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Since the autumn semester 2023, automatic subtitling of lecture recordings and further information on the topic of accessible videos have been offered for the first time. The accessible navigation app "PolyMaps" won the GIS Excellence Award 2023.

Construction work for the new computing centre on the Hönggerberg campus (HRZ) are set to begin in early 2024. Construction site setup and the preparatory work will begin today to ensure that work can start on time.

The new BSS research building in Basel and the GLC in the centre of Zurich are now ready for occupation. The construction work took longer than planned, but the time has finally come: staff from the BSSE, HEST and ITET departments have begun to move in.

Accessibility remains an important issue for ETH Zurich. A new exhibition charts the progress made so far by the “Barrier-free at ETH Zurich” programme, along with unresolved issues. In addition, the CHN building is being adapted to make it barrier-free, and a new website provides information about how to organise events that are accessible.

The summer holidays are coming up. Those still looking for holiday care for their children during this time will find it at the kihz Foundation. Registrations are now being accepted.

In winter 2022/23, ETH Zurich reduced its energy consumption by around 7 percent compared to the previous winter and met the federal government’s gas savings target. As there is still some uncertainty surrounding energy supplies, it plans on reintroducing its energy-saving measures next winter. Specific measures for research are currently being worked on.

Cycling is good both for you and the environment. And it will particularly pay off in May and June when “Bike to work” will also be offering attractive prizes for all frequent cyclists to win.

In April and May, interested ETH members will have the chance to navigate the ETH campus in a wheelchair or with a white cane to gain a different perspective. This is one of the various events offered as part of the “Design for all” awareness campaign. ETH has now also published an accessibility statement.

At the start of 2023, bookseller Orell Füssli Thalia AG is taking over the management of two ETH Stores. The collaboration with Orell Füssli promises customers better conditions, a large distribution network and a better online shop.

Since October, ETH Zurich has been implementing energy-saving measures in order to actively avoid a potential energy shortage. The current outlook for the extent to which the energy shortage will affect Switzerland is better than feared, but the situation remains very tense and saving energy is still important – not least because of higher energy prices.

ETH Zurich has launched a first round of measures to reduce its gas and energy consumption and avoid an energy shortage. These measures concern the room temperature in the buildings, the hot water and the lighting.

Preliminary work on the new physics building on the Hönggerberg campus commenced at the start of August. The surrounding community will be affected by construction emissions.

Every day we spend working time in meetings, conferences and discussions. A bad meeting not only costs time, but also nerves and motivation. Could general rules at ETH help to optimise meetings and make them more productive?

The Executive Board of ETH Zurich has put two course regulations into effect and repealed 23 others. It also approved an ETH grant for a research project.

Meet the Paralympic gold medallist and world champion on 12 September 2022 at ETH Zurich. Don’t miss the opportunity to meet Heinz Frei, one of Switzerland’s most successful top athletes in person!

Covid infection rates are rising across Switzerland. But the authorities have not introduced any preventive measures so far. Dr Leonhard Sigel, Occupational Physician at ETH Zurich, gives an update on the current state of play and advice for ETH members on the best way to conduct themselves in this situation.

The 100 best girls from the Kangaroo mathematics competition were given the opportunity to visit ETH on 9 June. Former ski racer and physicist Dominique Gisin accompanied the girls as a mentor. ETH female researchers gave an insight into their research work.

The Language Center of the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich is celebrating its 20-year anniversary. In this interview, director Sabina Schaffner takes stock and explains how attitudes towards foreign language learning have changed.

Yesterday saw the publication of the latest QS Ranking, an annual ranking of the best universities worldwide. ETH Zurich made the top 10. But what’s behind these university rankings, and what do they actually mean?

Four years ago, we wrote profiles of couples who met at ETH. We’re now looking for friends who also got to know each other at our university. Tell your story in the next edition of the ETH employee magazine “life”!

More and more people are enjoying more and more sport with the ASVZ. As a result, the association has had to keep adapting and expanding its facilities and programmes. It will continue to do so, but this costs money. The ASVZ will therefore be increasing its fees for all members from autumn/new year.

