ETH News

Juraj Hromkovic has been Professor of Information Technology at ETH Zurich for the past 20 years. During this time, he has been a leading advocate of teaching computer science in schools. He’s now giving his farewell lecture.

Christoph Schär is one of the Swiss climate scientists who have shaped high-resolution climate modelling. He is now retiring after more than 35 years at ETH Zurich. In this portrait, he explains why he himself never tires of researching climate change.

The new “Mobility and Inclusion” exhibition at ETH Zurich lets people find out first-hand the obstacles faced by people with impairments along with the technical aids available. From 2025, it will be on display as a permanent exhibition at the Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have recently developed artificial muscles for robot motion. Their solution offers several advantages over previous technologies: it can be used wherever robots need to be soft rather than rigid or where they need more sensitivity when interacting with their environment.

ETH Zurich’s collections and archives include plenty of hidden treasures. Some of these are now on display in the new “extract” exhibition space in the Main Building.

A new ETH study compares 27 humanoid robots with humans and comes to the conclusion that while robots have better components, they are still not capable of achieving as much. However, according to the authors of the study, the machines are catching up.

Over the coming months, ETH Zurich will be taking a particularly close look at Ticino. The University’s Graphische Sammlung is not only presenting a new exhibition on artistic activity in and around the canton of Ticino but also opening a unique exhibition at MASI in Lugano.

An ETH Zurich architectural centrepiece – the machine laboratory– has been renovated. The historically significant machine hall has been extensively restored to its original condition. The renovation provides ETH with additional space for research and teaching.

Detlef Günther is stepping down from his role as Vice President for Research to devote more time to his own research work. A look back over eight successful years.

The Graphische Sammlung ETH Zürich has digitised over 50,000 artworks and made them freely accessible. Linda Schädler, Head of the Graphische Sammlung, explains in an interview why she hopes to do the same with the remaining 110,000.

With the help of artificial intelligence, an international research team led by ETH Zurich has explored the Moon’s permanently shadowed regions. The information they have obtained about the area’s surface properties will help to identify suitable locations for future lunar missions.

Researchers at ETH Zurich and WSL have for the first time reconstructed the extent of Switzerland’s glacier ice loss in the 20th century. For this purpose, the researchers used historical imagery and conclude that the country’s glaciers lost half their volume between 1931 and 2016.

Mathematician and biostatistician Tanja Stadler will receive this year’s Rössler Prize for her achievements. Worth 200,000 Swiss francs, it is ETH Zurich’s most generous research award.

More than a hundred unpublished drawings by the German writer Franz Kafka are now presented for the first time in a volume edited by Andreas Kilcher, professor at ETH Zurich.

Konstantinos Boulouchos spent years helping to shape Swiss energy research. Following his retirement, the charismatic Emeritus Professor of Energy Technology can now look back on more than 30 years at ETH Zurich – time to get philosophical.

ETH Zurich’s Division of Agriculture was founded in 1871. One glance at its 150-year history is enough to know why the subject is still so important today.  

Students at ETH Zurich used innovative technology to create an extremely lightweight and filigree pavilion using bamboo. The project demonstrates the possibilities of digital fabrication combined with natural construction materials.

Tanja Stadler, ETH Professor of Computational Evolution, is working at the forefront in the fight against the coronavirus. She recently became head of the Swiss National COVID-19 Science Task Force’s Data and Modelling Group, which closely studies the new variants of SARS-CoV-2.

Collegium Helveticum is the joint think tank of ETH Zurich, the University of Zurich and Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK). Leadership of the organisation is set to change hands in January 2021, with ETH professor Sebastian Bonhoeffer taking over the reins. A biologist and musician, Bonhoeffer has long pursued his passions for science and art. We sat down with him to talk about how he sees his new role. 

During the coronavirus pandemic the government is relying more than ever on scientific expertise and has set up the "Swiss National COVID-19 Science Task Force" in response to the crisis. In August the Task Force will have a new mandate and a new Chair: Martin Ackermann, Professor of Molecular Microbial Biology at ETH Zurich and Head of Eawag's Environmental Microbiology Department.

Today sees the start of the pilot phase for the long-awaited tracing app jointly developed by teams at ETH Zurich and EPF Lausanne on behalf of the federal government. Switzerland is the first country in the world to use APIs from Google and Apple.

Separation of powers, foreign policy, economic policy and climate change – at a two-day event in the Bern region, ETH imparted expertise to newly elected parliamentarians.

The supervision of doctoral students has long been the subject of intense debate both within and beyond the walls of our university. In January this year, ETH played host to an international symposium on this very subject. Antonio Togni, Vice Rector for Doctoral Studies, highlights the most significant findings and explains what ETH could do to improve its own doctorate.

They tend to fly under the radar, but they are there: the LGBT students at ETH. In a spirit of openness, a rainbow banner will be displayed at ETH Zurich’s main building during the Zurich Pride Festival.

The ETH spin-off Bonsai Systems helps musicians to improve their movement, use of force and body position. The new technology for various instruments will be demonstrated at Scientifica. Visitors will be able to view and test the new tools for wind and string instruments.

ETH researchers from the Functional Materials Laboratory have developed a silicone heart that beats almost like a human heart. In collaboration with colleagues from the Product Development Group Zurich, they have tested how well it works.

Vittorio Magnago Lampugnani hasn't just written definitive reference works on urban planning and shaped a generation of ETH architects; he has also run numerous projects of his own. Now, the charismatic Chair for the History of Urban Design is about to retire.  

