MNF-Fotowettbewerb Wissenschaft / Science Photo Contest

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Kategorie: Interaktionen / Category: Interactions

IN-1 Many hands make light work in this augmented reality sandbox landscape 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. by Jochem Braakhekke	IN-2 Conquering Aferdou El Mrakib Moroccan & UZH-students climbing a 388'000'000 year old reef in Morocco during a joint field trip. by Christian Klug	IN-3 Students listening to the presentation of a professor in the rain Although it was raining very hard, the students listened to the interesting presentation carefully about this measuring site. The professor had a waterproof map with posters to show all students the graphs and pictures. He was the expert explaining to students, and he was very good at presenting! by Belle Holthuis

IN-4 Flow This picture shows a typical scientific conference. On the left, we see the conference room and on the right scientists are discussing/networking. In the back, you can see several scientific posters. I like this picture since it has a certain flow due to the structure of the conference hall. Just like the flow of the conversation of the scientists, there is a flow in research. by Stephanie van Gijn	IN-5 Working together 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. by Kathelijne Koops	IN-6 Schulkinder beim Versuch das Blatt des Frauenmantels nass zu machen. 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. by Claudia Winteler

IN-7 Filmtermin für KiKa mit CrowdWater Aufnahme für einen Beitrag über CrowdWater im Fernsehprogram KiKa by Jan Seibert

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Kategorie: Campus Life / Category: Life on Campus

LC-1 Moritz die ASVZ Katze 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. by Lisa	LC-2 Sunshine to Group Fitness 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. by Weixiao Han	LC-3 Chor vor der Irchelbar Ein Chor sorgt vor der Irchelbar für eine gemütliche Weihnachtsstimmung! by Rathes Sriram

LC-4 Groups of students digging out the blue dyed soils On a sunny day, students were finding preferential flow paths in the soil by digging out large pieces of heavy soil. For geography students it is normal to go outside often and do excursion/practica outdoors so this is the everyday life of students that are often outdoors researching out earth and nature! by Belle Holthuis	LC-5 Colourful Campus The veggies are part of my weekly fruit and vegetable subscription, which I pick up every Tuesday on Campus Irchel. The opportunity to get organic, local and seasonal products directly at my workplace is not only very practical for me, but also adds a lot of color to my everyday campus life. by Christiane Meyer-Habighorst	LC-7 Surprise visitor A beautiful surprise guest in my wheat field that just escapes by Katharina Jung

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Kategorie: Standorte und Instrumente / Category: Locations Instruments

LI-1 Exploring the microbiome of the air at Jungfraujoch (3500m) 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. by Elisa Sosa	LI-2 Trapped: War(dance) on the horizon Meerkats (Suricata suricatta), are the driving force of the Kalahari Research Centre (KRC) in South Africa, having been the initial study species that has been continually studied at the site since 1993. Camera traps provide a valuable resource for being able to study landscape changes alongside dynamics within the diverse array of species it calls home. This can include capturing interactions between the wild meerkat groups, even when a researcher is not present. Here, the ‘Zulus’ group ‘war-dances’ in their most threatening stance towards a rival group of meerkats, to fight for a prime burrow within their territory. by Zoe Turner	LI-3 Precision in Practice: Exploring the Laboratory Essentials! Step into the world of scientific precision and discovery with my captivating image capturing the essence of laboratory essentials! Delve into the meticulous artistry of science as pipettes, tips, agar plates, Eppendorf tubes, markers, and a stopwatch stand as symbols of innovation and exploration. Witness the convergence of accuracy and curiosity, where each element plays a vital role in unraveling the mysteries of the science. From the delicate maneuvering of pipettes to the anticipation marked by the stopwatch, this image invites you to embark on a journey of experimentation and enlightenment. Embrace the beauty of scientific inquiry and let your curiosity ignite! by Keshav Goyal

LI-4 Equations Entangled: A Plea for Clarity A picture taken at a math conference center. A blackboard in one of the corridors, reserved for casual discussions. Despite the intellectual intensity conveyed by the complex equations, the presence of the sign introduces a touch of whimsy or irony, suggesting a desire to clear the slate amidst the sea of calculations. This creates a scene ripe for interpretation, evoking notions of order, impermanence, and the ever-present pursuit of clarity in the pursuit of knowledge. From the simple directive to erase, a poignant reminder emerges – the honest lesson that one must always be ready to restart from scratch. by Alberto Cattaneo	LI-5 Dendro-Drill The photo shows a drill used to collect tree cores for dedro-studies. This photo was taken in a small Rustico in the Calanca Valley. The aim of the small student project was to date the big trunk of the Rustico, to have an estimated construction year. However, as there were only around 50 year rings, the cross-dating was difficult and the results not very meaningful. by Valentino Känzig	LI-6 Navigation in the collective My research focuses on tracking wild meerkats in the Kalahari using biologgers that include a GPS, audio recorder, and accelerometer to understand how meerkats make collective decisions about where to travel. Photo taken at the Kalahari Research Centre, Kuruman River Reserve, South Africa. by Lily Johnson-Ulrich

