News

Around 250 representatives from politics, public administration, business and academia attended the National Cybersecurity Conference in Bern to discuss the opportunities and challenges facing digital security in Switzerland. In his opening address, Federal Councillor Martin Pfister called for a joint effort to strengthen the country’s cybersecurity.

The four research institutes of the ETH Domain are to collaborate even more closely under a shared roof. They will strengthen the way they coordinate and collaborate on overarching strategic research programmes and will gradually merge their support services. Their own well-established areas of focus and their names will be retained. The ETH Board decided to go ahead with this further development and strengthening of the ETH Domain at its meeting on 23/24 September. In addition, the ETH Board appointed a new member of the Direction of EPFL and the Eawag Directorate.

At its meeting of 23/24 September 2026 and upon application of the President of ETH Zurich, Professor Joël Mesot, and the President of EPFL, Professor Anna Fontcuberta i Morral, the ETH Board appointed a total of six women and eleven men as professors and awarded the title of Professor of Practice to one individual. It also took note of the resignation of three professors and thanked them for their services. In the last 12 months, the ETH Board has made a total of 18 new appointments for women and 27 for men; the proportion of women among these new appointments thus amounts to 40%.

How can we prevent cyber incidents from escalating into international crises or exacerbating existing tensions? This question will be the focus of the international conference on ‘De-escalation in cyberspace: mediation and preventive diplomacy’ which Switzerland is organising in Zug on 29 and 30 September. It is the final thematic conference to be held under the 2026 Swiss Chairpersonship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), ahead of the annual meeting of the Ministerial Council in Lugano on 3 and 4 December 2026. Federal Councillor Martin Pfister, head of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport, will open the conference, while a speech by Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis, Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE and head of the FDFA, will close it.

Du 20 au 23 septembre 2026, à l’occasion de la semaine de haut niveau de l’Assemblée générale de l’ONU, le conseiller fédéral Ignazio Cassis a concentré ses échanges sur trois enjeux majeurs : le Moyen-Orient, la sécurité européenne et le Sahel. Dans sa fonction de président en exercice de l’OSCE, il a notamment abordé la guerre en Ukraine et le rôle de l’Organisation. Dans ces différents contextes, la Suisse défend une même approche : maintenir le dialogue, et donner une chance à la diplomatie.

Address by Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis, Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) at the 2026 UNGA high-level event: Declaration for the Protection of Humanitarian Personnel.

Switzerland is providing CHF 3 million in support of a project run by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to safeguard the Ukrainian grain harvest and prepare for the next planting season. Providing additional storage capacity should prevent crop losses and safeguard the livelihoods of farms in regions affected by the war. The project was a topic of discussion for Jacques Gerber, the Federal Council’s Delegate for Ukraine, during his visit to Kyiv from 20 to 23 September.

At the opening of the United Nations (UN) General Debate in New York on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, Swiss president Guy Parmelin reaffirmed Switzerland’s commitment to dialogue and open trade in the face of unprecedented challenges.

High Level Week des Nations Unies. Discours de Guy Parmelin, Chef du Département fédéral de l’économie, de la formation et de la recherche (DEFR) New York, le mardi 22 septembre 2026

The first Swiss F-35A fighter aircraft is taking shape: A delegation with the Chief of the Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Benedikt Roos, the National Armaments Director Urs Loher and the Commander of the Air Force, Major General Christian Oppliger, signed a structural component of the first F-35A destined for Switzerland on 21 September 2026. During a visit to the Lockheed Martin facility in Fort Worth, Texas, the representatives from the DDPS were briefed on the production status and exchanged views with representatives from the US armed forces and the manufacturer.

Switzerland is supporting access to sport and safe meeting spaces for children in the occupied Palestinian territory. Alongside the world football federation FIFA, the FDFA has created two new football pitches – in Marah Rabah and Qusin – that were opened today. The project is part of the Federal Council's November 2025 support package for the Middle East.

Biochemist Martin Jinek has been awarded the prestigious Marcel Benoist Swiss Science Prize for his groundbreaking insights into cellular processes that paved the way for the breakthrough in genome editing. The Latsis Swiss Science Prize goes to mathematician Susanna Zimmermann for her pioneering research on the symmetries of geometric spaces, which enabled her to resolve a question in algebraic geometry that had remained open since the 19th century.