Annual Report 2020

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Discovering new worlds

The University of Bern caused a stir in 2020 both in the field of particle physics and space exploration. For example with space instruments that were developed, built and tested here.

Key area

Matter and the Universe

The University conducts cutting-edge research in theoretical and empirical particle physics, the formation and development of planets and planet systems, and the search for life in space. In 2020 the University of Bern showed Switzerland and the world what it can do and its achievements in these areas:

What researching planets has to do with the coronavirus: The newly founded platform INPUT aims to support interdisciplinary research
In 2020, several studies based on ROSINA data were published, providing new insights into the comet Chury and on the formation and development of our solar system.
The “SAINT-EX” Observatory, led by researchers from the National Centre for Competence in Research NCCR PlanetS of the University of Bern and the University of Geneva, detected two exoplanets orbiting the star TOI-1266 in 2020.
Researchers from the University of Bern are making the ATLAS particle detector on the world's largest particle accelerator – the LHC at CERN – fit for the search for “new physics”.
Space made in Bern: Last but not least, space instruments such as the CHEOPS space telescope, the ORIGIN mass spectrometer and three instruments for the Jupiter mission JUICE also caused a stir.

Stories

Space Instruments

Space made in Bern

Since its participation in the first moon landing in 1969, the University of Bern has participated in space missions with instruments and experiments. Space instruments from Bern such as the CHEOPS space telescope, the ORIGIN mass spectrometer and three instruments for the Jupiter mission JUICE also caused a stir in 2020.

COVID-19 and exoplanets

What planet research has to do with the coronavirus

Astrophysicist Kevin Heng and epidemiologist Christian Althaus worked together on a number of studies in 2020 and founded the interfaculty platform INPUT – because the spread of infectious diseases such as COVID-19 really does have something to do with exoplanetary chemistry.

News from Chury

Insights from the archives of the solar system

The ROSINA mass spectrometer, developed and built in Bern, studied comet Chury as part of the Rosetta mission from 2014 to 2016. In 2020, several studies based on ROSINA data were published, providing new insights into the comet and on the formation and development of our solar system.

Ready for the search for new physics

ATLAS particle detector at CERN to be upgraded

The world’s largest particle accelerator LHC at CERN is getting a major upgrade. From 2027, it will be able to produce many times the number of particle collisions currently possible. Researchers from Bern are working on preparing the ATLAS detector for this new challenge and are involved in the search for “new physics”.

Two planets around a red dwarf

Rare exoplanet discovery

In 2020, the “SAINT-EX” Observatory, led by scientists from the National Centre of Competence in Research NCCR PlanetS of the University of Bern and the University of Geneva, detected two exoplanets orbiting the star TOI-1266. The Mexico-based telescope thus demonstrates its high precision and enables an important step in the quest to find potentially habitable worlds.

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