Signals, in order.

An external software supplier used by the Swiss Federal Pension Fund Publica was hit by a cyber attack at the end of September, leading to a confirmed data leak. The company filed a criminal complaint and notified the Swiss Federal Pension Fund Publica, its members, and other customers, while the Office of the Attorney General has launched an investigation. Federal authorities are collaborating with the supplier to determine the scope of affected data.

Source: Swiss Federal Government

The Swedish Royal Technology Mission, led by King Carl XVI Gustaf, visited ETH Zurich on 5 October 2026 to study Switzerland’s innovation ecosystem. The delegation, comprising about forty Swedish industry, academia, and government leaders, examined how research, entrepreneurship, and collaboration can strengthen Europe’s technological competitiveness. Discussions included AI and future technologies, with ETH experts highlighting the importance of translating research into real‑world impact.

Source: ETH Zurich News

Ageospatial, a Vaud-based startup led by Maaz Sheikh, has been selected for Y-Combinator’s Fall 2026 cohort, securing financial support and a three‑month focus period in San Francisco to expand its customer base. The company uses artificial intelligence to analyze satellite and street‑level imagery, public records, and insurer data to remotely assess risks for commercial properties, land, and infrastructure—addressing the fact that 97 % of such assets are never inspected. Ageospatial already pilots projects with major European insurers and maintains a Swiss base at EPFL Innovation Park, colla…

Source: Startupticker

EPFL spin‑off Baio Labs has secured CHF 150,000 from Venture Kick to develop its generative AI platform, Drugon, for early‑stage drug discovery. The platform can design novel small molecules for specific therapeutic targets in seconds, potentially reducing the time and cost of identifying drug candidates. The funding will support scaling R&D and go‑to‑market efforts.

Source: Startupticker

Seit Anfang 2026 fördert der Migros-Pionierfonds mehrere Start‑ups in Bereichen wie erneuerbare Energie, Gesundheitsprävention, Biodiversität und Arbeitsmarktintegration. Die Projekte reichen von der Entwicklung von Aluminium‑Speichertechnologien und vertikalachsen‑Windturbinen bis hin zu KI‑gestützten Gesundheits‑Apps und Plattformen zur Unterstützung von Geflüchteten. Die Fördermittel von rund 16 Mio. CHF werden über drei bis fünf Jahre für Technologieentwicklung, Pilotprojekte und Markteintritt bereitgestellt.

Source: Startupticker

EPFL engineers have created a flexible, thread‑like motor called FiberMotor, composed of two concentric hollow fibers with copper‑wire electrodes that slide to produce motion. The device can generate enough force to actuate soft robotic systems, supporting loads of up to 75 grams individually and lifting a 46‑gram chocolate bar when four are bundled. FiberMotor offers silent, flexible, bidirectional linear motion without gears, making it suitable for wearable assistive devices and smart textiles.

Source: EPFL News

Nonparanormal models describe multivariate responses via a latent Gaussian copula while allowing flexible nonparametric marginals, making them attractive when multivariate normality is questionable but interpretability is paramount. The paper presents suitable parameterisations, four novel nonparanormal log‑likelihood functions, and discusses optimisation challenges, including non‑convexity, biconvexity, and convex approximations, with a core contribution of a score function for multivariate normal log‑probabilities computed via Genz’ procedure. A demonstration includes transformation discrim…

Source: OpenAlex

A proof‑of‑concept study developed a video‑analysis framework that combines markerless pose estimation, kinematic descriptors, and a pretrained foundation model to detect eight hyperkinetic movement disorder phenomenologies. The model was trained on 21 adults with confirmed disorders and 4 healthy controls, then externally validated on 12 pediatric patients with monogenic combined disorders; after lightweight calibration of the decision layer, Hamming accuracy rose from 0.804 to 0.839 and the Jaccard index from 0.548 to 0.633 on a held‑out subset of 7 children. The results suggest that a reus…

Source: OpenAlex

The 63rd session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva examined AI risks to human rights and opportunities for protection. Switzerland led a coalition that adopted two resolutions on transitional justice, and supported two resolutions on AI’s impact on gender equality, non‑discrimination, and combating disinformation. The session also saw Switzerland support renewal of mandates for a special rapporteur on Russia, a fact‑finding mission in Sudan, and condemn sexual violence in Ukraine.

Source: Swiss Federal Government

Clément Pit‑Claudel, an assistant professor at EPFL, won the 2026 EPFL Award for Best Teaching. He teaches a large Software Construction class and a master’s/PhD course on interactive theorem proving, emphasizing hands‑on, rigorous verification methods. His approach stresses that AI tools aid coding but students must still understand and prove their programs work.

Source: EPFL News