ETH News

Vice President of Research Christian Wolfrum is leaving ETH as of 1 July 2025 to take up a new academic challenge: he is to become Deputy President and Provost responsible for all academic matters at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore).

EPFL and ETH Zurich Presidents Martin Vetterli and Jo?l Mesot consider high tuition fees as in the English-speaking world to be the wrong approach to improving the financial situation of the two universities. Students should be seen as success factors for our country and not as cash cows.

ETH Zurich and EPF Lausanne (EPFL) are intensifying their collaboration in artificial intelligence (AI). They have founded the Swiss National AI Institute (SNAI) with the aim of addressing challenges in AI by leveraging their broad scientific expertise. Funding for the related research programs has been secured.

Since 1991, 14 June has in Switzerland traditionally stood under the banner of feminist campaigns and causes. Julia Dannath, Vice President for Personnel Development and Leadership, explains in an interview why commitment to equal opportunities and gender equality is still needed three decades later ¨C including at ETH Zurich.

The Gloria Cube is ETH Zurich¡¯s newest building in the Zurich City university district. Teaching, research and translation are all carried out in the service of health and medicine here. At the end of last week, ETH Zurich celebrated the laboratory and research building¡¯s inauguration.

In its annual report 2023 published today, ETH Zurich looks back on a successful year. For some years, however, the budget has not kept pace with the growth in student numbers. The growth rates projected by the Federal Council in the 2025-2028 ERI Dispatch are therefore forcing the university to consider drastic measures in research and teaching.

What began as a venture quickly proved its worth: The ETH Bachelor in Human Medicine is well received by graduates and has helped to establish ETH Zurich in the Swiss medical education landscape. In a video, five graduates talk about what makes studying medicine at ETH so special.

Nothing less than the future of the democratic world was the topic of the visit of Moldovan President Maia Sandu to ETH Zurich. Together with Alain Berset, President of the Swiss Confederation, she took part in a panel discussion in the Audi Max yesterday.

ETH Zurich is present at the Olma trade fair in St Gallen. Using spin-offs and games, the ETH booth illustrates how research can contribute to making Swiss food and agriculture sustainable.

ETH Zurich and the United Nations have confirmed their desire to work together more closely by signing a memorandum of understanding. The partnership is intended to support the development of technology-based social innovations for addressing global challenges.

On 18 September, ETH Zurich will welcome more than 25,000 students for the Autumn Semester, according to provisional figures. Enrolment at the Bachelor¡¯s level has risen for the first time since the pandemic.

From 2016 to 2022, Thomas Zurbuchen was responsible for research at NASA, the US space agency. From August this year, he will become director of ETH Zurich Space. This initiative aims to promote space research and teaching at ETH and to expand and strengthen cooperation with the space industry.

On Friday, an era came to an end. For 20 years, Robert Perich helped to shape the development of ETH Zurich as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), restructured Finance & Controlling and developed it into an instrument of university management. It was important to him that the professorships and departments manage their funds autonomously and that ETH pursue a sustainable financial policy.

As of today, the ETH Zurich annual report for 2022 is available online. This is the first time it has been published in digital form. It provides an interactive tour through the different areas of the university, as well as describing how ETH functions and the contribution it makes to Swiss society.

To mark Sexual Harassment Awareness Day at Swiss universities, Vice President Julia Dannath analyses the situation at ETH Zurich, explains what anonymous reports can and cannot achieve, and presents what she believes is most needed to effectively combat sexual harassment.

Stefan Spiegel will head up Finance and Controlling at ETH Zurich starting on 1 April 2023. The 52-year-old Swiss manager and finance expert boasts extensive leadership experience in state-affiliated firms and stock-listed companies.

The 19 January visit of Yoon Suk Yeol, President of the Republic of Korea, to ETH Zurich focused on Quantum Science.

A special year is soon coming to an end. In 2022, much has been researched, developed and invented at ETH Zurich. ETH News looks back on an eventful past year.

Detlef G¨¹nther is stepping down from his role as Vice President for Research to devote more time to his own research work. A look back over eight successful years.

