Taken together, the Geneva Neuroscience Center (Centre Interfacultaire de Neurosciences, CIN) and the Interfaculty Centre for Affective Sciences (ICAS) of the University of Geneva pool resources from over 60 workgroups from the University of Geneva and from all 6 faculties of the University which dedicate their research to the understanding of the human brain and behaviour, ranging from molecular and neuronal research to social, psychological, philosophical and artistic research.

Geneva Neuroscience Center (Centre Interfacultaire de Neurosciences, CIN)

Reflecting the multidisciplinarity of Neuroscience, the Geneva Neuroscience Center regroups research groups affiliated to several departments and faculties within Geneva University. Members of the Center conduct cutting-edge research in various areas of Neuroscience, in relation to both health and disease, for human beings (adults and children) as well as for animals. Questions such as: How does the nervous system generate complex behaviours and mental processes such as thoughts or emotions? What are the mechanisms of neurological and psychiatric diseases? How does the activity of neurons coordinate to provide us with sensation and volition? are among some of the fundamental questions that researchers in the Center try to answer. Researchers in the CIN are also participating to the the National Center for Competence in Research (NCCR) on Synaptic bases on mental disorders.

Swiss Center for Affective Sciences (SCAS)

The CSAS hosts the National Center for Competence in Research (NCCR) Affective Sciences, financed by the Swiss federal government and administered by the Swiss National Science Foundation. It is the first research centre in the world dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of emotions and their effects on human behaviour and society.

The NCCR in Affective Sciences brings together disciplines which study the biological, psychological, and social dimensions of affect. The different scientific projects aim to provide a better understanding of affective phenomena (e.g., emotions, motivations, moods, stress, well-being) from various research perspectives and multiple levels of analysis. With its scientists stemming from various backgrounds such as psychology, philosophy, economics, political science, law, criminology, psychiatry, neuroscience, education, sociology, literature, history, and religious and social anthropology, the NCCR places a particular emphasis on the interdisciplinary and integrative collaboration between these different domains of research.

The Geneva Neuroscience Center and the Swiss Center for Affective Sciences jointly coordinate the Brain and Behaviour Laboratory (BBL). The BBL brings together a wide range of cutting-edge techniques from neuroscience and psychophysiology to measure brain activity, as well as peripheral body changes and complex motor or social behaviour, in experimentally controlled conditions. It is the first laboratory of its kind to combine an extraordinarily large diversity of methodologies and disciplines allowing scientists to carry out research into cognition, emotion, consciousness, sleep and dreams, both in health and in diseases.

The different laboratories of the BBL include one functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging unit, two electroencephalography labs equipped with peripheral physiological recording devices, a virtual reality lab and video cameras to record naturally occurring behaviour in dyadic and group interactions, an acoustic lab and a sleep research room equipped for sleep and vigilance monitoring.

Swiss artists-in-labs 2011
Artist: Jeremie Gindre

picture credit: Sophie Jarlier, University of Geneva

video and installation 22.11.-14.12.2011

Vernissage November 22th 2011 | 4pm
eawag main entrance hall
Forum Chriesbach | Überlandstrasse 133 | 8600 Dübendorf

As Part of the pilot project Indo-Swiss residency exchange 2011/12 of the Swiss artists-in-labs program, Indian artist Surekha collaborated with scientists from the EAWAG Institute for aquatic research in Dübendorf. During 3-months she extensively occupied herself with fundamental and practical questions in the field of aquatic research.

Based on contemporary issues concerned with biodiversity and functional aspects of microorganisms, Surekha developed an on-going project, which playfully explores our multi-layered relation to water. Her multimedia installation “Just follow the sound of the river…” in several-parts conjoins microscopic worlds with emotional-subjective contexts and the global significance of water.

With her work, Surekha opens up diverse perspectives on the fluctuant symbolism and identity of water, which oscillates between a technical understanding as resource and the sensual perception as element.

