News and Announcements

The latest news from CSH about our center, our researchers, and our achievements.

2025/12/18

© AIUB

MARVIS Grant for Zimmerwald Observatory

Air turbulence impairs observations of the universe from Earth. The Swiss Confederation has granted CHF 3 million to the Zimmerwald Observatory to support the development of an optical system that will correct the disruptive effects in real time. WP's Jonas Kühn is co-applicant for the project.

2025/08/26

PhD Thesis Defense Anna Walde

On August 26, 2025, Anna Walde successfully defended her PhD thesis "From Grid Models to Machine Learning: Advancing Atmospheric Characterisation of Brown Dwarfs and Exoplanets." Congratulations Anna!

2024/11/28

PhD Thesis Defense Jeanne Davoult

Jeanne successfully defended her PhD thesis on November 28, 2024. She is now moving to Berlin to pursue her work on exoplanet populations at DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt).

2024/09/24

PhD Thesis Defense Erik Meier Valdés

Erik successfully defended his PhD thesis on September 24, 2024. He is now moving to Oxford to pursue his work on rocky exoplanets with a SNF Postdoc Mobility grant.

2024/08/19

Congratulations Willy Benz !

Willy Benz, Professor Emeritus of Astrophysics at the University of Bern and former Director of the NCCR PlanetS, was officially elected President of the International Astronomical Union IAU yesterday.

Archive - Announcements

2023 - 2020

2023/09/11

SNF SPIRIT Grant for SAINT-EX

The team of Brice-Olivier Demory, together with researchers of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, has been awarded a SNF SPIRIT grant to keep the SAINT-EX Observatory's performance at its best. Congratulations!

2023/09/06

© Orell Füssli AG, Globi Verlag

Globi at the University of Bern

In the latest volume of the "Globi Wissen" series, the inquisitive blue bird visits the University of Bern: he has applied to become an astronaut with the European Space Agency (ESA) and wants to learn everything there is to know about space exploration before his official training begins. Attentive readers of the article have the chance to win Globi books.

2023/07/26

Exocast - The exoplanet podcast

The monthly podcast about all things exoplanetary. An outreach project by three exoplanet astronomers, among them Dr Hugh Osborn, CHESS fellow at the University of Bern and MIT.

2023/05/25

Space Resources Challenge

A Swiss consortium comprising Dr Valentin Bickel, CSH Fellow, is the winner of the robotic “Space Resources Challenge”. Congratulations Valentin!

2023/04/28

© University of Bern

"Physik am Freitag": Volcanic Eruptions and Asteroid Impacts

In the "Physik am Freitag" lecture series at the University of Bern, researchers present current topics from the world of physics to a broad audience. The 2023 lecture program includes topics such as the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics, the launch of the Jupiter mission Juice, and the effects of volcanic eruptions on the global climate. The series begins on May 5, 2023.

2023/02/17

Congratulations to Beatrice!

Beatrice Kulterer successfully defended her PhD on the 17/02/23 - Congratulations!

2023/01/31

Congratulations to Andrea!

Andrea Guzman Mesa successfully defender her PhD on the 31/01/23 - Congratulations!

2022/11/28

© Didier Queloz

Astronomer and Nobel Prize winner Prof. Didier Queloz to give Einstein Lectures 2022

This year's Einstein Lectures are dedicated to the discovery of exoplanets and the questions that have arisen as a result: Are we alone in the universe? Is there life on other planets? What conditions prevail there? And what types of planets are there? Swiss astronomer and Nobel Prize winner Prof. Didier Queloz will give three evening lectures on planetary research within and outside our solar system: from December 12 to 14, 2022, in the main building of the University of Bern.

2022/11/11

© University of Bern, Image: Emiliano Cordelli

Astronomy in Bern celebrates double anniversary

In November 2022, the Astronomical Institute of the University of Bern (AIUB) will celebrate a double anniversary: 200 years of the “Old Observatory Bern (Uraniae)” and 100 years of the AIUB. On Friday, November 25, and Saturday, November 26, 2022, the double anniversary will be celebrated with a ceremony, a scientific symposium, and lectures and activities for the general public at the University of Bern. In addition, a comprehensive illustrated book will be published.

2022/09/06

New CSH Directorate

Susanne Wampfler and Yann Alibert are the new Co-Directors of the CSH.