LI-7 The snow patch. Aerial photography with drones has become an essential research tool in ecology. In the Arctic tundra, we use drones to map the finely distributed vegetation. Processing the thousands of pictures generated into a map can be a tedious process, but every now and then we capture the character of the landscape in one single photograph. Here, we see a snow patch in a typical polygonal tundra landscape. The geometric features are created by freeze and thaw of the frozen soils. A creak runs through the snow patch, creating a snake or lizard like pattern. Victoria Island, Nunavut, Canada. by Jakob Assmann	LI-8 Phone as instrument? A picture can be enough! Sometimes your instruments can be very simple, like taking a photo of what you have found and analyse it later inside. In the field the sun can be very bright or it can be raining, making it difficult to find conclusions at that specific moment in the field. It is always smart to take pictures during field work to be able to look back later! by Belle Holthuis	LI-9 DNA strand comb This device allows for DNA strands to stretch onto microscope slides, which is called combing. The machine is attached to a microscope slide that moves up at a particular speed. DNA in the suspension is then "combed" onto the slide. Standard laboratory equipment such as a styrofoam box is used the elevate the fiber coming device. by Stephanie van Gijn

LI-10 Chimpanzee paradise? The Nimba Mountains in the south-eastern corner of Guinea (West Africa) are home to a population of critically endangered western chimpanzees. Despite its protected status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the area continues to be impacted by human encroachment, extractive industries, and illegal human activities. The Nimba region is a biodiversity hotspot with many endemic species and has been internationally recognized as a priority area for chimpanzee conservation. The Nimba Chimpanzee Project conducts long-term research on these mountain chimpanzees and uses its findings to inform applied conservation strategies. by Kathelijne Koops	LI-11 Arabidopsis on the rocks. With the sun setting and no more light to distinguish plants on the ground, an exhaustive day of fieldwork comes to an end. To study the population dynamics of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, we collect many samples from the plant in its natural habitat. Leaves are picked off, stored in little bags, and frozen in liquid nitrogen. The bags containing the tissue are kept cold in a vapor shipper – an oversized thermos flask that maintains a core temperature of around -80°C. by Alex Pluess	LI-12 Researchers scan horizon in the Canadian Arctic Researchers use binoculars to scan the horizon in the Canadian Arctic, near Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. It is important to stay vigilant and aware of your surroundings in this area! It is also often possible to observe interesting tundra bird and mammal species. In this case, researchers were observing a family of Sandhill Cranes. by Debora Obrist

LI-13 Nocturnal Greenhouses Fascinating evening moment from one of the sites of Agroscope Reckenholz, where I worked on biologicals during my (UZH) biology bachelor internship. by Gaia Zorzi	LI-14 WunderTundra This false-colour Landsat 8 image shows the North Siberian tundra along the Protoka Ularovskaya 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. by Hendrik Wulf	LI-15 Understand an immense starry sky us and the chimpanzees we study don’t seem so different In the middle of the forest in Uganda, the sky is clear at night and we can see so many more stars. I took this long exposure photo to show both the houses where we stay when studying wild chimpanzees and the beautiful sky above us. by Adrian Soldati

LI-16 Tubes Science is undergoing a revolution and thanks to new technologies, it is possible to study things that were previously only hypothesised. However, there are "trivial" instruments that are essential for research. These glass tubes with metal lids are used to create bacterial cultures that are then used to transform plants and create new research tools, such as mutants to study the function of a gene.Canon FTb, 35mm, Ilford HP5 PLUS 400. by Filippo Maria Mirasole	LI-17 Awe at dawn Morning dawn over an ocean-terminating outlet glacier in South Greenland. by Armin Dachauer	LI-18 Multi-tasking in meerkats: Guarding while collecting scientific data This meerkat is equipped with a small audio-GPS collar recording its vocalisations and displacements continuously a few hours per day for a week. Here, the dominant male is sitting high up on a tree trunk to scan the surrounding environment for predators while other individuals of the group are foraging. Sensors in the collar provide synchronized acoustic and behavioral data to better understand dynamics and cohesion in meerkat groups. by Mathilde Martin

LI-19 The Privilege of Science This photo captures a moment in a small village in the Republic of Congo, home to farming and foraging communities. My research in Congo focuses on understanding tool-use skill development in children. This setting offers invaluable insights into how the natural environment may play a crucial role in shaping the early development and acquisition of tool use skills. This photo serves as a reminder that science can extend beyond the conventional lab setting. It underscores the importance of studying environments like this and sheds light on the ecological factors that may have influenced our evolution. by Ellen Soeters	LI-20 Sonnenuntergang Campus Irchel Auf dem Heimweg von der Arbeit, am Abend, erlebe ich einen wundrschönen Sonnenuntergang auf dem Campus Irchel. by Petra Seibert	LI-21 Gäste aus dem Zoo bestaunen CrowdWater Kamele aus dem Zoo an einem CrowdWater Standort am Züriberg by Jan Seibert

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Kategorie: Menschen in der Forschung / Category: People in Research

