In the small ski resort of Les Diablerets, on the other side of the Col du Pillon, science and research are conducted at an international level.

Heads are spinning, mathematical and physical formulae tumble across sheets, blackboards and interactive screens. Scientists from all over the world meet in workshops, others are connected via a video conference system. This is not a scene from a university but from the threestar hotel Les Sources in the neighbouring ski resort Les Diablerets. The SwissMAP Research Station (SRS) was officially inaugurated there in September.

The SRS Research Station is a centre that organises international conferences and workshops in the fields of mathematics and theoretical physics. Seminars have already been held in Les Diablerets for several years, but in 2021 the site became the official home of the SwissMAP Research Station.

The University of Geneva and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH) provided the funds to equip two meeting rooms and a conference hall with a capacity for 65 people, with state-of-theart technology. At least twelve oneweek events per year, held mainly in winter and summer, are intended to advance research and, in particular, to promote exchange between young researchers and established scientists.

The research station would also like to familiarise the local population with its work. It is contacting local schools and, according to the neighbouring regional newspaper Le Cotterg, public activities will take place during the winter session, which will begin on 9 January.

BASED ON AVS/SONJA WOLF