News Portal

Evolution plays a crucial role in ecosystem tipping points, as shown in two recently published studies by Eawag researchers. If this influence is taken into account, ecosystem collapses can be better predicted in the future. At the same time, the studies reveal how the risk of ecosystem collapse can be reduced and the chances of recovery increased.

At the EPFL’s “Magistrale” graduation ceremony this year, Kristin Schirmer was recognised for her teaching work at the institution. In this interview she explains what this work means to her.

Although the consequences of climate change are becoming more and more visible and tangible, the transition to climate-friendly energy systems is only proceeding slowly. In a field experiment, Eawag and the University of Groningen (NL) investigated what kind of measures could be used to better promote innovations such as heat pumps.

Eawag scientist and EPFL professor Urs von Gunten is to receive the prestigious ACS Award for Creative Advances in Environmental Science and Technology. His research on oxidative processes in water has led to practical applications and improvements in both drinking water and wastewater treatment.

The "gene scissors" CRISPR/Cas9 can be used to precisely modify genes in order to study their function in an organism. A researcher at Eawag has now succeeded for the first time in establishing the gene scissors for a fish cell line of rainbow trout. This means that, as of now, genetically modified cell lines can be produced. These allow alternatives to ecotoxicological tests on living animals.

The chaotic behaviour of vortices is one of the things that makes weather forecasting so difficult. Researchers at ETH Zurich, Eawag and WSL, together with international partners, have now developed a novel experimental method that enables more accurate analyses of the movement and energy of turbulence in fluids with much less effort.

It is well known that Legionella bacteria can contaminate drinking water systems in buildings. A case study published in Aqua & Gas by Eawag and the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts now shows how they can be controlled by different temperature strategies.

Making decisions about what sanitation infrastructure to implement in emergency and humanitarian crises is challenging. Research on how to support this decision-making has led to the online platform: emersan-compendium.org.

An Eawag study has shown that it makes good sense to recover domestic energy, for example from warm shower water. The study refutes concerns that this form of heat utilisation could have a negative impact on waste water treatment plants. In fact, utilising the energy closer to its source reduces energy losses in the waste-water system.

Less than four months after the groundbreaking ceremony, the foundation for the co-operate research campus of Empa and Eawag was laid today. At the ceremony in Dübendorf, representatives of all partners filled a time capsule with contemporary items in the presence of around 50 guests, thus giving the starting signal for co-operate.

In official circles, he is known as Prof. Dr. Alfred Wüest. But his fellow researchers and colleagues, simply call him Johny. When he came to Eawag in 1983, no one imagined the formative influence Johny Wüest would have on the research institute, but above all on the many people who have worked with him over the years.

There has been a floating laboratory on Lake Geneva called LéXPLORE since 2019. Natacha Tofield-Pasche, limnologist at EPFL and project leader of LéXPLORE, and Damien Bouffard, researcher at Eawag and member of the LéXPLORE steering committee, tell us what is being studied there and why this research platform is unique.

We at Eawag are particularly proud of the international composition of our employees. Dübendorf and Kastanienbaum are home to researchers, technicians, administrators and apprentices from over 40 different nations.

Toxic substances in the environment can harm the nervous system of fish embryos. Now, researchers at Eawag have developed a computer model that helps to better understand how the damage occurs.

Decisions in water management are often associated with large uncertainties. Quantifying and communicating these uncertainties is crucial for science to support transparent decision-making in society.

Sam Derrer has been Head of Vocational Training at Eawag for ten years, so he knows just how varied the apprenticeships are, and how trainees here are both supported and stretched.

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.

Blue-green algae and other phytoplankton are very important for the proper functioning of aquatic ecosystems. When they accumulate in high quantities, however, they can be harmful to people and animals because some blue-green algae species produce toxic chemicals. For this reason, the aquatic research institute Eawag is currently working on methods to improve the prediction of bloom events.

Salmonella infections can result in a broad spectrum of illnesses. According to the latest research findings, one reason why some cases are harmless while others are very severe lies in the intestinal flora.

A new theory supports the controversial hypothesis that the planets affect solar activity. It puts forward a mechanism by which the very small influence of the planets could exert its rhythm on such a large system as the Sun. If the theory is confirmed, it could possibly be used to predict solar activity more accurately. This would be of great interest, as large solar flares can cripple electronic infrastructure.

Each year at Eawag, around 160 Master’s and Bachelor’s students are supervised and often directly involved in research projects. Again and again, this collaboration – as well as Eawag’s flat hierarchies and interdisciplinary culture – leads to outstanding Master’s theses.

A comprehensive inventory of Swiss glacial lakes shows how the lake landscape in the high mountains has changed since the end of the Little Ice Age.

Open Science is an important development in science - open access to the results of research. Eawag supports these and makes a growing part of its research data, including descriptions, images and even software, available publicly and free of charge on the Eawag platform ERIC or, in special cases, on discipline-specific, international databases. ERIC complements the long-standing platform DORA for scientific publications.

Eawag’s practice-oriented courses (known as PEAK) provide training for professionals. Isabelle Schläppi of the PEAK Office looks back over a year marked by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last week, around 25 guests were able to witness live - and in keeping with Corona- how the large silver key to the new Eawag building symbolically changed hands.

On July 1, Benoit Ferrari will permanently take over as director of the Ecotox Centre, which he has already led ad interim for the past two years. He will be supported by Etienne Vermeirssen, group leader of Aquatic Ecotoxicology, as deputy director.