Swiss Stories

Red Divico grapes

Swiss wine without pesticides

Science & Education
Switzerland's centre of excellence for agricultural research Agroscope has been creating new grape varieties for 50 years. Their goals are ambitious – particularly the targets for disease resistance. Several generations of resistant varieties have emerged, helping to gradually reduce the impact of diseases and the use of pesticides. Fungal diseases – a major concern for winegrowers Swiss winegrowers face considerable difficulties with fungal diseases, two of which are particularly entrenched in Switzerland: downy and powdery mildew. It is very hard to cultivate grapes without pesticides today – both in conventional and organic vineyards. To help avoid this, Agroscope's viticulture research team focuses its efforts on creating resistant grapevines.
Artist's impression of the space telescope © ESA/ATG medialab

Switzerland in space

Science & Education
Switzerland is leading the consortium of 11 European countries participating in the CHEOPS mission. The CHEOPS telescope was launched in 2019 to learn more about the little-known world of exoplanets. This is the first mission Switzerland has led within the European Space Agency (ESA), although it has been a member since the agency's inception. Other missions are in the pipeline – more on that below.
Metavers

Zurich becomes a global hub for the metaverse

Science & Education
Switzerland is playing a key role in building the next dimension of the internet: the metaverse. Thanks to the influence of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), Microsoft, Facebook, Google, Disney Research and Magic Leap have all opened offices or research laboratories in Switzerland's economic capital.
ACE expedition

When Switzerland enhances polar research

Science & Education
The Swiss Polar Institute (SPI) typifies the Swiss grass-roots approach to research. It is the result of an initiative by passionate and dedicated individuals who work with Swiss research institutions. The Swiss government is delighted to be able to support such initiatives.
Self-driving shuttle operated by PostBus. © PostBus

Swiss tech for autonomous cars

Science & Education
Wide use of self-driving shuttles to complement public transport – this is the vision of Anne Mellano. The young Swiss engineer is the co-founder of Bestmile, a successful start-up that creates innovative software for the management of autonomous and human-driven vehicles.
Smixin © Smixin

The Swiss tap that can meet the world's water challenges

Science & Education
Freshwater is an essential resource and global needs keep rising, particularly because of population growth, agricultural development and industrial demand. But the world's water resources haven't changed, nor are they unlimited. The UN estimates there will be a 40% shortfall in the amount of water the planet needs by 2030. The cleantech sector has the potential to develop solutions to reduce how much of this valuable resource we use on a daily basis. Switzerland has extensive experience in the water sector and a network of tech companies that can help meet water-related challenges. One such start-up is Biel-based Smixin, which has come up with a novel type of tap.
CSEM

Switzerland’s key role in space exploration

Science & Education
The applied research company CSEM – the Swiss Centre for Electronics and Microtechnology – has become an important player in the space exploration community by providing highly precise scientific instrumentation for satellites and telescopes.

by John Durham