News

A fruitful collaboration between our spin-off Excelsus Structural Solutions, Novartis Pharma Basel, the Institute of Crystallography of the CNR (Centro Nazionale Ricerche) in Bari, Italy and the University La Sapienza in Rome brought to the development of a simple theoretical model that describes the structure and functionality of a VitE-TPGS drug delivery system (DDS) of micelles with dimensions in the nanoscale.

This can play an important role in the efficient distribution of a drug in the body and opens the gate to new opportunities for the pharmaceutical industry.

A Technology Briefing on photovoltaics will be held at Empa in Dübendorf on 1 December.

When: 01.12.2022; 14:00 - 18:00

Where: Empa Academy, Dübendorf

The event, jointly organized by the research institutes CSEM, Empa and PSI, will highlight the potential of photovoltaics, present next-generation PV technologies and address questions about how the technical system integration of the plants can succeed and what impact greater dependence on PV will have on our CO2 emissions, material consumption and the economy.

The event is aimed at experts and interested parties from industry and research. Learn more about how solar energy can help us to meet our growing energy needs while contributing to our climate goals.

We look forward to your participation!

A reason to celebrate: The PSI spin-off "Excelsus Structural Solutions" will commemorate its 10th anniversary from 20 to 21 October 2022 at Park Innovaare in Villigen. The company uses PSI's large-scale research facilities to carry out measurements for clients primarily from the pharmaceutical industry.

PSI and Apollo Health Ventures have launched Focal Biosciences. The newly established biotech company aims to redefine the treatment of age-related diseases by reprogramming deregulated processes in cells that cause the detrimental processes underlying many serious diseases of aging that represent a significant health burden. The newly founded entity will initially operate out of the Paul Scherrer Institute.

We wish Focal Biosciences every success for the further development of the company.

https://www.psi.ch/en/media/our-research/paul-scherrer-institute-and-apollo-health-ventures-launch-focal-biosciences

https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start/documentation/media-releases.msg-id-90639.html

Araris Biotech AG is a spin-off company of PSI and ETH Zurich, which is engaged in the development of novel antibody-drug compounds for the targeted therapy of cancer cells. The company has successfully closed a financing round in the amount of 24 million US dollars. Proceeds from the financing round, which was led by 4BIO Capital and Pureos Bioventures with participation from new investors, will be used to further develop Araris' antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) candidates. Araris is thus one step closer to its goal of helping cancer patients better and more effectively.

Dr. Philipp Spycher, CEO of Araris Biotech AG began his entrepreneurial endeavors with the PSI Founder Fellowship that helped kick-start his ideas of building a business around the technology that he helped to develop at PSI.

We are delighted with the success of Araris and congratulate the team warmly on this milestone!

https://www.ararisbiotech.com/

https://www.ararisbiotech.com/#news

Visit the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI at the Open Day on 23 October 2022 from 10 am to 5 pm. Learn more about our research in the fields of matter and materials, energy and the environment and human health, at the largest research institute within Switzerland: 38 stations with exciting content await you!

Date: 23.10.2022, 10:00 - 17:00

Location:

Paul Scherrer Institute, Forschungsstrasse 111, 5232 Villigen, Switzerland

More information at: https://www.psi.ch/en/tdot

With the "Swiss Sustainability Forum", NZZ is launching a new dialogue platform on the topic of sustainability. The forum will take place for the first time this year and will be held in Bern from 22.09. - 24.09.2022.

The "Business Day" on 23.09. bears the vision "Towards a Sustainable Swiss Future" and deals with central topics such as the circular economy, decarbonisation and generational dialogue. Around 500 representatives from business, science and politics will be brought together for discussion and shaping the future. Speeches, deep-dive- and networking sessions will enable dialogue, inspiration and information on the question of how we can make Switzerland more sustainable together.

Speakers include Adrianne Gilbride, Ellen MacArthur and Solomon Baumgartner Aviles.

PSI supports the Swiss Sustainability Forum as a partner and will be present at the "Sustainable Switzerland Business Day" in Bern. 