2022/04/20

© University of Bern

"Physik am Freitag": Black Holes and Climate Models

In the "Physik am Freitag" lecture series at the University of Bern, researchers present current topics from the world of physics to a broad audience. The program for the 2022 edition, which begins on Friday, April 29, includes lectures on topics such as the first image of a black hole, climate models as early warning systems, and evidence of physics beyond the Standard Model.

2022/03/17

ERC Consolidator Grant

Brice-Olivier Demory got awarded a Consolidator grant from the European Research Council (ERC). Because Switzerland is not associated to Horizon Europe for this call, the research project will be funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).

2021/02/22

Susanne Wampfler named as CSH Deputy Director

Former CSH Fellow and astrochemist Prof. Dr. Susanne Wampfler has been named as the CSH Deputy Director effective 1st January 2021. She is the holder of a Swiss National Science Foundation Eccellenza Professorial Fellowship.

2020

Ambizione Fellowship

Elspeth Lee has won an Ambizione Fellowship (2020), which will be hosted at the CSH. Dr. Lee comes to the CSH from the University of Oxford.

2020

Ambizione Fellowship

CSH Postdoc Niels Ligterink has won an SNF Ambizione Fellowship (2020), which will be hosted in the Space Research & Planetary Sciences (WP) Division of the Physics Institute within the University of Bern.

2020/01/16

Swiss Society for Astrophysics & Astronomy

The CSH is now an institutional member of the Swiss Society for Astrophysics & Astronomy (SSAA).

2020/01/10

Honorary Professorship at University of Warwick

Prof. Dr. Kevin Heng has been appointed a Honorary Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Warwick with an initial appointment from 1st January 2020 to 31st December 2022. The CSH will seek to collaborate closely with its Centre for Exoplanets & Habitability.

2019 - 2018

2018

International Astronomical Union Ph.D Prize

CSH Experimental Sciences Postdoc Dr. Niels Ligterink wins the 2018 Division B Ph.D Prize of the International Astronomical Union (IAU).

2018/12/11

Eccellenza Professorial Fellowship

CSH Fellow Dr. Susanne Wampfler has won the 2018 Eccellenza Professorial Fellowship of the Swiss National Science Foundation.

2018

Results of Divisons and Commissions Committees Electios

Election to Division F Steering Committee of the International Astronomical Union

Prof. Dr. Kevin Heng has been elected to a 3-year term (2018-2021) on the steering committee of Division F of the International Astronomical Union (IAU).

2018

Election to Executive Committee: Junior Members WG of the International Astronomical Union

Ambizione and CSH Fellow Dr. Maria Drozdovskaya has been named the Co-Chair of the Executive Committee of the Working Group of Junior Members of the International Astronomical Union (IAU).

2018

Greinacher Ph.D Prize

CSH and PlanetS Ph.D student Dr. Shang-Min Tsai has won the 2018 Greinacher Ph.D Prize awarded by the Greinacher Foundation of Bern. Dr. Tsai heads to the University of Oxford for a 4-year European Research Council postdoctoral position with Prof. Dr. Raymond Pierrehumbert.

2018

Ambizione Fellowship

CSH Fellow Dr. Maria Drozdovskaya has won the Ambizione Fellowship (2018). It is for a duration of 4 years and comes with a Ph.D student position.

2018

NASA Group Achievement Award

CSH SNF Professor Brice-Olivier Demory is part of the 2018 NASA Group Achievement Award for the discovery of the TRAPPIST-1 system of exoplanets.

2018

SNF Early Postdoc Mobility

CSH Ph.D student Matej Malik has won one of the 2018 Swiss National Science Foundation Early Postdoc Mobility fellowships to bring to the University of Maryland at College Park, U.S.A., where he will be a postdoc in the group of Prof. Eliza Kempton.

2018

The Gruber Foundation Fellowship

Our incoming Bernoulli Fellow (Heidelberg-Bern), Dr. Nestor Espinoza (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile), has won The Gruber Foundation (TGF) Fellowship (2018), which is administered by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), to bring to the CSH. Dr. Espinoza has since accepted a permanent astronomer position at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, where the Hubble Space Telescope is administered, without taking up the second half of his Bernoulli Fellowship at the CSH.

2018

AAS announces its 2018 prize winners

AAS announces its 2018 prize winners

The American Astronomical Society (AAS), the major organization of professional astronomers in North America, named the recipients of its 2018 prizes for outstanding achievements in scientific research, instrument development, and writing. Prof. Dr. Kevin Heng won the Chambliss Astronomical Writing Award. This is the ninth time the award has been given out by the AAS.

