The latest news from Eawag

Institutional
Eawag is now officially a Friendly Workspace
November 28, 2024

Following an in-depth assessment by Health Promotion Switzerland, it is now official: Eawag is a certified ‘Friendly Workspace’. This means that Eawag puts great importance to the health and well-being of its employees.

90 percent of the entire Eawag site is designed to be near-natural and is also maintained accordingly (Photo: Eawag, Alessandro Della Bella).
Institutional
Eawag’s outdoor facilities receive certificate for their ...
November 21, 2024

The near-natural landscaping of the green spaces around the Eawag buildings in Dübendorf not only promotes biodiversity, but also offers employees and visitors an attractive environment in which to spend time. Because of this, Eawag has now been awarded the certificate for near-natural company premises by the Natur & Wirtschaft (Nature & Economy) Foundation. 

Bernhard Truffer among the most cited scientists 2023 (Photo: Eawag)
Institutional
Bernhard Truffer among the most cited scientists 2024
November 19, 2024

Professor Bernhard Truffer of the Eawag Water Research Institute is among the "highly cited researchers 2024".

ETH Rector Günther Dissertori presents Valentin Faust with the 2024 Otto-Jaag Water Protection Prize (Photo: ETH, Alessandro Della Bella).
Institutional
2024 Otto-Jaag Water Protection Prize for Valentin Faust
November 18, 2024

During ETH Day on 16 November 2024, environmental engineer Valentin Faust was awarded the Otto-Jaag Water Protection Prize for his doctoral thesis. His work provides important insights about the production of fertiliser from human urine.

Tural Aliyev in the Cryopshere Pavilion at the COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan (Photo: Eawag).
Institutional
Eawag at COP29: Swiss Innovations for Global Climate ...
November 15, 2024

The 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) will take place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 11 to 22 November 2024. The Aquatic Research Institute Eawag is organising three thematic panel discussions on the topic of ‘Swiss innovations for global climate action’ together with the Institute of Environmental Sciences at the University of Geneva.

The two prizewinners Julie Conrads (left) and Joana Santos (right) accepting their award during the Swiss Geoscience Meeting. In the centre Friedrich Jüttner, President of the Hydrobiology-Limonology Foundation for Aquatic Research (Photo: Natacha Tofield-Pasche).
News
Joana Santos and Julie Conrads are recognised for their ...
November 14, 2024

Every year, the Hydrobiology Limnology Foundation for Water Research issues an award for dissertations and master theses on limnology. This year, the prize for the dissertation and master thesis went to researchers at the aquatic research institute Eawag.  

A section of the drill core from the prehistoric Lake Greifen (Photo: Yama Tomonaga, Eawag, University of Basel).
News
Nuclear waste storage needs to withstand an ice age
November 12, 2024

A nuclear waste storage facility needs to be secure, even if glaciers were to churn down from the Alps into the midlands in a distant future. This is why Nagra arranged for a study of the sediments that had been deposited in former, deep glacial lakes. The layers are around 600,000 years old, making them much older than the last ice age, which was around 24,000 years ago. Good news for Nagra: it seems that the layers of stone lying beneath have not been eroded by ice since that time.

Nathalie Dubois retrieves sediment cores from the cold storage for further analysis (photo: Alessandro della Bella).
News
Nathalie Dubois awarded ERC Synergy Grant
November 5, 2024

The European Research Council is supporting the MEMELAND research project of a European research team with over 13.5 million euros. Nathalie Dubois from Eawag is a member of the group. The aim is to provide a new narrative for European environmental history, offering decisive insights for sustainable agriculture and climate protection in Europe.

Microalgae cultivation facility in the Kona region of Hawaii (Photo: Cyanotech Corporation / Charles H. Greene, Celina M. Scott-Buechler, Arjun L.P. Hausner, Zackary I. Johnson, Xin Gen Lei, Mark E. Huntley / Wikimedia).
News
Natural pesticide for the production of protein-rich ...
October 31, 2024

A new publication by Eawag shows that co-cultures of different microalgae are more resistant to pests than monocultures.

On 1 September 2024, Linda Strande took up her new position as Head of Department at Sandec (Photo: Eawag, Peter Penicka).
Institutional
Linda Strande takes over as Head of the Sandec ...
October 29, 2024

On 1 September 2024, Linda Strande took up her new position as Head of Department at Sandec. She succeeds Christoph Lüthi.

Farmland or forest? Researchers found amphipods less frequently at groundwater extraction sites located near farmland than at those in the middle of a forest (Photo: Wikimedia, Adrian Michael).
News
Land use influences organisms living underground
October 22, 2024

Forest or farmland: The impact on amphipods in the groundwater is detectable, even if the groundwater extraction site is up to one kilometre away.

Gebänderte Prachtlibelle, Männchen (lat. Calopteryx splendens, engl. Banded demoiselle) mit ihrer Beute (Foto: Maja Ilić).
News
Biodiversity increases organic nutrient availability ...
October 17, 2024

Insects and spiders are superfoods: rich in essential fatty acids and therefore an important food supply for birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians and small mammals.

The use of treated municipal wastewater to irrigate agricultural land has been permitted in some of Switzerland’s neighbouring countries since 2023 (Photo: Adobe Stock).
News
Dry summers: reusing treated wastewater could help
October 17, 2024

With climate change, hot and dry summers are becoming more frequent, causing water shortages in some regions of Switzerland. Reusing treated wastewater could help to solve this problem. This has been demonstrated by an Eawag team on behalf of the FOEN and some cantons. The researchers also explain what still needs to be done to put the option into practice.

Confluence of the Aare, Reuss and Limmat rivers in the canton of Aargau (Photo: Andreas Gerth/FOEN).
News
European streamflow data and where to find it
October 16, 2024

A new catalogue and database of over 17,000 European river catchments facilitates the work of researchers in the field of hydrology. The EStreams project, carried out at Eawag, provides hydrological and meteorological data as well as information on the landscape of the river regions. The records go back up to 120 years.

LinkedIn
Improving fish migration in times of climate change
October 11, 2024

Many fish species migrate back and forth between habitats in the course of their lives. However, man-made obstacles make life difficult for these species. Cold-loving fish are also affected by climate change, especially if access to cold-water zones is made more difficult. Renaturalisation can solve this problem. An Eawag project will now help to identify obstacles and remaining cold-water zones so that restoration measures can be planned in a more targeted manner.

The fisheries advisory service (FIBER) puts research findings relevant to fisheries into practice (Photo: Adobe Stock).
Institutional
Fisheries advisory service: new location in ...
October 11, 2024

The Swiss fisheries advisory office (FIBER) promotes sustainable fisheries through advice and training. It now has a location in French-speaking Switzerland.

Ponds, as here in Opfikon (ZH), can hold large quantities of water in a short time. This will be important in the future if heavy rainfall becomes more frequent and heavier as a result of climate change (Photo: Eawag, Max Maurer).
News
Mitigating the consequences of heavy rainfall with ...
October 10, 2024

Combined sewer overflows following heavy rainfall could be avoided through the use of Blue-Green Infrastructure, such as infiltration basins, retention ponds, and porous pavements.

LinkedIn
Sandec organises Exchange Day with TU Delft Water for ...
October 10, 2024

Members of Eawag's Sandec Department helped organise and participated in the recent Water for Impact (TU Delft) x Eawag Sandec Exchange Day. The aim of the Exchange Day was to enhance mutual understanding of each group’s work, facilitate knowledge exchange, and initiate collaborative efforts for future projects and research.