News

EPFL scientists, working in association with colleagues at the University of Twente and the University of Pisa, have studied the link between the number of bristles on dandelion seeds and the ability of those seeds to travel long distances in a stable manner. 

EPFL startup Flybotix has developed a novel drone with just two propellers and an advanced stabilization system that allow it to fly for twice as long as conventional models. That fact, together with its small size, makes it perfect for inspecting hard-to-reach parts of industrial facilities such as ducts.

Francesco Stellacci, a professor at the EPFL School of Engineering (Institute of Materials) has been elected in the Academia Europeae.

A team of EPFL researchers has developed tiny 10-gram robots that are inspired by ants: they can communicate with each other, assign roles among themselves and complete complex tasks together. These reconfigurable robots are simple in structure, yet they can jump and crawl to explore uneven surfaces. The researchers have just published their work in Nature.

Data from Mental Work project, conducted as an experimental artwork at EPFL's Artlab, indicates that BMI is robust and accessible to the general public, spurring new research collaborations in Switzerland on user experience.

EPFL scientists have developed a model that can help policymakers factor in uncertainty when they map out their energy strategies. Today such strategies are based largely on forecasts of fuelprices, technology costs and energy demand. However, these forecasts are often incorrect and can lead to flawed decisions.

EPFL researchers have discovered a way of making semiconducting, photoluminescent nanotubes form spontaneously in liquid solutions. The tubes, which consist of several walls that are perfectly uniform and just a few atoms thick, display optical properties that make them perfect for use as fluorophores or photocatalysts.

Researchers at EPFL have developed a method that uses artificial intelligence to design next-generation heat-pump compressors. Their method can cut the pumps’ power requirement by around 25%.

EPFL researchers have studied the dynamics of network structures using one of the world’s most-visited websites: Wikipedia. In addition to a better understanding of online networks, their work brings exciting insights into human social behavior and collective memory.

On 17 June, students from EPFL and 12 other European universities headed to Zermatt as part of the IGLUNA project. Their mission? To build and demonstrate a prototype lunar habitat in the ice that could one day support human life on the Moon.

The 16th International Workshop on Nanomechanical Sensors took place on June 19-21 2019. This workshop has been organized every year gathering the most prominent figures in the nanomechanical sensing community. This 2019 edition focused on two of the most promising fields: quantum and bio-sensing.

On Wednesday, 29 May, a team of EPFL students – who qualified for this summer’s Hyperloop Pod Competition in Los Angeles – unveiled a prototype they hope will bring home a win.

EPFL scientists have discovered a new type of 2D magnetic material that can be integrated into spintronic devices.

Researchers at EPFL and the University of Lyon have developed a device for creating cell aggregates in a fully controlled manner. Their aim is to model tumors more accurately in order to test potential new treatments. 

Professor Emeritus Michel Rappaz, of the Institute of Materials at EPFL, received an honorary doctorate from McMaster University. 

Following a rigorous selection process, 35 outstanding students from over 2000 international applicants have been invited to spend three months this summer working in research laboratories and interacting with faculty members and Ph.D. students at EPFL’s School of Engineering.

"Nano-electronics and digital technologies: addressing some of the future challenges": talk by Luc Van den hove, President and CEO of IMEC, June 5th.

Researchers from EPFL have found the mechanism that lies behind a mysterious physics phenomenon in fluid mechanics: the fact that turbulence in fluids spontaneously self-organizes into parallel patterns of oblique turbulent bands – an example of order emerging spontaneously from chaos. In so doing, they solved a problem that had stumped generations of physicists.

EPFL and MARVEL researchers have developed a new theory for heat conduction that can finally describe and predict the thermal conductivity of any insulating material. This new formulation will let scientists make accurate predictions of thermal conductivity in a range of materials for critical engineering applications – from electronics to lasers to waste-heat recovery.

During a study trip to Japan, third-year students from EPFL’s Bachelor’s program in microengineering worked with Japanese students at the Tokyo Institute of Technology (TIT) to develop ideas and intelligent design concepts for the future. Then it was the Japanese students’ turn to come to Switzerland for yet more collaborative projects.

Researchers at EPFL are working on a technology to exploit osmotic energy – a source of power that’s naturally available at estuaries, where fresh water comes into contact with seawater. In a laboratory experiment, the team reproduced the real-world conditions that occur where rivers meet the sea (pH and salt concentration) and showed that, by shining light on a system comprising salt, water and a membrane three atoms thick, it was possible to optimize electricity production.

Researchers from the Alberto Santos Dumont Association for Research Support (AASDAP) in Brazil, in collaboration with EPFL, have developed a non-invasive strategy that combines functional electrostimulation, a body weight support system and a brain-machine interface for the rehabilitation of people with paraplegia. This approach was tested on two patients, who showed an improvement in their motor skills and a partial neurological recovery.

Giulia Tagliabue recently joined EPFL’s mechanical engineering department as a tenure track assistant professor. In her work, she aims to provide a better understanding of how light interacts with materials on a nanometric scale. This information will enable engineers to design more sustainable energy systems. Tagliabue will pursue her research at the School’s new Laboratory of Nanoscience for Energy Technologies.

Compete for the EPFL Engineering PhD Summit Prize, present your exceptional research work in Intelligent Systems, visit EPFL and interact with top engineering faculty. Travel and housing costs will be covered for all selected candidates. 

Professors Camille-Sophie Brès, Bruno Correia and Tobias Kippenberg have been awarded Proof of Concept Grants from the European Research Council. Five EPFL Professors have been awarded an ERC Proof of Concept grant. This year, the ERC has given 54 PoC grants.