PR-1 Exploring the microbiome of the air at Jungfraujoch (3500m) This photo shows a scientific field experiment at the High Altitude Research Station Jungfraujoch. Our team investigated which bacteria and fungi live in alpine air. Are there even human pathogens? We used special devices to put fresh air onto round agar plates, on which the microorganisms can grow. Here, you can see me switching those red plates. 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. by Elisa Sosa	PR-2 Herbivores hide in the dark In this project, we investigated how light pollution affects plant-herbivores interactions. As many groups of insects show a strong phototaxy behaviours (individuals are attracted by the light), we used military night-vision googles to quantify number of nocturnal plant-herbivores interactions in biodiversity promotion area, in order to not disturb insects communitite with headlamps. by Vincent Grognuz	PR-3 Sampling Success in the Search for the Freshwater Mussel Anodonta anatina in a Beautiful Lake in Switzerland in Summer 2023. This image captures me (Julie Conrads) engaged in the successful sampling of Anodonta anatina, a native species of freshwater mussels in decline, in Switzerland's aquatic habitats. Freshwater mussels, play a critical role in biodiversity, but are globally and regionally in decline. These mussels were collected to later evaluate the vulnerability of 32 populations throughout Switzerland. Conducting fieldwork was one of my favourite aspects of this project. I spent approximately 60 hours snorkelling underwater to collect these mussels, making it one of the most enjoyable summers I've ever experienced! by Julie Conrads

PR-4 A beautiful experimental wheat field in Mexico The photo shows researchers taking measurements in a large wheat field in the north of Mexico, with the mountains of the Sonoran desert in the background. When looking carefully, you can observe the diversity of wheat plants growing in the field. Compared to the ones you might know from surrounding fields, the plants in the picture come in all shapes, sizes and colours. Here we study how these wheat plants respond to drought conditions to simulate potential future climates. by Katharina Jung	PR-5 Understanding Animal Minds The "Meerkat Cognition Project" seeks to understand how social and ecological factors interlink with each other to shape interindividual variation in cognitive phenotypes. by Sofia Forss	PR-6 The innocent bystander. 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. by Jakob Assmann

PR-7 Observing mountain chimpanzees Local research team members of the Nimba Chimpanzee Project (Gnan Mamy, Yon Zogbila, Nema Guêmy, Cé Samy) engaged in a direct observation of wild chimpanzees in the Nimba Mountains, Guinea (West Africa). The Nimba chimpanzees live in an extremely rugged and mountainous place and finding them can be a real challenge. Hence, it is all the more rewarding when the team gets to observe these elusive apes. The Nimba Chimpanzee Project was established in 2003 and the research team works tirelessly to study and protect these critically endangered chimpanzees and their habitat. by Kathelijne Koops	PR-8 Student participating in the Blue Dye Experiment, carrying a blue soil The top of the blue soil needs to be removed to see the flow routes, so students have to carry heavy blue soils. It is nice to see students working together to get the heave soil out of the plot because it needs to be put back in place after the practicum. by Belle Holthuis	PR-9 Fascination Here, I am studying microscope slides. Suddenly, things become visible that were not visible before. A fascinating new world opens up! by Stephanie van Gijn

PR-10 Livin in da hood This is the picture a colleague took of me when we first came to see the new labs we were to move into in the UZI5 building. All of us were so happy and started to interface with everything, which was a rare opportunity for biosafety reasons in all running labs. Now we have been working happily in the new building for 3 years and we all got very used to it, but we certainly do remember the moment of excitement when we saw this modern, beautiful work place for the first time. by Weijia Zhong	PR-11 Preparation for pigeon sampling In the context of a research project, we are investigating the prevalence of two avian pathogens in various Swiss cities. For our study, swab samples are taken from pigeons in urban pigeon lofts and then examined in the laboratory. Even if you might think at first glance that you are in an infectious high-risk area, this is merely the preparations for taking samples in the pigeon loft at "Tierpark Bern". by Nina Wolfrum	PR-12 Of mice and men Animal Technician Mark Ormiston setting up the intricate and delicate machinery of an ultrasound-guided microinjection system. By injecting CRISPR lentivirus into mice embryos in utero we can study epithelial cancer evolution. The reflection of the researcher symbolizing that what is behind the glass is ultimately a tool to study ourselves. by Peter Renz

PR-13 Von Professoren geleitet, von Studenten entdeckt: Die tektonische Vielfalt von Verzasca Auf dem Bild sieht man Studenten und Professoren, die gemeinsam in der Natur die tektonischen Gegebenheiten erforschen. Der Professor zeigt den Studierenden die verschiedenen Gesteinsschichten und erklärt, wie diese entstanden sind. Die Gruppe ist voller Eifer und Neugierde, während sie die geologischen Phänomene erkunden. Die Szene strahlt eine entspannte Atmosphäre des gemeinsamen Lernens und Entdeckens aus, während die Studenten von den Erfahrungen und dem Wissen der Professoren profitieren. by Rafael Stutz	PR-14 The hard work of drilling into glacier ice 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. by Giulio Saibene	PR-15 Collecting soil samples for Arctic research Here, Dr. Jakob Assmann is seen collecting soil samples near Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Canada, during summer fieldwork in 2023. Jakob is working on a project that determines whether extracting environmental DNA from these soil samples can give us the same information about plant communities as conducting traditional botanical surveys. If successful, Jakob’s work will enable more efficient sampling of tundra vegetation. by Debora Obrist

