Most antibiotics need to penetrate their target bacteria. But Darobactin, a newly discovered compound, is much too large to do so. Nonetheless, it kills many antibiotic-resistant pathogens – by exploiting a tiny weak spot on their surface. Researchers at the University of Basel’s Biozentrum have now revealed the amazing mechanism at play and thereby opened […]

Registration for the Swiss NanoConvention 2021 organized by the SNI is open. The SNC Online will take place from June 24-25, 2021 and offers an exciting, diverse program. In addition to scientific presentations, there will also be numerous opportunities for interactive exchange among the participants. Don’t miss to register, participate in one of the competitions […]

The annual report 2020 is ready! The annual report provides an overview of the various SNI activities in 2020. In the general part of the report, we present highlights of the year in a language comprehensible to a general readership. In the scientific supplement, you will find scientific reports on all projects financially supported by […]

Researchers in the SNI network have developed a theoretical method to analyze and optimize water splitting by exploiting optical effects. The work, published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry C, will help to advance sustainable hydrogen production without emitting CO2. Original article

An interdisciplinary, multinational research team presents a new class of chemical compounds that can be reversibly oxidized and reduced. The compounds known as ‘pyrazinacenes’ are simple, stable compounds that consist of a series of connected nitrogen-containing carbon rings. They are suitable for applications in electrochemistry or synthesis, as the researchers describe in the science journal […]

March 8 is International Women’s Day. Eight female scientists from the SNI network have briefly described their work and the topics they deal with.

The chemist Murielle Delley researches the fundamentals and mode of action of catalysts. Now the President’s Board of the University of Basel has appointed her as a new Assistant Professor of Chemistry. Furthermore, Professor Randall Platt has been promoted to Associate Professor of Biological Engineering. Professor Murielle Delley has been a research group leader at […]

Physicists from Switzerland, Germany and Ukraine have proposed an innovative new data storage medium. The technique is based on specific properties of antiferromagnetic materials that had previously resisted experimental examination. Using nanoscale quantum sensors, an international research team has succeeded in exploring certain previously uncharted physical properties of an antiferromagnetic material. Based on their results, […]

For the first time, physicists from the University of Basel have produced a graphene compound consisting of carbon atoms and a small number of nitrogen atoms in a regular grid of hexagons and triangles. This honeycomb-structured “kagome lattice” behaves as a semiconductor and may also have unusual electrical properties. In the future, it could potentially […]

Researchers at the University of Basel and Ruhr University Bochum have developed a source of single photons that can produce billions of these quantum particles per second. With its record-breaking efficiency, the photon source represents a new and powerful building-block for quantum technologies. Quantum cryptography promises absolutely secure communications. A key component here are strings […]