SCNAT Newsletter, October 2017/2
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): The Contribution of Science
Zum Einbezug der wissenschaftlichen Gemeinschaft bei der Realisierung der SDGs. Eine Konferenz der Akademien der Wissenschaften zusammen mit der UNESCO-Kommission.
am 22. Januar 2018 in Bern
LS2 Annual Meeting 2018
This year, 4 international plenary speakers will highlight their research in the field of Autophagy. In addition, 10 scientific symposia from Physiology, to Systems Biology, Computational Biology, Neurosciences and Molecular Biosciences and more will present current research.
register until 30 November
Evidence Review Group zur Agrogentechnik lanciert
Das Ziel ist ein gemeinsames Verständnis über die verfügbare und fehlende wissenschaftliche Evidenz zu schaffen als Basis für den Dialog mit Politik und Öffentlichkeit.
mehr dazu
Balzan Prizewinners Interdisciplinary Forum 2017
Anlässlich des «Balzan Prizewinners Interdisciplinary Forum 2017» geben die Preisträgerinnen und Preisträger einen Einblick in ihre Forschungsarbeiten und stehen für Fragen zur Verfügung.
Anmeldung zum Anlass vom 16. November in Bern
Gesucht: Update für die Wirtschaft
Die Wirtschaftswissenschaften sollten sich ernsthaft bemühen, das System weniger anfällig zu machen, Denkschulen zusammenzuführen sowie sich von häufig kritisierten Dogmen wie effizienten Märkten oder dem Homo oeconomicus, die in der Realität kaum zu finden sind, zu distanzieren.
Zum Magazin Horizonte
Verleihung Prix Média – «Wissenschaftsjournalismus: Watchdog oder Trüffelhund für die Forschung?»
Ist die heisse Story über den grossen Durchbruch an der Forschungsfront oder die kritische Begleitung des Wissenschaftsbetriebs die Aufgabe von Wissenschaftsjournalistinnen und Wissenschaftsjournalisten? Vortrag von Edwin Cartlidge und anschliessend Verleihung des Prix Média 2017.
Forschung ist gefährlich: Man könnte was Neues entdecken
Citizen Science wird immer mehr als ein Sammelbegriff für die vielen Herangehensweisen verwendet, wie Freiwillige in der Wissenschaft beteiligt werden. Entdecken Sie auf dieser Plattform das passende Projekt, schalten Sie Ihr eigenes auf und wagen Sie etwas Neues:
www.schweiz-forscht.ch
Der SNF publiziert Ausschreibung 2017 für Nationale Forschungsschwerpunkte (NFS)
Mit den NFS werden langfristige Forschungsprojekte von nationaler Bedeutung und höchster Qualität gefördert sowie eine nachhaltige Schwerpunkt- und Strukturbildung in und zwischen den Hochschulen gestärkt.
mehr Informationen
weitere Aktivitäten der SCNAT
www.scnat.ch/events
Akademie der Naturwissenschaften Schweiz (SCNAT)
Call for nominations for the "Grand Prix de la Fondation de la Maison de la Chimie"
This Award is meant to honor an original work in chemistry of benefit to humankind, society or nature. The 2018 Prize will carry a monetary award of 35 000 Euros.
Created in 1986 on the initiative of the Board of the Fondation de la Maison de la Chimie, this Prize has been awarded in recent years to:
- Professors John T. Groves and Dr. Jean-Pierre Maffrand in 2008
- Professors Gérard Ferey and Jean Fréchet in 2010
- Professor Ludwik Leibler in 2012
- Professor Jean-Pierre Sauvage in 2014
- Professor Vincenzo Balzani in 2016
In 2018, the Prize will be awarded to one or several nominees, irrespective of nationality.
Nominations must be presented by a learned Society or a national or international scientific Organization. Entry forms, accompanied by a report in French or English detailing the arguments for the nomination, must be returned – by electronic mail – before 30th April 2018 to the address shown below. Nominations will be evaluated by a jury composed of renowned members of the international scientific community. Unsuccessful entries may be renewed for subsequent awards of the Prize.