PR-16 Swimming in the oceans of the past This 10 million year old whale looks like swimming in a sea of sand! Photo taken in 2022 while I was surveying the Ocucaje desert in Peru, where my PhD is focused. by Aldo Benites-Palomino	PR-17 What we see when we cannot see I took this shot of my colleague Dominik, while he was conduction a test for specific gravity (testing the hydration of urine) in our field lab in Tsimaneland in the Bolivian Amazon. by Valerie Bättig	PR-18 Researcher observing chimpanzee observing other chimpanzees Here we see a researcher taking notes of the social behaviours of a sub-adult male chimpanzee who just joined other chimpanzees from his community who are feeding on trees, and he looks up towards them. Living in a fission-fusion society where individuals separate in sub-groups and may not see each other for hours or days, chimpanzee reunions and greeting interactions are key when it comes to maintain good social relationships, especially for a young male trying to find his place among the “big guys”. by Adrian Soldati

PR-19 Out of the center Research is done by people who are dedicated to their work. This entails trials and failures and therefore a great deal of waste and dirt. Every day, invisibly to most, the cleaning staff clean the laboratories, allowing students and researchers to continue working the next day. This photo testifies to an important role that is often “out of the center” of our attention. Canon FTb, 35mm, Ilford HP5 PLUS 400. by Filippo Maria Mirasole	PR-20 Researcher in the Lab The Congo Basin is home to many indigenous communities, including the BaYaka. Here, BaYaka researcher, Bienvenue, conducts behavioural observations with BaYaka children as they forage for caterpillars in the forest. My research focuses on understanding the development of tool-use skills in children living in natural forest environments. Environmental opportunities may play a crucial role in shaping early development and skill acquisition. I chose this photo to highlight that our field research would not be possible without the guidance and leadership of local communities and local researchers. by Ellen Soeters	PR-21 Preparation of a catalyst for activation of strong C–H bonds The bonds between hydrogen and carbon atoms (C–H bonds) are the most frequent type of bonds in organic molecules. The ability to replace hydrogen atoms with bonds to other atoms can enable simpler access to complex organic molecules. The image shows the final stage of the preparation of a new catalyst that is capable of activating strong C–H bonds at room temperature. The catalyst is formed as a solid from a solution that is present in the vial held by a PhD student Jyoti Dhankhar at the Department of Chemistry, UZH. by Ilija Coric

PR-22 I told you, I had a lot to eat yesterday! Matilde is a volunteer at the Kalahari Research Center, where groups of habituated wild meerkats have been studied for several decades. The meerkats have been trained to step on a scales several times a day, enabling researchers to collect individual data on their foraging success. This meerkat found the scales the best place to enjoy the warmth of the morning sun! by Mathilde Martin	PR-23 Sidewalk Spatial Accessibility in Zurich for Mobility Restricted Persons Imagine navigating the city with limited mobility. A narrow sidewalk, a too-steep ramp, a high curb, stairs, or other obstacles can turn a simple walk into a challenge. This is the reality for some people in Zurich. Existing routing services and digital maps often do not provide useful routing guidance for these groups because detailed sidewalk accessibility information is missing. This is where the ZuriACT project steps in. As a pilot citizen science project between the University of Zurich and the City of Zurich, ZuriACT aims to remedy this situation. It creates the basis for citizens to contribute to enriching spatial accessibility data on sidewalks in Zurich. The picture illustrates the ZuriACT Scientifica event, where participants experience a walk and learn how obstacles affect people with mobility impairments. by Hoda Allahbakhshi	PR-24 Studierende an grünem Fluss Studierende messen den Abfluss an der Alp mit Hilfe eines Tracerexperiments by Jan Seibert

PR-25 Chemistry Lab Me and my colleges finishing our tasks in general chemistry practical by Inna Fish

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Kategorie: Forschungsobjekte / Category: Research Objects

RO-1 „Khumo“ (Tswana for wealth) During my first years at UZH I closely followed a meerkat litter to study their vocal development and behaviour. Khumo, mostly called “right-shoulder” based on her ID marking, was particularly curious and while I was watching her and her siblings, she seemed to study me as well. by Britta Walkenhorst	RO-2 Selfie-Time During my vocal recordings on the pup, tje adult meerkats wanted some attention too and asked me if they can borrow my phone for a selfie ;) by Anja Diefenbacher	RO-3 Sneaky Settler: Documenting an Introduced Gecko on Grand Comoro Island Just as this camera-shy individual hides behind a banana leaf, this newly introduced lizard species has been hiding in plain sight on Grand Comoro—one of four islands of the Comoros Archipelago in the Western Indian Ocean. During a recent field expedition, we found multiple of these non-native Gold Dust Day Geckos (Phelsuma laticauda) living in urban gardens amongst other native and introduced lizard species, confirming their successful establishment and continued spread on Grand Comoro. The Gold Dust Day Gecko is one of the reptile species found in the Comoros that my colleagues and I study at UZH to learn more about the impact of environmental change—including invasive species—on island systems. by Kathleen C. Webster