During the coronavirus pandemic, employees have been able to make use of ETH Zurich's IT resources, such as screens, docking stations and keyboards, while working from home. Following the withdrawal of all pandemic-related regulations by the Executive Board as of 1 April, this equipment must now be returned to ETH.  

ETH professor Maksym Kovalenko drove from Zurich to Moldova to evacuate his mother and mother-in-law from war-torn Ukraine to safety in Switzerland. In an interview with Internal news, the Ukrainian-born professor talks about his 68-hour drive and how it feels to work and teach at ETH while his home country is under attack.

The exhibition and event programme “Together for the Sustainable Development Goals” is back – this time at ETH Hönggerberg and the Student Project House. From 7-18 March, 2022, the exhibition raises awareness for the 17 goals and highlights selected contributions from the ETH community.

The Staff Commission of ETH Zurich (PeKo) is looking for new members to serve for the 2022–2026 term. Candidates should be administrative or technical staff at ETH who are motivated to advocate on behalf of their fellow employees.

At the beginning of 2021, the “Barrier-free at ETH Zurich” programme was launched. This aims to make the university as accessible as possible over the course of the next few years. New courses, new public tours and a large pilot project are planned for 2022.

Members of ETH Zurich can now take a free rapid antigen test from Monday to Friday on both Zurich campuses. This service supplements the existing CoVMass test services, which should still be prioritised for use going forwards.

ETH Zurich’s Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering has been operational in Basel since 2007. The move into the new building on the Schällemätteli site is a long-awaited step that will bring together all the department’s research groups under one roof and in close proximity to various important life sciences partners. Due to construction delays, the opening of the new building has been postponed to the second half of 2022.

Ulrich Weidmann, head of the internal ETH Covid Crisis Management team, urges further, greater caution in view of the rising number of Covid infections and the newly discovered Omicron variant. From now on, face masks must always be worn indoors, including at all workplaces, with the exception of offices with a sole occupant.

Engagement Arts is a Belgian movement dedicated to tackling sexism and abuse of power in the arts and design scene. The management of D-ARCH asked it to cast a critical eye over the university’s Department of Architecture. Head of Department Tom Emerson explains the conclusions of the external analysis and how he would like to improve the culture in D-ARCH.

It takes courage to step up to the plate and help when someone is acting inappropriately towards another person. The current Respect campaign at ETH Zurich demonstrates how to put an end to a difficult situation when others won’t and how to switch from being a passive bystander to an active upstander

As part of the recently launched Respect campaign, ETH members can attend a series of events on the subject of Respect. Deadline for registration is this Thursday, 4 November.

The 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offer a global vision for a sustainable future. From 30 October to 13 November, an exhibition and several events raise awareness for the SDGs and highlight selected contributions from the ETH community.

At the beginning of 2021, the “Barrier-free at ETH Zurich” programme was launched. This aims to make the university as barrier-free as possible over the course of the next few years. Progress has already been made in the fields of room acoustics and teaching.

“Put a full stop. When others don’t.” This slogan kicks off ETH Zurich’s new Respect campaign today. Following on from previous campaigns on this topic since 2004, Respect is once again at the top of the agenda for our university. This time the emphasis is slightly different: “Stand up for respect.”

Digitalisation is rapidly transforming our society. The fifth national Digital Day will highlight once again what this transformation means for the Swiss population and economy. As in past years, ETH Zurich is a partner of the event. Between 20 and 27 October, it will be presenting three projects that showcase digitalisation in a tangible way.

Write comprehensibly about research, present results compellingly and convey a confident image to the media: starting in November, ETH Zurich’s Corporate Communications will share knowledge about science communication through a series of courses and webinars.

After spending 3.5 months in the depot, the Polybahn is back in service today. It will even run on Sundays.

ETH Zurich is introducing a COVID certificate requirement for the entire study process. This will allow the upcoming Autumn Semester to kick off with a full on-site presence. Details of how this new rule is to be put into practice will follow next week.