EPFL researchers have created a smart device capable of producing large amounts of clean hydrogen. By concentrating sunlight, their device uses a smaller amount of the rare, costly materials that are required to produce hydrogen, yet it still maintains a high solar-to-fuel efficiency. Their research has been taken to the next scale with a pilot facility installed on the EPFL campus.

EPFL is set to make its debut in Formula Student this year, pitting a brand-new electric racing car developed by Lausanne Racing Team – and unveiled at an event at the Rolex Learning Center on Tuesday, 9 April – against other universities in races held across Europe.

An EPFL researcher has developed a mathematical model for optimizing heat transfer in factories and dramatically reducing water and energy consumption. The model could, in theory, cut water use by 60% at a Canadian paper mill and allow the facility to produce as much as six times more power.

Jamie Paik, the head of EPFL’s Reconfigurable Robotics Lab at the School of Engineering presented her reconfigurable robots at the TED2019 conference in Vancouver on 18 April. Her miniature, versatile devices stand to revolutionize the way robots are used.

Twelve student volunteers, including those from EPFL and the EPFL + ECAL Lab, spent 10 days developing and testing four solutions to everyday challenges facing Bangalore residents as part of the India Switzerland Social Innovation Camp (INSSINC) pilot program. But the fruits of the students’ labor go beyond the prototypes themselves.

Gait characteristics are sometimes regarded as the sixth vital sign in humans. They serve as a valuable indicator of a person’s health, particularly in older adults – so why not measure them? A team of EPFL researchers is taking part in a major European project to design a device that can assess a person’s gait more accurately.

Researchers from EPFL and the University of Zurich have developed a model that uses data from sensors worn by meerkats to gain a more detailed picture of how animals behave in the wild.

Researchers at EPFL have developed a simple mid-infrared laser source that can be used to detect pollution in the air or molecules in someone’s breath. Their system takes up considerably less space than the large ones typically used for such tasks.

With nothing more than a photonic chip and an ordinary camera, EPFL researchers have managed to count biomolecules one by one in a small sample and determine their position. Their tiny device – a marriage of optics and smart image analysis – is even able to detect a graphene sheet only a single atom thick. This type of sensor could one day play a key role in personalized medicine.

Tobias J. Kippenberg, a Professor at the EPFL School of Engineering and at the School of Basic Sciences, as well as Professors Pierre Gönczy and Douglas Hanahan (School of Life Sciences), have been awarded ERC Advanced Grant.

The third edition of the Engineering Industry Day was attended by 150 companies, over 250 Master’s and PhD students, and 130 professors and researchers from EPFL. The event was organized by the EPFL School of Engineering in order to foster links – and create opportunities – among key players in research and innovation.

Compete for the EPFL Engineering PhD Summit Prize, present your exceptional research work in Intelligent Systems, visit EPFL and interact with top engineering faculty. Travel and housing costs will be covered for all selected candidates. 

This prestigious award, organized by EPFL and sponsored by Piaget, gives a young scientist the chance to pursue their own research in an EPFL lab during a one-year postdoctoral fellowship. The next deadline for applications is 31 May 2019.

Scientists from EPFL, UNIL and local startup be.care have developed a system that uses heart rate variability to detect fatigue and identify what kind it is. The system then uses the results to suggest lifestyle changes that can make a difference. An initial test has been carried out on university students under real-world conditions.

The Swiss National Science Foundation has awarded the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) MARVEL full funding of 18 million Swiss francs for its second phase, which will run until April 2022. The National Centre of Competence in Research Robotics gets the maximum possible funding level - more than 11 million Swiss francs - for its third and final phase, which will run until the end of 2022.

Google awarded Professor Volkan Cevher from the LIONS lab with the Google Faculty Research Award for 2018.

EPFL scientists have come up with a systematic method for studying and even predicting gene expression – without using cells. Using their innovative, quantitative approach, they measured important parameters governing gene regulation. This allowed them to design and construct a synthetic biological logic gate, which could one day be used to introduce new functions into cells. Their research has just been published in PNAS.

Through an imaginative experiment, researchers were able to get two extremely different animal species located far apart to interact with each other and reach a shared decision with the help of robots.

EPFL scientists have developed a new image-processing method that can capture extremely rapid phenomena using any type of camera. Their method, called Virtual Frame Technique, delivers better performance than any commercial high-speed camera and is affordable and accessible to anyone.

The winner of the fourth annual My Thesis in 180 Seconds competition, held last night at the Rolex Forum, was Alvaro Charlet – a PhD student in materials science. In just three minutes he explained to the 600 people in the audience how his hydrogels receipes could one day replace ligaments in the human body. His presentation – perfectly orchestrated and seasoned with humor – won over the jury.

EPFL has become the coordinator of Be-Smart, an EU research project that aims to step up the deployment of building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) and cut their costs by 75% between now and 2030. The project was launched in response to EU regulations that require new buildings to be nearly zero-energy by 2020.

Researchers from EPFL's Laboratory for Processing of Advanced Composites have developed a material that can easily heal after being damaged. This cutting-edge composite could be used in aircraft, wind turbines, cars and sports equipment.

A team of researchers from EPFL and Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) has been awarded one of two Fondation Leenaards 2019 science prizes for its research into the biomechanics of labor. The aim of the project is to determine the best position for each mother to adopt in order to make vaginal delivery easier. 

The EPFLoop team – which took home third place in last year’s Hyperloop Pod Competition – has been selected to compete again, making it one of around 20 short-listed teams that will head to California this summer.

Two programs are now ranked in the top ten worldwide. According to the most recent QS World University Rankings, the Institute of Materials Science is now ranked #6 up from #10, and the Institute of Electrical Engineering is now ranked #9 up from #16. The Institute of Mechanical Engineering has moved up 9 positions to #18 from #27. Overall, EPFL is ranked #11 under Engineering and Technology.