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EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland

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EPFL (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne)

EPFL is Europe’s most cosmopolitan technical university. It welcomes students, professors and collaborators of more than 120 nationalities. EPFL has both a Swiss and international vocation and focuses on three missions: teaching, research and innovation.

EPFL collaborates with an important network of partners, including other universities and colleges, secondary schools and gymnasiums, industry and the economy, political circles and the general public, with the aim of having a real impact on society.

Andrea Ablasser
Full professor
EPFL (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne)
Tom J. Battin
Full professor of environmental sciences, School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering
EPFL (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne)
March 31, 2025
Glaciers are not just blocks of ice
Glaciers are rapidly shrinking, and nearly half of the world’s glaciers are expected to disappear by 2100. While technological interventions to slow ice melt are emerging, NOMIS researcher Tom Battin […]
March 21, 2025
Glacier melt puts unique microbial ecosystems under threat
A pioneering study by NOMIS researcher Tom Battin and the Vanishing Glaciers team has revealed how climate change is impacting glacier-fed streams and the essential microbiomes they contain — which […]
March 14, 2025
Andrea Ablasser awarded the 2025 Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize
NOMIS Awardee Andrea Ablasser from EPFL, Switzerland, virologist Glen Barber from Ohio State University, US, and biochemist Zhijian “James” Chen from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, […]
January 8, 2025
Scientists discover a unique microbiome on our planet's roof
NOMIS researcher Tom Battin, together with a team of scientists led by EPFL, have published papers in Nature and Nature Microbiology that shed light on the uniqueness, complexity and climate-related vulnerability […]
January 6, 2025
Transitions in scientific research: A conversation with the 2024 NOMIS Awardees
What do transitions have to do with pioneering research? In a sponsored feature in Science, the 2024 NOMIS Distinguished Scientist and Scholar Awardees — Andrea Ablasser, Elena Conti and Whitney […]
October 25, 2024
Three pioneering researchers presented with 2024 NOMIS Distinguished Scientist and Scholar Award
In recognition of their pioneering research, the NOMIS Foundation presented the 2024 NOMIS Distinguished Scientist and Scholar Award to Andrea Ablasser (EPFL), Elena Conti (Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry), and […]
July 8, 2024
Recipients of 2024 NOMIS Distinguished Scientist and Scholar Award announced
The NOMIS Foundation is delighted to announce the recipients of the 2024 NOMIS Distinguished Scientist and Scholar Award — congratulations to Andrea Ablasser, an immunologist at EPFL; Elena Conti, a […]
March 1, 2024
Glacier shrinkage is causing a “green transition”
Glacier-fed streams are undergoing a process of profound change, according to NOMIS researcher Tom Battin and other EPFL scientists in a paper appearing in Nature Geoscience. This conclusion is based […]
January 18, 2023
River ecosystem metabolism and carbon biogeochemistry in a changing world
In a paper published in Nature, NOMIS researcher Tom Battin and colleagues argue that “a global river observing system will play a key role in understanding river networks and their […]
December 19, 2022
As ice melts, biodiversity is lost
The NOMIS project Vanishing Glaciers — What Else Besides Water Is Lost? has been featured in an advertorial published in Science. “Glaciers are melting fast. Yet rising sea levels are […]
June 20, 2022
Scientists compile an inventory of endangered microorganisms
Cryospheric ecosystems are some of the oldest on the planet. NOMIS researcher Tom Battin and fellow EPFL scientists have found that the microorganisms living in them have a unique genetic […]
April 27, 2022
Climate warming alters glacier-fed stream ecosystems worldwide
According to two recent studies carried out as part of the Vanishing Glaciers project, which is being led by NOMIS researcher Tom Battin, the ecosystems of glacier-fed streams are undergoing […]
April 4, 2022
Glacier shrinkage will accelerate downstream decomposition of organic matter and alters microbiome structure and function
NOMIS researcher Tom Battin and colleagues have published research that sheds new light on the downstream impacts of glacier shrinkage. Their findings were published in Global Change Biology. Abstract The […]
December 13, 2021
In Nepal, scientists at the bedside of the glaciers
Since 2018, NOMIS researcher Tom Battin and the Vanishing Glaciers team have been traveling to the highest peaks around the world. On an expedition to the Himalayas, Fanny Arlandis and […]
September 17, 2021
A novel analytical framework is shedding light on hidden microbial life in glacier-fed streams
NOMIS researcher Tom Battin and colleagues have shed new light on the hidden microbial life in glacier-fed streams. They have developed a novel analytical framework to screen the microbiome in […]
April 11, 2021
Scientists unlock the secrets of glacier-fed streams
The research of NOMIS scientist Tom Battin and his team has been profiled in an article by EPFL. They have also published a video describing the team’s expeditions to remote […]
October 25, 2019
Tom Battin's discovery leads to first-ever measurement of global CO2 emissions from alpine streams