RO-4 Shapes of Fragilaria crotonensis The image allows a glimpse into the hidden life in a water drop and shows the focal point of my master's thesis: Fragilaria crotonensis. This freshwater diatom is colony-forming, allowing for these spectacular double-helix shapes. The picture was taken with an inverted light microscope. Phytoplankton are pivotal primary producers, but under climate change, their habitats are changing rapidly. For my thesis, I collect and isolate samples from different Swiss lakes and compare the adaptation potential of phytoplankton to varying environments. These tiny organisms are on the base of entire food webs and contribute significantly to the air we breathe. by Divina Ryf	RO-5 Arabidopsis Rose This is a novel flower created using a combination of classical genetics and synthetic biology to transform the normally small inconspicuous flower of Arabidopsis thaliana into a beautiful pink rose. The story behind its creation can be found here: https://x.com/NickDesnoyer/status/1736748209869902046 by Nicholas Desnoyer	RO-6 Vulturine guineafowl fitted with a GPS tracking device Vulturine guineafowl are an enigmatic species that lives in East Africa. Until recently, nothing was known about this species. GPS tracking revealed a big surprise: these birds form a complex society previously known only to exist in primates and large mammals. by Damien Farine

RO-7 Entanglement When a plant is deprived from crucial nutrients it can call for help and attract beneficial microbes. The photo depicts the early stages of symbiosis between the hornwort Anthoceros agrestis and the nitrogen-fixing specialist Nostoc punctiforme. The plant is stained in green and turquoise, it's energy producing chloroplasts can be seen in magenta. The cyanobiont with it's chain of cells can be seen in white or magenta. In the middle of the photo, endophytic Nostoc cells are forming a colony that provides nitrogen to the hornwort in exchange for polysachharides. by Anna Neubauer	RO-8 Spirals keep the spores in check/Spiralen schließen die Sporen ein (EN) Section of a sporophyte of the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha. Hundreds of thousands of spores intermingled with elongated elaters are locked inside the sporophyte by the second cell layer with spiral secondary cell wall thickenings. This is caused by a mutation in the uppermost cell layer that changes the shape of the cell wall thickenings from rings in wild type to spirals. Spores are ~5µm in diameter. Toluidine Blue/Ruthenium Red counterstaining. Magnification 630x. (DE) Schnitt durch einen Sporophyten des Lebermooses Marchantia polymorpha. Hunderttausende Sporen und elongierte Elateren sind im Sporophyten gefangen durch die Zellschicht mit spiralen Zellwandverdickungen. Ursache ist eine Mutation in der obersten Zellschicht, welche die üblichen Ringverdickungen zu Spiralen verändert. Die Sporen haben einen Durchmesser von ~5µm. Toluidine Blue/Ruthenium Red Gegenfärbung. Vergrößerung 630x. by Tom Dierschke	RO-9 Golden mystery of the Kalahari Yellow mongoose (Cynictis penicillata), members of the mongoose family alongside meerkats (Suricata suricatta), are one of the many incredible species studied at the Kalahari Research Centre (KRC) in South Africa. From their social systems to their communicative and cognitive abilities, they are full of wonder and intrigue, and it is no wonder that they are such a huge focus of study by research groups at the University of Zurich and beyond. Currently, yellow mongoose are a study species within Prof. Marta Manser’s Animal Behaviour group, including within the Mongoose Cognition Project led by Ambizione Group Leader, Dr. Sofia Forss. by Zoe Turner

RO-10 Meerkat pups, ready to explore the world together! Meerkat pups, about four weeks old in their first days of foraging with the group, like to huddle together and experience the new environment in support of each other. Here, the four pups of one of the habituated Kalahari Meerkat Project groups studied in their natural habitat at the Kalahari Research Centre, South Africa. After an alarm call, they still stayed behind at safety, watching attentively the adults who had already started foraging again. (KRC2024) by Marta Manser	RO-11 The Wiring of a Zebrafish Embryo The body-wide network of neurons is established in the early development of a zebrafish and is essential for the function of neuronal circuits. In stark contrast, fibroblasts are thought to be solitary cells. However, their network-like organisation has raised the question whether these connections between fibroblasts might play a role beyond current textbook knowledge in their behaviour in processes such as development, cancer and regeneration. The picture shows both the neurons (magenta) and fibroblasts (green) as they dynamically establish a network in a 2 days old zebrafish embryo. by Jérôme Julmi	RO-12 South African ground squirrel in sunset Besides the well-known meerkat research, there are also other long-term studies conducted by UZH researchers (with the help of volunteers) at the Kalahari Research Center in South Africa, for example with South African ground squirrels (Geosciurus inauris). These animals are wild but habituated to humans which allows observations of the natural behaviour of these animals. by Livio Flüeler

