Meeting point: Parking Lausanne Bellerive at 07:00 (bus leavea at 07:15)

Number of participants: 20

Transport: bus

Registration fee: CHF 17 (includes transport and lunch)

Organizers: Time and Frequency Lab, University of Neuchâtel (LTF-UniNE) and CSEM (Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology)

Sponsor: University of Neuchâtel

Contact: Igor Chlebny (igor.chlebny@unine.ch)

 

From the ingenious mechanical watches that have made Switzerland’s reputation, to the atomic clocks on board the Galileo constellation satellites, the Neuchâtel region has a ongoing passion for capturing and measuring time.  

This trip offers a unique opportunity to meet leading specialists in the definition and the measurement of time -- Switzerland’s most precious resource -- and gain exclusive insights into their work. You will meet world-renowned science and technology experts in watchmaking and microtechnology and get an exclusive opportunity to see the results of our scientists’ most recent research.

Your first stop will be the Time and Frequency Laboratory of the University of Neuchâtel, which participates in defining international atomic time and develops devices for the European Space Agency. Its mission is to explore the frontiers of optical metrology and ultrafast laser science. The second stop is the site of Neuchâtel’s Observatory, now part of the CSEM (Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology), which helps customers develop the disruptive technologies of today and the life-changing products of tomorrow. The trip will continue to a UNESCO World Heritage Site where you will experience the Swiss watchmaking tradition with an exclusive visit to Greubel Forsey, a company renowned for its creativity in the development of complications in watchmaking. The excursion will end with a guided visit to the MIH, the International Museum of Horology in La Chaux-de-Fonds.

Tentative itinerary for the visit

07:00   Meeting and departure from Lausanne. The participants will be accompanied by a representatives of the University of Neuchâtel

08:15   Arrival on site at the University of Neuchâtel

08:30   LTF lab visit, coffee break

10:30   CSEM Observatory site lab visit

12:00   Departure to La Chaux-de-Fonds

12:30   Lunch in the Ferme des Brandt, La Chaux-de-Fonds

14:15   Exclusive visit to the innovative watchmaker Greubel Forsey

16:00   Visit to the MIH, the International Museum of Horology in La Chaux-de-Fonds

17:00   Aperitif

18:30   Departure to Lausanne