ISTP News

The seventh and last video of our "ISTP4Public" series has been released and sheds light on sustainability issues in forest-focused supply chain policies. ETH Zurich Prof. Rachael Garrett discusses the global developments that provoked her scientific interest in this topic, and she talks about supply chain policies' effectiveness. She also highlights the need for local governments' involvement and the key role of importing regions to drive greater uptake of sustainability policies. 

The global COVID-19 pandemic is manifesting differently in every country. The new video of our "ISTP4Public" series sheds light on how the urban poor mitigated their risk of infection in Accra and Johannesburg at the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak. Researchers Antoinette van der Merwe from the Swiss Minerals Observatory and Kathrin Durizzo from the Development Economics Group talk about their research's main findings and the policy implications.

(Re-​post from ETH News) With the number of coronavirus cases growing rapidly, ETH Zurich sees no choice but to extensively restrict classroom teaching starting on 2 November. The ETH community will receive detailed information over the course of this week.

(Re-​post from ETH News) Ten years ago, ETH took the bold step of establishing a presence abroad in the form of its very own research centre. This year, the Singapore-​ETH Centre launched its third research programme – and new insights are already making their way back to Switzerland.

(Re-​post from ETH Zurich Services & resources Internal news) In view of the rapid increase in the rate of COVID-​19 infections, the Executive Board has responded to advice from the ETH COVID task force by tightening the measures for combating the spread of the virus at ETH Zurich. The facemask mandate will be extended further, drinks receptions and other social events are generally no longer allowed and working from home will once again become the preferred option.

Why does so little of the vast knowledge about fighting climate change make it into policy? In the new video of our "ISTP4Public" series, ISTP Member ETH Prof. David Kaufmann highlights the need for policy advice that includes considerations of implementability and acceptance of the proposed policy. To help climate scientists provide such utilization-focused policy advice, Prof. Kaufmann worked together with various researchers and formulated a six-point checklist.

Nourishing a growing world population in ecologically sustainable ways is one of the main goals of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The new video of our "ISTP4Public" series is out and it provides fresh insights into the impacts of improved on-farm storage as a means for reducing seasonal food insecurity. Michael Brander, researcher at the ISTP, gives an insight into his and Matthias Huss’ research project focused on Sub-​Saharan Africa.

The Wyss Academy for Nature at the University of Bern is dedicated to shaping sustainable futures for nature and people by strengthening and harmonizing nature conservation, human well-being, and natural resource use in different landscapes around the world. To this goal the Wyss Academy invites applications for six new open-rank professorships.

The MOBIS: COVID-19 research project, an initiative of ETH Zurich and the University of Basel, is a continuation of the original MOBIS study. The aim of the project is to get a picture of how the crisis is affecting mobility and everyday life in Switzerland. The latest weekly report presenting post-lockdown results as of July 13^th is now available and the analysis will be extended in the coming weeks.

The call for ETH4D Research Challenges is now open. Proposals need to address a clearly defined research question that has the objective of creating a positive impact for communities in a low-​ or lower middle-​income country. All proposals will be evaluated by an ETH4D selection committee and the application deadline is September 30^th.

ETH4D Research Challenges aim to develop effective solutions for poverty reduction combining technologies, policies and a profound understanding of human behaviour. The research questions for this special call focus on mitigating the negative impact of a pandemic/epidemic on people’s health or livelihoods living on the African continent.

ETH researchers analysed various possibilities for reducing the net CO₂ emissions of the chemical industry to zero. Their conclusion? The chemical industry can in fact have a carbon-​neutral future. (Re-​post from ETH News)

To slow down the spread of the Coronavirus, the population has been instructed to stay at home. This measure consequently has a major impact on our daily mobility behaviour. But who is being affected, and how? The MOBIS : COVID-19 research project is a continuation of the original MOBIS study. The aim of the project is to get a picture of how the crisis is affecting mobility and everyday life in Switzerland. The first results are now available, and the analysis will be extended in the coming weeks.

We are delighted to announce the release of our new video statement series “ISTP4Public” focusing on ISTP-related research with high public relevance. The first video of this series sheds light on the recent study by Lukas Fesenfeld, Michael Wicki, Yixian Sun & Prof. Thomas Bernauer on food system transformation.

ETH Zurich is switching to emergency operations. In this interview, ETH President Joël Mesot explains what this means for research, teaching and work. (Re-​post from ETH News)

ETH Zurich has been trying for years to increase the percentage of women in its ranks, not least among its students. So far, these efforts have not met with huge success. Why is that? And what is ETH doing to attract more female students? We asked Rector Sarah Springman. (Re-​post from ETH News)

We are happy to have Megan Seipp per February 1^st as Ph.D. student at our Institute – a warm welcome to Megan! She started a Ph.D. - project as part of Minerals Research Group’s team and she will be sharing room UNO C 14.

The world is not on track with regard to its CO₂ emissions. In order to achieve the Paris climate targets, we all need to show courage and commitment, says Nicolas Gruber - Professor of Environmental Physics at the Department of Environmental Systems Science and Associate Member of ISTP. (Re-​post from ETH Zukunftsblog)

We are delighted to announce the appointment of three new ISTP members. We would like to welcome Prof. Dr. Rachael Garrett, Prof. Dr. David Kaufmann & Prof. Dr. Tobias Schmidt and wish them a fruitful and rewarding collaboration.

Dominik Hangartner, a political scientist at ETH Zurich, has received one of Switzerland’s most prestigious science awards. The National Latsis Prize has recognised the quality of Hangartner’s research on migration and its importance for public policy. (Re-​post from ETH News)

The ISTP Urban Research Incubator (URI) presented its ongoing research activities both in South Africa and Colombia to Dr. Pillay, who in turn introduced the scope of the ‘National Research Foundation’ projects. A strong thematic and regional overlap was identified, resulting in the aim to foster future collaboration and knowledge transfer.

Two Professors, members of our Institute, Isabel Günther & Stefan Bechtold will get funding for their projects in the first round of the ETH+ initiative. Congratulations!