University of Zürich
University of Zürich
09/23/2026 | News release | Distributed by Public on 09/23/2026 01:55
Understanding Human Beings
23.09.2026 New UZH Magazin
Understanding Human Beings
What makes us human? Researchers have been grappling with this question for centuries. In the latest issue of the UZH Magazin, researchers from different fields across the university offer their answers.
Autor: Communications
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Investigating the origins of religious concepts that still influence us today: theologian Konrad Schmid in the cloister of Zurich's Grossmünster. (Photo: Dan Cermak)
"What is the human being?" is the fundamental question posed by the philosopher Immanuel Kant - and by generations of researchers before and after him. It is also the question at the heart of the latest issue of the UZH Magazin. The answers are varied and often surprising, drawing on research conducted across a wide range of disciplines at UZH. If we want to understand how we think, act and live together, we need to take a close look - at our history and language, our brains and bodies, as well as our evolutionary past. That is precisely what the researchers featured in the dossier section, Understanding Human Beings: What Basic Research Can Achieve, are doing.
UZH Magazin 3/26 «Den Menschen verstehen. Was Grundlagenforschung leistet»
What these researchers have in common is a commitment to basic research. They ask fundamental questions and explore them in depth. Today, however, science is increasingly expected to deliver solutions quickly and demonstrate immediate benefits for society or the economy. These expectations are understandable, but they also carry risks. Judging research solely by what it delivers in the short term jeopardizes the very foundations on which tomorrow's solutions are built. Before we can change, treat or improve something, we first need to understand how it works.
Autism, muons and humility
As always, the magazine also covers a range of other topics, including research into how autism differs between men and women, the unique properties of muons and the history of humility. Selected articles will be published in English on our website over the coming weeks.
Communications
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UZH Magazin (in German)
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