Swiss Public Health Conference 2027: call for abstracts now open

How do earthquakes occur? Seismologist Anne Obermann from the Swiss Seismological Service, together with a research team from Paris, has applied unsupervised machine learning to data from ETH Zurich’s BedrettoLab. The collaboration was made possible by the Germaine de Staël funding programme. The method identified significantly more seismic events than the previous reference catalogue. This now opens up a broader perspective: initial analyses of data from the Blatten ice and rockfall suggest that the activity of an unstable slope may already be trackable using just a single seismic station. In an interview with the SATW, Obermann explains how a research collaboration gave rise to a new idea for monitoring natural hazards.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, mRNA technology gained worldwide recognition. Now it could also transform cancer treatment: the first personalised mRNA vaccine against melanoma has shown promising results in a large Phase III trial. When used in combination with immunotherapy, it reduced the risk of recurrence by 42 per cent. How does a vaccine work that is produced individually for each patient? And what still stands in the way of its widespread use?

What will change when AI no longer merely provides answers, but takes over work? The SATW’s Digital Industry specialist group examines the potential of agent-based AI, ranging from administrative order processing to collaboration between humans and intelligent robots. This also addresses the strategic question of what role Switzerland can and wishes to play in this development.