News

Whether a plant can draw water from the soil depends on the soil’s physical properties, not the plant itself. This explains why previous programmes aimed at cultivating drought-resistant plants have never been successful. 

How do researchers and policymakers collaborate effectively under uncertainty and time pressure? A new competencies framework, published by the Engage initiative, offers a structured answer. It identifies four capacities — cognitive, spatial-temporal, relational, and reflexive — that enable meaningful science–policy dialogue, and is accompanied by a cartoon series and a growing Community of Practice.

In the fight against the climate crisis, countries are pinning great hope in reforestation projects. In a new study, ETH Zurich researchers show that the location in which reforestation is taking place is usually more important than the number of trees planted. If forests are strategically positioned, the same cooling effect could be achieved using half the area of land. 

Over thousands of years, the swamps and peatlands in the Congo Basin have accumulated and stored huge amounts of carbon. A research team led by ETH Zurich has now shown that large lakes in this ecosystem are releasing long-buried carbon – which could incur a long-term impact on the global climate. 

The World Food System Center is entering a new chapter with a transition in the leadership of its Steering Committee. 

How and where does life originate in the universe? How can physical phenomena be measured with the highest precision? How is Switzerland handling increasing climate and weather extremes? Three new National Centres of Competence in Research (NCCRs), awarded to ETH Zurich and its partner universities, seek to answer these questions.

A recent project has successfully validated the integration of autonomous aerial robotics and environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis for the early detection of invasive species. The research demonstrated that this interdisciplinary approach provides a significant temporal advantage over traditional monitoring methods in Swiss viticulture.

Alumni Stories: Fiona Schneider reflects on how an intensive deep dive at the WFSC Summer School 2025 shaped her approach to food systems, interdisciplinary groupwork, and collaborative change.

The Center looks back on the many exchanges and new collaborations with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 2025. Much of the cooperation has been boosted by the growing UN-ETH Partnership.