Topics for semester or master projects supervised by Prof. Philippe Thalmann with his team at LEURE
The topics below can be analyzed individually or in groups of 2 students maximum. Each project will be co-supervised by Prof. Philippe Thalmann and a senior collaborator or PhD student of his lab LEURE. Students are expected to produce a scientific report and defend it in an intermediate and a final presentation, according to the regulation applying to the course under which they register for the semester project, respectively to master projects in their section. The expected length of the scientific report and research work in general will depend on the number of credits given for this project.
Les sujets sont proposés en anglais, mais les rapports peuvent être rédigés en français ou anglais, à convenir avec l’enseignant.
If you are interested in one of these topics, prepare a half-page draft in which you describe which topic you are interested in and what specific issue you would examine, and send this to Prof. Thalmann.
Topics proposed in Spring 2025
Topic25
What is a neighborhood? Scale of aggregation for alternative service provision
Which essential (daily) local services should be best provisioned at which scale: building, group of buildings, historical neighbourhoods, or simply a certain size in meters or number of people? “Best” is here defined in terms of resource use, universal access, governance, quality of service and resulting quality of life, and ultimately as providing synergistic satisfiers. Focus on low density neighbourhoods: which could be developed and which demolished?
Project under the direct supervision of Sascha Nick
Topic33
How to transform existing buildings towards shared spaces?
Based on literature, identify successful and unsuccessful space sharing models, such as share kitchens, guest rooms, reception rooms, activity spaces etc. Summarize and propose new models designed to minimize m2 per person and facilitate shared activities, leading to higher wellbeing with less resources.
This topic, under the direct supervision of Sascha Nick, is specifically for architecture students.
Topic34
Material requirements for renovation of the Swiss habitat
In a broad renovation program for the Swiss building stock (energy efficiency, repurposing shared spaces), how much of the needed materials could be reused from old buildings destined for demolition? How will this reuse affect renovation practices?
Project under the direct supervision of Sascha Nick
Topic35
What is needed to reduce Swiss urban sprawl to its level of 1935?
In collaboration with Jochen Jaeger, Concordia University, who developed the “Weighted Urban Proliferation” metric, estimate the effects of a renovation + space repurposing program focused on more wellbeing with less m2 per person, and demolishing poorly placed buildings. Analytical and/or GIS approach.
Project under the direct supervision of Sascha Nick
Topic44
Carbon footprint of European regions, exposure and vulnerability to the energy transition
The European Green Deal will impact the European regions differently, and there is a broad consensus that policies, in general, impact differently between sectors and geographical regions. Admittedly, the political resistance to climate policy tends to be more pronounced in countries that heavily depend on fossil fuel exports and have carbon-intensive energy systems or countries with ETS sectors that constitute a more significant part of their economy. Increasing regional inequality can intensify opposition against European policies and EU construction.
Considering that there is little information on the carbon intensity of European regions, the goal of this master project is to build carbon footprint indicators at the European level using the NUTS2 regional level that describes 242 regions and to derive from these indicators’ exposure and vulnerability risk again the energy transition. The primary data source will be the Eurostat database, and the work will take as a basis the existing work on this topic.
Project under the direct supervision of Sigit Perdana and Marc Vielle
Topic50
What is “fair” inequality for energy, mobility, and housing?
As part of the SWICE project (sweet-swice.ch), the Swiss Fair Inequality Survey aims to investigate multidimensional “fair” inequality, focusing on developing consumption corridors for energy, mobility, and housing. The goal is to establish fair maximum consumption levels in these areas. The survey, comprising 15-20 questions and taking about 15 minutes to complete, will target 1,000 representative participants from French and German-speaking Switzerland.
This semester project involves support in preparing the survey categories and questions. The process includes reviewing relevant literature, conducting analyses, and utilizing mini-surveys to validate key elements. The ultimate objective is to ensure the survey effectively measures perceptions of fair inequality in the specified domains.
Project under the direct supervision of Sascha Nick
Topic52
The impact of noise pollution on the Swiss real estate market: new evidence
The impact of noise pollution on residential households is a highly debated topic in Switzerland. In the past decade, several cities have adopted and/or revised strict policies to limit such a disamenity. These policies can have an important impact on the real estate market, people’s choice of where to live, and how environmental factors in cities impact welfare. The goal of this project is to answer these two questions: Who is the most exposed to noise pollution in Switzerland? What is the impact of policies related to noise pollution management on the Swiss real estate market?
