A new approach for managing bugs in computer software has been developed by a team led by Prof. George Candea at EPFL. The latest version of Dimmunix, available for free download, enables entire networks of computers to cooperate in order to collectively avoid the manifestations of bugs in software.

Published in "Nature Materials", the work of scientists from the Max Planck Institute, University of Trieste, King's College and EPFL  provides the first local characterization of the potential barrier at the contact between a single molecule and a metal electrode. This has been achieved by combining scanning tunnelling spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations. Contrary to the common belief of a uniform barrier, the experiments reveal giant variations of the work function on the sub-molecular scale. Based on these observations the authors have developed a novel scheme to engineer the molecular contacts with atomic precision. The results are of fundamental importance for possible applications of molecules in any electronic device where charge injection and extraction are relevant.

Biologists wake dormant viruses and uncover mechanism for survival

An international team of scientists from EPFL (Switzerland), INRIA (France), NTT (Japan), CWI (The Netherlands) and Bonn University (Germany), has obtained the prime factors of the RSA challenge number RSA-768, using the Number Field Sieve.

Organizational change within the vice-presidency for education and research at EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne). Philippe Gillet, director of the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research cabinet, will join EPFL starting on the 1st of April, 2010. Professor Giorgio Margaritondo, current vice-president, will go back to teaching and research after six years of working at the Senior Administration of the institute.

At its meeting on December 9-10, the Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology appointed Jonathan Knowles a half-time full professor at the School of Life Sciences (FSV).