More information and entry form are available on our web site: www.maisondelachimie.com
More invormation about the call are availabe as pdf download
David Spichiger, SCS
11.10.2017
SCNAT Newsletter, October 2017
Prix Expo 2017
Die SCNAT verleiht dem Alpinen Museum in Bern den Prix Expo 2017. Preisträger des «Prix Expo für langjähriges Engagement» ist das Naturhistorische Museum in Neuenburg.
> mehr dazu
Tierversuche: darf man das?
Im soeben veröffentlichten Webportal Tierversuche beantworten Forschende der Gesellschaft für Versuchstierkunde über 30 Fragen.
> zum Themenportal
Verborgene Naturschätze – Sammlungen in Schweizer Museen
Gewinnen Sie einen Einblick in die Schweizer Archive der Natur und entdecken Sie die Geschichte von Meteoriten, Moosen, Wasserinsekten und Pflanzen.
> Öffentliches Symposium am 1. Dezember
Swiss Geoscience Meeting 2017 in Davos: «Moving Boundaries»
Boundaries in Geoscience research are among the most prominent hot topics – and by understanding how those boundaries move we learn about the shaping of our planet, but also about how the future might look like as the climate changes...
> Anmeldung bis zum 20. Oktober
Chronik Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Tropenmedizin und Parasitologie 1943–2017
Anlässlich der 75. Jahrestagung der Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Tropenmedizin und Parasitologie (SGTP) wurde eine Festschrift über die Geschichte der Gesellschaft und die neusten Entwicklungen veröffentlicht.
> Zur Festschrift
> «No roots, no fruits!»: Abschiedsvorlesung von Prof. Dr. Marcel Tanner am 15. Dezember in Basel
Pflanzengenetische Ressourcen in Ernährung und Landwirtschaft
Wie geht man mit alten Sorten um, die sich an eine Nischenproduktion richten? Braucht man neue Techniken für die Pflanzenverbesserung und weshalb? Was sind die Risiken und bis zu welchem Stadium des Verbesserungsprozesses kann man eine Sorte noch als alt betrachten?
> Anmeldung bis zum 6. November
Erinnerungen an Pioniere des Schweizerischen Nationalparks: Vernissage
Heute lebende Personen haben ihre Erinnerungen an frühere Forschende festgehalten, welche im Park Pionierarbeit geleistet haben. Entstanden ist ein Buch mit subjektiven Porträts von 20 Persönlichkeiten aus unterschiedlichen Fachbereichen und Zeitepochen.
> Die Vernissage findet am 13. November in Bern statt
Cratschla 2/17
Die Herbstausgabe der Nationalparkzeitschrift befasst sich mit Fragen des Prozessschutzes im Zusammenhang mit dem Klimawandel und mit der Einstellung der Landwirte in der Val Müstair zum Biosphärenreservat. Weiter werden Ergebnisse aus abgeschlossenen Forschungsprojekten zusammengefasst.
> Abonnieren
Exposure Hackathon: Communicating science through short films
Exposure is a 3 day event that will provide participants with a stimulating transdisciplinary environment in which to discuss how to communicate science and how to engage the public with science.
> more information and application till October 12th
weitere Veranstaltungen der SCNAT
David Spichiger, SCS
06.10.2017
Registrations open for the European Universities & Graduate Schools Innovation Championship, the Morpheus Cup
On April 12th 2018, top European talents from 120 campuses will compete in the fourth edition of the Morpheus Cup to showcase their skills and highlight their most innovative projects. After Luxembourg in 2017, the event will take place in 2018 at the Palais Brongniart (Stock Exchange) in Paris and will focus on burning topics such as Digital Transformation, Creativity, Deeptech, Circular Economy, Ecommerce and much more.
Since its launch in 2015, the Morpheus Cup has been placed under the high patronage of the European Commission with the support of Commissioners Marianne Thyssen and Carlos Moedas in 2017. "The championship is a great opportunity for young people to showcase their skills and to help to bridge the gap between universities, schools and the European employment market. In the Commission, we believe that the right skills not only improve young people's life chances, but also act as a driver for our future competitiveness and growth" underlines Mrs. Thyssen.