The pilot project Indo-Swiss residency exchange 2011/12 of the Swiss artists-in-labs program is realized in close collaboration with Pro Helvetia India and the Swiss embassy in New Delhi.

www.artistsinlabs.ch

The Institute of Integrative Biology belongs to the Department of Environmental Sciences and consist of nine professorships and several associated units.The interactions among organisms, including those between host and parasite, pollinator and plant, or invasive and native species, determine the properties and functions of biological systems. These interactions are best characterized using a systems approach that integrates all aspects of the biology, ecology, and evolutionary history of the interacting organisms. The main research objectives of the Institute of Integrative Biology Zurich are to further the understanding of ecological and evolutionary processes that affect interactions between organisms and biological systems and to develop new approaches to address key questions related to infectious diseases. IBZ teaches students the necessary concepts and methods of ecology, population and evolutionary biology to contribute to human health and the sustainable use of biological diversity in a changing environment.

Swiss artists-in-labs 2007
Artists: Hina&Mätti

edited by Jill Scott, 1st Edition., 2010, 175 p. 150 illus. in color., Softcover
Still available, published by SpringerWienNewYork

This book verifies the need for the arts and the sciences to work together in order to develop more creative and conceptual approaches to innovation and presentation. By blending ethnographical case studies, scientific viewpoints and critical essays, the focus of this research inquiry is the lab context. For scientists, the lab context is one of the most important educational experiences. For contemporary artists, laboratories are inspiring spaces to investigate, share know-how transfer and search for new collaboration potentials. The nine labs represented in this book are from the natural, computing and engineering sciences. An enclosed comprehensive DVD documents the results, the problems and serves as a guideline for the future of true Art/Sci experiments.

Essays
Sigrid Schade, Foreword;
Jill Scott, Introduction: The Process of Inquiry;
Edward A. Shanken, Artists in Industry and the Academy: Collaborative Research, Interdisciplinary Scholarship;
Roger Malina, Welcoming Uncertainty: The Strong Case for Coupling the Arts to Science and Technology;
Jill Scott, Suggested Discourses for more Art_Sci Collaborations;
René Stettler, Perception - Translation - Transformation;
Priska Gisler, Free Access or Entry Denied? Searching the Common Grounds in the “artists-in-labs” Project;
Beat Gerber, Science in Trouble? Art brings Hope.

Case Studies – Artists Diaries
Overview: Jill Scott, The Artistsinlabs Story.
Reports by the Artists: the “Hands On” Experience.
Adrianne Wortzel, archipelago.ch – Converse Engineering: Stories of Emerging Differentiation and Otherness in Robotic Entities.
Margarete Jahrmann, Max Moswitzer, GoApe Simulation Platform
Shirley Soh, The writings on the soil.
Tiffany Holmes, Floating Point.
Thomas Isler, Vietnam Connection.
Axel Vogelsang, Straight lines and curves.
Dominik Bastianello, Where in the world am I.
Nigel Helyer, Theorem.
N.S. Harsha, Room for Digression.
Isabel Rohner, Wounds – or the Search for a Cybernetic System.
Margaret Tan, Smart Apron.

Reactions from Scientists
Research descriptions and exchange potentials with the artists as well as their “soft factor” influences on innovation in specific scientific environments: Ulrich Claessen, Moira Norrie, Angelika Hilbeck, Rolf Pfeifer, Petros Koumoutsakos, Othmar Käppeli, Markus Dürrenberger, Werner Pfäffli, Beat Gerber.

