News 2026
News list
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Substance use patterns and their cognitive and mental health correlates in young adults
A new study using z-proso data, led by Dr. Lukas Eggenberger, tracked substance use patterns in young adulthood, and how they relate to cognitive functioning and mental health. This study involved the Jacobs Center’s Risk and Resilience research area (PI: Prof. Lilly Shanahan), UZH Psychiatry’s Experimental Pharmacopsychology and Psychological Addiction Research group (PI: Prof. Boris Quednow), and the UZH Center for Forensic Hair Analytics.
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When Children Are Challenging – What Helps in Everyday School Life?
What really works when dealing with challenging behavior in everyday school life? In this panel discussion on October 19, 2026, experts from research and practice will share the latest findings, experiences, and effective approaches for supporting children with diverse needs. The panel will take place online and is open to the public and free of charge. Register now. (in German)
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Mirjam Habegger successfully defended her PhD thesis
Congratulations are in order for Mirjam Habegger who has successfully defended her PhD thesis, “Childhood and Adolescence as Sensitive Periods of Brain Development: The Role of Early Social Influences and Implications for Mental Health.” This is a remarkable achievement and a testament to her dedication and hard work. We wish her all the best for the next chapter of her career.
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Michelle Loher Awarded Prestigious UZH Postdoc Grant 2026
We are delighted to congratulate Michelle Loher on receiving a highly competitive UZH Postdoc Grant 2026 from the University of Zurich. This outstanding achievement recognizes Michelle’s excellent research record and supports the next stage of her academic career through a two-year fellowship.
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Beyond a simple marker of stress: New paper on hair cortisol and cortisone
Led by Dr. Clarissa Janousch, a new z-proso study analyzed hair samples from over 1,000 young adults to test the link between hair cortisol and psychosocial stress.
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Which life events matter most to young people
The Jacobs Center's Risk and Resilience research area (PI: Prof. Lilly Shanahan), alongside the Digital and Mobile Health Team, co-published a new z-proso study led by Drs. David Bürgin and Christina Haag (funded via a UZH PRC seed grant). As one of the world's first large-scale longitudinal studies using automated language processing on open-ended text, it preserves young people's perspectives in their own words.
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Congratulations to Dr. Lukas Eggenberger on His Successful PhD Defense
A big congratulations to Dr. Lukas Eggenberger on successfully defending his doctoral dissertation: Substance Use, Cognition, and Mental Health in Emerging Adulthood: Insights from Longitudinal Hair Biomarker Data. We celebrate this remarkable achievement and wish him all the best in his future academic career!
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Large-scale study by the Jacobs Center on Masculinity now published
Half of young men in Switzerland are concerned that “real men” are increasingly being marginalized in society. A large-scale study by the Jacobs Center for Productive Youth Development at the University of Zurich (UZH) in collaboration with männer.ch shows how prevalent restrictive and dominance-based concepts of masculinity are. These ideas go hand in hand with misogyny, a propensity for violence, and opposition to gender equality. Prevention efforts should start in schools.
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New study: How parental behavior is linked to brain development
How parental behavior changes over the course of childhood and how it is linked to the development of key brain structures is examined in a new study by PhD candidate and first author Mirjam Habegger and a research team from the NMR Kids Lab led by Prof. Nora M. Raschle.
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The 2026 LIFE Spring Academy took place from May 6 – 9 in Charlottesville, Virginia
bringing together around 50 LIFE Faculty and Fellows from Germany, the US, and Switzerland at the University in Virginia. Over four intensive days, participants shared and discussed their research in an atmosphere of openness, curiosity, and collaboration.
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Lukas Eggenberger and Michelle Loher Awarded UZH Population Center Seed Grant
Lukas Eggenberger and Michelle Loher (Risk and Resilience research area) and Andreas Baumer (Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute) were awarded a UZH Population Research Center Seed Grant 2026.
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Talk by Prof. Philipp Kanske
The Social Brain - Empathy and Perspective Taking as Risky Strengths
May 18, 2026, 14:30 h
Andreasstrasse 15, 8050 Zurich, AND 4.55/57 (4th floor) -
Talk by Prof. Sabine Seehagen
Sleep, Screens, and Science: A Contextual Approach to Early Development
April 27, 2026, 14:30 h
Andreasstrasse 15, 8050 Zurich, AND 4.55/57 (4th floor) -
Sexual Minority Youth Show Distinct Substance Use Patterns from Adolescence into Young Adulthood
A new study led by Dr. Clarissa Janousch finds that young people who experience same-sex attraction use substances differently than their heterosexual peers - and that these differences vary by sex and change over time. The study followed participants from the Zurich Project on Social Development from Childhood to Adulthood (z-proso) between ages 17 and 24.
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LEAPS: Family and Social Environment: Data collection has resumed!
How quickly time flies! It has already been almost a year since the parents of approximately 1,500 children participating in LEAPS – a longitudinal study in the Canton of Zurich that follows children throughout their compulsory schooling – provided us with information on a wide range of topics related to their family, their children’s leisure activities, and their well-being.
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Talk by Prof. Björn Brey
The Death of King Coal and the Scars of Deindustrialization
March 30, 2026, 14:30 h
Andreasstrasse 15, 8050 Zurich, AND 4.55/57 (4th floor) -
What Young Adults Worry About and What They Hope For
What do young adults worry about – and hope for – when they think about the future? A new study by the Risk and Resilience group of the Jacobs Center set out to investigate exactly that.
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10th wave of surveys launched by z-proso
Over the coming weeks and months, the new z-proso fieldwork team will be out in the field conducting the surveys.
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Talk by Prof. James Soland
How Measurement is Affecting Evaluation Results: Evidence from 100 Randomized Control Trials
February 23, 2026, 14:30 h
Andreasstrasse 15, 8050 Zurich, AND 4.55/57 (4th floor) -
z-proso: One-Third of Young People Become Physically Aggressive Toward Their Parents
Physical aggression by adolescents against their parents is more common than many might believe, according to a long-term longitudinal study z-proso from Zurich. Among young people aged 11 to 24, physical aggression against parents peaks at 13, with approximately five percent continuing the behavior into adulthood.
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New Publication from the Risk and Resilience Research Group: Adolescent Cannabis Use and Cognitive Performance
We are excited to share a new paper by former Jacobs Center postdoctoral researcher Dr. Clarissa Janousch and her collaborators from the Zurich Project on Social Development from Childhood to Adulthood (z-proso), published in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction.