The Sense — New innovation and research center focused on sensory sciences

Three academic partners

A new innovation and research center – The Sense – has been founded by the HES-SO Valais-Wallis, the University of Lausanne (UNIL) and the University Hospital of Lausanne (CHUV). As from January 2022 the three academic partners will draw together their applied, basic, and clinical research activities to develop and promote the study of sensory sciences. 

The mission of the Sense focuses on the creation and diffusion of knowledge regarding the senses, cognition, and human behaviour for the benefit of the society. The synergy between the different founding institutions as well as the different fields of developed research will enable an improvement of knowledge and bring to light new innovations related to sensory sciences. Sensory study occupies an essential place in our understanding of the world as summarized by Pr. Micah Murray, Professor at CHUV-UNIL and Scientific and Academic Director of the Sense. « Our senses provide access points to how we perceive, behave and interact with the world and others. In short, they constitute the scaffolding of who we are, not only when we are young, but throughout our lives. A better understanding of our senses allows us to better understand ourselves, to improve our perception, our behaviour and our action in health matters, and to remedy dysfunctions and illnesses ». Moreover, the researchers, hired by each of three partners and affiliated with the Sense, are opinion leaders in their respective fields of research. With this in mind, this new research center will bring together and federate major actors of neuroscience research to provide new solutions at national and international level. 

Intercantonal and interdisciplinary collaboration

This union between research and innovation players in the canton of Valais and the canton of Vaud is an ambitious opportunity given the respective know-how of the various research institutes of the HES-SO Valais-Wallis, the UNIL and the CHUV. « We study the same fields, but from a different perspective. It was as logical as it was relevant to unite in order to create a vast intercantonal and interdisciplinary collaboration in favour of the study of the human senses », affirms the Pr. Olivier Lorentz, Professor HES-SO Valais/Wallis and Executive Director of the Sense. The Sense research is based on three main axes: Perception & Cognition, Action & Reparation, Devices & Data. Within these axes, the nineteen researchers and their teams work in close partnership. 

The Sense