At its meeting of 7 and 8 December 2022 and upon application of Jo?l Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, the ETH Board appointed four professors and awarded the title of professor once. At the same time, the Board also bid farewell to eight professors and thanked them for their service.

The ETH Board has appointed Christian Wolfrum as Vice President for Research at ETH Zurich effective 1 January 2023. In his roles as Professor of Translational Nutritional Biology, Director of Studies and Associate Vice President for Medicine, Wolfrum has actively shaped medical teaching and research at the university.

As part of a two-day state visit to Switzerland, the Italian President stopped off at ETH Zurich on Wednesday (30 November) in the company of President of the Swiss Confederation Ignazio Cassis. After a welcome by ETH President Jo?l Mesot and some words of greeting from the two guests, researchers and students of the university provided an insight into their work.

ETH Zurich is at the Olma trade fair in St. Gallen until 23 October. Its exhibition ¡°Where the future begins ¨C research for sustainable agriculture¡± presents exciting ETH spin-offs and provides playful insights into modern agricultural sciences.

At its meeting of 21 and 22 September 2022 and upon application of Jo?l Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, the ETH Board appointed four professors and awarded the title of ¡°Professor of Practice¡± once.

At its meeting of 13/14 July 2022 and upon application of Jo?l Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, the ETH Board appointed twelve professors. At the same time, the Board also bid farewell to four professors and thanked them for their service.

Words, sentences and entire books appeared all over ETH¡¯s exhibition pavilion at this year¡¯s World Economic Forum. In conjunction with the research exhibits on display, they framed the space for the discussion ¡°RETHINKING LIVING¡±: a search for answers to the really big questions.

Slovak President Zuzana ?aputov¨¢ and President of the Swiss Confederation Ignazio Cassis visited ETH Zurich today. The Slovak President is currently on a two-day state visit to Switzerland and made a stop at the university.

At its meeting of 18 and 19 May and upon application of Jo?l Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, the ETH Board appointed 13 professors and awarded the title of professor four times. At the same time, the Board also bid farewell to 15 professors and thanked them for their service.

In the race to combat climate change, sustainable transport systems can play a key role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. As well as focusing on the technological issues at stake, current research also investigates whether there is public acceptance for the changes. Kay Axhausen explains this approach. ?

G¨¹nther Dissertori bases his teaching on the three Es: enthusiasm, empathy and expectation management.

The past year has brought challenges on three fronts: coronavirus, climate change and links with Europe. While new variants of Sars-CoV-2 were the main concern during the second year of the pandemic, governments meeting at COP21 sought commitments for more coordinated efforts in combatting climate change. For Swiss universities, 2021 also marked a turning point, as they were shut out of the EU research programme Horizon Europe.

Four researchers from ETH Zurich have been awarded a Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). Since Switzerland is no longer fully associated, they will receive the approximately eight million francs in research funding from the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).

At its meeting of 9 and 10 March 2022 and upon application of Jo?l Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, the ETH Board appointed ten professors and awarded the title of professor twice. ?

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. ?

For Didier Queloz, excellent research requires international networks and know-how. He calls on politicians to admit British and Swiss scientists to Horizon Europe.

The European research community today launched the ¡°Stick to Science¡± initiative. In it, scientists call on the EU to grant Switzerland and the UK association to the Horizon Europe research programme. ETH Zurich is one of the initiators of the campaign. The university¡¯s president, Jo?l Mesot, explains its involvement in an interview.

The outgoing Rector, Sarah Springman, reflects on where and how promoting women makes sense and what it means to be successful in this area.

ETH Zurich and the other Swiss universities are committed to reducing the stress and suffering experienced by laboratory animals. However, an outright ban on animal testing ¨C being put to the vote in a popular initiative this coming February ¨C would put an end to progress in medical research.

Sarah Springman made a real difference as Rector and helped to improve teaching at ETH on many levels. Her passion and commitment inspired everyone she met ¨C both inside and outside the university walls.

The idea behind rETHink is to cement the university¡¯s position as a world-leading institution. President Jo?l Mesot, Vice President Julia Dannath and transformation coach Dieter Schmid reflect on ingrained habits and inspiring moments.