Researchers from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), led by NOMIS scientist Tom Battin, have made a discovery that has prompted scientists to rethink a standard approach used to […]
July 26, 2018
EPFL news: "EPFL scientists set out to explore microbial life in glacier streams"
Scientists at Ecole Polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland will spend at least the next four years studying some of the world’s biggest glacier-fed streams. By collecting microorganisms from […]
April 8, 2025
Glacier-fed stream diatoms (Bacillariophyta) from the Rwenzori Mountains, Uganda, with the description of one new species from the genus Neidium
Abstract: Glacier-fed streams (GFSs) are harsh environments hosting unique, highly specialized communities. Interestingly, glaciers and their GFSs are also present in Earth’s tropical regions, where environmental characteristics contrast with GFS conditions […]
March 24, 2025
Glaciers are not just blocks of ice — plans to save them mustn’t overlook their hidden life
Abstract: As glaciers begin to disappear, technological fixes to slow or halt ice melt are emerging. But regulations are urgently required before these fixes are used widely.
February 1, 2025
Predicting climate-change impacts on the global glacier-fed stream microbiome
Abstract: The shrinkage of glaciers and the vanishing of glacier-fed streams (GFSs) are emblematic of climate change. However, forecasts of how GFS microbiome structure and function will change under projected climate […]
January 2, 2025
Mapping the metagenomic diversity of the multi-kingdom glacier-fed stream microbiome
Abstract: Glacier-fed streams (GFS) feature among Earth’s most extreme aquatic ecosystems marked by pronounced oligotrophy and environmental fluctuations. Microorganisms mainly organize in biofilms within them, but how they cope with such […]
January 1, 2025
Diversity and biogeography of the bacterial microbiome in glacier-fed streams
Abstract: The rapid melting of mountain glaciers and the vanishing of their streams is emblematic of climate change1,2. Glacier-fed streams (GFSs) are cold, oligotrophic and unstable ecosystems in which life is […]
September 19, 2024
Gradients of Deposition and In Situ Production Drive Global Glacier Organic Matter Composition
Abstract: Runoff from rapidly melting mountain glaciers is a dominant source of riverine organic carbon in many high-latitude and high-elevation regions. Glacier dissolved organic carbon is highly bioavailable, and its composition […]
March 1, 2024
Global emergent responses of stream microbial metabolism to glacier shrinkage
Abstract: Most cryospheric ecosystems are energy limited. How their energetics will respond to climate change remains largely unknown. This is particularly true for glacier-fed streams, which interface with the cryosphere and […]
December 1, 2022
Genomic and metabolic adaptations of biofilms to ecological windows of opportunity in glacier-fed streams
Abstract: In glacier-fed streams, ecological windows of opportunity allow complex microbial biofilms to develop and transiently form the basis of the food web, thereby controlling key ecosystem processes. Using metagenome-assembled genomes, […]
December 1, 2022
The microbiome of cryospheric ecosystems
Abstract: The melting of the cryosphere is among the most conspicuous consequences of climate change, with impacts on microbial life and related biogeochemistry. However, we are missing a systematic understanding of […]
June 1, 2022
Glacier shrinkage will accelerate downstream decomposition of organic matter and alters microbiome structure and function
Abstract: The shrinking of glaciers is among the most iconic consequences of climate change. Despite this, the downstream consequences for ecosystem processes and related microbiome structure and function remain poorly understood. […]
June 1, 2022
Benthic Biofilms in Glacier-Fed Streams from Scandinavia to the Himalayas Host Distinct Bacterial Communities Compared with the Streamwater
Abstract: Microbial life in glacier-fed streams (GFSs) is dominated by benthic biofilms which fulfill critical ecosystem processes. However, it remains unclear how the bacterial communities of these biofilms assemble in stream […]
March 1, 2022
Microdiversity characterizes prevalent phylogenetic clades in the glacier-fed stream microbiome
Abstract: Glacier-fed streams (GFSs) are extreme and rapidly vanishing ecosystems, and yet they harbor diverse microbial communities. Although our understanding of the GFS microbiome has recently increased, we do not know […]
November 19, 2020
Patterns and Drivers of Extracellular Enzyme Activity in New Zealand Glacier-Fed Streams
Abstract: Glacier-fed streams (GFSs) exhibit near-freezing temperatures, variable flows, and often high turbidities. Currently, the rapid shrinkage of mountain glaciers is altering the delivery of meltwater, solutes, and particulate matter to […]
October 27, 2020
Optimised biomolecular extraction for metagenomic analysis of microbial biofilms from high-mountain streams
Abstract: Glacier-fed streams (GFS) are harsh ecosystems dominated by microbial life organized in benthic biofilms, yet the biodiversity and ecosystem functions provided by these communities remain under-appreciated. To better understand the […]
Glacier-fed stream diatoms (Bacillariophyta) from the Rwenzori Mountains, Uganda, with the description of one new species from the genus Neidium
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Glaciers are not just blocks of ice
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Glaciers are not just blocks of ice — plans to save them mustn’t overlook their hidden life
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