The online magazine of the University of Bern

The Axarquía region in southern Spain experienced an extreme water crisis between 2019 and 2024. Victoria Junquera from the University of Bern sheds light on the causes.

Professor of Astronomical Instrumentation Jonas Kühn has developed a new type of instrument. It is based on liquid crystals, as we know them from smartphones, and will image planets outside our solar system on a new telescope.

There is no evidence for the existence of sterile neutrinos – a fourth type of the elementary neutrino particle. This is shown by the international MicroBooNE collaboration at the US research center Fermilab with the participation of the University of Bern.

This year’s Einstein Lectures involve sharp shooting. But not bullets, of course. It’s ultrashort laser pulses. On three evenings in Bern, physicist Donna Strickland explains how her Nobel-winning inventions enrich science and medicine.

The VWelles Rethinking Economics student group is committed to including different schools of thought in the study of economics in Bern and treating them equally. On November 19, it will receive the “Prix Lux” 2025, the equal opportunities prize of the University of Bern.

The people of Bern and their University: A long and fruitful, but also complicated relationship, not without its dramatic moments, as a look at history shows.

The Foundation for Childcare in the Bern University Area (KIHOB) has been running daycare centers for students and employees of the University of Bern for over 55 years. As Managing Director Aline Bamberger explains, the foundation constantly adapts its offerings to meet varying needs.

A nature reserve, a classroom, or railway station in the Bernese Oberland—at first glance you wouldn’t guess it, but the university is active in all of these places and more, working with the local community, as those involved can attest.

Geneva-based cartoonist Patrick Chappatte and Bern-based media lawyer Franz Zeller discuss the limits of freedom of expression and the role of political satire at a time when traditional media are coming under increasing pressure.

The Human Rights Law Clinic of the University of Bern was the first Swiss law clinic to work exclusively with real cases. We visited them – and learned what sets their curriculum apart and what inspires their students.

Seven members of the Education Commission of the Cantonal Parliament write to the University of Bern. They describe their view of the role of the University within the education system, its responsibility to society, and also their idea of how visible and accessible a university should be today.

The University of Bern makes a key economic contribution to the region. It attracts investment from the federal government and others, creates jobs and purchases services from local companies. Its employees and students are consumers in the region. The financial contribution of the canton generates roughly three times as much value added in the regional economy.

Periods and menopause make adaptations in the workplace necessary: Studies by gynecologist Petra Stute and gender researcher Christine Bigler show us where are the areas that need improving and what are the needs of the female body.

How is the Italian language changing in an age of globalization and migration? A new language app developed at the University of Bern aims to find out.

Literary scholar Oliver Lubrich captures the essence of what the Friedrich Dürrenmatt Guest Professorship for World Literature means for Bern.

Many Swiss employees feel stressed, as regular monitoring shows. This not only harms them, but also the economy.