Detailed information on the programme and registration for the conference at

https://forum.sustainableswitzerland.ch/ssf-business-day/

Networking and exchange, inspiration and new ways of thinking can make an important contribution to innovation. That’s why we as PSI support the this year’s edition of the Swiss Innovation Forum (SIF) 2022 in Basel as a partner.

On 23 November, motivated start-ups, committed investors and courageous idea generators meet at the Congress Centre Basel. In a cross-sector exchange, they develop new ideas to drive the Swiss innovation landscape forward.

Highlights of the programme:

💡 Keynotes by Tricia Wang (founder, Sudden Compass), Dr. Prof. Heino Falcke (astronomer), Miriam Meckel (HSG professor), Marc Gläser (CEO, Stöckli) and many more.

💡 Presentation of the Swiss Technology Award 2022, the most important technology prize in Switzerland.

💡 Experience Zone with exciting cases from Switzerland as a country of innovation.

PSI will be there - visit us at our booth and find out more about energy research at PSI and our ideas for sustainable fuels and gases, decarburization and against power shortages.

Detailed information and registration for the conference at www.swiss-innovation.com/en/

At this year's "SwissSkills", which will be held in Bern in September, a competition for young professionals with an entrepreneurial mindset will be held for the first time. The topic of entrepreneurship is to be taken into account more and more as part of the education programmes in order to promote initiative and entrepreneurship.

The PSI team, consisting of electronics technician Eric Brouwer, Noah Piqué and computer scientist Janik Meier, has been nominated for the "Entrepreneurship" competition discipline at SwissSkills 2022. We are keeping our fingers firmly crossed for the team for the upcoming competition, where it is not primarily about technical knowledge, but about creativity and own ideas.

More information at:

www.entrepreneurskills.ch

"ENERGIE - Geht der Schweiz der Strom aus?"

When: 6. September 2022, 9am - 6pm

Where: Halle 622 Zürich-Oerlikon

Language: German

On the Swissmechanic Business Day various renowned speakers offer perspectives from  on the topic "ENERGY - Is Switzerland running out of electricity?". Innovations and products will be exhibited, including the Paul Scherrer Institute's ESI Cube - a mobile exhibit of the "Energy System Integration" experimental platform, which is available to research and industry partners. The Cube makes the complex topic of energy storage and conversion comprehensible in a playful way.

Industry decision-makers meet to hear the technical presentations and inform themselves about the newest products and innovation.

The Business Day is an excellent opportunity to get informed about highly relevant and concurrent topics such as the securing of the Swiss energy supply in the years to come or the security of nuclear energy. Make use of this opportunity to network and join!

More information about the detailed program, speakers and event registration can be found here: https://www.swissmechanic.ch/business-day

Deadline for registration: August 16th 2022

When: 8 September, 12:45 - 18:00 h

Where: PSI Villigen Switzerland

The event "Quality Assurance of 3D-printed Metal Components" deals with the challenges, needs and problems regarding to the quality of 3D-printed components.

The cross-ING AG, Inspire AG and ANAXAM are jointly organising this event at PSI, which is aimed primarily at industrial users. The focus is primarily on quality in the area of tension between the three aspects of "quality - costs - material".

Learn more about the opportunities and challenges of additive manufacturing and take advantage of the opportunity for discussion and networking.

Language of the event: German.

More information on the detailled programme, the speakers and registration can be found here:

https://www.anaxam.ch/de/QSmetalAM-2022

From 5 July to 6 July 2022, the Swiss NanoConvention will take place in Fribourg. The platform offers the opportunity to exchange, discuss and network with key players from science and industry.

PSI will be there - visit us at our joint stand with the Hightech Zentrum Aargau! In combination with the possibilities of state-of-the-art material analytics, we can help you to improve both your products and your manufacturing processes.

Technology transfer - meaning the transfer of research results to industry - can take place in various ways. Founding a spin-off is a very efficient way of transferring or commercialising a technology developed at PSI to industry. In recent years, PSI has founded a number of such spin-offs from various research areas. Even years later, PSI is still in close contact with most of its spin-offs, from which both sides can benefit. The company "SwissNeutronics AG", based in Klingnau, is the oldest PSI spin-off and was spun off as early as 1999. For more than 20 years, SwissNeutronics and the PSI have repeatedly worked together successfully on various projects and can mutually benefit from synergy effects.

