8 NCCR grant applications from the Faculty of Science
The National Centres of Competence in Research (NCCR) initiative, orchestrated by the Swiss National Science Foundation, represents a cornerstone in Switzerland's strategic approach to scientific research and innovation. By supporting interdisciplinary projects of national significance, the NCCR program plays a critical role in enhancing Switzerland's research infrastructure and fostering excellence across various scientific domains.
This initiative is distinguished by its commitment to long-term investment in research projects that promise to address some of the most pressing challenges facing our society and the global community at large. With a focus on collaborative networks that span multiple institutions, NCCRs are designed to facilitate the cross-pollination of ideas and methodologies, thereby accelerating the pace of scientific discovery and technological advancement.
Within this framework, our institution has taken a proactive stance, with several faculty members submitting grant proposals to the NCCR program. These submissions span a diverse range of scientific fields, reflecting the depth and breadth of research expertise within our community. Each proposal aims to leverage the NCCR's support to explore innovative research questions, develop new technologies, and contribute to the body of knowledge in ways that could have far-reaching implications for society and the natural world.
The summaries that follow will shed light on each project, offering clarity on their goals, methodologies, and the impact they aim to have within the scientific community and beyond. These projects illustrate our commitment to contributing to a future shaped by research excellence and innovation.
D+COSMOS: Decoding the Universe
D+COSMOS will bring together Astronomers, Physicists, Computer and Data Scientists in Switzerland to work on some of the most exciting topics in astrophysics, data science, high performance computing and AI.
The arrival of new revolutionary facilities like the Square Kilometer Array Observatory (SKAO), the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), and Large Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), will open totally new frontiers in our exploration of the Universe, allowing scientists to observe for the first time directly our cosmic origins, the first stars and galaxies, the formation of distant black holes and other phenomena shortly after the Big Bang. The unprecedented amounts of data generated by these facilities both represent major technical challenges and unique opportunities for the development of new methods and approaches in data science and AI.
D+COSMOS will position Switzerland at the forefront of cosmic exploration and computational science, construct lasting multidisciplinary structures, and generate transferable methods and knowledge for other sciences.
Contact: Prof. Daniel Olivier Schaerer -
Evolution of Civilization
The AV短视频 of Basel leads an interdisciplinary project, with the Universities of Zurich and Geneva, to investigate the interaction between humans, climate, and infectious diseases. This NCCR initiative, "Evolution of Civilization," aims to unravel the complex ties between climate change, human migration, and disease spread from the Neolithic period to modern times. By integrating climate data, human genetic analysis, archaeological evidence, and epidemiological modeling, the project seeks to illuminate past societal impacts of climate and disease and inform future public health strategies in the face of climate change. The research stands to not only advance our understanding of historical pandemics but also shape how we approach emerging health threats in an era of global climate transition.
Contact: Prof. Markus Stoffel -
Gravitational waves
Gravitational waves are one of the most fascinating prediction of Einstein's theory of General Relativity. They represent tiny ripples, created by violent events in our Universe (like the merging of two black holes), that propagate in the fabric of space-time. Amazingly, it has been possible to detect gravitational waves, for the first time in 2015, using the interferometers LIGO and VIRGO. This detection opened a completely new window into our Universe. We can now detect sources not only through the light that they emit, but also through their gravitational wave emission. The aim of our NCCR is to use gravitational waves to investigate the earliest moments of the Universe, study black holes, investigate the nature of dark energy, and test the fundamental laws of physics in an unprecedented way. This broad research program requires strong synergies between cosmology, theoretical physics, astrophysics, computational and data science, and machine learning. The NCCR also aims at leaving an important legacy in education and outreach. Many themes of this NCCR, such as the exploration of the depth of the cosmos, black holes, or Einstein鈥檚 vision of space-time that led to the prediction of gravitational waves, are subjects that are highly fascinating for the general public and that we aim to disseminate through our outreach activities.
Contact: Prof. Camille Bonvin - ; Prof. Michele Maggiore -
Life: a matter of information - iLife
iLife seeks to decipher the complex flow of information that allow biological systems to self-organise and self-perpetuate, from molecules to organisms. Recognizing that living matter can perform information processing, this initiative explores how physical organisation and interactions within living systems mediate the perception, processing and storage of information. Through four focused pillars鈥擨nformation, Networks, Decisions, and Self-healing鈥攊Life aims to map out how life encodes, stores, and acts upon information across different scales and materials.
