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Faculty of Science

MNF Science Photo Contest 2024 Winners

People in research: 1st Prize

A photo of a woman and a meerkat

Understanding Animal Minds

Sofia Forss

The "Meerkat Cognition Project" seeks to understand how social and ecological factors interlink with each other to shape interindividual variation in cognitive phenotypes.

People in research: 2nd Prize

A photo of the field with flowers in front and people in background

The innocent bystander

Jakob Assmann

Wide skies, tiny plants and stillness all represent the Arctic tundra to me. Yet, those vast landscapes are not free of people. Indigenous communities have lived in the Arctic for thousands of years. Ecologists are a recent addition to the scene. Here, I captured a typical moment of fieldwork, where we are reorienting ourselves after finishing a set of botanical observations. Often these moments are opportunities for reflection, or lighthearted chat during a hard day of work. Meanwhile, the plants just crack on with their life, exactly like themountain avens (Dryas integrifolia), craning its showy flowerheads towards the sun.

People in research: 3rd Prize

A photo of a man drilling a hole in ice

The hard work of drilling into glacier ice

Giulio Saibene

Camilo Rada taking out the tall ice auger from Kaskawulsh Glacier in the Yukon while drilling a five meter hole to secure a data logger (pole on the left of the image). The station needs to measure the water pressure from a sensor hundreds of meters deep in a nearby moulin for the summer. Securing something on a melting glacier is no simple task. This was part of a network of similar stations to better understand how water moves through a glacier.

Research object: 1st Prize

an image of the Fireworks galaxy (NGC 6946) next to the open star cluster NGC 6939

A colorful couple: Fireworks galaxy and open star cluster NGC 6939

Aurel Schneider

This is an image of the Fireworks galaxy (NGC 6946) next to the open star cluster NGC 6939 taken from Lötschental (Wallis) with a 15cm aperture telescope that our students are using in their Astronomy Practicum. The Fireworks galaxy is 25 Million light-years away showing prominent purple regions of high star-formation. The star cluster is much closer at about 4000 light-years. It features both blue and red stars which is a sign of its advanced age. Some of the bright red stars are at the end of their lives and will soon explode as a supernovae.

Research object: 2nd Prize

 a photo of a wild chimpanzee called Jeje

A penny for your thoughts

Kat Koops

Meet a wild chimpanzee called Jeje who lives in Bossou, Guinea (West Africa). I first met Jeje when he was 6 years old, and I have seen him grow into the impressive adult male he is today. Over the 20 years that I have known him, his community has decreased from 19 to only 3 individuals. Human population growth and habitat loss have isolated his group from neighbouring chimpanzees in the Nimba Mountains. Unfortunately, this is the fate facing many wild chimpanzees across Africa. Urgent conservation action is needed to safe our closest living relatives from extinction.

Research object: 3rd Prize

a photo of an African wild dog pup with a tranquiliser dart in its mouth

The tables have turned

Dominik Behr

This image shows an African wild dog pup with a tranquiliser dart in its mouth. After researchers of the University of Zurich and Botswana Predator Conservation anaesthetised an adult individual in a pack of wild dogs, this pup proved to be a challenge in recovering the dart and appeared very proud of its newfound toy. The photograph was taken in the Okavango Delta in Botswana which represents one of the last remaining strongholds for this endangered carnivore.

Locations and instruments: 1st Prize

a photo of a microbiological expedition at the High Altitude Research Station Jungfraujoch

Exploring the microbiome of the air at Jungfraujoch

Elisa Sosa

This photo shows a microbiological expedition at the High Altitude Research Station Jungfraujoch. Our team investigated which bacteria and fungi live in alpine air. How many bacteria are living in “clean air”? And are there even human pathogens? Situated on the ridge between the mountains of Mönch and Jungfrau, we set up our experiments right below the Sphinx observatory, non-accessible to any tourists. We worked in the thin air from morning till midnight for a whole week, surrounded by beautiful mountains and the impressive Aletsch glacier. Once we even had a heavy snowstorm! It was a challenging but unforgettable experience.

Locations and instruments: 2nd Prize

 a false-colour Landsat 8 image showing the North Siberian tundra

WunderTundra

Hendrik Wulf

This false-colour Landsat 8 image shows the North Siberian tundra along the Indigirka River. In addition to the meandering river, this landscape features several lakes (pink and yellow) next to grasslands and shrubs (green and blue). The vivid colours and patterns of the image reveal the beauty and diversity of the almost untouched tundra landscape in summer.

Locations and instruments: 3rd Prize

a photo of nocturnal greenhouses

Nocturnal Greenhouses

Gaia Zorzi

Fascinating evening moment from one of the sites of Agroscope Reckenholz, where I worked on biologicals during my (UZH) biology bachelor internship.

Life on campus: 1st Prize

a photo of a cat called Moritz

Moritz die ASVZ Katze

Lisa Heierli

Fast jede oder jeder hat sicher einmal "Tigri" gesehen. Sie gehört einer Familie in der Umgebung, das ASVZ Team nennt sie aber liebevoll Moritz. Sie ist oft am Campus Irchel vor dem Eingang des ASVZ zu sehen.

Life on campus: 2nd Prize

a photo of people doing exercises on Irchel Campus

Sunshine to group fitness

Weixiao Han

18:25, Monday 29. April. 2024. Irchel Campus. Professors, Postdoctoral researchers PhD Candidates and Master Students are fitting after the work day, they are lying on the ground to fit regularly and rhythmically followed by the two instructors. Sunshine make them energy and healthy.

Life on campus: 3rd Prize

a photo of choir on the Irchel Campus at night

Chor vor der Irchelbar

Rathes Sriram

Ein Chor sorgt vor der Irchelbar für eine gemütliche Weihnachtsstimmung!

Interactions: 1st Prize

a photo of lined up hands of children close to water surface

Schulkinder beim Versuch das Blatt des Frauenmantels nass zu machen

Claudia Winteler

Bei einer Schulklassenführung wurde das Thema Lotoseffekt durchgenommen und die Kinder durften den Versuch machen, ein Frauenmantelblatt nass zu machen, was ihnen wegen eben diesem Effekt nicht gelang. Sie tauchten es ins Wasser und hielten es unter einem fliessenden Wasserhahn, aber das Wasser perlte immer wieder vom Blatt ab und blieb so trocken wie zuvor.

Interactions: 2nd Prize

a photo of hands of children at the augmented reality sandbox

Many hands make light work in this augmented reality sandbox

Jochem Braakhekke

The NPOC (National Point of Contact for satellite data) was present at this year’s interactive exhibition for kids tunBasel, to promote earth observation from space. The highlight of our booth is the augmented reality sandbox, which demonstrates how a satellite measures the surface elevation of our planet. It allows kids to build mountains and valleys with sand and to make it rain on their landscape, thereby forming rivers and lakes. The projection gets continuously updated and most kids just can’t get enough of it. Excitement and amazement guaranteed, while learning about geography and satellite remote sensing.

Interactions: 3rd Prize

a photo of a man having an exchange in a community in Guinea

Working together

Kat Koops

Henry Didier Camara, the Guinean research team lead of the Nimba Chimpanzee Project, exchanges with the local community in Seringbara about chimpanzee research and conservation. Chimpanzees in the Nimba Mountains (Guinea), and elsewhere in Africa, are endangered due to habitat encroachment, extractive industries, and illegal human activities. The Nimba Chimpanzee Project takes a holistic approach to conservation based on scientific research, capacity building, and community engagement. Protecting wild chimpanzees and their habitat requires close and sustained collaboration with the local communities.