In the last three years, the event already attracted hundreds of campus from more than 20 countries and rewarded many of them including Warshaw School of Economics, Mannheim Business School, HEC Paris, Polytechnique Nantes, universities from Oxford, Berlin, Luxembourg, Athens, and Barcelona.
New challenges for new talents
The next edition will take the competition to another level by featuring tech, business, science, marketing, creative challenges in five different rooms, suggesting meetings with employers, innovative brands and investors through 50 stands and presenting not less than 20 categories for students to submit their projects/startups ideas (Morpheus Prize). Apart from the live experiences and challenges designed by entrepreneurs or partners of the event, almost 500 research projects and startups will be showcased to win awards, the championship and up to €50,000 worth of prizes.
Art, circular economy, human capital, smart cities, mobility, FinTech, design, industry, sport, artificial intelligence… topics, regardless of the students’ profiles and education level, invite them to be creative in many different fields.
Finalists will have to pitch in front of an international jury. Past editions welcomed jury members from Google Lunar XPrize, WarnerBros, Accenture, European Investment Fund, FC Barcelona, ESA, Canal+, Novak Djokovic Foundation etc. Daimler, Forbes, Expon Capital, Davidson, Leroy-Merlin, PwC have already joined the next edition.
Registrations are already open. First partners, jury members and employers will be unveiled before Christmas season.
The Morpheus Cup’s website unveils the main characteristics of the championship and also the past editions prize-winners.
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The only one of its kind in the world, the Morpheus Cup invites each year the greatest talents among European students to compete together through innovative projects and one day of themed challenges.
To date, more than 100 campuses from 19 countries have sent their teams or projects supported by 50 employers and innovative brands. In 2018, Paris will welcome the fourth edition of this event at Palais Brongniart with the support of both the European Commission and Paris City Hall. |
For more information, please contact:
Fabien Amoretti, Founder of the Morpheus Cup :
David Spichiger, SCS
06.10.2017
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2017
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2017 to
Jacques Dubochet,
University of Lausanne, Switzerland
Joachim Frank,
Columbia University, New York, USA, and
Richard Henderson,
MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK
"for developing cryo-electron microscopy for the high-resolution structure determination of biomolecules in solution"
Cool microscope technology revolutionises biochemistry
We may soon have detailed images of life’s complex machineries in atomic resolution. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2017 is awarded to Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank and Richard Henderson for the development of cryo-electron microscopy, which both simplifies and improves the imaging of biomolecules. This method has moved biochemistry into a new era.
A picture is a key to understanding. Scientific breakthroughs often build upon the successful visualisation of objects invisible to the human eye. However, biochemical maps have long been filled with blank spaces because the available technology has had difficulty generating images of much of life’s molecular machinery. Cryo-electron microscopy changes all of this. Researchers can now freeze biomolecules mid-movement and visualise processes they have never previously seen, which is decisive for both the basic understanding of life’s chemistry and for the development of pharmaceuticals.
Electron microscopes were long believed to only be suitable for imaging dead matter, because the powerful electron beam destroys biological material. But in 1990, Richard Henderson succeeded in using an electron microscope to generate a three-dimensional image of a protein at atomic resolution. This breakthrough proved the technology’s potential.
Joachim Frank made the technology generally applicable. Between 1975 and 1986 he developed an image processing method in which the electron microscope’s fuzzy twodimensional images are analysed and merged to reveal a sharp three-dimensional structure.
Jacques Dubochet added water to electron microscopy. Liquid water evaporates in the electron microscope’s vacuum, which makes the biomolecules collapse. In the early 1980s, Dubochet succeeded in vitrifying water – he cooled water so rapidly that it solidified in its liquid form around a biological sample, allowing the biomolecules to retain their natural shape even in a vacuum.
Following these discoveries, the electron microscope’s every nut and bolt have been optimised. The desired atomic resolution was reached in 2013, and researchers can now routinely produce three-dimensional structures of biomolecules. In the past few years, scientific literature has been filled with images of everything from proteins that cause antibiotic resistance, to the surface of the Zika virus. Biochemistry is now facing an explosive development and is all set for an exciting future.
Source and more information: https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2017/
David Spichiger, SCS
04.10.2017
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