Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences

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Media Releases &
UniBE Informations 2025

UniBE Funding – Call for Proposals

UniBE Venture Fellowship

Up to CHF 100,000 for early-career researchers to translate their scientific findings into innovative products and services.

Submit your proposal until 11 December 2025, 17:00.

08.10.2025 UniBE Innovation Office

Media Release UniBE

Organisms can produce energy from air

Researchers from the University of Bern, in collaboration with researchers from Australia and New Zealand, have recreated an important process in the laboratory that enables organisms to obtain energy directly from components found in air. This confirms that certain organisms such as bacteria can actually live on air alone, without relying on sunlight or other energy sources. The findings point to new possibilities for sustainable energy production.

28.07.2025 Media Release UniBE

Media Release UniBE

How disrupted cell processes promote cancer

An international research team with participation from Bern has identified a previously undiscovered mechanism that significantly influences the stability of mRNA. The discovery opens up new perspectives for cancer therapies.

09.05.2025 Media Release UniBE

Media Release UniBE

New strategy against coronaviruses

Researchers at the University of Bern have analyzed a mechanism by which the coronavirus manipulates human cells to replicate itself. They show that a coronavirus protein, which is central to infection, has two independent functions. Only one function however occurs in several species of coronaviruses. These findings could drive the development of broad-spectrum antiviral drugs.

01.04.2025 Media Release UniBE

Media Release UniBE

Sustainable chemistry: Producing molecules more environmentally friendly

Researchers from the University of Bern and the RIKEN research institute in Japan have made a significant advance in sustainable chemistry. They have succeeded in producing organic molecules through a chemical reaction based on the sustainable metals sodium and iron. This represents a more environmentally friendly alternative to conventional methods and has the potential to fundamentally change the production of pharmaceuticals and other fine chemicals.

25.03.2025 Media Release UniBE

Media Monitoring

Neues Forschungszentrum –
Unis in Bern und Basel setzen auf molekulare Quantensysteme

Ein neues Projekt der Universitäten Bern und Basel soll helfen, komplexe Probleme mit Quantencomputer lösen zu können.
(BZ-Artikel basierend auf der Medienmitteilung der Universität)

04.03.2025 Berner Zeitung

Media Release UniBE

New WSS research center for molecular quantum systems

The University of Basel and the University of Bern are setting up a new research center to enable the construction of superconducting quantum units. The Werner Siemens Foundation is supporting the project with a total of CHF 15 million over the next eleven years.

04.03.2025 Media Release UniBE

Media Releases &
UniBE Informations 2024
(and Earlier Years)

Media Releases @UniBE

Media Release UniBE

New endowed lectureship in molecular quantum materials

Thanks to the support of the Bernese entrepreneur Walter Inäbnit, the University of Bern is able to establish a new endowed lectureship. It is based at the newly opened W. Inäbnit Laboratory for Molecular Quantum Materials at the Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences (DCBP). The purpose of this new lectureship is to develop new classes of materials which could potentially solve the problem of energy loss in electronics. The lectureship will be held by PD Dr. Shi-Xia Liu.

11.10.2024 Media Release UniBE

Media Release UniBE

10 million euros for the search for new electrocatalysts

An international group of researchers with participation from the University of Bern is using new concepts to search for efficient and durable electrocatalysts for the energy transition. They are being funded by the European Research Council (ERC) with 10 million euros.

26.10.2023 Media Release UniBE

Media Release UniBE

A gel against intestinal inflammation: Treating the inflamed intestinal wall locally

Treatment of the chronic inflammatory bowel disease ulcerative colitis often produces unsatisfactory results. Researchers at the University of Bern have now developed a lipid gel that is administered directly to the inflamed part of the intestine, where it remains and releases its active substance evenly. This could result in a new, targeted therapy approach with fewer side effects.

24.10.2023 Media Release UniBE

Media Release UniBE

Dem Fachkräftemangel in Pharmazie entgegenwirken

Seit 2020 bietet die Universität Bern ein schweizweit einzigartiges, bifakuItäres Vollstudium in Pharmazie an. Der Studiengang betont die Pharmazie als Brücke zwischen Naturwissenschaften und Medizin und trägt dazu bei, den Mangel an Apothekerinnen und Apothekern in der Schweiz zu bekämpfen. Im Sommer 2022 schloss der erste Jahrgang das Pharmazie-Studium erfolgreich ab.