At its meeting of 8 and 9 December 2021 and upon application of Jo?l Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, the ETH Board appointed ten professors and awarded the title of professor twice.

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.

At its meeting of 22 and 23 September and upon application of Jo?l 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.

From genetics and personalised medicine to health insurance and climate change: at ETH Week 2021, 120 students from all degree programmes and from 31 countries grappled with the topic of ¡°Health for Tomorrow¡±.

ETH professor and molecular biologist Ernst Hafen retires at the end of July. We look back at the colourful career of a leading scientist with many different interests beyond the narrow world of molecular genetics.

At its meeting of 14 July 2021 and upon application of Jo?l Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, the ETH Board appointed ten professors. Six of them are affiliated with the Department of Architecture.

Officially elected today by the ETH Board, G¨¹nther Dissertori is to take over as Rector of ETH Zurich in February 2022. In this portrait, he talks about what tasks he finds the most challenging and what effective teaching has in common with excellence in physics.

At its meeting of 19 and 21 March 2021 and upon application of Jo?l Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, the ETH Board appointed nine professors and awarded the title of professor once. Among the new appointees is a Swiss Nobel laureate.

Which researchers excelled? What were the milestones in the development of our teaching? And what was the most innovative research? The annual report 2020 describes ETH's achievements and performance in a challenging year.

To mark International Women¡¯s Day 2021, Julia Dannath-Schuh, Vice President of Personnel Development and Leadership, reflects on equal opportunities and the advancement of women at ETH. Her conclusion: The ETH community must become more female ¨C at every level.

At its meeting of 3 and 4 March 2021 and upon application of Jo?l Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, the ETH Board appointed 7 professors. In addition, two scientists were awarded the title of professor.

Researcher, lecturer, Executive Board member, and the first global ambassador for ETH: Gerhard Schmitt wore many hats during his time at ETH. Schmitt has now retired from his post of Professor of Information Architecture. Here we take a look back at his eventful career.

An extraordinary year is drawing to a close. ETH News takes a look back at the highlights that emerged amidst difficult and unsettling times, at ingenious ideas, fascinating science and solidarity in action during ¨C and despite ¨C the coronavirus pandemic.

At its meeting of 9 and 10 December 2020 and upon application of Jo?l Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, the ETH Board appointed 14 professors. They will work in a total of ten departments in a wide range of research areas. In addition, an ecotoxicologist was awarded the title of professor.

Online teaching has been the dominant feature of the Autumn Semester curriculum. Only three weeks remain before exams start. Hermann Lehner, Head of Academic Services, explains why sitting exams in person at ETH is so important, and the relevant arrangements.

On the occasion of the 165th anniversary of ETH Zurich, Rector Sarah Springman and ETH President Jo?l Mesot took stock of how the university has weathered the crisis until now. A few outstanding individuals were also honored during the event.

With the number of coronavirus cases growing rapidly, ETH Zurich sees no choice but to extensively restrict classroom teaching starting on 2 November. The ETH community will receive detailed information over the course of the next week.

ETH students should have opportunities to realise their ideas. To meet this need, ETH Zurich is building a new centre for student initiatives and entrepreneurial talent at its H?nggerberg campus. The winner of the architectural competition is the EQUILIBRES project designed by ARGE Buchner Br¨¹ndler Planer / Rapp Architekten.

Implementation of the ¡°ETH 365ÌåÓýÖ±²¥_365ÌåÓýͶע-¾º²ÂÍøͶ H?nggerberg 2040¡± vision has taken a major step forward. Zurich¡¯s municipal council approved the outlines of the plans for the future campus development with few changes.

ETH Zurich is expanding its Executive Board with two new domains. At the request of ETH President Jo?l Mesot, the ETH Board has appointed Julia Dannath-Schuh as the new Vice President for Personnel Development and Leadership, and Vanessa Wood as the new Vice President for Knowledge Transfer and Corporate Relations.

The latest university ranking from Times Higher Education (THE) puts ETH Zurich at 14th place in a worldwide comparison. It thus retains its position as the best university in Switzerland. The University of Oxford remains the world leader.