After the topping-out ceremony of the Park Innovaare took place in autumn 2021 as an important milestone, construction continues to progress according to plan. From 2024, companies and researchers will work together at one place.

Around two and a half years have now passed since the groundbreaking ceremony for Park Innovaare was held in 2019. Since then, the project has taken shape as planned and is well on schedule, despite various challenges such as a pandemic or shortage of raw materials. In the meantime, the scaffolding has been removed from the buildings and the focus of further construction work is on the interior fittings. With more than 35,000 m2 of space, the Park Innovaare offers laboratories, clean rooms and workshops, as well as offices, co-working spaces and meeting rooms - a versatile range of facilities for a wide variety of needs. There will also be meeting rooms to promote exchange between research and industry, as well as a restaurant.

The first tenants, including PSI as the main tenant, are expected to be able to move in at the beginning of 2024. Around 70% of the space has already been let; further customer acquisition is currently underway so that the Park Innovaare ecosystem can be further expanded in the coming months and other companies can benefit from direct access and exchange with the PSI by locating on site.

ANAXAM offers industry access to advanced analytical methods using neutron and synchrotron radiation (X-rays) at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI)

In a wide range of application fields, ANAXAM supports industry and SMEs in improving materials, products and processes in a wide range of application fields, thus strengthening their competitiveness and innovative power.

The event is organised and held jointly with KMU Swiss (event language: German).

Register for the event and learn how your company can also benefit from collaborating with ANAXAM:

When:  28th April 2022, starting at 4:00 pm

Where:  PSI West, Auditorium

PSI scientists have developed a ground-breaking achromatic lens for X-rays which facilitates the glimpse into the nanoworld. This allows the X-ray beams to be accurately focused on a single point even if they have different wavelengths. Soon, the newly developed lens will also be used in industry.

What started as an idea a few years ago has been established itself at PSI as a valuable funding instrument for talented researchers or engineers: the PSI Founder Fellowship (PSIFF for short). It is aimed at researchers with an entrepreneurial spirit and is supported by UBS.

This year, two fellows from PSI are starting the program: Dr Sebastian Gliga from the "Photon Science Division" and Dr Lars Gerchow from the research division "Neutrons and Muons" convinced the PSIFF jury with their business ideas. We warmly congratulate the two budding young entrepreneurs and look forward to working with them!

This year's KMU Swiss Symposium will take place in Baden, Kt. Aargau, on 17 March - we are pleased to be physically present again this year!

The KMU Swiss Symposium offers a platform for exchange and inspiration - this is made possible by exciting presentations, various booths with innovative projects and networking.

Federal Councillor Viola Amherd will also be a guest in Baden on 17 March and will give the opening speech, followed by other top-class speakers, including Nina Suma, Managing Director of the Baden thermal spa "Fortyseven", neuroscientist Claudia Thali, Thomas Boyer, CEO of Groupe Mutuel and Guido Konrad, Managing Director of Varian Medical Imaging Labs.

PSI will be there - visit us at our joint booth with the Hightech Zentrum Aargau and find out more about how we can support industry and SMEs with their technical challenges and innovation processes.

Detailed information and registration for the event at:

https://www.kmuswiss.ch/index.cfm?setcatlist=1&publication_id=584&publication_action=dsp_publicationdetail&content=1050&paragraph=1&spr=de

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI and the University of Basel have developed a rapid test for Covid-19. Its novel functional principle promises reliable and quantifiable results concerning a patient's Covid-19 disease and its course – as well as evidence concerning other diseases and Covid variants that may be present.

Now a new test developed at PSI  – which, unlike antigen tests, does not directly detect components of the virus, but rather the antibodies the immune system produces in response to the infection –promises to bring substantially more predictive power to rapid testing. It is just as inexpensive, quick, and easy to use, and it can also be used to simultaneously identify a variety of pathogens, such as those responsible for the flu.

Before it can go into widespread use, however, it still must undergo further testing and optimisation.