Sweat, strain and high fives are on the agenda for sports enthusiasts from 25 September to 3 October during ASVZ Sports Week. Athletes will be kicking off the week by collecting donations for social scholarships.

There have never been so many exhibition booths, lectures and other events as at the seventh edition of the Scientifica science festival. To allow researchers from ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich to exchange ideas with the public without any worries, the protection concept includes not only the COVID certificate but also a general requirement to wear face masks indoors.

Scientifica 2021 will take place on the weekend of 4 and 5 September. The range of this year's science festival by ETH and the University of Zurich is larger than ever before. This brings some challenges for the organisational team. Helping hands from the ETH community are still needed.

Over the past few months, ETH Zurich has been improving the historical area around the ETH observatory to make it a more attractive place to socialise and find peace and quiet. Other projects, such as the current redevelopment of the main building forecourt, will improve the overall quality of the exterior spaces in the university district.

More than 600 ETH employees participated in the analysis phase of rETHink, the project focusing on the development of ETH’s organisational structure. Now those responsible for the workstreams together with the Executive Board have presented the results of this analysis. Those who missed the virtual Townhall can watch the recording.

Two ETH employees argue for and against the concept of flexible workplaces.

The results of the employee survey are now available. All in all, more than 5,000 employees took part, with 88 percent indicating that they are very or mostly satisfied with their working situation.

Since the start of the year, the Workstream 4 of the rETHink project has focused intensively on the organisation of our academic departments. Jan Vermant and Zeljko Medved, the operative co-leads of Workstream 4, talk about the most important findings of the analysis phase and the next steps.

The analysis phase of rETHink, our project focusing on the development of ETH’s organisational structure, has now been completed and the main areas of action defined. Now the task is to come up with solutions, says ETH President Joël Mesot in this interview. The first decisions will be made towards the end of the year.

Fortunately there have never been any serious acts of violence at ETH Zurich. If the unthinkable does happen, however, then an alert system will inform members of the ETH community. The information and alert system will be tested on Wednesday, 23 June 2021.

Can you imagine what the world will look like in the year 2040? This was the question posed by the Strategic Foresight Hub's essay contest. Now you can vote for your favourite entry to help select the winner of the audience award.  

Yesterday evening, a young man fell from a wall near the HPL building on the Hönggerberg campus and suffered fatal injuries. Investigations by the Zurich City Police revealed that the deceased was not a member of ETH Zurich.  

The last of our town hall series “Well-being in challenging times” focused on emotions and health. It was an occasion not to be missed: as well as presenting the results from the second survey on working from home, the event included an exciting update on the coronavirus situation.  

On May 21st, the Association of Scientific Staff at ETH (AVETH) and Equal! presented the first AVETH Diversity Award. The joint first prize went to the African Student Association Zurich (ASAZ) and the physicist and doctoral student Chiara Decaroli.

ETH members can now obtain and return saliva PCR test kits on the Hönggerberg campus. Colleagues in Basel, Lugano and Schwerzenbach can also be tested regularly.

This year's European Football Championship will take place from 11 June to 11 July. To get everyone out of the pandemic blues and into the football spirit, we are offering an online betting competition for all members of the ETH community on the Point platform. Attractive prizes await the winners.

Anne Lacaton, Emeritus Professor of Architecture and Design at ETH Zurich, and her partner Jean-​Philippe Vassal have won this year’s Pritzker Prize, which is regarded as the Nobel Prize of the architecture world. On 19 May 2021, ETH Zurich marks this special occasion with a virtual event.  

A week ago, the Federal Council announced numerous easing measures. What these mean for ETH Zurich was explained by members of the Executive Board and the ETH Covid 19 Taskforce at the virtual Townhall. Now the recording of the event is available.

ETH Zurich is setting up stations for saliva PCR tests where staff and students can be tested free of charge on a regular basis. Testing will start on 20 April, with capacity being increased on an ongoing basis.

