Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research EAER

On 18 September, the Federal Council decided to impose further sanctions on Belarus, aligning itself with the measures the European Union (EU) adopted against Belarus on 23 April. The changes will come into effect on 19 September.

An international research partnership uniting leading institutions from Germany, Korea and Switzerland to advance the frontiers of quantum spintronics

From 21 to 28 September, Martina Hirayama, State Secretary for Education, Research and Innovation, will lead a science mission to China. The programme includes ministerial-level meetings and visits to science and technology institutions in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Beijing and Shanghai. At the end of the mission, she will attend the awards ceremony of the WorldSkills Competition in Shanghai.

The Federal Government Expert Group on Business Cycles is raising its forecast for economic growth in Switzerland. For 2026, it now expects growth of 1.7% (June forecast: 0.9%), while the forecast for 2027 remains unchanged at 1.6% [1]. Swiss GDP has recently grown strongly. However, the Iran conflict, high energy prices and continuing uncertainty over trade policy pose significant risks to the economic outlook.

Although asthma is the most common chronic condition in childhood, current tests can only diagnose it from the age of five. However, an early asthma diagnosis would be important to prevent long-term complications. Researchers from Empa and the University Children’s Hospital Zurich have now launched a joint research project – with the aim of developing a novel diagnostic protocol so that babies and young children can also receive a reliable diagnosis as early as possible. The project is being carried out thanks to generous funding from various foundations.

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI and ETH Zurich have produced an intense, cold beam of exotic atoms. They aim to use this to test a fundamental principle of Einstein’s theory of gravity – the universality of free fall.