RO-13 Iris Web This photo depicts the iris of a participant from a forensic research project aimed at predicting eye color from DNA. The image is part of a collection that includes both photographs as well as DNA samples from donors. These predictions can provide investigative leads to law enforcement when DNA collected from a crime scene does not result in a match with a DNA database. by Peter Resutik	RO-14 The chances you will get killed by a turtle are low. But never zero. Keep an eye out for this angry-eyed stare. With eyes as big as its attitude, this 10cm turtle may not hurt you, but is sure to leave an impression. Who knew a turtle could bring so much attitude to the mailbox? This ferocious turtle is commonly known as the Vietnamese Black-Breasted Leaf Turtle (Geoemyda spengleri). It is endemic to Southeast Asia and is one of the world’s smallest turtles. It was recently revealed to communicate with sounds, helping us understanding the origins of vocal communication among vertebrates. by Gabriel Jorgewich Cohen	RO-15 Pyramidal neurons (yellow) and cell nuclei (blue) in the mouse neocortex. The image stack was acquired with a custom-built light-sheet microscope (Benchtop mesoSPIM) developed in Helmchen Lab, Brain Research Institute, UZH. The brain of a transgenic mouse was stained, cleared, and imaged in 3D at 20x magnification. Sparse staining and tissue transparency allows us to see the anatomy and distribution of neurons across the entire mouse brain. by Nikita Vladimirov

RO-16 Molecular Night Sky (0.07 mm x 0.07 mm) What at first glance seems like the night sky as viewed from an alien planet are individual molecules captured with a microscope. Each of our cells has thousands of DNA repair proteins, which constantly remove damages from our genome. Each star on the picture is an individual molecule. Green stars are damaged DNA molecules. Yellow stars are DNA repair proteins at work trying to remove damage from the DNA. Red stars are DNA repair proteins, which got lost and stuck to the surface. Studying individual molecules allows us to enter and understand this alien world, which lies within us all. by Jan-Philipp Günther	RO-17 Helophilus trivittatus collecting pollen from Brassica rapa flowers Plant–pollinator interactions are essential for plant reproductive success and pollinator food supply, but the dramatic decline in pollinators currently threatens the existence of many wild and cultivated flowering plants. There is thus an urgent need to understand how plants respond to changes in the abundance of wild pollinators. In our research project, we used experimental evolution to track phenotypic changes induced by temporal limitation of access to the natural pollinator community. by Elisabeth Authier	RO-18 The tables have turned 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. by Dominik Behr

RO-19 Essence of the North I was extracting DNA from plant specimens in the laboratory of the Canadian High Arctic Research Station in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, when I was struck by the vibrant colours of my samples. The aim of our “tundra eDNA” project is to assess whether we can use DNA extracted from soil to speed up our botanical observations in the field – just like they might do on CSI to find the murderer. Here, I was preparing the DNA libraries for our reference collection. I did not expect the extractions to have such distinct characters, capturing the essence of each tundra plant. by Jakob Assmann	RO-20 Thin Film Growth by Pulsed Laser Deposition The image depicts the process of thin film growth via pulsed laser deposition. On the left side of the image, a solid target material is visible, while on the right side, a substrate held at 650°C is positioned. A pulsed laser beam with a wavelength of 532 nm is focused onto the material (La0.5Sr0.5CoO3) to generate a plasma. By adjusting the background gas pressure to approximately 0.05 mbar using O2, the plasma is confined. The plasma moves from left to right and condenses, nucleates, and grows as a thin film on the substrate. by Sharath Rameshbabu	RO-21 Sediment measurements in a mountain stream Measuring sediment transport in mountain streams can be difficult as water is strong and can easily destroy the expensive equipment. Therefore, the setup needs to be good to prevent loss of equipment ánd loss of data! You have to be creative in the field with what you've got, use rocks and find the perfect spot! by Belle Holthuis

RO-22 It is raining DNA Microscopy picture of fluorescently labelled nascent DNA. The directionality of the DNA strands facilitates analysis but also looks like rain. In our analysis, we are interested in the length of the red- versus green-labelled DNA strands. by Stephanie van Gijn	RO-23 Action painting neurodegenerative pathology in a human neuronal network Neurodegenerative diseases cause some of the neurons in our brains to die, resulting in different symptoms depending on the brain region affected. To study the mechanism of such diseases and indentify therapeutic targets, the Polymenidou lab recently achieved generating stem cells-derived human neuronal culture that models the pathology observed in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Using this model, they discovered a toxic increase in protein NPTX2, suggesting it as a potential therapeutic target. In this microscopic image, the ensemble of cluster-shaped astrocytes together with the long, thin axons of neurons bears a resemblance to Jackson Pollock’s artwork. by Weijia Zhong	RO-24 Urban pigeon during sampling In the context of a research project, we are investigating the prevalence of two avian pathogens in pigeons in various Swiss cities. For our study, swab samples are taken from pigeons in urban pigeon lofts and then examined in the laboratory. For the pigeons, it might feel a bit like the Corona test we got used to during the pandemic. The photo shows a pigeon looking somewhat dismayed at the camera while being sampled. It was taken in the pigeon loft of the "Tierpark Bern". by Nina Wolfrum