The ETH LunchLottery has been growing in popularity over the past three months. Now the LunchLottery drawing will be held once per month instead of every two weeks. This gives the three participants more time to find a meeting slot that works for everyone.

More and more companies and institutions are adopting a more informal internal culture. Should ETH follow suit? Christine Bratrich and Robert Schikowski, employees of ETH Zurich, stand up for their position.

Beware of emails from fraudsters posing as supervisors! Since the coronavirus pandemic began, there’s been an upsurge in internet fraud. How can we arm ourselves against it?  

The next edition of the employee survey will run from 23 March to 23 April 2021. The survey gives you, the employees of ETH Zurich, the opportunity to express your opinion and share feedback about your working situation at the university. In doing so, you can help shape the university’s development.

Following the Federal Council’s decision on Wednesday, the Executive Board has approved a new coronavirus master plan for the university, effective 1 March 2021. The ETH Library and the Graphische Sammlung will be open, along with the Main Building, and now also the HIL building on Hönggerberg campus.  

Every two years, the ETH Zurich community comes together and takes part in the “together” staff party. Last year's event was shifted to this summer due to the coronavirus pandemic. Unfortunately, the decision has been taken to postpone the event yet another year. The next edition of “together” is now scheduled to take place in August 2022.

The first meeting of the “Barrier-Free at ETH Zurich” steering committee took place in mid-January, and the leaders of the 14 sub-projects in the categories “Construction”, “Technology” and “Organisation” have begun to put together their teams and plan the next steps.

Do you believe a first-name culture across the university would offer many advantages? Then take the chance to convince other ETH members with your arguments in the next issue of life magazine!

The ETH Store has entered into a partnership with ETH spin-off HeiQ to offer antimicrobial masks to the ETH community. The masks are treated to provide highly effective protection against microbes and germs.

Following the latest measures announced by the Federal Council, all ETH members must work remotely from home as of Monday. The only exceptions are for experimental work, workshops or other activities requiring on-site presence. University buildings will mostly be closed, with a few exceptions. The exam session is still going ahead as planned from 25 January onwards, with some exams sat in person.

The coronavirus has flipped ETH Zurich’s working and teaching life on its head. Before the second wave hit, we asked ETH members how this extraordinary year has been for them and what they hope will come out of it.

Opinions differ on the question of whether the German language needs gender-appropriate formulations. Franziska Schmid and Rudolf Friederich, employees of ETH Zurich, stand up for their position.

Opening hours for ETH Zurich buildings will be restricted from 7 December.

Two special accessories are now available for purchase at the ETH Store: silk scarves featuring insect prints inspired by ETH Zurich's Entomological Collection. 

For 13 years now, ETH Zurich has been awarding prizes to exemplary leaders. ETH members can nominate their leader for this year's ALEA Award until 16 October.

Most ETH Zurich canteens and restaurants will be offering meals in reCIRCLE reusable containers as of 14 September, just in time for the start of the autumn semester.

No event at ETH must last longer than 1 ¾ hours and drinks parties can only be held in catering facilities or outdoors.

Is there something that you've been wanting to share with the ETH community? Here's your chance: we're now taking suggestions for the October issue of our employee magazine!

Signs of life have slowly been returning to the ETH campus since the beginning of June. Since then, the Federal Council has decided to further ease lockdown restrictions. ETH Vice President Ueli Weidmann, head of the university’s COVID-19 task force, tells us what we should expect in the months ahead.

The first-ever survey of professors at ETH shows that they are generally satisfied with their working situation – but with some room for improvement.

ETH members are gradually returning to buildings on the campus. From 8 June especially, there will be increased activity in office buildings and laboratories. So the obvious question is, how best to protect ourselves. We asked the advice of Dr Leonhard Sigel, head of the Occupational Medicine and Health Protection section of SSHE at our university.

The spread of coronavirus has led ETH Zurich to start operating with emergency measures in place. We asked ETH members about the challenges they are currently facing and how they’re overcoming them.

A new newsletter has been set up to regularly update ETH staff when new articles are published on the internal news site – for instance, new messages from the coronavirus task force.