2018

Chambliss Astronomical Writing Award

Prof. Dr. Kevin Heng is the 2018 recipient of the Chambliss Astronomical Writing Award of the American Astronomical Society (AAS).

2018

MERAC Funding & Travel Awards

The award, administered by the Swiss Society for Astrophysics and Astronomy (SSAA), was received by three of our members. In the first call, Shang-Min Tsai received funding for the project «Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics in Exoplanets». In the second call, Marko Sestovic's project «First estimate for the true occurrence rate for planets around ultracool stars, including for earth-like rocky planets such as TRAPPIST-1» and PD Dr. Martin Jutzi's project «Japanese Hayabusa 2 space mission: exploration of the C-type asteroid Ryugu» received the award.

2017 - 2015

2017

MERAC Funding & Travel Awards

The award, administered by the Swiss Society for Astrophysics and Astronomy (SSAA), was received by Dr. Maria Nikolayevna Drozdovskaya. Her project «Roots of Life - Astrobiological Imprints in Cimet and Planet-Forming Material» was awarded the funding in the second call.

2017

CSH part of LUVOIR Mission Study

Prof. Dr. Kevin Heng is now part of the Science and Technology Definition Team (STDT) of the Large Ultraviolet/Optical/Infrared Surveyor (LUVOIR) mission study led by NASA, with representation from European members.

2017/12/05

European Research Council Consolidator Grant

Prof. Dr. Kevin Heng has won an European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant worth nearly 2 million euros. The University of Bern has two awardees, across all disciplines, in 2017.

2017

University of Bern International 2021 Ph.D Fellowship

Chloe Fisher has won one of the University of Bern International 2021 Ph.D Fellowships.

2017

Ambizione Fellowship

CSH Fellow Dr. Dan Bower has won the Ambizione Fellowship (2017). It is for a duration of 4 years and comes with a Ph.D student position.

2016

MERAC Funding & Travel Awards

The award, administered by the Swiss Society for Astrophysics and Astronomy (SSAA), was received by Dr. Joao Manuel Mendoça. His project «THOR: A New and Flexible 3D Dynamical Model to Explore Planetary Atmospheres» was awarded the funding during the first call.

2016

Royal Society and Ernest Rutherford Fellowships

CSH SNF Professor Brice-Olivier Demory has won both the Royal Society University Research Fellowship (2016) and the Ernest Rutherford Fellowship (2016) of the U.K.

2016

Harold Urey Award

CSH Steering Committee Member Prof. Dr. Klaus Mezger has won the 2016 Harold Urey Award from the European Association of Geochemistry.

2016

The Gruber Foundation Fellowship

CSH Fellow Dr. Maria Drozdovskaya (Leiden University) has won The Gruber Foundation (TGF) Fellowship (2016), which is administered by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), with the CSH as the host institution.

2016

Marie Heim-Voegtlin Prize

Dr. Zoë Lehmann, jointly appointed between the CSH and the Department of English, has won the 2016 Marie Heim-Voegtlin Prize of the Swiss National Science Foundation.

2016

Swiss National Science Foundation Professorship

Dr. Brice-Olivier Demory (University of Cambridge) has won the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) Professorship with the CSH as the host institute.

2016/04/15

Bernoulli Fellowships Established

The Bernoulli Fellowships have been created by the CSH. These are 4-year joint positions shared between the CSH and its partner institutes or universities. Our inaugural partners in the Bernoulli Fellows are Oxford University and the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) at Heidelberg.

2015

NCU-Delta Young Astronomer Lecturership Award

Prof. Dr. Kevin Heng was selected for the 2015 NCU-Delta Young Astronomer Lecturership Award, which is awarded, on an international basis, to scholars under the age of 45. It comes with a trophy and an invitation to deliver a series of prize lectures in Taiwan.

Delta Award Poster (PDF, 284KB)

2015

MERAC Funding & Travel Awards

The award, administered by the Swiss Society for Astrophysics and Astronomy (SSAA), was received by two of our members. In the first call, Dr. Daniel Kitzmann received funding for his project «The unstable CO2 feedback cycle on ocean planets». In the second call, Matej Malik's project «HELIOS: A new open-source radiative transfer code» received the award.