2016

The International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) 2016 took place n Zurich from 11 to 17 July, 2016. The event was hosted by the University of Zurich (UZH), in collaboration with the Association of Swiss Scientific Olympiads and the education authority, Liechtenstein.  

On 21. June 2016 the Office of Science Energy Systems Acquisition Advisory Board-equivalent for Critical Decision reviewed and approved the start of construction (CD-3) for the DESI project. The HEP-sponsored DESI project includes the design and fabrication of a new, next generation, Stage IV ground-based mid-scale dark energy spectroscopic survey instrument for probing the “dark sector” of the Universe in order to explore the mysteries of dark energy and dark matter. 

On 25. May 2016 the MINTdays 2016 took place at the Kantonsschule Uster. The MINTdays are part of the new programme „FOKUS MINT“ initated by the Kantonsschule Uster with the objective to promote and provide insight into mathematics, informatics, natural sciences and technology to the school's 12 - 15 year old pupils.

Every year the department of physics awards the prize for the best innovation in the Advanced Lab. Eligible are students, PhD-students, postdocs, assistants, professors, as well as other members of the department. This year Simon Birrer was awarded for his work on the final implementation of the Advanced Student Lab in Astronomy.

This year’s Swiss Cosmology Days took place on 11 and 12 February 2016 at the EPFL. The meetings are jointly organized by Professors Ruth Durrer, University of Geneva and Alexandre Refregier, ETH Zurich. Our aim is to promote communication and exchanges between Swiss Cosmologists and to specifically provides a platform for young PhD students and Postdocs to present their current research areas and results.

The first Swiss Python Summit took place on February 2016 at HSR University of Applied Sciences in Rapperswil. Joel Akeret, a software engineer in Professor Refregier's  Cosmology Research Group, was one of the initiators and organisers. Musicians, software developers and researchers presented their work and its relation to the programming language Python and over 114 attendees were able to learn more about Python, watch demonstrations on the latest tools and broaden their horizons.  

Please join us in welcoming Hamsa Padmanabhan who has just joined our cosmology group as a postdoc. Hamsa just finished her thesis at IUCAA in Pune, India and has worked on a wide ranging of subjects in cosmology.