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An ever-growing series of prizes for CaSSIS Mars demystified
Take a space instrument orbiting mars, turn its Principal Investigator (PI) into a detective, add a hint of comic-style images, and you obtain… CaSSIS Mars demystified – a science short film winning a plethora of the awards around the world! The first episode of CaSSIS Mars demystified focused on dust devils, those sort of weak tornado-looking […]
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Searching for meteorites in Antarctica
Finding meteorites is no easy task. Despite this, a team of scientists including NCCR PlanetS member Prof. Maria Schönbächler from ETH Zürich, were successful on an expedition. Their secret? Going to Antarctica where they found several new meteorites between December 2022 and January 2023, including a unique piece weighing 7.6 kilograms. Looking for a needle […]
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Second #NCCRWomen campaign
Last November, the second #NCCRWomen campaign started, featuring again scientists from the NCCR PlanetS! #NCCRWomen is an initiative launched for the 50th anniversary of women’s right to vote in Switzerland (7th of February 1971). It puts under the spotlight, women from each NCCR, sharing their portrait on a dedicated Twitter account, looking back at their […]
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“You have to be patient and persistent.”
The discovery of the first planet outside our solar system in 1995 gave an enormous boost to planetary research and the search for Earth-like planets. With the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS, which brings together researchers from the Universities of Bern, Geneva and Zurich and ETH Zurich, Switzerland is at the forefront […]
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The man with the instruments in space
Nicolas Thomas wants to understand Mars, comets and the icy moons of Jupiter. To do so, he builds instruments that fly through space on of board space probes. By Brigit Bucher When asked how he came up with the idea of becoming an astrophysicist, the answer comes lightning-fast: “Quite clearly: because of the first moon […]
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“Luck is an important factor – that is difficult to digest.”
Martin Turbet was a member of the NCCR PlanetS for three years and received a Marie Curie fellowship from the EU during this time. Now he was selected for a permanent position as a CNRS research scientist working in Paris. Here, he talks about his multidisciplinary research, the role of luck in academia and gives […]
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Monika Lendl and Clémence Fontanive at #NCCRWomen
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of women’s right to vote in Switzerland, the #NCCRWomen campaign introduces you to women from Swiss research institutes. NCCR PlanetS also participated in the campaign with two of its researchers: Monika Lendl and Clémence Fontanive. Clémence Fontanive is an astrophysicist and postdoc at the University of Bern. Clémence […]
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“I just became incredibly tough”
At the age of 32, Judit Szulágyi convinced the European Research Council to fund her research on planet and moon formation. With that, she also takes over leadership of a PlanetS project. Even though her fast track career makes it seem so, getting this far was not always easy. As most, Judit Szulágyi currently works […]
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When in doubt, aim high
Veerle Sterken had been away from a paid job in cosmic dust science for three years. Then she convinced the European Research Council (ERC) to fund her project on interstellar dust. That kick-started her “second career” in astrophysics and led to her project being welcomed into PlanetS by the board. “I will send out my […]
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Science taught her to stand up for herself
Yogita Kadlag is an astrophysicist from Maharashtra, India. Since October 2019, she’s been a member of the NCCR PlanetS. From her hometown, where she is stranded due to the Corona pandemic, she spoke to us about her work, cultural differences and discrimination. “It’s raining heavily at the moment; can we try again in 20 minutes?”, […]
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