Research — ISTA Skip to main content
Research Hub · Topic-first · since 2026

What does it mean to know something?

ISTA research is organised by open questions — not by departments. Pick a topic and you'll find the groups that work on it, the people behind them, the publications they've produced, and the facilities they use. Everything is linked because everything is connected.

In numbers · live
9
Topics
73
Groups
1.8k
Publications
Browse all research

Nine Open Fields, One Campus.

Topic · 01
14groups

Quantum & Condensed Matter

From topological matter to many-body physics.

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Topic · 02
11groups

Neuroscience & Cognition

How brains and bodies compute, remember and decide.

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Topic · 03
12groups

Cell & Developmental Biology

How a single cell becomes a tissue, an organ, a body.

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Topic · 04
9groups

Mathematics & Theory

Geometry, dynamics, probability — the language of nature.

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Topic · 05
8groups

Computer Science & Data

Algorithms, learning and the limits of computation.

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Topic · 06
7groups

Evolution & Ecology

From genome to ecosystem — the patterns of life.

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Topic · 07
6groups

Chemistry & Materials

Building new matter from the bottom up.

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Topic · 08
4groups

Earth & Climate

The physics of planetary systems.

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Topic · 09
2groups

Science & Society

Research ethics, policy and impact.

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Facilities & Service Units

Infrastructure as an enabler — not a footnote.

All 10 facilities
NanoFab
Cleanroom · 320 m²
Imaging Cluster
Light · electron · cryo
Scientific Computing
3.2 PFLOPS · open hours
Bioimaging
Live-cell · super-resolution
Preclinical
FELASA-B certified
Research stories

Science in plain language.

All science stories →
Neuroscience12 Jun · 06 min

How the brain keeps time during movement

A new study shows that rhythm and motion share a single neural substrate.

Quantum Physics10 Jun · 08 min

A quantum material that defies expectation

An unexpected phase transition at the nanoscale opens a new route to control quantum states.

Biology11 Jun · 09 min

The physics of living, self-organising matter

Researchers track how active particles assemble themselves in real time.

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Bring us a question — we'll bring you a community.

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