The Executive Board of ETH Zurich now has an Associate Vice President for Medicine: ETH Professor Christian Wolfrum. ETH News asked him about his goals, the university¡¯s potential and where he sees the greatest need for action.

The "Black Lives Matter" protests in the wake of George Floyd's death in the US have spilled over into Europe and Switzerland as well. ETH President Jo?l Mesot and Renate Schubert, the Executive Board's Delegate for Equal Opportunities, explain why this issue also affects ETH Zurich, and stress the importance of diversity for the university.

The switch to online teaching last semester has worked incredibly well at ETH. But what form will teaching take in the autumn? Rector Sarah Springman discusses some of the arrangements that the university is currently considering.

Experimental epidemiology;?bio-?inspired micro- and nanorobotics;?ultrafast processes in materials;?forest resources Management;?construction heritage and preservation;?social networks: the incoming professors work in a wide range of cutting-?edge research fields.

The ETH Executive Board has passed a three-stage plan for resuming normal operations in the areas of research, teaching and administration by the end of 2020. It is important that every step of the process follows the government¡¯s guidance, ETH President Jo?l Mesot emphasises. The health and well-being of staff and students continue to be the top priority.

In view of the global Covid 19 crisis, the Botnar Research Center for Child Health is launching an emergency initiative to develop approaches to deal with the situation.

Coronavirus testing is an essential part of identifying infected people and curbing the spread of the pandemic. To speed up the testing process, the Department of Environmental Systems Science at ETH Zurich has made its laboratory equipment available to the canton of Thurgau.

Due to the latest developments in the spread of the coronavirus, the Executive Board has decided to suspend all classroom teaching with effect from Monday, 16 March up to the end of Spring Semester 2020. The university is continuing to expand its offering of online study alternatives.

ETH Zurich is developing its campus of the future at H?nggerberg ¨C today, the city council of Zurich set another milestone in the development of an urban campus for teaching, research and exchange.

At its last meeting, the ETH Board appointed a total of 19 new professors at the request of the President of ETH Zurich, Jo?l Mesot.

The uncertainty created by the coronavirus continues to build. What precautions are ETH taking? In this interview, Ulrich Weidmann, Vice President for Infrastructure and Personnel Development discusses the current situation.

Computer science at school can be very creative. On the tenth Swiss Day for Computer Science Teaching, ETH Zurich provided teachers from all levels of schooling with new approaches to teaching computer science. The Rector also honoured schools and teachers who are committed to lively computer science lessons.

In her prior role as Director of Studies, Professor Nicola Spaldin oversaw the comprehensive revision of the curriculum for the bachelor¡¯s degree course in the Department of Materials. In this interview, the ETH professor describes the most important changes and the benefits she hopes they will bring.

For the fourth time, ETH Zurich was present at the WEF in Davos from 21 to 24?January. With the slogan ¡°RETHINKING Creativity¡±, this year¡¯s exhibition was devoted to the interfaces between art and science ¨C both of which are driven by human creativity.

ETH Zurich has won the Swiss Watt d¡¯Or Energy Prize for its dynamic underground storage system at the H?nggerberg campus. Switzerland¡¯s Federal Office of Energy has recognised ETH for energy excellence in the category of ¡°Buildings and space¡±.

The 365ÌåÓýÖ±²¥_365ÌåÓýͶע-¾º²ÂÍøͶ H?nggerberg 2040 project lays out a vision for the ETH campus of the future. At the same time, however, space is becoming increasingly scarce for ETH. Why is that? And how can we overcome this challenge in order to create inspiring workplaces?

The year 2019 has certainly been a busy one at ETH. A new president took office and the second Sci-Tech Oscar was awarded, along with other major prizes, but there were also plenty of inventions and topics for discussion.

The administrative investigation into allegations in the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering has shown that no laws were broken, although pressure was exerted on some doctoral students through employment contracts and there were errors in how some employment contracts were drawn up. ETH has taken appropriate measures and is strengthening internal controls. The department and the professor involved are working to improve the supervision of doctoral students.

At its meeting of 11/12 December 2019 and upon application of the President of ETH Zurich, Professor Jo?l?Mesot, the ETH?Board appointed a total of 19 professors. Three scientists were?awarded the title of professor.

