News Archive

Have you ever heard that organisms breathe iron? The ETH Soil Chemistry research group has developed a new approach for investigating iron mineral dynamics in soils and sediments in the field. The short film "Rust in soils - What happens when microorganisms breathe iron?" gives an insight into the IRMIDYN project.

Inspired by the United Nations International Day for Biological Diversity, ETH Zurich professor, Kristy Deiner and her research team launched “LeDNA” – a project to gather global biodiversity data from nearly 500 lakes with the help of citizen scientists in more than 80 countries.  

Fukushima Daiichi, 11 March 2011 - 2024. What are the consequences of the nuclear accident on the Pacific Ocean to today? Núria Casacuberta Arola has been investigating this question for around 13 years. Just a few days ago, she returned from an expedition at the shore off Fukushima and at beaches from Fukushima Prefecture with a team of international researchers. At an event hosted by the Swiss Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan (SCCIJ), she presented the key findings from her research.

Erich Fischer, Nicolas Gruber, Reto Knutti, Sonia Seneviratne and Johan Six are once again among this year's "Highly Cited Researchers".

A group of international scientists, among them Kristy Deiner from ETH Zurich, have published a practical guide for the implementation of DNA-based biomonitoring tools. Since 2016, over 500 researchers collaborated within the DNAqua-Net international network, with the goal to develop and advance biodiversity assessment methods based on analysis of DNA obtained from the environment or from unsorted collections of organisms.  

It was long assumed that cyanobacteria were mainly responsible for fixing nitrogen on early Earth, thus making nitrogen available to the biosphere. In a paper published today in Nature Communications, a team of researchers from Germany and Switzerland now shows that purple sulfur bacteria could have contributed substantially to nitrogen fixation.

The OECD gives the green light to the fish cell line assay developed at Eawag. This paves the way for companies and authorities around the world to determine the environmental toxicology of chemicals without having to resort to animal testing.

The last ice age, about 20,000 years ago, was significantly colder than previously thought. This is shown by systematically analysed samples of groundwater collected around the globe and the inert gases dissolved in it. Swiss groundwater from Uster (ZH) also contributed to the results.

The new carbon budget of the Global Carbon Project shows an unprecedented decline in fossil CO2 emissions. The atmospheric CO2 concentration continues to rise.  

Researchers from ETH Zurich show that the activity of bioturbating animals, such as worms, clams, and shrimps, are the most important driver of the community structure of microorganisms in continental shelf sediments.  

In the midst of the ETH Zurich emergency operations, Kristy Deiner and Stefano Mintchev have taken up their assistant professorships at D-USYS. The two of them started on April 1. A warm welcome!    

Selenium is a difficult mineral to research, as it has a complex chemistry and is only found in the environment in the tiniest amounts. However, scientists at Eawag and ETH Zurich have now developed new methods of chemical analysis that, when combined with atmospheric models, allow assumptions to be made for the first time on the origins of selenium

Ruben Kretzschmar and Heini Wernli, two of a total of ten researchers at ETH Zurich, have received a prestigious Advanced Grant this year from the European Research Commission (ERC). Both research teams have now commenced their work. In this report we are initially introducing one of the projects: IRMIDYN led by Ruben Kretzschmar.

The amplitude of the seasonal cycle of CO₂ in the world’s oceans is increasing. This has been verified by an international team of researchers, amongst them Nicolas Gruber, professor of climate physics at the Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics (IBP). The fluctuations are to be interpreted as a gigantic human footprint in the sea, which could considerably disturb a sensitive equilibrium in the world's oceans.  

The PhD Congress, organized by the Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics (IBP), is a platform for doctoral students to present and share their research work and to build network. On the opening of the Congress 2017, some impressions about the doctorate at IBP were summarised in a short video.

Martin Ackermann is being honoured as an especially dedicated lecturer whose teaching is exceptional.

In February the “National Academy of Engineering” (NAE) has elected 67 new members and 12 foreign members. Among the new members is also Eawag director, Prof. Janet Hering. The induction took place at the beginning of October 2015.

Prof. Andreas Fischlin has been elected Vice-Chairman of the IPCC’s Working Group II. Andreas Fischlin is a highly regarded climate researcher who has worked in the field for some 25 years and has been one of the authors involved in a number of IPCC reports.

At its meeting on 23 and 24 September 2015, the ETH Board appointed Prof. Dr. Christoph Vorburger as Adjunct Professor of ETH Zurich.

Prof. Janet Hering, Director of Eawag, received the “Distinguished Women in Chemistry 2015 Award” during the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) world chemistry congress taking place last week in Busan, Korea.