Find out more about the research questions we are working on and the unique large-scale research facilities we are using to find answers.
Future technologies
New technologies are the driving force behind an innovative society. At PSI, researchers are laying the necessary foundations for this. They are looking for previously unknown ways of processing and storing data, making technologies more sustainable and efficient or developing new processes to delve ever deeper into the micro and nano worlds. Their findings form the basis for new applications - be it in medicine, information technology, energy generation and storage - or for new production processes in industry.
Detecting radioactivity from the air – more accurately than ever
In an emergency, every minute counts. PSI researchers have developed a method by which, in case of a nuclear accident, radioactive material can be identified within seconds and with significantly greater accuracy than before.
X-rays show how quasiparticles interact in solids
Thanks to a new experimental technique at SwissFEL, researchers uncover the interplay between electronic, magnetic, and lattice excitations in a solid.
Launch of the Max Planck-Korea-PSI Center for Quantum Emergent Spintronics
An international research partnership uniting leading institutions from Germany, Korea and Switzerland to advance the frontiers of quantum spintronics
Energy and Climate
Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time. Switzerland aims to be climate-neutral by 2050 – in other words, not to emit more greenhouse gases than can be absorbed naturally or by technical means. This calls on us to rethink our energy production and use – away from fossil fuels and towards climate-neutral energy sources. How can Switzerland become fit for a climate-neutral energy future? Researchers at PSI are looking for answers.
Between energy security and climate targets
Ideology has no place in decisions about the future energy mix, according to PSI nuclear energy researchers Andreas Pautz and Annalisa Manera.
Wildfire in a wood-burning stove
Researchers at PSI have demonstrated in a laboratory experiment how, after wildfires, nitrate in the atmosphere is converted into nitrogen oxides, which are harmful to health and the climate.
Making life cycle assessment more accurate
Life cycle assessments are an important basis for political decisions. However, they are often based on incomplete data. A PSI study shows how hybrid methods can deliver more accurate results.
Health Innovation
New methods for diagnosis and therapy are at the centre of medical research and development at PSI. In cancer diagnosis, the focus is on early detection. Basic research using the latest methods leads to the development of innovative therapies. PSI works very closely with universities, clinics and the pharmaceutical industry.
Pollen research as a collaborative project
The citizen science project Pollen Watch brings together people from all over Switzerland – to track pollen and the climate.
Nobel Prize meets PSI research
This year’s Nobel Prize in Medicine honours optogenetics: this method uses light to selectively control processes in cells. Researchers at PSI are advancing the field further.
Combating cancer growth
Researchers at PSI and the University of Zurich have determined the mechanism behind an important signalling protein that spins out of control in certain types of cancer. This paves the way for new approaches to cancer treatment.
Fundamentals of Nature
At PSI, researchers investigate the basic structures of matter and the fundamental principles of nature. They examine the smallest building blocks of matter or investigate the structure of biological molecules and how they perform their tasks. The knowledge gathered in this way opens up new approaches to finding solutions in science, medicine and technology.
Significant funding for studying proteins in action
Four researchers, including one based at PSI, have jointly been awarded an ERC Synergy Grant. Together, they aim to develop a new method at PSI’s X-ray free-electron laser SwissFEL to investigate how protein dynamics are influenced by electric fields.
Novel Particle Beam Could Challenge Einstein’s Theory of Gravity
An intense, cold beam of muonium will allow researchers to test the universality of free fall.
How the “unicorn of the seas” got its helix
Synchrotron light reveals for the first time how the spiral form of the narwhal tusk is created by the arrangement of nanometre-sized building blocks.
Our large research facilities
PSI develops, builds and operates complex large research facilities. PSI has the world's most powerful muon source, a unique proton and neutron source, an synchrotron of international importance and one of only five X-ray free-electron lasers with hard X-rays in the world. Scientists from all over the world use PSI's large research facilities for their scientific investigations. They are also available to Swiss research and industry for their experiments.
Quality over energy in X-ray production
High-quality electron beams pave the way for more compact and affordable X-ray free-electron lasers.
First positrons for the Future Circular Collider
At Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, positrons have been successfully produced at a test source for CERN’s proposed next-generation particle collider.
A window on a cold quantum world
At SwissFEL, scientists get a rare glimpse into the quantum states that emerge at extremely low temperatures.