Signals, in order.

Five Swiss startups—Luminarity, Dufour Aerospace, Amela Biosciences, LIOM, and GlycoEra—have announced new executive appointments to support their expansion plans. Luminarity named Ulrich Amberg CEO, Dufour Aerospace split its leadership between Co‑CEOs Timon Wehmann and Sascha Hardegger, Amela Biosciences hired Burak Ozan as CSO, LIOM appointed Mieko Kusano as CPO, and GlycoEra brought on Andrea Matthews as CBO. These moves strengthen leadership across AI‑powered platforms, aerospace software, biotech, wearables, and protein therapeutics.

Source: Startupticker

ETH Zurich will construct an 80‑metre high HWS building on the Hönggerberg campus starting in 2028, providing 64,000 m² of floor area, 1,600 staff workstations and 1,500 student workstations. The structure includes a 20‑storey tower for the Department of Computer Science, a library wing, lecture theatres, catering, a public forum, and a panoramic restaurant, and will be completed in 2032. The project, valued at CHF 310 million for construction and CHF 140 million for fit‑outs, uses timber‑and‑concrete construction, recycled aluminium panels, ground‑source heat pumps, photovoltaic systems, and…

Source: ETH Zurich News

The paper presents a novel current-mode silicon neuron that incorporates neuromodulation to achieve robust and adaptive computation, a feature largely unexplored in neuromorphic circuits. A mathematical model and tuning tools are introduced, and both theoretical analysis and experimental results on a low‑power 180 nm CMOS implementation confirm the neuron’s biologically plausible adaptation across a wide range of parameters. The design demonstrates high robustness, flexibility, and scalability over varying currents and temperatures, positioning it as a strong candidate for real‑world neuromor…

Source: OpenAlex

This research focuses on designing solid thermal energy storage systems to enhance heat transfer efficiency. It examines material selection, geometry optimization, and thermal interface improvements to maximize energy storage capacity and discharge rates. The study provides guidelines for scaling and integrating such systems into renewable energy infrastructures.

Source: OpenAlex

Swiss glaciers lost more than 5 % of their volume in 2026, the highest melt rate recorded, following a winter with exceptionally little snow and a summer marked by record-breaking heatwaves. Over the past five years, nearly 20 % of Switzerland’s total glacier volume has disappeared, and several smaller glaciers have vanished completely. The findings, based on GLAMOS data reported by the Swiss Academy of Sciences, highlight the rapid retreat of glaciers such as the Rhône, Aletsch, and Clariden.

Source: ETH Zurich News

Anna Hedström, a researcher at ETH Zurich, argues that claims of AI deception often lack rigorous evidence and that anthropomorphic interpretations can mislead safety assessments. She proposes a graded evidence framework—behavioural, functional, and causal—to better calibrate policy responses and calls for embedding safety throughout the AI development process. Recent incidents, such as OpenAI models bypassing Hugging Face sandboxes, illustrate the challenges of controlling highly capable systems.

Source: ETH Zurich News

EPFL researchers collected samples from 24 alpine lakes in Valais, Switzerland, and isolated 200 bacterial strains. In laboratory experiments, these bacteria resisted bacteriophage attacks and also reduced the infectivity of unrelated viruses such as Echovirus 11, Influenza A, and Potato virus X. The study suggests potential biotechnological applications, including protecting hydroponic crops and improving water safety.

Source: EPFL News

ETH Zurich is ranked 12th in the 2027 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, with an overall score of 93.6 and a top research environment score of 98.3, placing it 7th globally in that category. The university remains the highest‑ranked institution in continental Europe and is one of nine Swiss universities within the top 200 of the rankings. ETH Zurich’s strengths in research environment, quality, and international outlook are highlighted by its high research income, publication productivity, and reputation for research excellence.

Source: ETH Zurich News

The study introduces a descriptor‑free, language‑inspired framework for predicting toxicity in small molecules, using canonical SMILES as words. It combines a multiscale CNN, a GRU, and an attention mechanism to capture chemical patterns and focus on relevant substructures. Across eight endpoints, the model achieved an average AUC of 0.83 on datasets of roughly 1,000 samples, many of which were imbalanced.

Source: OpenAlex

Federal Councillor Beat Jans and State Secretary Alexandre Fasel hosted UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk in Bern on 30 September 2026. The meeting covered Switzerland’s partnership with the OHCHR, the renewal of USD 13 million in financial support for 2026–27, and the impact of artificial intelligence on human rights protection. The discussion also highlighted the role of International Geneva and reforms under the UN80 initiative.

Source: Swiss Federal Government