ETH Zurich is doing everything in its power to contain the coronavirus epidemic. For ETH, switching to emergency operations has been an enormous feat. The ETH Executive Board held a virtual town hall meeting to answer the ETH community’s questions about this extraordinary situation.

In the third week of January, Prof. Ulrich Weidmann, Vice-President for Human Resources and Infrastructure, and Daniel Bucheli, Director of the Real Estate Management Department, informed ETH members about the structural development of ETH Zurich.

Dr. Hermann Lehner is appointed new head of the Academic Services. He takes over from Dr. Dieter Wüest on July 1, 2020, who has served in this important position for 15 years and has provided invaluable service to ETH Zurich.

ETH Zurich promotes a culture of empowerment. This only works if everyone adheres to high ethical and moral standards and performs their duties strictly within the defined rules. A bespoke e-learning programme now allows you to familiarise yourself with these rules by means of case studies.

The arrival of autumn means that annual appraisal interviews are back on the agenda. Lukas Vonesch, Head of Human Resources at ETH Zurich, sheds light on whether this management tool is still fit for purpose, how useful it is to have a graded assessment, and what constitutes a valuable interview.

Diversity, referring to the variety that exists within a group, abounds wherever many different people come together. ETH itself is very much an example of a cultural melting pot. But what does “diverse” actually mean, and how do people at ETH deal with it?

At the start of the semester, an “avec box” will open for business at the HIL building on the Hönggerberg campus. For two months, a shop format without checkouts will be tested here that enables everyday products to be bought around the clock. Customers can pay via app.

ETH supports its staff in their personal and professional development, offering a variety of opportunities for continuing education. life takes a look at what’s on offer and highlights the key points when it comes to future staff development.

Yesterday, ETH Zurich and the team of architects, building planners and construction managers involved in the project attended the ground-breaking ceremony for the HIF renovation and extension project at Campus Hönggerberg. The event marks the beginning of the upgrade and renovation project at one of the largest building complexes on the campus. It will also be the home of the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering.

In the first series of meetings chaired by the new President, Joël Mesot, ETH Zurich’s Executive Board made provisions for ten new professorships. It also concluded the project to optimise occupancy of the ETH Main Building and created a more permanent structure for the Critical Thinking Initiative.

ETH Zurich produced around 130 tonnes of hazardous waste in 2018. Thanks to digital records, the disposal of hazardous waste can now be better monitored, as the Safety, Security, Health and Environment department’s annual report shows.

On Friday, 15 March 2019, Joël Mesot and Sarah Springman, together with the other members of the Executive Board, held an information session for ETH employees in which they answered questions on the planned leadership measures.

ETH is an open university. This also means that physical limitations should not prevent anyone from accessing ETH. The “Barrier-Free at ETH Zurich” project, which was launched in late 2018, aims to determine which infrastructural facilities still require adjustment to ensure barrier-free access for everyone.

On 1 February 2019, Andrea Rothenbühler, previously Deputy Head of the Student Exchange Office, took over as Head of the team within the Academic Services of ETH Zurich

Day-to-day work at the university is physically and mentally demanding. What does this mean for our health? What can we do to improve our health and how can ETH help?

More than 2,000 ETH members attended the ETH Executive Board’s Christmas drinks reception this year. The event focused on the end of Lino Guzzella’s term as President of ETH Zurich.

Photos, final theses, e-banking – mobile work anywhere, anytime has long since become an everyday occurrence. With this in mind, most users own several devices: a smartphone, a tablet, a laptop.

The winners of the photo competition for ETH members "Favourite places on the Hönggerberg campus" have been selected: Nicolas Ochsner won with a photo of the archive room of the Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture (gta).  

The University Assembly was able to nominate two new ombudspersons for the first time: Margrit Leuthold and Peter Frischknecht, who were subsequently elected by the Executive Board. The widely supported process will strengthen the office, says Werner Wegscheider, University Assembly President and Professor of Experimental Physics.