02.12.2022 Media Release UniBE

Media Release UniBE

Creation of a detailed "catalogue" of degradation products in cells

Cells have their own quality control to prevent the production and accumulation of harmful proteins. This quality control is essential for correct embryonic development in all mammals and plays an important role in tumors and genetic diseases such as cystic fibrosis. A group of researchers from the University of Bern and the University of Basel have now made visible and cataloged for the first time, "blueprints" that give rise to defective proteins and are normally recognized and rapidly degraded in cells. This leads to a better understanding of this degradation mechanism and helps in the development of new therapeutic approaches.

19.08.2021 Media Release UniBE

Media Release UniBasel

Kagome graphene promises exciting properties

For the first time, physicists from the University of Basel, working in collaboration with the Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences of the University of Bern, 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 be used in electronic sensors or quantum computers.

15.02.2021 Media release + YouTube University of Basel

Media Release UniBE

Mechanism discovered how the coronavirus hijacks the cell

Researchers at the University of Bern and ETH Zurich have discovered a mechanism by which the corona virus manipulates human cells to ensure its own replication. This knowledge will help to develop drugs and vaccines against the corona virus.

14.09.2020 Media Release UniBE

Media Release UniBasel

Porous nitrogen-doped graphene ribbons for future electronics

A team of physicists and chemists has produced the first porous graphene ribbons in which specific carbon atoms in the crystal lattice are replaced with nitrogen atoms. These ribbons have semiconducting properties that make them attractive for applications in electronics and quantum computing, as reported by researchers from the Universities of Basel, Bern, Lancaster and Warwick in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

08.07.2020 Media release University of Basel

Media Release UniBE

EU-Forschungsgelder für Berner Spitzenforschung

Jean-Louis Reymond vom Institut für Chemie und Biochemie und Sven Rottenberg vom Institut für Tierpathologie der Universität Bern werden vom Europäischen Forschungsrat (ERC) mit je einem renommierten ERC Advanced Grant ausgezeichnet. Ihre Forschungsprojekte werden mit je 2,5 Millionen Euro über 5 Jahre unterstützt.

31.03.2020 Media Release UniBE

Media Release UniBE

Eine stabile Brücke von Molekülen

Einem internationalen Team unter Beteiligung der Universität Bern ist ein entscheidender Schritt auf dem Weg zu miniaturisierten Schaltkreisen gelungen: Erstmals haben Forschende eine molekulare Brücke für Elektronen gebaut, die bei Raumtemperatur sowohl mechanisch als auch elektronisch stabil bleibt. Dies könnte in Zukunft den Bau elektronischer Systeme im Nanobereich mit völlig neuartigen Funktionen ermöglichen.

01.10.2019 Media Release UniBE

Media Release UniBE

How to construct a protein factory

The complexity of molecular structures in the cell is amazing. Having achieved great success in elucidating these structures in recent years, biologists are now taking on the next challenge: to find out more about how they are constructed. A joint research project between two groups from the University of Bern and ETH Zurich now provides insight into a very unusual construction process in the unicellular parasite Trypanosoma brucei.

19.09.2019 Media Release UniBE

Media Release UniBE

Turbocharger for the cell machinery

Researchers of the University of Bern have discovered a new molecular regulatory mechanism in unicellular parasites which has never before been observed. RNA fragments do not act as brakes in the cell apparatus, but on the contrary as "stimulants": they boost protein production after periods of stress.

10.01.2019 Media Release UniBE

Media Release UniBE

A very special protein synthesis machinery

Sleeping sickness-causing parasites contain an unusual protein synthesis machinery. A team of researchers from ETH Zurich and the University of Bern resolved its very special structure for the first time.

14.09.2018 Media Release UniBE

Media Release UniBE

New defense mechanism against oxygen radicals discovered

Oxygen radicals occur as a by-product when living beings burn carbohydrates or fat. They are suspected of accelerating the ageing process in humans and animals, and to be partly responsible for severe illnesses such as Alzheimer’s or certain types of cancer. Researchers at the University of Bern and the University of Stockholm have now discovered a so far unknown defense mechanism against oxygen radicals which could serve as a base for various medications.

