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.
15. April 2014
Diesel particle filter and nitric oxide catalyst all rolled into one
Energy and EnvironmentFiltering soot and reducing nitric oxide in the same place – engineers have been working on combining these two important tasks of exhaust gas after-treatment in vehicles for a number of years. As researchers from the Paul Scherrer Institute now reveal, this is not unrealistic. At any rate, it shouldn’t fail because of soot.
8. April 2014
Astral matter from the Paul Scherrer Institute
Media Releases Matter and MaterialProcesses in stars recreated with isotopes from PSI
Isotopes that otherwise only naturally exist in exploding stars – supernovae – are formed at the Paul Scherrer Institute’s research facilities. This enables processes that take place inside the stars to be recreated in the lab. For instance, an international team of researchers used the titanium isotope Ti-44 to study one such process at CERN in Geneva. In doing so, it became evident that it is less effective than was previously believed and the previous theoretical calculations of processes in stars need to be corrected.
6. April 2014
Quantum melting
Media Releases Research Using Neutrons Large Scale FacilitiesChanges to the aggregate state triggered by quantum effects – in physically correct terms, quantum phase transitions – play a role in many astonishing phenomena in solids, such as high-temperature superconductivity. Researchers from Switzerland, Great Britain, France and China have now specifically altered the magnetic structure of the material TlCuCl3 by exposing it to external pressure and varying this pressure. With the aid of neutrons, they were able to observe what happens during a quantum phase transition, where the magnetic structure melts quantum-physically.
4. April 2014
Fuel cell know-how from the Paul Scherrer Institute at the core of the SBB minibar
Media Releases Energy and EnvironmentOn 4 April 2014 SBB is to launch a new minibar model in its Intercity trains. A fuel cell system including know-how of the Paul Scherrer Institute will also be on board. It will ensure that despite the limited space the minibar will have enough power to brew capuccinos and latte macchiatos, too.
28. March 2014
Method for producing energy from wet biomass gets the green light
Energy and EnvironmentOn 28 March 2014 the topping-out ceremony for a new test facility to study energy production from wet biomass was celebrated at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI). The facility housed in a ship container is supposed to produce synthetic biogas from liquid manure, sewage sludge or algae.
25. March 2014
X-rays film inside live flying insects – in 3D
Media Releases Biology Research Using Synchrotron Light User ExperimentsScientists have used a particle accelerator to obtain high-speed 3D X-ray visualizations of the flight muscles of flies. The team from Oxford University, Imperial College, and the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) developed a groundbreaking new CT scanning technique at the PSI’s Swiss Light Source to allow them to film inside live flying insects. The movies offer a glimpse into the inner workings of one of nature’s most complex mechanisms, showing that structural deformations are the key to understanding how a fly controls its wingbeat.
21. March 2014
Clay remains clay: how radionuclides sorb to the host rock in repositories
Energy and Environment EnvironmentResearchers from the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences joined forces within an EU project to investigate the basic properties of argillaceous rocks in a repository for high-level radioactive waste. As the results reveal, the insights gained so far for Opalinus Clay can be transferred also to the Boda Clay found in Hungary.
20. March 2014
Interactive media table on SwissFEL
SwissFEL SwissFEL Construction SwissFEL TechnologyIn 2016, SwissFEL at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI will go on-line. In the visitors` centre psi forum, the new large-scale research facility can already be explored today. An interactive media table will accompany SwissFEL from the construction phase, through commissioning, up to regular operation.
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
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