RO-25 A penny for your thoughts 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. by Kathelijne Koops	RO-26 Father & Son Picture of two wild meerkats from the Kalahari Research Centre (KRC) in South Africa. Father and son in the early morning hours, getting ready for a new day in the dry Kalahari. by Santana Schneider	RO-27 Soil microbes: tiny living factories producing antibiotics Did you know that many antibiotics that we use to treat infections weren't designed by scientists in the lab, but by microbes that live in the soil? Here you see a patch of forest floor from Irchel park and a Petri dish with several colonies of colorful bacteria and moulds growing on it. These tiny living factories make many different chemical molecules, some of which are powerful antibiotics. We don't have to go far to find them: every time you make a step in the park, forest, mountain or meadow, there are microbes making antibiotics right under your foot! by Aleks Nivina, Paula Thiel Pizarro

RO-28 UZH logo drawn on an agar plate with fluorescent bacteria The UZH logo drawn on an agar plate with E. coli bacteria expressing the green fluorescent protein GFP by Benjamin Manser	RO-29 Astragalus alpinus, observed in Canadian Arctic botanical surveys This is one of the many beautiful plants we observed in our botanical surveys, conducted in the summer 2023 field-season in the Canadian Arctic near Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. Astragalus alpinus is commonly known as the alpine milkvetch and is often found in moist areas in this region of the tundra. by Debora Obrist	RO-30 Sud aus Rotkohl zu pH-Messung Am Anfang der Pandemie 2020 konnten wir den Laborgrundkurs in Chemie nicht fortsetzten. Stattdessen bekamen wir den Auftrag Rotkohl/Blaukraut auszukochen und den Sud für pH-Experimente zu verwenden. by Tabea Peter-Spalinger

RO-31 Reproducing the CMS experiments' logo with J/ψ decays to four muons The J/ψ meson, a pivotal particle in quantum chromodynamics (QCD), decays into four muons (J/ψ → μ+μ−μ+μ−) as observed by the CMS detector at CERN, a digital high energy physics camera. The event display remarkably resembles the CMS logo, showing the four muons as lines. This rare decay, captured in our image, provides vital insights into QCD, quantum electrodynamics (QED), and tests lepton flavor universality. Such decays are instrumental in probing the fundamental interactions and exploring physics beyond the Standard Model. Our work paves the way for a deeper understanding of particle interactions in the universe. by Stefanos Leontsinis	RO-32 Daughter chimpanzee learning to call with her mother We can see two wild chimpanzees, a mother and her daughter, producing the typical face expression associated with their characteristic call used to communicate between distant groups in the Budongo forest, Uganda. Here, the daughter chorused with the mother's call to respond to another group of chimpanzees from the same community. In my research on the development of vocalisations in chimpanzees we showed that chorusing with the mother may help young ones to learn when and how to respond during vocal exchanges. by Adrian Soldati	RO-33 The hug Seeds that germinate in the dark follow a developmental programme called skotomorphogenesis. During skotomorphogenesis, the seedlings elongate in search of light and the cotyledons, the embryonic leaves, remain tightly folded to allow easy passage through the soil and protect the meristem, the region that will give rise to the plant's primary body, from damage. In this image, two Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings are germinated in the dark. The yellow colour is a fusion of two images obtained by exciting two different fluorescent proteins: the green channel by exciting RNAPol II-bound GFP and the red channel using DNA-bound mRuby. The nuclei are the visible spheres. by Filippo Maria Mirasole

RO-34 Meerkat with Tracker The photo shows the dominant female of a habituated group of meerkats. Meerkats switch between several sleeping burrows, so the tracker around her neck allows scientists to find the group again the next morning. Only then can they study the behaviour of these exceptional creatures day in and day out. Thanks to habituated meerkat groups, researchers from the University of Zurich have been able to research predator defence behaviour, foraging techniques and even the extensive language repertoire of meerkats. This groundbreaking discovery even landed them on BBC Earth. by Cyrill Ritter	RO-35 Trichomes: How single cells get shaped This microscopy image captures a very dynamic process, the organisation of the microtubule cytoskeleton in forming trichomes. Trichomes are hair-like structures found on the surface of plants. They serve several purposes, such as protection from herbivores, reduction of water loss, and temperature regulation. To achieve their distinct shape, tight control of the different cytoskeleton components is necessary. Here we see the subcellular localization of a fluorescent-tagged MICROTUBULE ASSOCIATED PROTEIN, which highlights cortical microtubules at the leaf surface of Arabidopsis thaliana throughout the different stages of trichome development. by Dorothee	RO-36 Cell fireworks Intracellular bacteria infecting Chlamydia infecting cells. Chlamydia forms inclusions inside of the cells. These inclusions are circular and exhibit various colors due to their different fluorescent signals: magenta and green. Each of the colours represent a different strain of Chlamydia and we can observe how sometimes they can form a joint inclusion forming cell fireworks. by Magdalena de Arriba

