More than 200 projects have been submitted since March 6 as part of the research programme launched by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) on coronavirus and its impact.
This content was published on
1 minute
Keystone-SDA/ts
“We have been able to finance 36 of them,” SNSF president Matthias Egger told Le Temps newspaper on Tuesday. He said all of the selected programmes, which cross many disciplines, had started.
“Furthermore, in May we launched a national research programme on Covid-19 on behalf of the government. The projects are very diverse, many of which obviously concern immunology or virology.”
Concrete applications
Egger is also a professor at the Institute for Social and Preventive Medicine at the University of Bern and hopes that the research “will soon be translated into concrete applications”.
To improve the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, Egger proposes setting up a state-of-the-art infectious disease surveillance system in Switzerland, “integrating clinical and biological information in real time”. He also advocates a “digitised and efficient” system for tracing contacts that is the same in all cantons.
As of Monday, there have been more than 34,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Switzerland and Liechtenstein and 1,700 deaths.
More
More
Coronavirus: the situation in Switzerland
This content was published on
An overview of the latest Covid-related information in the Alpine nation.
Red Cross: 22 staff killed in Middle East since October
This content was published on
The Red Cross and Red Crescent network in Gaza and Israel has lost 22 staff members since last October, the Swiss Red Cross (SRC) said on Wednesday.
Dortmund’s Kobel is first Swiss goalie in Champions League final
This content was published on
Borussia Dortmund’s Gregor Kobel has achieved history by becoming the first Swiss goalkeeper to reach a Champion’s League final.
University students in Switzerland join Gaza protest wave
This content was published on
Pro-Palestinian activists occupied university buildings in Lausanne, Geneva and Zurich on Tuesday, widening the protest movement in the Alpine nation.
TradeXBank to resume full operations after Sberbank Switzerland taken off sanctions list
This content was published on
TradeXBank, the former Swiss branch of Russia’s Sberbank, will be able to resume its dollar-denominated activities from the second half of this year.
Geneva decides not to remove controversial memorials
This content was published on
The city of Geneva has presented an action plan regarding a series of controversial local statues and monuments of historical figures linked to racism, colonialism or slavery.
University of Lausanne calls for end to pro-Palestine sit-in
This content was published on
The pro-Palestinian occupation continues at the University of Lausanne (UNIL). On Monday evening, a group of students refused to agree to the deadline set by the rectorate.
Ukraine peace conference should include Russia, says Chinese ambassador
This content was published on
China supports a peace conference on the Ukraine war that would see equal participation of all parties, says Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Will Covid-19 jumpstart the ‘gig economy’ in Switzerland?
This content was published on
The so-called “gig economy” has taken off around the world, but Switzerland has always been lukewarm to the concept - until now?
Lausanne hospital test chosen for coronavirus study
This content was published on
A test developed at Lausanne university hospital has been chosen for wide-scale coronavirus antibody studies of the Swiss population.
Covid-19 tracking: Knowing where you are without knowing who you are
This content was published on
Many governments in western democracies wish to use our mobile phones to track social-distancing compliance during the coronavirus pandemic.
Robots will help us manage Covid-19, but not in the way we think
This content was published on
Covid-19 could be a boon for the robotics industry, leaving companies to decide when and where humans are better than machines.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.