Four researchers from ETH Zurich have successfully applied for ERC Consolidator Grants worth EUR 2 million.

ETH Zurich is planning to step up its research activities in Singapore. It aims to extend its current Future Resilient Systems programme by five years and to launch a new programme, Future Health Technologies, in the coming year.

At the ceremony to mark the 164th anniversary of ETH Zurich, Rector Sarah Springman outlined how she wants to equip students for the future. ETH President Jo?l Mesot and Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin spoke about social changes and how the ETH is addressing them. As part of the celebrations, the physicist Evelyn Hu was awarded an honorary doctorate.

A number of researchers have published critical comments in the journal Science about an ETH Zurich study that generated a lot of interest with its quantitative assessment of the technical potential that reforestation holds for reducing CO₂. In the following interview, Professor Detlef G¨¹nther, Vice President for Research and Corporate Relations, explains why he welcomes this discourse.

Energy systems, cryptography and computer-aided simulation; interactions between people, animals and landscape, investigation of biosystems from the human brain to the nanometer scale: the incoming professors work in a wide range of cutting-edge research fields. Three ETH professors will soon leave the university.

At the sixth Times Higher Education (THE) World Academic Summit, experts from the research community and higher education explored and reflected on how digitalisation is changing higher education and on nurturing of talent. ETH Zurich hosted the conference.

In the latest edition of the Times Higher Education¡¯s university rankings, ETH achieved 13th place ¨C two spots lower than last year. This once again places it among the best universities in the world. It was able to improve in the category of research.

Fifteen talented young researchers from ETH Zurich are each to receive an ERC Starting Grant, which is more than for any year previously. This will result in a total of 23 million euros in European funding for ETH.

On the recommendation of ETH President Jo?l Mesot, the ETH Board appointed several new ETH professors during its meeting on 10 and 11 July 2019.

In 2020 and in subsequent years, no Formula E race will be held around the ETH H?nggerberg campus. The extensive construction measures required for the race infrastructure contradict the ethos of a sustainable campus.

Maksym Kovalenko is being recognised for his research on bright nanoparticles with this year¡¯s R?ssler Prize, which carries an endowment of 200,000 Swiss francs in research funding.

ETH Zurich climbs further up the QS ranking to make it into the top six of the world¡¯s best universities and be crowned the second-best university in Europe. This is ETH Zurich¡¯s best ever performance in a university ranking.

ETH Zurich is adopting a new leadership structure: the number of Executive Board domains is being expanded from five to seven in order to respond to the growing demands in leadership and staff development, as well as in knowledge transfer and corporate relations.

How will the energy consumption habits of Switzerland change when more consumers use local energy storage options? How will this affect the grids, tariffs and data privacy? ETH Zurich, the Paul Scherrer Institute and Empa have jointly established the new energy research platform ReMaP to find answers to these interlinked questions.

On the recommendation of ETH President Jo?l Mesot, the ETH Board appointed several new ETH professors and conferred the title of ETH professor on two researchers during its meeting on 22 and 23 May 2019. All the new appointments consciously connect their subject expertise with other disciplines.

The ETH Executive Board has decided to issue more scholarships from the autumn semester 2019. It will also increase the amounts paid out. For the most financially disadvantaged, this will serve to offset the increase in tuition fees introduced by the ETH Board.

A number of recent media reports on the request for dismissal of an ETH astronomy professor have included quotes from internal and confidential documents relating to the ongoing proceedings. Given the growing public interest, as well as the need to ensure transparency and fairness, ETH Zurich has decided to publish anonymised versions of the final report of the administrative investigation and the recommendation of the special committee.

In its latest awarding process for the prestigious ERC Advanced Grants, the European Research Council (ERC) has selected five ambitious projects being conducted by ETH Zurich researchers who have been at the top of their respective fields for many years. As a result, ETH will receive approximately 12.5 million euros in research funding.

ETH Zurich provides an official comment on articles published recently in the online magazine Republik.

What does it mean when the first professor recommended for dismissal in 164 years is female? Eawag Director Janet Hering addresses three areas to develop in terms of ETH governance.