PSI researchers, together with researchers from Cornell University in New York State, have identified a composite material that could integrate quantum devices into semiconductor technology, making electronic components significantly more powerful. Among the most important challenges currently facing semiconductor electronics are improvements that would increase data transmission bandwidth, energy efficiency and information security. The incorporation of quantum effects could provide a new breakthrough and could be trend-setting for the semiconductur-industry.

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have tested various methods to check how effective they are in combatting certain types of cancer. They found a combination of two preparations to be much more effective than treatment with just one of the two active substances. This is particularly important for the treatment of modular thyroid carcinomas. If the results obtained so far are confirmed in future studies, this therapy could be available to the general public in a few years.

ANAXAM und Swiss m4m Center – Die beiden Advanced Manufacturing Technology Transfer Center blicken auf ein erfolgreiches erstes Jahr zurück und geben einen Einblick in ihre Aktivitäten.

Wann: Freitag, 03. Dezember 2021, ab 16:00 Uhr

Wo: kultur & kongresshaus aarau

Registrieren Sie sich für den Anlass und erfahren Sie, wie Sie die Kompetenzen und Technologien von ANAXAM und Swiss m4m Center für Ihr Unternehmen einsetzen und dadurch die Innovationskraft steigern können! 

Programm und Online-Anmeldung: https://hightechzentrum.ch/event/info-und-networkinganlass-der-advanced-manufacturing-centers-anaxam-und-swissm4m

A fundamental basis for success in these special times is innovation, which is largely driven by exchange and inspiration. The Swiss Innovation Forum (SIF) 2021 brings both together in one place. That is why we are supporting this year's edition of the SIF as a partner.

Meet innovative minds from different industries at the Congress Center Basel on 18th November 2021 , exchange ideas and create new visions. Future-oriented experts will furthermore take you on a journey full of ideas. It will be rounded off by the FutureExpo, which invites you to discover and try things out, and the 33rd Swiss Technology Award ceremony, at which the best tech innovations of the year are honoured.

PSI will be there - visit us at our booth and find out more about how the technology transfer centre ANAXAM uses state-of-the-art material analysis to support both industry and SMEs in optimising production methods and processes, thus creating the basis for innovations.

Detailed information and registration for the conference at www.swiss-innovation.com/en/

Using a protein fusion approach that uses a modular linker PSI Researchers can now connect two unrelated proteins at a defined distance and orientation to each other. This technology could allow for applications e.g. in  vaccine development or could facilitate the crystallization of proteins for drug development. Furthermore, the linker holds potential as a component in protein-based nanomaterials. Feel free to contact us if you are interested in learning more about this exiting technology.

https://www.psi.ch/en/media/our-research/protein-distancing

Der Anlass wird durch das Hightech Zentrum Aargau organisiert und richtet sich an Entwickler, Hersteller und Anbieter von Photonik- und Optik-Komponenten sowie Interessierte, die mehr über die neuesten Möglichkeiten photonischer Komponenten und deren Einsatz erfahren wollen. Die Teilnehmenden erhalten einen Überblick darüber, wie Photonik-Systeme und -Komponenten für technologische Innovationen und neue Produkte nutzbar gemacht werden können. Referenten aus Industrie und angewandter Forschung zeigen Trends und erläutern, wie die Kombination mit anderen Technologien funktioniert und welche Netzwerke in der Entwicklung eine Rolle spielen.

Die Agenda und sowie das Anmeldeformular sind unter folgendem Link zu finden:

www.nano.swiss/photonik

Ort: Hightech Zentrum Aargau AG, Badenerstrasse 13, 5200 Brugg

Kosten: Die Teilnahme ist kostenlos, eine Anmeldung jedoch erforderlich (Teilnehmerzahl begrenzt).

Thursday, 25th November 2021, from 13:30 to 18:00

Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen PSI, Auditorium (PSI West)

Program and online registration: https://indico.psi.ch/event/Anmeldung

The "Technology Briefing" aims at informing our industry partners and SMEs about current practical issues in the field of advanced manufacturing. In addition, the event enables the direct exchange of experiences with experts from CSEM, Empa, PSI, Hightech Zentrum, ANAXAM, as well as from industry.

