Ted X (the X in this instance stands for Lausanne) is alive and very much provoking. The 2015 event held this week on the UNIL campus in Lausanne offered over 200 attendees a remarkably diverse selection of presentations in English. But this is to mislead – because it’s often not just the presenters who are […]
Solar Impulse 2 announces around world flight path
The Swiss pilots of Solar Impulse 2 unveiled the flight path they plan to take on their 35,000 kilometre around the world journey ahead of take-off from Abu Dhabi. Solar Impulse 2 will take-off from Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, in late February or early March and return by late July or early […]
From School to University : a giant leap?
The IB, A-Level, Maturité and Bac are all stepping stones to university but how adequate are they in preparing students for what is to come? Does one serve that purpose better than others? These different diplomas offer different styles of studies but are equally valid in terms of academic level. The Maturité trains students to […]
Double bliss: The wonders of being an exchange student
International exchange programmes are life-changing. Andrina Sommer, a Swiss 15 year-old girl went to Johannesburg on an exchange for a year with YFU Suisse, a well-respected youth exchange organiser… “When are you coming back home?” Was the first question my host family asked me when I called them a few weeks back. Crazy how I […]
Only the young can master a new language: myth or truth?
Popular wisdom has long held it that the younger you are the easier it is to learn a foreign language. Whether expat or immigrant, parents of small children have long noticed, often to their own chagrin, how quickly their offspring become bilingual. It’s a phenomenon the Swiss have long exploited in order to preserve the […]
New kindergarten planned for Lausanne
The Petit de Chateau de Vennes, a charming period mansion originally built in 1839 is being re-developed as a nursery and kindergarten at a cost of nearly CHF 3 million. The much-needed municipal facility, on the Route de Berne, will service families in the Vennes and La Sallaz neighbourhoods of north Lausanne. It is expected […]
Web inventor Timothy Berners-Lee wins prestigious Swiss Award
The brains behind the creation of the world wide web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee has been awarded prestigious Gottleib Duttweiler award. According to the institute, the award recognises people who have made “outstanding contributions to the well-being of the wider community”. Previous winners include: Václav Havel, president of the former Czechoslovakia; and Wikipedia founder, Jimmy Wales. […]
CERN names new director general
Italian physicist Fabiola Gianotti has been named director general of the CERN particle physics research centre. She is the first woman nominated and chosen to head a leading global scientific institution. With a doctorate from the University of Milan, Gianotti has worked as a CERN researcher since 1987. Once she receives formal approval from the […]
Wikipedia to hold Swiss fundraiser throughout December
Every time you access Wikipedia from a computer in Switzerland during the month of December you can expect to see a banner asking you to help fund projects in Switzerland. The online fundraising campaign aims to raise $50 million worldwide primarily from individual readers. Last year, Swiss donors gave an average of CHF 43. Wikipedia […]
Swiss precision in space
As the world celebrates the remarkable landing of the robotic Philae lander on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko ten years after it was launched from earth, scientists are looking forward to analysing the first panoramic and 3D shots of the comet’s landscape taken from ground level. The pictures will be taken by seven cameras developed in Neuchâtel by […]