Leveraging expertise from biology, physics, chemistry, and engineering, the collaborative effort between the Physics of Biology (Geneva) and Bringing Materials to Life (Zurich) communities will utilize a wide range of model systems to ensure broad applicability of their discoveries. iLife aspires to pioneer the field of Information Principles in Biology in Switzerland, offering insights into active matter, nonequilibrium physics, and the potential for new material and computational technologies inspired by the principles of life's information flow.
Contact: Prof. Charlotte Aumeier -聽; Prof. Guillaume Salbreux -聽
Materials Design for the Quantum Age
Human advancement has often been underpinned by the materials we use, from the Bronze and Iron Ages to the current Silicon-based Information Age. We are now entering the Quantum Age, aiming to revolutionize computation, communication, and sensing through quantum material properties. The NCCR Materials Design for the Quantum Age aims at developing atomic engineering for synthetic materials to create devices with unprecedented electronic, thermal, and photonic properties. This effort involves collaborative work among 17 Swiss groups, focusing on atom-by-atom material assembly for energy efficiency and sustainability. The project aims to enhance education and technology transfer, positioning Switzerland as a leader in quantum materials and technologies.
Contact: Prof. Andrea Caviglia -
MINDSET: Minerals to Deliver a Sustainable and Equitable Energy Transition
Transitioning to a fully electrified world is essential to tackle climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss. However, such transition requires a prodigious amount of minerals and while sufficient resources are available on the Earth, transitioning to NetZero in 2050 implies an extreme acceleration of minerals鈥� extraction. Delivering solutions to tackle this epochal challenge without unexpected environmental, social, and geopolitical consequences, requires a change of MINDSET of all involved actors. The NCCR MINDSET (Minerals to Deliver a Sustainable and Equitable Energy Transition) takes a holistic approach to attend the epochal challenge of supplying the minerals required for transitioning to NetZero energy production, while protecting the essential principles of justice, equity, and respect of fundamental human rights. MINDSET leverages on the multidisciplinary nature of UNIGE and includes experts in Earth, Environmental and Social Sciences, Geopolitics, Governance, Economy, and Law from our institution.
Contact: Prof. Luca Caricchi -
PARTICLES: Pioneering Advancements for Research in particle physics Theory, Instrumentation, and Computing, Leveraging Expertise in Switzerland with a focus on future colliders at CERN
Humanity鈥檚 quest for knowledge continues with a unique approach, delving into smaller distances and probing the fundamental nature of matter through high-energy particle collisions. The epicenter of these explorations is the CERN laboratory. The particle physics community is pursuing intense studies to develop plans for the next facility at CERN and the Future Circular Collider (FCC) is a proposed particle accelerator project. The FCC, housed in a nearly 100 km tunnel in the Geneva area, aims to collide elementary particles at unprecedented rates, offering insights into the rarest phenomena within the Standard Model and, in later stages, exploring revolutionary discoveries through the collision of composite particles聽at unprecedented聽energies. The feasibility studies are due in 2025 and the decision is expected soon after. This scientific odyssey requires advancements in accelerating techniques, theoretical calculations, instrumentation technologies, and cutting-edge computational methods.
Switzerland's scientific community is spearheading innovation in the FCC era through the proposal of a NCCR. By fostering collaboration across disciplines, Switzerland aims to maintain its position at the forefront of discovery, unlocking the full potential of the FCC for transformative breakthroughs.
RARINET: Rare Disease Academic Research and Innovation Network for Drug Discovery and Translation
RARINET addresses the critical challenge of developing treatments for the 500,000 people in Switzerland affected by rare diseases. This NCCR initiative aims to overcome the current research and treatment gaps through a robust multidisciplinary network. It combines the efforts of research groups, clinical services, and patient centers to accelerate drug discovery and ensure swift translation from laboratory to patient care. Focusing on genetic disorders, RARINET plans to validate molecular targets, develop and repurpose drugs, and pioneer gene and cell therapies. The goal is to enhance clinical trials, foster collaborations, and provide specialized education, positioning Switzerland as a leader in rare disease research and translational medicine.