Today, on September 24^th, Switzerland Innovation Park Innovaare holds its topping out ceremony to celebrate the completion of its new Innovation Campus building together with more than 300 guests from science, industry and politics. The new research and development campus has a size of 38’000 m2 and consists of two 7-story-buildings which are connected by a large, temperature-stable and vibrationfree cleanroom.

Araris Biotech AG is a spin-off company from the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) and ETH Zurich pioneering a novel antibody-drug conjugate (ADC)-linker technology.

At the this year’s edition of the TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award, where Switzerland’s best startups are celebrated, Araris ranks TOP11! What a great success for Araris, after positions 13 in 2020 and 95 in 2019. 

We congratulate Philipp Spycher (CEO) and his team for this great achievement!

The innovation campus of Park Innovaare is growing in leaps and bounds. The modern buildings, under construction in the immediate vicinity of PSI, are ideally suited to the R&D needs of industry with office-, laboratory- and clean room space.

Since the ground-breaking ceremony in November 2019, construction work on the 38,000 m2 buildings, led by ERNE AG, has been on schedule and completion is expected at the end of 2023. Then the companies and spin-offs already located in the park, as well as several PSI departments, will move into the new buildings along with other companies wanting to benefit from Park Innovaare's innovation ecosystem.

For further information: https://www.parkinnovaare.ch/switzerland-innovation-hightech-campus-research-park

Circular cities, food and agriculture as well as infrastructure and logistics: this is the focus of the third edition of CE2 on 22 September 2021 at the Kursaal Bern. The conference is the compass for companies that want to anchor sustainable business and the circular economy in their DNA. Renewable energies and recycling are important innovation topics at PSI - this is why we support CE2 as a partner.



Meet other forward-thinkers, designers, and specialists, exchange ideas and get inspired by around 25 experts in keynotes and deep dive sessions. These include Simonetta Sommaruga (Federal Councillor), Thomas Vellacott (CEO, WWF Switzerland), Cllr. Anna Richardson (City Convener, Sustainability and Carbon Reduction, Glasgow City Council), Dr Ian Roberts (CTO, Bühler Group) and Patrick Camele (CEO, SV Group).



Further information and registration at www.ce2.ch/en/

For the last three years, Dr Remo Lütolf, the retiring Chairman of the Board of innovAARE AG in Villigen has successfully guided the development of Park Innovaare. With his background as former country manager of ABB Switzerland, Remo Lütolf was able to incorporate his broad know-how and experience from industry into his mandate for the Park. His successor, Dr Christian Brönnimann, is the founder and CEO of Dectris AG, a company based in Baden-Daettwil. Dectris is the world's number one in the manufacture of X-ray detectors, and is a successful spin-off company of the Paul Scherrer Institute.

In der Reihe "Forschung online erleben" veranstaltet das PSI am Mittwoch, 23. Juni 2021 von 19 bis 21 Uhr  einen virtuellen Vortrag & Rundgang  durch die Krebsbehandlungsanlagen am PSI. Erfahren Sie mehr darüber, welche Krebsarten am Zentrum für Protonentherapie des PSI mit Protonen behandelt werden, welche Patienten für eine solche Therapie infrage kommen und wie eine Behandlung abläuft.

Wählen Sie sich über diesen Link direkt in den Live-Video-Rundgang ein:

Mittwoch, 23. Juni 2021 – 19 bis 21 Uhr

https://psich.zoom.us/j/61021531635 , Meeting-ID: 61021531635

Weiterführende Informationen finden Sie unter folgendem Link:

https://www.psi.ch/de/psiforum/news/forschung-online-erleben-die-protonentherapie-am-psi

The importance of rare earths has increased steadily in recent years - and so has their demand. Digitization and e-mobility in particular heavily rely on rare earth elements. However, Europe is heavily dependent on China in this area, where a large proportion of the current worldwide rare earths supply is sold from.

