ETH News

What is it like to study computer science at ETH? 33 female high school students attended a one-week taster course in February to find out.

What is the status of equality at ETH? What challenges do our female students face? Young women provide information on International Women's Day.

The International Day of Women and Girls in Science takes place each year on 11 February. To mark the occasion, we take a look back at the history of women at ETH Zurich.

To mark International Women’s Day taking place today, Julia Dannath, Vice President for Personnel Development and Leadership, explains why there is still a long way to go in achieving a gender balance at ETH Zurich, and what measures are being put in place to reach this goal.  

To mark the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we take a look back at a year shaped by strong women. Although there’s still a long way to go in achieving a gender balance in research and education, ETH Zurich has no shortage of female role models.

Katharina Fellnhofer researches how intuitive decision-making influences personal success. She is convinced that people who follow their intuition tend to be more successful in their decision-making. 

Daniela Latorre wanted to be a scientist since she was a child. At the Institute for Research in Biomedicine, affiliated to the USI in Bellinzona and the Institute of Microbiology, she is finding evidence that narcolepsy is an autoimmune disease. She has now received the Pfizer Prize for Research 2020 for her pioneering work.

Why is gravity the most mysterious force of nature? Lavinia Heisenberg studies how the universe was formed, and how it is changing. She has now been awarded the ETH Zurich Latsis Prize for her outstanding achievements in the field of theoretical physics.

Biodegradable plastics are very much on trend. But there are still very few sustainable alternatives for products containing foamed plastic. ETH Pioneer Fellow Zuzana Sediva is developing a process that could one day be used to make shoe soles and yoga mats from organic waste.

Germaine J. F. Seewer is the first woman to hold the rank of Major General in the Swiss Armed Forces. Her new role as Commander of the Armed Forces College has forged even closer ties to her alma mater.

Olga Fink develops artificial intelligence algorithms for industrial assets, rolling stock and power plants. The 37-year-old researcher's goal is to predict rare events before they even occur. By doing so, she improves the reliability and service life of complex industrial assets.

Celeste Carruth originally planned to be a musician. Now she is a physicist at ETH working to develop a new technique for controlling ions. As a member of the WEF’s Young Scientist community, she wants to help non-scientists better understand quantum physics.

Systems biologist Paola Picotti receives this year’s Rössler Prize for her groundbreaking work in the field of proteomics. She has developed a method of measuring structural changes in thousands of proteins at the same time, paving the way for personalised therapy.

This year Renana Gershoni-Poranne was awarded a Branco Weiss Fellowship. The ETH chemist will use the research grant to design innovative compounds that can be used in future generations of electronic devices.

Julia Wysling combines a flair for numbers with social engagement to help society progress. The mathematician and former VSETH president simulates and optimises pedestrian flows.

Nicola Spaldin, Professor of Materials Theory at ETH Zurich, has been awarded the Swiss Science Prize Marcel Benoist for her outstanding research into multiferroic materials. Her work has laid the foundations for new ultrafast and energy-efficient data storage technologies.

She was involved in developing the world’s most accurate clock, and now she helps companies adopt more sustainable business practices: Petrissa Eckle, Executive Director of the Sustainability in Business Lab at ETH Zurich.

As a doctoral student in Helsinki, Anna Maria Feit used algorithms to optimise the French keyboard. Now at ETH Zurich, she is researching how the user, the computer and the algorithm can work together to improve text entry.

Coral reefs are suffering because of climate change. Ulrike Pfreundt aims to use ecologically sound 3D printed structures to create artificial reefs that provide new habitats for more resistant corals.

Molecular and structural biologist Manuela Hospenthal is researching the spread of antibiotic resistance in bacteria. She wants to discover how bacteria exchange and take up genetic information. Her research focuses on understanding how DNA uptake and translocation across bacterial membranes is achieved.

ETH alumna Xi Zhang did her Bachelor's degree in Architecture in Shanghai, and her Master's degree in Zurich at ETH. Today, she still works in both places: She runs an international architectural firm.

The computational chemist Sereina Riniker has won this year’s Latsis Prize awarded by ETH Zurich. She has been recognised for developing new methods for molecular dynamics simulations.

Assistant Professor Andrea Burden investigates the safety of medications to improve patient care. For her research, the scientist also uses her expertise in criminology.

ETH Fellow Marie Bocher develops at the Institute of Geophysics computer models of seismic cycles. The 30-year old scientist hopes this will help to improve earthquakes risk assessment.

The development economist Adina Rom is studying solar lighting in rural Kenya as part of her doctoral thesis at the Center for Development and Cooperation (NADEL) at ETH Zurich. She is also the founder of an ETH spin-off, Policy Analytics, whose goal is to assess the impact of social and environmental policies.