September 2021

By cleverly combining different technologies, manufacturers can produce plastic that is climate neutral over its entire life cycle. A new study by an international team of researchers has shown that this combination requires less energy than alternatives and costs the same – or even less.

In his doctoral thesis, Dario Meili explores discrimination. Although there are instances of discrimination in our society, the certificate requirement is not one of them, he says.

Two years ago, ETH launched the innovative Master’s degree in quantum engineering. Now the first cohort of students is nearing the end of the programme.

ETH fellow Marianna Charitonidou examines the influence of social changes on architecture. She cites the experience of viewing the urban landscape while driving a car as an example.

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.

Could quantum technologies really be the next gold rush? ETH Vice President Vanessa Wood and quantum researcher Andreas Wallraff discuss how close we are to putting quantum promises into practice.

Using a new mechanistic model of evolution on Earth, researchers at ETH Zurich can now better explain why the rainforests of Africa are home to fewer species than the tropical forests of South America and Southeast Asia. The key to high species diversity lies in how dynamically the continents have evolved over time.

The NADEL Center for Development and Cooperation at ETH Zurich is celebrating its 50th anniversary. We sat down with NADEL co-directors Isabel Günther and Fritz Brugger to learn more about the effectiveness of development cooperation as well as the centre’s new missions and plans for the future.

Oceans absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through microscopic algae that carry out photosynthesis and then sink to the deep sea when they die. This sinking enhances the degradation processes, as ETH researchers have now discovered.

At its meeting of 22 and 23 September and upon application of Joël Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, the ETH Board appointed six professors. At the same time, the Board also bid farewell to six professors and thanked them for their service.