The PSI-EPFL spin-off REMRETEch is focusing precisely on this and is dedicated to the commercialisation of rare earth recycling. REMRETEch isolates rare earths from electrical scrap with its promising and scalable technology. The start-up has already taken first steps out of the laboratory and is currently working on a pilot project:

Am PSI arbeiten Forschende aus aller Welt daran, Massnahmen gegen das Virus zu entwickeln. Sie wollen besser verstehen, wie das Virus in den menschlichen Körper und seine Zellen gelangt, wie es verschiedene Organe, zum Beispiel die Lungen, schädigt und welche Medikamente am besten gegen das Virus wirken. Dazu werfen sie tiefe Blicke in Gewebe und analysieren die Bausteine des Virus sowie die Struktur vielversprechender Wirkstoffe.

Im Filmbeitrag erklären Forschende ausserdem, wie das Virus durch Aerosole übertragen wird, ob ein Malaria-Medikament auch bei Covid-19 helfen kann und wie man den Aufbau und die Wirkweise von Medikamenten entschlüsselt.

Employers complain about a shortage of skilled workers, while young researchers often do not know exactly where to look for their next professional challenge. Strengthening the bridge between academia and industry at PSI can help open up new perspectives for both sides.

Online Symposium on the provision of innovative diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals for a paradigm shift in cancer therapy

The approach of using radioisotopes of the same element for theragnostics has been successfully investigated in previous preclinical studies. The PSIs Tattoos Infrastructure Project will allow the production and subsequent investigation of four interesting “sister” Terbium radionuclides for all modalities in diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine. The virtual Mini Symposium hosted by PSIs specialist will give interested participants the opportunity to listen to and question experts in this emerging field of personalized medicine.

Please find more information on the program and registration for the online symposium:

https://www.psi.ch/de/zrw/tattoos-mini-symposium

Best Practice Meeting // Dienstag, 20.April 2021,  17:00 – 18:30 Uhr

Am 20. April organisiert die Schweizerische Management Gesellschaft (SMG) von 17:00 – 18:30 Uhr ein virtuelles Best Practice Event, zu welchem wir interessierte Stakeholder aus Industrie und Akademie herzlich einladen.

Construction work on the Park Innovaare innovation campus, which began in November 2019, is progressing very well. In the meantime, the construction progress is clearly visible. The Innovation Campus consists of two main buildings (A1 and B1), in which entire floors as well as individual offices and laboratory spaces will be rented out. A1 and B1 are connected by a passageway on the first floor.

We are pleased to invite interested national and international companies to our information webinar for the SLS 2.0 (Swiss Light Source) upgrade project in Villigen, Switzerland.

This webinar will be broadcast on the 9th February 2020 from 10:00 to 12:30 CET.

The event is jointly organised by the PSI (Paul Scherrer Institute) and the Swiss ILO (Industry Liaison Office for Research Institutions). During this webinar we will provide information on the PSI procurement rules, an introduction to the SLS 2.0 project and an overview of the upcoming SLS 2.0 commercial tenders.

XRnanotech, the latest PSI spin-off, is working on nanostructured X-ray optics that make the smallest things - the world of the nanometer - visible. Founded only a few months ago, the start-up already has numerous successes to its credit and is already in talks with its first customers and investors.

Roger Herger wrote his diploma thesis and doctoral dissertation on X-ray diffraction of complex metal oxides at the Swiss Light Source (SLS) synchrotron. At the end of June 2020, he founded the high-tech startup maXerial, together with two business partners. Their goal: to combine industrial X-ray technology with artificial intelligence. We trace his path from research to entrepreneur and show how cutting-edge PSI know-how and laboratory-based X-ray technology ideally complement each other to solve the challenges of the Swiss high-tech industry by means of data-driven materials development.

Even as a doctoral student at PSI, Agnese Carino wanted to put the findings of her research into practice and did not hesitate to present her business idea to the CEO of Medicoat AG, Philipp Gruner. She wanted to develop a novel coating for small implants, which accelerates the recovery of the patient, into a product. Supported by the Hightech Zentrum Aargau this was the starting point of the joint SNI project NanoCoat. Carino was awarded the Founder Fellowship by PSI for her business idea. This program supports the transition from promising research findings to marketable products. We are pleased that Dr. Carino is now working with Medicoat to advance the commercialization of this technology.