Project in cooperation with Prof. Sébastien Houde, University of Lausanne
Topic53
Filling in data for OK Climat
Switzerland ambitions to become climate neutral by 2050, and each canton has set goals on how to get there. However, these goals are often vague and not easily understandable or accessible for the common person. OK Climat wants to make this information more accessible by providing reports on how each canton’s and municipality’s climate policy is progressing, and identifying areas where improvements can still be made (https://www.ok-klima.ch/fr/). To facilitate this process, as many indicators as possible are needed, and they should be calculated automatically for all cantons and municipalities.
The semester project aims to obtain information on climate topics automatically from public web sites, in particular information on climate-related subsidies. It should analyse the available information and produce a database containing information on subsidies in a structured form. Next, the data will be used to calculate several new indicators, based on the amount of the subsidies available to inhabitants and businesses.
Project under the direct supervision of Sascha Nick and Yvonne Winteler (OK Climat); a more detailed project description is available.
Topic54
Decarbonizing the Building Sector in Switzerland
The building sector accounts for 24% of Switzerland’s greenhouse gas emissions, mainly due to fossil fuel use for heating and hot water in homes and commercial spaces. Achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 will require a major shift: most buildings will need enhanced insulation, and fossil fuel-based heating systems will need to be replaced by sustainable alternatives like heat pumps, wood, geothermal systems, and district heating.
This project invites students to dive into Switzerland’s and the cantons’ strategies to decarbonize the building sector. Key tasks include: (1) Reviewing literature and decarbonization scenarios: Investigate established decarbonization pathways, such as those outlined by Swiss federal agencies and cantonal climate plan. (2) Integrating findings into an online calculator: Integrate your research insights into an existing web-based tool that models Switzerland’s decarbonization progress across various sectors.
Through this project, students will gain hands-on experience with Python programming and a practical understanding of how decarbonization scenarios are designed and applied in real-world policy contexts.
Project under the direct supervision of Paola Paruta
Topic55
The Future of Aviation
In 2021, the International Air Transport Association set an ambitious target for airlines: net zero emissions by 2050. Meeting this goal relies on a mix of efficiency gains, biofuels, and new hydrogen and electric aircraft. Yet, with biofuels currently below 0.1% of aviation fuel and no commercial airline using hydrogen or electric planes, the path to decarbonizing air travel looks challenging – especially as demand for flights is projected to keep rising.
This project will explore the limitations of aviation’s decarbonization strategies by examining biofuel capacity and the readiness of hydrogen and electric planes. Given these constraints, how much will we need to scale back air travel to achieve a sustainable future in 2050?
Integrate your research insights into an existing web-based tool that models Switzerland’s decarbonization progress across various sectors, refining the projections specifically for the aviation sector.
Project under the direct supervision of Paola Paruta
Topics proposed in Fall 2024
Topic40
The role of food-based biofuels for the agri-food system in the context of a “farm to fork” strategy
Biofuels are set to play a key role in the transition to a low-carbon society. But biofuels are a double-edged sword that can have considerable effects on sustainability, both positive and negative, depending on how they are aligned with the agri-food system as a whole. For example, increasing Europe’s self-sufficiency in livestock feed can lead to a reduction in international deforestation, an increase in the production of oil as a by-product, higher incomes for farmers, a reduction in the consumption of oil-based fuels, and so on. On the other hand, increasing biofuel production independently of the agri-food system can lead to more land being converted to cropland, indirect changes in land use, deforestation, etc. European biofuel policy is primarily motivated by climate change, regardless of the characteristics of the agri-food system. The aim of this theme is to define the role of food-based biofuels in the agrifood system, taking into account its current and future dynamics. This involves estimating the sustainable volume of (food-based) biofuels that can be produced given the current and future agrifood system (e.g. change in diet, trade balance, production system, etc.).
Project under the direct supervision of Gino Baudry
Topic42
Analysing a rich dataset on the sustainability of Swiss buildings
REMMS compiled sustainability indicators and ratings for over 3 million objects (buildings and dwellings). This data can be used for all sorts of analyses, e.g., identifying spatial regularities, comparing observed and modelled energy use or CO2 emissions, testing the relationship between sustainability and age of building, etc.
Project under the direct supervision of Alrick Amann
Topic45
Back to the Future: The World Energy Outlook forecasts in the rear-view mirror
The annual World Energy Outlook (WEO) is the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) flagship publication on global energy projections and analysis. It provides an extensive set of statistics on energy prices, energy balances, and technological costs related to energy consumption by regions. The Outlook is published annually since 1977.
