilities within the framework of a User Service to researchers from universities, other research centres and industrial companies. Each year, about 2000 researchers in these categories perform experiments at the facilities. More about Large-Scale Facilities at the Paul Scherrer Institute.
SwissFEL – PSI's project of the future
Further Information
- Popular description of the project:
- The future project SwissFEL
- Information on the project website:
- SwissFEL project website
Current News
16. May 2012
Energiewende: Das Ganze sehen, die Details bedenken
Die Energiewende als politischer Wille ist Realität, aber wie wird die Schweiz ihre Energieversorgung aus dem heutigen Stand in diejenige überführen, die die für das Jahr 2050 formulierten Ziele erfüllt? Mit Fragen der Umsetzung, mit den Optionen und den Herausforderungen des beschlossenen Umbaus der schweizerischen Energielandschaft befasste sich am 14. Mai 2012 die Energietagung des Paul Scherrer Institut. Im Mittelpunkt stand der bei einer zunehmend dezentralen Energieversorgung notwendige Umbau der Stromnetze.This news release is only available in German.
27. April 2012
Retention of radioactive iodine in serious NPP accidents
Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute [PSI] have developed a highly efficient technique for filtering radioactive iodine. It removes virtually all of the iodine from radioactively contaminated exhaust air before its release into the environment after a meltdown at a damaged nuclear power plant. The process has recently become ready for worldwide use at nuclear power installations, after PSI and the industrial company CCI AG (Balterswil/TG) have signed a licensing agreement for the PSI patented process.18. April 2012
Physicists observe the splitting of an electron inside a solid
An electron has been observed to decay into two separate parts, each carrying a particular property of the electron: a spinon carrying its spin – the property making the electron behave as a tiny compass needle – and an orbiton carrying its orbital moment – which arises from the electron’s motion around the nucleus. These newly created particles, however, cannot leave the material in which they have been produced.29. February 2012
Creating magnetism takes much longer than destroying it
Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute are finding out how long it takes to establish magnetism and how this happens. Establishing a magnetically ordered phase in the metallic alloy iron-rhodium takes much longer than the reverse process of demagnetization. The result comes from basic research, but has relevance for the computer industry, as it shows which processes limit the speed of magnetic data storage and where improvements might be made.This news release is only available in German.
16. February 2012
How the body distinguishes between self and non-self – important structures explained
Like a shredder, the immunoproteasome cuts down proteins into peptides that are subsequently presented on the cellular surface. The immune system can distinguish between self and non-self peptides and selectively kills cells that present non-self peptides at their surface. In autoimmune diseases, this mechanism is deregulated. However, inhibition of the immunoproteasome may alleviate disease symptoms and progression. With the help of measurements taken at the Paul Scherer Institute, scientists have now succeeded in determining the first structure of an immunoproteasome.For media representatives
Are you a journalist and do you have general questions about PSI? Are you looking for images for an article on a research topic? PSI has an extensive photo archive from which we can send you appropriate material upon request. We will be happy to assist you in your search for scientists who, as neutral experts, will respond to your technical questions. Please get in touch with our contact for media representatives:For the general public
If, after visiting our Website, you would really like to know what our daily work routine is like – come and visit us. In the psi forum visisitor's centre, we welcome adults and teenagers, either individually or in groups. Homepage psi forumFor parties of 12 persons and over, we offer a free-of-charge tour through our large-scale facilities, and for students we have founded the student laboratory iLab. School classes can visit us free of charge for a day, carry out experiments in the laboratory and then see from the large-scale facilities how the scientific principle studied at iLab is applied in routine research. Homepage iLab