A team of scientists including researchers from the University of Bern, the University of Geneva and the NCCR PlanetS used the ESPRESSO Spectrograph to discover a sub-Earth mass exoplanet orbiting Barnard's star, the second-closest star system to the Sun. This discovery helps to understand planetary formation around red dwarfs and provides insights into the diversity of planetary systems in our cosmic neighbourhood.

Image © ESO/M. Kornmesser

An international team of researchers led by the University of Bern has used observation-based computer modelling to find an explanation for how macromolecules can form in a short time in disks of gas and dust around young stars. These findings could be crucial for understanding how habitability develops around different types of exoplanets and stars.

Image: AI generated

The majority of stars in our galaxy are home to planets. The most abundant are the sub-Neptunes, planets between the size of Earth and Neptune. Calculating their density poses a problem for scientists: depending on the method used to measure their mass, two populations are highlighted, the dense and the less dense. Is this due to an observational bias or the physical existence of two distinct populations of sub-Neptunes? Recent work by the NCCR PlanetS, the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the University of Bern (UNIBE) argues for the latter. Find out more in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

Image: © ESO/L. Calçada/spaceengine.org

The Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) has awarded funding to three projects led by the University of Bern as part of the SPIRIT program, promoting cross-border and collaborative research endeavors. These research initiatives delve into topics concerning potentially habitable exoplanets, female entrepreneurship in Switzerland and Colombia, and the combined use of medication and psychotherapy for depression treatment in Zimbabwe.