RO-37 Colorful colon This image shows a piece of human colon that has been fluorescently stained with a panel of markers for different types of immune cells. Additionally, dyes to visualize cell nuclei and an epithelial cell-cell adhesion protein were included. The tissue was then imaged on a multispectral slide scanner. Cross-sectioned colonic crypts appear as red circular structures while the underlying lamina propria contains a colorful mix of immune cells. by Mauro Esposito	RO-38 Wheat flowers Not what you expected? Although the flowers of wheat are easily overlooked, they play a crucial role in ensuring global food security. by Katharina Jung	RO-39 A colourful couple: Fireworks galaxy and Open Star Cluster NGC 6939 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. by Aurel Schneider

RO-40 Blätter des Teufelchenmoos Das Teufelchenmoos sieht man nur, wenn man mit einer Lupe im Wald unterwegs ist. Die Art wächst auf totem Holz, z.B. am Zürichberg. Seine Blättchen sind winzig und sehr charakteristisch. Sie haben zwei Spitzen, die in verschiedene Richtungen zeigen und den Namensgeber an die Hörner des Teufels erinnert haben. Unter dem Mikroskop betrachtet, hat jedes Blättchen seinen eigenen Charakter und wirkt alles andere als teuflisch. Die Aufnahme entstand im Rahmen des UZH-Projekts "Moosflora der Schweiz". by Heike Hofmann	RO-41 Individual differences in the white-lipped snail White-lipped snails (Cepaea hortensis) exhibit remarkable variation in shell colour among individuals within a population. Here is an example of such variation in a group of snails active on a rainy day in the woods near Irchel Campus. by Tom Ratz	RO-42 Refreshing Dip in a Bonobo Oasis Meet Pole, a sanctuary-living bonobo captured here relishing in a pond dip whilst enjoying a peanut. While wild bonobos may not favour water, some sanctuary-living bonobos, like Pole, find delight in a refreshing dip, especially amid the hot and humid days typical of central Africa, where this bonobo sanctuary is located. Unravelling the intricacies of bonobo relationships contributes to discussions on primate conservation, highlighting the imperative to preserve the delicate ecosystems the bonobos inhabit. Pole's aquatic joy symbolizes the sanctuary's role in fostering well-being and emphasizes the crucial need to protect these extraordinary creatures and their habitats. by Lara Zanutto

RO-43 Nut-cracking Toddler Nut-cracking, a seemingly straightforward way of accessing nutritious and hardened oil palm nuts, entails complexity. To successfully crack a nut requires mastering of the precise technique and the ability to utilise the appropriate hammer and anvil in combination. In a village in the Republic of Congo, a young girl demonstrates this complex skill with ease. But how do young children develop these technological skills, and how are other more complex tool-using skills acquired? The goal of my research is to shed light on the mechanisms that may have led to us becoming the most technologically advanced species. by Ellen Soeters	RO-44 Yellow mongooses are a study model at the Kalahari Research Center This yellow mongoose is only a few weeks old. With its siblings, this young individual was hanging around the entrance of their sleeping burrow, waiting for their mother to return from foraging. The photo was taken at sunset, in the Kalahari desert, in February 2024. At the Kalahari Research Center, researchers are interested in deciphering how yellow mongooses communicate through their the production of vocalisations. by Mathilde Martin	RO-45 Pure In the world of organic chemistry, few sights are as satisfying as a purified compound. This honey-like substance, captured in its pristine state, represents hours of dedication and meticulous work. "Pure" celebrates the joy and fulfillment that comes from synthesizing new molecules. (Picture taken with Rob Ives from the group of Dr. Paul R. McGonigal during an internship at the University of York) by Paula Widmer

RO-46 Pretty Damaged Scanning tunneling microscopy image of a surface of 1T-TaS2, showing periodic tiling of a charge density wave interrupted by randomly distributed dark spots. Those defects scatter electrons which then reveal the inner electronic structure of this quantum material via quasiparticle interference effects. by Fabian	RO-47 Brilliant blue Beregnungsversuch Wasserfliesswege wurden mit Hilfe des Tracers Brilliant Blue sichtbar gemacht - Beregnungsversuch am Rufiberg oberhalb des Zugersees by Jan Seibert	RO-48 Emerging Elements Diese Bild zeigt die Öffnung eines Solfatares im Norden Islands. Es wurde am 24.09.2023 in der Region Myvaten auf einem Lava Feld bei Leirhnjúkur aufgenommen. Die Lava Formationen entstanden während der letzen Periode an vulcanischen Eruptionen, den sogenannten Krafla fires (isl. Kröflueldar) zwischen 1975 und 1984. Die Felder sind immer noch warm und ziehen mit ihren Solfataren, Schlammquellen und Fumarolen nicht nur Forscher*innen sondern auch zahlreiche Touristen an. Die jung gebildeten Minerla-Strukturen sind zwischen den Austrittsgasen, nicht ganz so einfach einzufangen. by Jael Mencke

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