This thesis will perform a statistical analysis of historical projections (2000-2020) and seek to identify possible biases. Particular attention will be paid to energy prices, energy balances, electricity generation and CO2 emissions.
Project under the direct supervision of Marc Vielle
Topic46
Scenarios for decarbonising the transport sector in Switzerland
As Switzerland strives to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050, decarbonisation of the transport sector is crucial. This project aims to study the impact of different scenarios for decarbonising the transport sector on other sectors such as energy, industry, minerals and land use in Switzerland. This involves (1) exploring existing literature and identifying established decarbonisation scenarios for the transport sector in Switzerland, such as those suggested by Swiss federal agencies or recognised research bodies; (2) integrating these scenarios into an existing online calculator that models Switzerland’s decarbonisation pathways in different sectors of society, including lifestyle, buildings, industry and energy. By participating in this project, the student will gain valuable experience with Python programming, better understand how decarbonisation scenarios in the transport sector interact with broader economic and societal systems and have the opportunity to collaborate with experts engaged in Switzerland’s national efforts to achieve sustainable development.
Project under the direct supervision of Paola Paruta
Topic47
Allocation of Global Carbon Budget to the Swiss Agri-food system
The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change adopted by 196 Parties on 12 December 2015. Its aim is to limit the increase in the average global surface temperature to 2°C or even 1.5°C relative to pre-industrial levels, in order to avoid triggering severe climate change impacts. This means that the world population should not emit more than 250 billion tonnes of CO2 for a 50% likelihood of limiting global warming to 1.5°C, and 1 150 billion tonnes for 2°C. In 2022, the world population emitted about 40 billion tonnes of CO2, which leaves it with 6 years’ equivalent of its current emissions for 1.5°C, and 28 years for 2°C. In this regard, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that “there had been a failure by the Swiss authorities to quantify, through a carbon budget or otherwise, national greenhouse gas emissions limitations”. Your role will be to study ways of dividing the global carbon budget and defining a fair share for Switzerland, and within Switzerland a fair share for the agri-food system. The ultimate aim is to contribute to the development of sustainable pathways for Switzerland, in particular for its agriculture/food sector.
Project under the direct supervision of Gino Baudry
Topic48
True Cost Accounting for Food – animal welfare
True Cost Accounting for Food (TCAF) is a methodology that aims to quantify and monetise the environmental, social, economic and health impacts of agri-food systems. Although there is no commonly accepted methodology, the impact on animal welfare is an indicator that often lacks quantitative measurement. The aim of this project is to study how to quantify and monetise the impacts of the agri-food industry on animal welfare, focusing on different production systems and different types of livestock. This involves (1) understanding the rationale behind the monetisation factors of the TCAF; (2) researching the data available for livestock in Switzerland; and (3) quantifying and monetising. The ultimate aim of this project is to contribute to the development of a TCAF calculator for Switzerland.
Project under the direct supervision of Agathe Crosnier
Topic49
Socially acceptable ways to replace fossil fuels in Peru
Peru wants to become carbon neutral by 2050. Already for 2030, it aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 30% relative to business as usual. The current energy system relies heavily on fossil fuels, which account for about three quarters of primary energy supply. Peru has considerable reserves of natural gas, which have increasingly been exploited in the last two decades, thus providing employment and making the country a net exporter of natural gas. Technical solutions for replacing fossil fuels are well known. The most economic solutions tend to rely on renewable electricity generation in combination with the electrification of mobility and heating. With about 10 of 34 million Peruvians considered poor, the government gives higher priority to poverty eradication than to mitigating climate change. Rising costs of energy services are thus to be avoided. This asks for affordable solutions, special attention to the needs of the poor, and policies that are well adapted to the circumstances of a middle income country.
Project under the direct supervision of Frank Vöhringer
Topic51
Leakage rates, solutions, and environmental analysis of hydrogen supply chains
In the realm of hydrogen leakage and supply chains, there exists a gap in the existing literature concerning review papers. This gap pertains to three interconnected aspects often addressed individually. These include the absence of studies consolidating and analyzing diverse leakage rates associated with different sub-configurations within potential hydrogen supply chains, solutions aimed at mitigating leakage rates within these chains, and contextualizing the environmental cost-benefit analysis of introducing hydrogen into current hard-to-abate applications.
Project under the direct supervision of Abdurahman Alsulaiman