Establishing probabilities rather than facts
Awarded with a medal for his body of work on fingerprints, Christophe Champod talks about his career and his field of research, which he probes on the basis of probabilities.
Continue reading →Night flight
How do parasites in the blood or eating habits influence the metabolism of bats? To understand these questions, a team of biologists is conducting a vast study on the Daubenton’s bats living on the University of Lausanne (UNIL) campus. Read on and find out more about these mysterious creatures.
Continue reading →Promoting all careers for women on campus
In June 2017, UNIL launched its 2017- 2020 action plan for gender equality. A document that encompasses five priority targets, including the aim that 40% of professors should be female.
Continue reading →More coffee, vicar?
Fresh from her appointment as Director of the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, Murielle Bochud takes a true-or-false quiz all about coffee and its main component, caffeine.
Continue reading →Germaine and Benjamin, the enfants terribles of the French Enlightenment
As committed intellectuals, Germaine de Staël and Benjamin Constant provide us with an interesting insight into a turbulent period of Europe’s history at the turn of the nineteenth century. And their fight for liberty remains highly topical today.
Continue reading →Can you hear me, doctor?
A smart stethoscope that allows patients to measure the first signs of respiratory infection or heart problems at home. This idea enabled the Stethup team to win the START competition at the University of Lausanne in 2017.
Continue reading →And what if money no longer existed tomorrow?
With one of its tasks being precisely that of issuing money, the Swiss National Bank will soon be putting the new 20 franc note into circulation. But is it appropriate to launch such denominations when fewer and fewer payments are being made in cash?
Continue reading →Love and power in the land of the Soviets
In her book “Une histoire érotique du Kremlin” (An Erotic History of the Kremlin), researcher Magali Delaloye retraces the life of women who gravitated to the heart of Bolshevism. Campaigner for free love, adored daughter, self-effacing, trapped or voluntarily exiled wife: what path did these women tread alongside Lenin or Stalin?
Continue reading →‘An ERC Grant is the pinnacle of recognition’
The European Research Council (ERC) is this year celebrating ten years in existence. The fund awards grants to top European researchers. What is its significance for UNIL? Here François Bussy, Vice Rector for Research and International Relations, explains.
Continue reading →Laws for robots must come soon
Siri, Aido, Roxxxy: whether machines with augmented intelligence or automatons, robots range from lawn mower to adviser and friend. While these gifted machines have not yet overtaken science fiction, they are coming close to it. Before they start laying down the law, isn’t it time to give them a legal framework? Sylvain Métille, specialist in law relating to data protection and new technologies, says it is.
Continue reading →