In line with WCSJ2019’s guiding metaphor, an important focus of its rich programme of field trips is on – and in – the mountains. Trips will offer exceptional opportunities to plunge into research at the forefront of science and at the same time discover a mountain region famed for its outstanding natural beauty. According to personal preferences (and fitness), participants are able to take their first steps on a glacier, while discussing the latest research on climate change, sleep in an energy-quasi-autonomous mountain hut in Zermatt, ascend the highest railway inside the Eiger to the Jungfraujoch research station tracking greenhouse gases, see the world’s tallest and boldest gravity dam La Grande Dixence in the Valais region, and much more. Most of the trips cover more than one scientific aspect – and all of them provide a great source of stories.

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Many other field trips related to what makes Swiss, French, Italian and indeed European science famous are also offered, including visits to CERN, to IBM Research in Zürich and to an oenological research centre and the UNESCO world heritage vineyards of Lavaux. A full day will be set up in Geneva, with visits to international organizations such as WHO and GAVI. Some will visit the Campus Biotech in Geneva, the Life Sciences hub for the Lake Geneva Region and attend the famous Bertarelli Symposium in translational neuroscience and neuroengineering, taking place on the same day as the field trips. Others will explore the University of Neuchâtel’s quest for perfect time, visit the world famous ETHZ in Zürich and the University of Zürich, and follow in Einstein’s footsteps with a visit to the Swiss capital of Bern, another UNESCO world heritage site. For those willing to travel further afield, there will be visits to ESA’s European Astronaut Centre near Cologne, Germany, to Grenoble’s impressive GIANT innovation campus, as well as to Paris and Lyon, to Milan and even St. Petersburg. 

 

For those who have had enough science for one week, we also offer five unabashedly tourist visits, fully or partially sponsored by local tourist organizations.

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TRANSPORT BY BUS: Most Field Trip transport is by bus. All buses, with the exception of Field Frips FT11 (CERN) and Field Trip FT2 (Genova) leave from the Parking de Bellerive in Lausanne.

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HOW TO GET TO PLACE/PARKING DE BELLERIVE: From Lausanne Main Station take Metro M2, direction Ouchy, to the end of the line at Ouchy-Olympique, which is four stops away, and then change to Bus No.2 to Lausanne-Bellerive in the direction of Maladière, one stop away. Or 8 minutes walking.

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TRANSPORT BY TRAIN: If your field trip leaves by train, the meeting point is in the main hall of Lausanne Main Station at least 15 minutes before departure.