News EPFL

EPFL celebrates 1,028 new Master's graduates

Published:08.10.19 — EPFL held its annual Master’s degree graduation ceremony on Saturday, 5 October, at the SwissTech Convention Center, with Federal Councilor Alain Berset as the guest of honor. In addition to handing out diplomas, the School awarded a Doctor Honoris Causa and recognized a number of outstanding EPFL students, teachers and alumni.

The cholera bacterium can steal up to 150 genes in one go

Published:08.10.19 — EPFL scientists have discovered that predatory bacteria like the cholera pathogen can steal up to 150 genes in one go from their neighbors. The study sheds light on one of the most fundamental mechanisms of horizontal gene transfer.

Taking sustainability into space

Published:04.10.19 — Things are changing in outer space: it is filling with debris, attracting private companies, and raising new technological challenges. To keep pace with this mercurial environment, EPFL’s Space Center (eSpace) is changing its focus to logistics. Here, we round up the center’s initiatives as World Space Week gets under way.

Awarded for his real-world teaching strategy

Published:04.10.19 — Dominique Pioletti, an associate professor at EPFL’s School of Engineering, has won the Credit Suisse Award for Best Teaching 2019. Students enrolled in his Master’s-level biomechanics class get to work directly on problems encountered by doctors.

The right carbon tax to reduce the impact of transport in Switzerland

Published:03.10.19 — Using macroeconomic modeling, EPFL researchers have identified the most effective carbon tax for Switzerland to meet the Paris Agreement targets: a uniform levy on gasoline, diesel fuel and heating oil, rising steadily to 1.70 francs per liter by 2050. 

Drawings by architect Alberto Sartoris to be shown by EPFL in Rome

Published:01.10.19 — From 10 October to 10 November 2019, EPFL’s Archives of Modern Construction will exhibit around 100 drawings by avant-garde architect Alberto Sartoris at Rome’s Casa dell’Architettura. Entitled “La macchina delle meraviglie” (“The machine of marvels”), the exhibition shows Sartoris’ desire to elevate architectural drawings into an art form. The event is also an opportunity to highlight the strong cultural ties between Switzerland and Italy.

EPFL researchers invent low-cost alternative to Bitcoin

Published:30.09.19 — The cryptocurrency Bitcoin is limited by its astronomical electricity consumption and outsized carbon footprint. A nearly zero-energy alternative sounds too good to be true, but as School of Computer and Communication Sciences (IC) Professor Rachid Guerraoui explains, it all comes down to our understanding of what makes transactions secure.