With its globally unique research infrastructure, PSI offers unrivalled opportunities for cutting-edge national and international research.
The main areas of research at PSI
Recent highlights from our research
Data for a better vanadium flow
Scientists at PSI have developed a dynamic database on the global vanadium economy. This is meant to advance the use of special energy storage systems – and thus the energy transition.
POLIZERO: PSI project shows paths to climate neutrality
The net-zero target is achievable – if Switzerland sets the right political course now.
Merlin-7: New model for high-performance computing
An innovative computing cluster is ushering in a new era of computer-aided research at PSI.
Interested in doing research at PSI? Do you want to use our infrastructure for cutting-edge research?
Find out more about our large-scale research facilities and other research centres.
Research Centers & Labs
Our research and service centres conduct internationally recognised cutting-edge research in the natural and engineering sciences and make highly complex large research facilities available to science and industry for their own research projects.
Scientific Highlights from our Centers
Both natural and human emissions shape cloud formation high above Earth
What happens inside the CLOUD chamber?
Single-Photon-Counting Detection for Soft X-rays Down to 530 eV
The PSI Photon Science Detector Group has developed the first single-photon-counting pixel detector capable of detecting soft X-rays down to 530 eV. This breakthrough was achieved by combining EIGER readout chips with novel inverse LGAD sensors, developed in collaboration with and fabricated at Fondazione Bruno Kessler (Italy). The detector is now in user operation for ptychographic applications, where it has already enabled significant scientific results at the Fe L₃-edge (707 eV) and even at the O K-edge (530 eV), demonstrating superior detection performance compared to commercially available state-of-the-art detectors.
Measuring How Molecules Communicate
A collaboration between PSI and the University of Vienna has resulted in a new experimental method that, for the first time, enables the direct measurement of partial charges in molecules. Partial charges are fundamental to understanding molecular structure, interactions, and reactivity, yet until now no general technique existed to determine them experimentally.
