Department Surface Waters - Research and Management

Surface Waters - Research & Management (Surf)

We focus both on processes in the aquatic environment as well as on entire systems of natural waters.

We perform basic and applied research and several projects have a problem-oriented and interdisciplinary focus, including system analysis. Read more

News

Alplakes receives Swiss prize for open research data

Yves Flückiger, President of the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences, presents James Runnalls, software engineer at Eawag, with the National Open Research Data (ORD) Prize for developing the interactive online platform alplakes for monitoring and forcasting alpine lakes. (Photo: Andres Jordi)
November 28, 2025 –

James Runnalls, software engineer at the aquatic research institute Eawag, receives the National Prize for Open Research Data (ORD) for developing the interactive online platform alplakes for monitoring and forecasting alpine...

James Runnalls, software engineer at the aquatic research institute Eawag, receives the National Prize for Open Research Data (ORD) for developing the interactive online platform alplakes for monitoring and forecasting alpine lakes.
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More news

Latest Publications

Surf Seminars

29.01.​2026,
19.03.​2026,
9.00 am
Eawag Dübendorf
Satellite data as a supplement to lake monitoring

PEAK practical application course A52/26

Graduate Studies in our department

Video about Graduate Studies in the department Surface waters - Research and Management

Video about Graduate Studies in our department

Research Projects

4’000 river kilometers will be rehabilitated in Switzerland over the course of the coming 80 years – a unique opportunity for learning!

Evaluating the outcome of river rehabilitation projects
Climate change affects lake ecosystems. We investigate the complex interactions in the lake-climate system with global data analysis and local case studies.

Lakes in changing climates
Une nouvelle plateforme de recherche multidisciplinaire pour le lac Léman.

Lac Léman Exploration
Microbes can ‘breath’ metals, and metals can also serve as records of Earth’s past. This project investigates these roles of metals in anoxic lakes.

Biogeochemical cycling at oxic-anoxic boundaries
We try to understand the bulk and compound specific carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions in food chains.

Ecology of food chain in freshwater systems
Wastewater is a source of antibiotic resistant bacteria. We study their dissemination in the aquatic environment, and strategies to remove them.

Antibiotic resistance as an emerging environmental contaminant
IsoTalk - Dynamik der Isochrysidales Blüte in Schweizer Seen: Auf dem Weg zu einem Alkenone-Paläothermometer für Seen in den mittleren Breiten.

Dynamik der Isochrysidales Blüte in Schweizer Seen
How can Earth observation be used to estimate the safe operating space for water management in a changing climate

Safe operating space in water resource management

More current Research Projects