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.
7. March 2014
Measuring the ecological footprint
Energy and Environment EnvironmentWith ecoinvent, the Paul Scherrer Institute and its partners at ETH Zurich, ETH Lausanne, Empa and Agroscope have been running the world’s leading database for life cycle inventories for over ten years. The latest ecoinvent version 3 collects new data in areas such as electricity generation, agriculture, transport, mining and chemicals. In the power sector, which is significant for life cycle assessments, the database now covers over 80 per cent of the global production. And technology that has not been considered thus far such as enhanced geothermal systems is to be included in ecoinvent from now on. The result is more accurate ecological assessments of products and services
6. March 2014
Observed live with x-ray laser: electricity controls magnetism
Media Releases Research Using Synchrotron Light Materials Research Matter and Material SwissFELResearchers from ETH Zurich and the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI demonstrate how the magnetic structure can be altered quickly in novel materials. The effect could be used in efficient hard drives of the future.
24. February 2014
The proton accelerator at the Paul Scherrer Institute: forty years of top-flight research
Media Releases Large Scale Facilities Research Using Muons Research Using Neutrons Particle Physics Matter and MaterialMaterials research, particle physics, molecular biology, archaeology – for the last forty years, the Paul Scherrer Institute’s large-scale proton accelerator has made top-flight research possible in a number of different fields.
20. February 2014
Producing pure recycling zinc with concentrated solar energy
Energy and EnvironmentResearchers from the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) have showcased a solar-thermal method for extracting zinc oxide, a technologically important reusable material, from zink recycling products under laboratory conditions. The solar product’s purity level exceeds that obtained via the industrially established route
14. February 2014
The art of tailor-made engineering
SwissFEL SwissFEL TechnologyPreventing SwissFEL electrons from going astray
Cost-effective and with a minimal error rate –PSI-engineers from the power electronics section have set ambitious goals for the SwissFEL magnet power supplies.
7. February 2014
Arousing their natural curiosity
MiscellaneousInterview with Beat Henrich.
Physicist Beat Henrich is head of the iLab, the lab school at the Paul Scherrer Institute. In an interview, he explains how he gets young people interested in physics.
6. February 2014
Physics on the lattice: Understanding flow processes at small scales
Energy and EnvironmentThe Lattice-Boltzmann Method was developed in the early 1990s as a calculation approach to solve the Boltzmann equation numerically, i.e. with the aid of computers. Researchers from the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have now extended the Lattice-Boltzmann Method’s field of application with a new model that is able to describe more complex processes.Their work opens a window to more realistic computer simulations of many complex technical processes. Applications are expected in the microporous structures of most technical catalysts, diesel particle filters, combustion microreactors or fuel cells
28. January 2014
High-tech right up to the roof
SwissFEL SwissFEL ConstructionThe construction work in the woods is well underway: the building for SwissFEL, the Paul Scherrer Institute’s new large-scale facility, is due for completion by the end of 2014. The demands on the building are high: It needs to ensure that the sensitive equipment can run smoothly.
20. January 2014
Aerosol measurements: PSI researchers help to close regional gaps around the globe
Energy and Environment EnvironmentAerosols are small particles in the atmosphere. They can influence the global climate by way of direct absorption or scattering of solar radiation, or by acting as nuclei for cloud formation. Efforts by scientists to exactly quantify these effects and then improve climate models are impeded by the lack of a global network of aerosol measurement stations. To remedy this situation, researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute to facilitate continuous aerosol measurements at sites where the paucity of data is the greatest.
15. January 2014
How rock pores in deep repositories close over
Energy and Environment Nuclear Power Plant SafetyChemical reactions will change the nature of the deep repository and the surrounding rock (clay rock); that much is certain. But to what extent and with what impact on safety? Researchers from the Paul Scherrer Institute are looking to answer this question with the aid of a combination of experiments and computer simulations.
22. December 2013
Superconductivity switched on by magnetic field
Media Releases Research Using Neutrons Materials Research Matter and MaterialSuperconductivity and magnetic fields are normally seen as rivals – very strong magnetic fields normally destroy the superconducting state. Physicists at the Paul Scherrer Institute have now demonstrated that a novel superconducting state is only created in the material CeCoIn5 when there are strong external magnetic fields. This state can then be manipulated by modifying the field direction. The material is already superconducting in weaker fields, too. In strong fields, however, an additional second superconducting state is created which means that there are two different superconducting states at the same time in the same material.
17. December 2013
Experiments in the clouds – how soot influences the climate
Media Releases Energy and Environment EnvironmentPSI-researcher Martin Gysel receives prestigious European funding (ERC Consolidator Grant) for his studies on the role of soot in cloud formation and global warming.
12. December 2013
The Paul Scherrer Institute runs two of the energy competence centres of the Swiss government
Energy and Environment Media ReleasesAs part of the Energy Strategy 2050 the Swiss government and parliament have decided to increase support for energy research in Switzerland. This includes the setting up of seven interuniversity networked Swiss Competence Centres in Energy Research (SCCERs). In the SCCERs ETH Domain institutions, the universities and the universities of the applied sciences are to join forces with industrial partners to develop new competencies and solutions in the decisive action areas of the shift in energy policy. The Paul Scherrer Institute PSI will act as the leading house in two of the SCCERs – storage and biomass – that have already been given the green light. They will begin their work in 2014.
3. December 2013
An infection tool with a metallic core
Human Health Biology Research Using Synchrotron LightThanks to the analysis of protein samples at the PSI, Lausanne researchers have managed to demonstrate which instrument bacteria use to transmit diseases
Researchers from ETH Lausanne EPFL have described how a particular strain of bacteria transmits diseases with unprecedented precision. The team of scientists headed by Petr Leiman, an assistant professor at the EPFL’s Laboratory of Structural Biology and Biophysics, demonstrated that the tip of a bacterial infection tool consists of a PAAR protein, which envelops a metal atom and tapers off to a sharp point. The findings are based on measurements carried out at the Swiss Light Source (SLS), one of the three large-scale research facilities at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI).
28. November 2013
Fuel cell membrane from the Paul Scherrer Institute better than its commercial counterparts
Energy and EnvironmentA novel polymer electrolyte membrane from the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI has demonstrated longer durability in a laboratory test than the best commercially available counterparts. The breakthrough was achieved by modifying a reasonably priced plastic film through radiation activation and subsequent attachment of functional constituents via a “grafting” reaction. The modified polymer is not only durable – it could also reduce the membrane production costs by 50 to 80 percent. The membrane could be used in applications such as hydrogen fuel cells or electrolysers for hydrogen production from water.
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