Signals, in order.

PolaSight, a spin‑off from the University of Bern, secured a $100,000 investment from Constructor Capital at the fourth Constructor Start Demo Day. The company has developed the PolaOne label‑free imaging device that uses polarized light and proprietary AI models to generate a live tissue map in under a minute, reducing intra‑operative tissue assessment time. PolaOne is currently a research‑use instrument and is being tested at the University of Bern’s Inselspital.

Source: Startupticker

This systematic review evaluated learning-curve assessment in laparoscopic and robotic colorectal surgery, analyzing 114 studies with 167 learning-curve analyses. The most common method was CUSUM or risk-adjusted CUSUM (66.4%), with operative time as the primary endpoint (79.6%). Operative-time plateaus were identified after 38 colonic and 56 rectal procedures, and robotic series reported numerically lower competency thresholds than laparoscopic series, though differences were not statistically significant.

Source: OpenAlex

Thomas Zurbuchen, former Director of ETH Zurich Space, has left the university after a three‑year tenure to become Senior Vice President of Blue Origin’s Advanced Concepts team. During his time at ETH, he launched Switzerland’s first Master in Space Systems, established an innovation hub and the ESA Business Incubation Centre, and co‑founded the ETH Swiss GeoLab, an interdisciplinary centre that combines space and in‑situ data with advanced AI and high‑performance computing.

Source: ETH Zurich News

Chenying Lu, a 40‑year‑old architect from China, earned a Master’s in architecture at ETH Zurich after initially planning a career as a circus performer. She describes how she balanced her passion for acrobatics with her academic studies. Students at ETH are encouraged to use counselling services for support.

Source: ETH Zurich News

This paper reports the results of a community blind challenge organized with Expansion Therapeutics, where participants predicted nine ADMET endpoints from a realistic dataset. The top performers were message‑passing neural networks and chemical foundation models, and the study highlighted the importance of proprietary industry data and the need to tailor predictive workflows via multitasking and task‑affinity grouping. Hosting the challenge on Hugging Face proved pivotal for community engagement and visibility, underscoring the value of robust, open‑source infrastructure for advancing ADMET …

Source: OpenAlex

On 2 October 2026, the Swiss Federal Council approved funding for eight Swiss company projects to support Ukraine’s reconstruction, with a total budget of CHF 135 million. The projects, selected through a competitive process, cover energy, public transport, and water sectors and aim to provide Swiss products, expertise, and training to Ukraine while creating jobs and strengthening Swiss companies’ operations there.

Source: Swiss Federal Government

On 2 October 2026, Swiss State Secretary Alexandre Fasel met Turkish Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mehmet Kemal Bozay in Bern for annual political consultations. The discussion covered bilateral relations, economic, migration, security, mediation, research and training, as well as regional issues such as the OSCE, Ukraine war, Middle East, South Caucasus, and Western Balkans. The meeting also addressed cooperation with the European Union and the importance of respecting human rights commitments under the Council of Europe.

Source: Swiss Federal Government

On 1–2 October 2026, National Armaments Director Urs Loher hosted representatives from France’s Directorate General of Armament in Bern for bilateral work discussions. The talks covered defence policy developments, the exchange of experiences in drones—including the Eiger project and Taskforce Drones—and future cooperation in outer space and tactical communication, with a demonstration of the Swiss Drone and Robotics Centre.

Source: Swiss Federal Government

The second edition of the "Top 100+ Women in AI + Data + Robotics in Switzerland 2026" report, released by ETH AI Center and Greater Zurich Area AG, lists 20 female founders in the Startup/Entrepreneurship category. It profiles 19 startups founded by women, spanning AI governance, robotics, aerospace, and other sectors, and includes long‑form portraits of eleven women. The report highlights contributions across Switzerland’s AI, data‑science and robotics ecosystems, covering regions from Zurich to Eastern Switzerland.

Source: Startupticker

Bee People, ein 2024 gegründetes Startup aus St. Moritz, hat eine Seed-Finanzierungsrunde über 1,3 Millionen Franken abgeschlossen, die die Investitionszusagen um mehr als 30 % überstieg. Das Kapital wird in Forschung und Entwicklung, den Ausbau des Vertriebs und die internationale Expansion fließen, wobei das Unternehmen bereits in der Schweiz, Asien und künftig in Deutschland aktiv sein will. Die Gründer Marie So und Daniel Meyer, bekannt aus dem E‑Mobility‑Sektor, erhalten erneut Unterstützung von ehemaligen Investoren.

Source: Startupticker