ETH News

ETH and the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems are intensifying their partnership to promote doctoral candidates and research: ETH professors Otmar Hilliges, Thomas Hofmann, Andreas Krause and Klaas P. Prüssmann are new Max Planck fellows in Tübingen and Stuttgart.

What secrets are held by the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way? Andrea Ghez, astronomer and Nobel Laureate in Physics, will discuss this question as part of next week’s Paul Bernays Lectures 2021. The honorary lecture series on the philosophy of the exact sciences will take place for the tenth time.

Great honour for ETH professor Nicola Spaldin: the European Commission has elected the materials researcher as a member of the ERC Science Council.

Richard Ernst’s autobiography was published at the start of May. The 87-year-old ETH professor emeritus was awarded the 1991 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Our quiz will familiarise you with the life of this extraordinary researcher.

Alessio Figalli’s life has changed since he was awarded the Fields Medal one year ago. There’s now more intensive contact to schools and public life, and he has taken on new tasks in research. He masters them with a joyful outlook and optimism.

Are there limits to what computers are actually able to compute, and do quantum computers really solve more problems than conventional computers? Computer scientist Scott Aaronson will discuss these kinds of fundamental questions during the Paul Bernays Lectures 2019.

At the togETHer staff party, Professor Laura Nyström was presented with the ALEA Award as ETH Zurich’s most exemplary leader. The award, presented annually, aims to emphasise the huge importance of leadership skills for the success of ETH and to promote the desired leadership culture.

Richard M. Schoen is a bridge-builder between physics and mathematics, and has enriched the theory of relativity with his proofs and geometric methods. On Monday, ETH Zurich will award him the Heinz Hopf Prize 2017.

As Professor of Particle Physics, Felicitas Pauss played a key role in the discovery of the Higgs boson. Tomorrow, she will be honoured with the Richard Ernst Medal.