2016

A new world record for acceleration, a timber roof built by construction robots, and a unique competition for people with disabilities: in 2016, research and campus life at ETH Zurich were dominated by innovation and premieres.

The global catch of fish would largely benefit from achieving the 1.5°C global warming target. This is the conclusion of the study recently published by climate researchers from ETH Zurich and the University of British Columbia in the journal Science.

Scientists fought energetically to set climate goals, and now they must act. And this is where flying is an ideal test opportunity: public awareness already exists, technical solutions are unlikely, and giving up flying requires innovation from the scientific community.

For students, the end of the autumn semester marks the beginning of an intensive period of lecture revision. New forms of teaching such as flipped classrooms promote independent student learning during the semester. In the Department of Biology, this teaching method is being particularly encouraged.

Three ETH Zurich researchers have received ERC Consolidator Grants from the European Research Council (ERC). Their projects will each receive approximately 2 million Swiss francs in funding.

How the differences between the sexes evolve depends not only on which parts of the genome are sex-specifically active. The question also arises concerning the sex in which such changes take place. ETH researchers demonstrate this using a closely related pair of plants.

Every five seconds, someone in the world dies from blood poisoning. Hemotune, a young start-up founded by ETH researchers, is developing a revolutionary blood purification system to address this problem.

The City Council has approved ETH’s Campus Hönggerberg 2040 masterplan. This updates the existing masterplan and serves as a planning basis for the future development of the Hönggerberg campus.

ETH Professor John Lygeros has won the CS Award for Best Teaching. The award winner is constantly developing innovative teaching concepts – and his students love it.

A research team from ETH Zurich is taking part in an expedition around the Antarctic. Its aim: to investigate the Southern Ocean’s water cycle. On board are Iris Thurnherr and Pascal Graf, who will be reporting on their experiences.