Timothy Prior and Florian Roth of the “risk and resilience” team at the Center for Security Studies (CSS) will be appearing as experts on SRF theme day on blackouts. The two researchers work in the field of disaster management, resilience, and risk and crisis communication. ETH News wanted to know about the state of readiness in Switzerland.

Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Johann Schneider-Ammann visited the ETH Zurich stand at this year’s CeBIT. ETH President Lino Guzzella personally introduced the political leaders of Germany and Switzerland two recent examples of ETH research.

A working group headed by Michael Ambühl, Professor of Negotiation at ETH Zurich, held an introductory event this week for 14 of the newly elected members of the federal parliament from the different parties and cantons.

Michael Ambühl, Professor of Negotiation and Conflict Management, has just published his much discussed proposal on the implementation of the mass immigration initiative in the Swiss Political Science Review. ETH News spoke to him about the relationship between research and politics.

The gta exhibition ‘Architecture for Children: Zurich’s Playgrounds’ presents the history of the playground in Zurich since 1950. A treasure trove of photos, films, slideshows and plans are on display, along with examples of how children would design a playground today if they had the opportunity.

The popular Treffpunkt Science City is ushering in the new season. From 26 October to 30 November 2014, various events will be held which focus on the theme of ‘high performance’. This is the first summit series under the directorship of Inge Keller-Hoehl, who has taken over from Mercedes Leupp and Rolf Probala.

gta exhibitions is opening the new season with various projects. One of them is “Atlas”, a project by Tom Emerson, professor of architecture and construction.

ETH Zurich’s Future Cities Laboratory (FCL) in Singapore is undertaking several research projects into sustainable urban development and architectural design. A selection of these research projects is now being presented for the first time as part of an exhibition at ETH Zurich.

In a new illustrated book, ETH-Bibliothek is presenting fascinating images from the Swissair Aerial Photography Archive. The view from above reveals the changes to Switzerland’s landscape and culture over the years.

Swiss artist Annelies Štrba’s exhibition opens tonight at ETH Zurich’s Collection of Prints and Drawings. Her contemporary take on images of the Madonna are presented in contrast with prints from Old Masters.

They are called CoRoT-4 b or OGLE-2005-BLG-390L b – exoplanets often have scientific designations that are impossible to pronounce. Now the International Astronomical Union (IAU), working in collaboration with the citizen science project Zooniverse, has announced a public competition in which the 30 most popular exoplanets from a list of 305 will be given new names.

The ETH Board confirmed today that Sarah Springman, Professor of Geotechnical Engineering, is to become the new Rector of ETH Zurich. Alongside Lino Guzzella, who will move from the office of Rector to the Presidency, Springman will help shape the future of ETH Zurich as part of the Executive Board from January 2015.

After a construction phase of some six years, the 9.6 kilometre cross-city link (Durchmesserlinie) and Löwenstrasse station will open tomorrow in Zurich. ETH News spoke to rail transport expert Ulrich Alois Weidmann, professor of transport systems at the Institute for Transport Planning and Systems, about the changes the new route will bring.

Undergraduate students from the Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering (D-MAVT) have once again given their all and in late May will be presenting 11 new projects developed over the past year. ETH News takes a closer look at two of them.

Do future civil engineers at ETH Zurich really learn what they will need in their working lives? And what will their training look like in future? A panel with representatives of the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering and industry discussed these topics.

Today’s edition of Tages-Anzeiger includes an unspecific report claiming the suspected presence of Legionella at the Hönggerberg campus. The fact is that the only part of the campus affected was the HPL building. The building has now been given the all clear. The problem was dealt with immediately and, as a result, the emergency precautionary measures put in place have now been lifted.

In January 2014, the exhibitions division of the Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture (gta) appointed two new directors. Niels Olsen and Fredi Fischli hope to breathe new life into the ETH exhibition landscape. Their first exhibition, The Walk, recently opened and demonstrates just what they mean by this.

The Citius bob was co-developed between 2007 and 2012 at ETH Zurich, now it is starting again at the Olympics on Sunday. The bob experts at ETH think with significantly better odds than in Vancouver.  

In these days, a diary of Max Frisch has been published, which was previously unreleased. The writer describes in it his first year in Berlin. 

For almost two years, researchers at ETH Zurich have been measuring air quality along tram lines in Zurich. They have now presented maps that for the first time show precisely when and where air pollution in Zurich is at its highest.

Matthias Kohler, Professor of Architecture and Digital Fabrication, takes over the leadership of a National Centre of Competence in Research. He talks to ETH News about why it is so important that novel design and fabrication processes evolve and that such a research approach does not remain purely theoretical.

The Swiss are a nation of tunnel constructors. With its book Tunnelling Switzerland, the Swiss Tunnelling Society sets out a comprehensive record of Swiss tunnel construction described in more than 90 projects.

For 20 years Equal has been committed to securing adequate conditions for men and women at ETH Zurich. The Office for Equal Opportunities at ETH Zurich is celebrating this anniversary with an exhibition and a panel discussion.

Researchers at ETH Zurich regularly investigate the number of overweight children in Switzerland. The latest figures have just been published. Stefanie Murer, first author of the study, explains what the figures mean.

Two ETH researchers from the Institute for Technology in Architecture have created an immersive space from artificial sandstone with a 3D printer. The work is currently on display in Orléans, France.