DVD
Directed by Prof. Marille Hahne, Produced by Prof. Dr. Jill Scott
12 documentaries: an analysis of the artist-in-labs context ( each 12 min long).
1 Introduction film to the AIL project (12 min).

edited by Jill Scott, 1st Edition, 2010, 200 p. 150 illus. in color, Softcover
Available now, published by SpringerWienNewYork

Networking in the Margins is about sharing information in the margins where immersive learning can expand the exact sciences and demand a more robust level of dialogue from the humanities and the arts. At base of these margins, sits an attitude, which values mixed levels of fantasy, reality and logic and accepts unexpected results. Therefore, this new edition will feature how the ail artists from the disciplines of sculpture, installation, performance and sound and ail partner scientists from the disciplines of physics, computer technologies, environmental ecology and cognitive analysis have complimented each others research from 2006 to 2009. While scientists have certainly learnt about art, artists have become more involved in ethical and social debates about scientific discovery in relation to society. In this book the potentials of networking in these margins are reflected upon by 9 prominent authors, 12 artists and 12 leading scientific researchers from various Laboratories.

Forward by Sigrid Schade: Director of the ICS.
Roy Ascott, Syncretism: exploring new technologies and progress.
Lloyd Anderson, The Agora metaphor- Blended meeting places for artists and scientist’s – on the ecology and the environment.
Jill Scott, Feedback Loops- public and spatial awareness and the controversies of emotional behaviour neuroscience.
Nina Zschocke, Education/History-Mitigation or collaboration- art and science research teams?
Andrea Glauser, The Value of Residencies- where rapports are defined.
Dominik Landweir, Sharing Technology: Robotics and the Community

edited by Irène Hediger; English/Chinese; 76 pages, 32 illustrations, in colour

CHF 28 / Euro 20 + plus mailing

The publication presents the results of the cross-cultural exchange between Swiss and Chinese artists and scientists. They have been created in the context of the “Sino-Swiss Residency Exchange”-project within the Swiss artists-in-labs program at the Zurich University of the Arts.

During an immersive 5-months the artists Alexandre Joly, Aline Veillat, Aniu and Wenfeng Liao explored, learnt and bridged the cultural caps of understanding at science institutes in China and Switzerland with focus on environmental issues related to mountain (shan) and water (shui). The individual processes of the artists involved are documented, thus giving insights into the experiences, questions and difficulties that both artists and scientists have been confronted with during this immersive encounter.

The “Sino-Swiss Residency Exchange”-project and the “山水 SHANSHUI – BOTH WAYS” exhibition and publication are parts of the Exchange and Cooperation Programme “Swiss Chinese Cultural Explorations” of Pro Helvetia, the Swiss arts council.

• To place an order please contact:

  Zurich University of the Arts
  
  Institut Cultural Studies ICS
  Swiss artists-in-labs Programm
  
  Telefon: +41  43 446 61 10 / +41 43 446 64 06
  Email: ail.program(at)zhdk.ch

Adrianne Wortzel (USA)
Artificial Intelligence Lab, Institute for Information Technology University of Zürich

Margarete Jahrmann (Austria/Switzerland) / Max Moswitzer (Austria)
Artificial Intelligence Lab, Institute for Information Technology University of Zürich

Shirley Soh (Singapore)
Bats Centre for Biosafety and Sustainability Basel

Margarete Tan (Singapore)
CSEM Swiss Centre for Electronics and Microtechnology Alpnach/Neuchàtel

Tiffany Holmes (USA)
CoLab Computational Laboratory, ETH Zürich

Thomas Isler (Switzerland)
Institute for Geobotanics, ETH Zürich

Axel Vogelsang(UK)
GlobIS Institute for Information Systems, ETH Zürich

Dominik Bastianello (Switzerland)
PSI Paul Scherrer Institute Villigen

Nigel Helyer (UK/Austria)
PSI Paul Scherrer Institute Villigen

Andrew Quinn (Italy/Australia)
Planetarium, Swiss Museum of Transport, Lucerne

Clea T. White (Germany/USA)
Planetarium, Swiss Museum of Transport, Lucerne

N.S. Harsha (India)
ZMB Centre for Microscopy University of Basel

Isabel Rohner (Switzerland)
ZMB Centre for Microscopy University of Basel

Hina&Mätti
ETH Zürich

Pablo Ventura
ai lab, University of Zurich

Pe Lang
CSEM, Alpnach

Roman Keller
Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Villigen