18.06.2018 Media Release UniBE

Media Release UniBE

New weakness discovered in the sleeping sickness pathogen

Trypanosomes are single-celled parasites that cause diseases such as human African sleeping sickness and Nagana in animals. But they are also used in basic research as a model system to study fundamental biological questions. Researchers of the University of Bern have now investigated how trypanosomes equally distribute their “power plant” to the daughter cells during cell division. The discovered mechanism potentially opens new avenues for drug interventions.

16.02.2018 Media Release UniBE

Media Release UniBE

Humidity Switches Molecular Diode Off and On

The tiny diode works by means of an asymmetry caused by water molecules at the molecular junction interface. At around 60% humidity, water molecules lump together at tip side of the molecular layer and cause an imbalance between the energy levels on both sides. This strongly limits the flow of electrons. Under dry circumstances, the molecule’s symmetry doesn’t break and the diode behavior disappears.

04.12.2017 Media Release UniBE

Media Release UniBE

An unusual delivery service

Is it better to produce locally or to import? That can be a crucial question for simple lifeforms as well. Mitochondria, the power plants of the cell, have their own protein factories although the cell apparatus could easily do the job for them. A special species of eukaryotes even has all the transfer-RNA it needs for protein assembly promptly delivered. Researchers from the University of Bern have now uncovered how this highly unusual import mechanism works in detail.

30.08.2017 Media Release UniBE

Media Release UniBE

Graphene electrodes offer new functionalities in molecular electronic nanodevices

An international team of researchers led by the University of Bern and the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) has revealed a new way to tune the functionality of next-generation molecular electronic devices using graphene. The results could be exploited to develop smaller, higher-performance devices for use in a range of applications including molecular sensing, flexible electronics, and energy conversion and storage, as well as robust measurement setups for resistance standards.

09.06.2017 Media Release UniBE

Media Release UniBE

Goldenes «Nano-Schachbrett» für zukünftige Technologien

Eine Goldoberfläche, auf der sich Moleküle mit verschiedenen magnetischen Zentren zu einem Nano-Schachbrettmuster selbst anordnen, stellt den ersten sogenannten ebenen Ferrimagneten dar. Die Existenz solcher zweidimensionaler magnetischer Systeme wurde bisher ausgeschlossen. Dank geschickter Materialwahl wurde dies nun von einer internationalen Forschergruppe mit Berner Beteiligung möglich gemacht.

22.05.2017 Media Release UniBE

Media Release UniBE

How complex cells originated

Mitochondria are the “power plants” of complex cells. In order to provide the cell with energy they need protein building blocks, which are imported from the outside. Over billions of years the “protein import machines” necessary for this process have developed differently than previously assumed, as biochemists in Bern have discovered. This also casts a new light on the evolution of complex cells.

19.12.2016 Media Release UniBE

Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Media Releases

Media Releases & UniBE Informations 2025

UniBE Venture Fellowship

Organisms can produce energy from air

How disrupted cell processes promote cancer

New strategy against coronaviruses

Sustainable chemistry: Producing molecules more environmentally friendly

Neues Forschungszentrum – Unis in Bern und Basel setzen auf molekulare Quantensysteme

New WSS research center for molecular quantum systems

Media Releases & UniBE Informations 2024 (and Earlier Years)

New endowed lectureship in molecular quantum materials

10 million euros for the search for new electrocatalysts

A gel against intestinal inflammation: Treating the inflamed intestinal wall locally

Dem Fachkräftemangel in Pharmazie entgegenwirken

Creation of a detailed "catalogue" of degradation products in cells

Kagome graphene promises exciting properties

Mechanism discovered how the coronavirus hijacks the cell

Porous nitrogen-doped graphene ribbons for future electronics

EU-Forschungsgelder für Berner Spitzenforschung

Eine stabile Brücke von Molekülen

How to construct a protein factory

Turbocharger for the cell machinery

A very special protein synthesis machinery

New defense mechanism against oxygen radicals discovered

New weakness discovered in the sleeping sickness pathogen

Humidity Switches Molecular Diode Off and On

An unusual delivery service

Graphene electrodes offer new functionalities in molecular electronic nanodevices

Goldenes «Nano-Schachbrett» für zukünftige Technologien

How complex cells originated

Media Releases &
UniBE Informations 2025

Neues Forschungszentrum –
Unis in Bern und Basel setzen auf molekulare Quantensysteme

Media Releases &
UniBE Informations 2024
(and Earlier Years)