Internal Newsletter
General Assembly in Montreux
The PlanetS General Assembly is the main event during the yearly NCCR cycle and gathers a large majority of NCCR members and associates. It will take place on January 27 – 29, 2020 in Montreux. Registration has to be completed by 15 December 2019. This time the organizers chose Montreux for the PlanetS General Assembly after […]
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Nobel prize ceremony
In a very formal and festive ceremony in Stockholm, the Swedish king Carl XVI Gustaf presented the Nobel prizes to this year’s esteemed laureates, among them Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz. Fanfare sounds accompanied his Majesty handing over the medals. As every year, the award ceremony took place on the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death, […]
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CHEOPS launch set for 17 Dec. 2019
The space telescope CHEOPS is scheduled to begin its journey into space on Tuesday, 17 December 2019 shortly before 10 a.m. CET. The Universities of Bern and Geneva are organizing events with a live stream from Kourou and space talks. “After over six years of intensive work, I am of course very pleased that the […]
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Lively discussions and a prize for a short film
At the “Global Science Film Festival” in Bern and Zürich astrophysicists associated with PlanetS discussed a movie about an Indian Mars mission. The documentary “Bern on the Moon” was awarded the audience prize in the category short films. Susanne Wampfler, Professor at the Center for Space and Habitability (CSH) of the University of Bern, was […]
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Observing planets as they form
By Christoph Mordasini Astrophysics – the branch of physics that aims at explaining astronomical observations – differs from most other branches of physics by the comparatively minor availability or sometimes even absence of laboratory experiments. While crucial laboratory experiments do exist for several physical systems and processes that are relevant in astrophysics and in particular […]
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“Now CHEOPS is ready for transport to Kourou”
The space telescope CHEOPS is foreseen to launch in the last quarter of 2019. “In July, we carried out the final tests on the instrument at Airbus in Madrid,” says project manager Christopher Broeg: “Now CHEOPS is ready for transport to Kourou.” PlanetS: The work on the CHEOPS space telescope was actually completed months ago […]
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More than 1800 planetologists expected in Geneva
While the EPSC (European Planetary Science Congress) and the meeting of the Division of Planetary Science (DPS, USA) are planetology congresses that take place every year on their respective continents, the conference that brings together the two entities, the EPSC-DPS joint meeting, takes place every four years alternately in the USA and Europe. This year, […]
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“My work is completely different now”
For 15 years Annette Jäckel has been working for the comet mission Rosetta. Now, as a grants advisor at the University of Bern, she supports researchers in physics, astronomy and geology in raising competitive third-party funds. “I enjoy providing this service, I’ve always been customer-oriented,” she says. Annette Jäckel knows the career concerns of young […]
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Conflict- and Leadership Management
Workshop for Project Leaders at PlanetS When scientists make the transition to leadership or managerial positions, competences are required that are usually not part of their specialised training. The Academic Platform has therefore organised a 2-day workshop on conflict- and leadership management. It took place in Bern in December 2018 and June 2019. By Nadine […]
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A look back at Bern im All
“Bern im All” (Bern in Space) was a science festival during the last week of June. It was dedicated to everyone and was greatly appreciated by the general public and the scientific community around the University of Bern. Events took place at the University of Bern and the Grosse Schanze, the Kursaal, the Bundesplatz, and […]
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