Signals, in order.

This research presentation, delivered in Reading, UK, at the S2S2D Conference 2026, focuses on developing 500‑year multi‑member seasonal climate hindcasts using machine learning methods. It highlights methodological advances and potential applications in long‑term climate forecasting.

Source: OpenAlex

The study by Valerie Sticher and colleagues at ETH Zurich combines text-based casualty data with automatically analysed satellite imagery to map conflict damage in Ukraine and Myanmar. It shows that satellite data can reveal ongoing violence beyond initial massacres and that casualty figures alone miss displacement and differing impacts on cities. The research highlights the need for diverse training data and interdisciplinary collaboration to improve automated conflict monitoring.

Source: ETH Zurich News

EPFL researchers developed an AI-based method that can detect and classify microplastics as small as 5 µm in Lake Geneva and surrounding rivers. The technique revealed that concentrations of 1–100 µm particles may have been underestimated by more than 650‑fold, with six of 38 samples exceeding ecotoxicological thresholds. The method uses two algorithms to separate microplastics from biological material and classify them into six polymer categories.

Source: EPFL News

Synhelion, a Swiss cleantech startup, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Moroccan government to develop a large‑scale commercial synthetic fuel plant in the Tan‑Tan province. The facility is planned to produce 100,000 tons of renewable fuel per year, using renewable energy and biogenic waste to replace fossil fuels. The project marks a significant step in Synhelion’s global expansion and the commercialization of its synthetic fuel technology.

Source: Startupticker

Goodwall received CHF 400,000 in FIF Growth funding for its skills and careers platform for young people, Roofless Labs was awarded CHF 50,000 in FIF Seed Tech funding for its K4MERA digital stereoscopic camera, and Infera Neuro secured a CHF 50,000 FIF Grant to advance its neural decoding chips for non‑invasive thought‑to‑speech interfaces. All three Geneva‑based companies are supported by the Canton of Geneva’s innovation financing programme, the FIF, which aims to accelerate technology‑driven startups, scale‑ups and SMEs.

Source: Startupticker

Studyond, a St. Gallen‑based AI startup, raised over 2 million Swiss francs in a recent funding round and is expanding its platform that connects students, universities and companies across more than 20 Swiss institutions. The company was accepted into MIT’s designX Accelerator and plans to enter the DACH market in 2027, while already extending its reach abroad. Its AI‑driven matchmaking and project‑management tools aim to streamline collaboration between academia and industry in Switzerland.

Source: Startupticker

Linguist Giorgio Iemmolo argues that, despite rapid advances in AI translation tools, learning foreign languages remains essential because languages encode distinct cultural and argumentative structures. Research comparing English and German scientific texts shows that language choice shapes argument flow, voice, and reader engagement. The Language Center of UZH and ETH Zurich offers over 500 language courses annually, including new academic communication workshops for employees and doctoral students.

Source: ETH Zurich News

Researchers at EPFL in Switzerland have developed SPIFFI, a single-exposure super‑resolution fluorescence microscopy technique that uses polarized light to image dynamic cellular structures such as mitochondria and microtubules. SPIFFI achieves up to a two‑fold resolution improvement, enabling real‑time visualization of fast cellular processes and producing super‑resolved videos from each frame. The method can be integrated with existing microscopes and combined with post‑processing techniques to reach ~80‑nanometer resolution.

Source: EPFL News

Scientists at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Villigen, Switzerland, demonstrated that an electric field can reverse the handedness of chiral phonons in barium titanate, a ferroelectric material. The reversal persists after the field is removed, and the effect was observed at room temperature using only 3 V. The handedness was read out with circularly polarised X‑rays via resonant inelastic X‑ray scattering at the ESRF in Grenoble.

Source: Swiss Federal Government

On 8 September 2026, ambassadors from the Republic of Korea, the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Republic of Austria, the State of Kuwait, the Kingdom of Norway, the Republic of Fiji, and the Gabonese Republic presented their credentials to President Guy Parmelin at the Federal Palace in Bern. The ceremony marked the formal accreditation of these diplomats to Switzerland.

Source: Swiss Federal Government