Welcome to PSI, the largest research institute for natural and engineering sciences in Switzerland.
Recent highlights from our research
Show filters
Engineering skill and perseverance
Credit for the on-time completion of the major SLS 2.0 upgrade project is due in part to a team of dedicated electrical engineers.
“Collaboration is particularly important in quantum research”
PSI researcher Kirsten Moselund talks about quantum technologies – about their importance and the current situation in Switzerland. And about her own research in the field of nanophotonics.
Laser draws made-to-order magnetic landscapes
Researchers at PSI have found a surprisingly inexpensive and fast method to make localised alterations in magnetic materials.
Topic cloud
Current upgrade projects and research initiatives
Together with industry to innovation
Swiss PIC technology transfer centre is inaugurated
Jointly founded by scientific and industrial partners with PSI researchers: the Swiss Photonics Integration Center celebrated its inauguration on 24 November 2025.
Advancing nuclear technologies
NUKEM and Paul Scherrer Institute Sign Memorandum of Understanding to Advance Nuclear Research and Collaboration.
Zinc detected in clogged syringes
With the help of researchers at PSI, ANAXAM has been investigating, on behalf of the pharmaceutical company MSD, whether zinc may contribute to clogging of pre-filled syringes.
The people at PSI
PSI’s cement whisperer
John Provis has dedicated his research career to a building material that is far more exciting than you might think.
Creating circuit diagrams of the brain
Adrian Wanner aims to map the brain’s architecture. Doing this will allow us to better understand neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.
With pad, pencil, and algorithms
Physicist Dominik Sidler is developing fundamental theories for previously inexplicable phenomena.
PSI on social media
New X-ray breakthrough at SwissFEL, published in Nature! Scientists at SwissFEL have realised a long-pursued experimental goal in physics: to show how electrons interact using a technique known as X…
Gemeinsam die Berufsbildung stärken.🌱 An der Berufsbildungstagung im ETH-Bereich stand der Austausch zwischen den Institutionen im Zentrum – mit dem Ziel, die Berufsbildung gemeinsam…
🔬 E-mobility in Africa: economically viable sooner than expected
Electric vehicles could catch on in many African countries much sooner than previously assumed. A new study by researchers at ETH…
🔬 Exciting Opportunity for Future Scientists! 🌟
The Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, Switzerland's largest research institute for natural and engi-neering sciences, is offering a Summer Student…
📸High-resolution images of the inside of biological materials in record time!
Biological materials are masterpieces of nature. Inside, they consist of different structures across very different…
Make way for the next generation of batteries
🔋⚡1,500 charge cycles – 75% capacity remaining. PSI researchers Mario El Kazzi and Jinsong Zhang have developed a production process that improves…
Researchers at PSI have now demonstrated a new approach to synchronise ultrashort X-ray pulses at SwissFEL. This improved control supports experiments that probe the fastest processes in atoms,…
Understanding the brain in 3D at the nanoscale is one of the great challenges of modern science. At the Swiss Light Source SLS, the recent upgrade to a fourth-generation synchrotron is now unlocking…
#YearInReview (part 2): 2025 was a year full of exciting research at PSI Paul Scherrer Institute: From boosting battery performance and simulating quantum systems, to mapping brain architecture and…
#YearInReview (part 1): 2025 was a year full of exciting research at PSI Paul Scherrer Institute: From boosting battery performance and simulating quantum systems, to mapping brain architecture and…
Zero Kelvin or minus 273.15 degrees Celsius: nothing can get colder than that. Research at PSI uses cold in a wide variety of areas and sometimes comes very close to this limit. Cold is used, for…
Swiss quantum researchers need stable EU cooperation, says PSI researcher Kirsten Moselund.
✨ As the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology 2025 draws to an end, Moselund gives an…
Happy holiday season from PSI! 🎄✨
❄️ Needle-thin crystals, quantum insights
The needle-shaped single crystals in the photo are made of a metal-organic material, in which Cu²⁺ ions carry magnetic…
Season’s greetings from PSI! 🎄✨
❄️ A window into ultracold neutrons
Shown here is the support grid for a very special “window”: together with an ultra-thin aluminium foil, it forms the window…
Large scale facilities like the Swiss Light Source SLS and the Swiss X-ray Free Electron Laser SwissFEL at PSI Paul Scherrer Institute are essential for uncovering how next-generation quantum…
Der Weihnachtszauber ist in der Kita Nanolino ausgebrochen!✨
Unsere Nanolino-Kinder haben die Innenräume mit viel Kreativität und einem weihnachtlichen Glanz geschmückt. 🎄⭐️
In den liebevoll…
🧲 Laser writes magnetic structures – with potential for data storage, AI, and more. What happens when you use a high-tech laser system for something entirely different than originally intended? That…
Microtubules: More than just support – they actively control cellular processes! Microtubules are the central protein strands of the cytoskeleton.
This not only supports every cell but also…
What happens to materials like metals and ceramics on a microscopic level when they are exposed to extremely harsh radiation conditions? 🤔
This is the question that the STIP programme sought to…
Ring tour #three!
Third stop around the SLS ring to check who else has got the light in this first phase of the SLS return, following the major SLS 2.0 upgrade of the Swiss Light Source to a…
Zurab Guguchia applies pressure to create new material properties. The PSI researcher is exploring quantum materials that conduct electricity without losses ⚡ or exhibit magnetic and electronic…
Scientists at the #SwissLightSource #SLS have succeeded in mapping a piece of brain tissue 🧠 in 3D at unprecedented resolution using X-rays – non-destructively. The breakthrough overcomes a long…
Did you know? 🧐 Tiny impurities in biogas can cause big problems! Researchers Ayush Agarwal and Christian Ludwig at PSI Paul Scherrer Institute have now developed an analytical method that can for…
For our German speakers: ✨Berufswahl mal anders!
Damit auch künftige Generationen entdecken können, wie vielseitig und spannend eine Ausbildung am PSI ist, haben wir ein neues Format entwickelt: den…
The cheese-noodle method in the fight against Alzheimer's. When proteins in the brain accumulate and form thread-like deposits, they trigger diseases like Alzheimer's or Parkinson's. How can the body…
PSI in numbers
2300
Employees at PSI are working on the world of tomorrow.
5
PSI operates five particle accelerator-based large research facilities.
64
In a total of 64 centres, labs and groups, we conduct research into pressing societal issues.
3000
Every year, around 3000 researchers from all over the world carry out experiments at our facilities.