ETH News

Rasmus Kyng has written the near-perfect algorithm. It computes the maximum transport flow at minimum cost for any kind of network ¨C be it rail, road or electricity ¨C at a speed that is, mathematically speaking, impossible to beat.

Swiss cities are more likely to accept densification when densification projects provide affordable housing and green spaces compared to densification that is implemented through reduced regulations for housing construction. By prioritizing a socio-ecological densification, extensive planning procedures and delays might be minimized.

The idea of ETH Zurich establishing a Department of Biosystems in Basel once seemed unachievable. Today, the department occupies a new building where the dividing lines between biology, computer science and engineering are blurred ¨C and researchers increasingly focus on medical applications

Two years ago, Russia launched its war of aggression against Ukraine. One direct consequence of the conflict is the destruction of buildings and infrastructure. Now an exhibition in the ETH Main Building entitled ¡°ETH with Ukraine¡± is showing how buildings, facilities and the environment in Ukraine can be protected or restored.

On the road to recovery, patients come into contact with clinicians from a whole range of disciplines. The importance of targeted collaboration between these disciplines is something medical students learn early on at ETH Zurich.

What happens when cities gear their road space primarily to the needs of cyclists and e-bikers? On a new popular-science website, ETH researchers use examples from the city of Zurich to show what such an ¡°E-Bike City¡± could one day look like.

Experts from ETH Zurich, the University of Zurich, and the University Hospital Zurich have used machine learning to jointly create an innovative method. This new approach can predict how individual cells react to specific treatments, offering hope for more accurate diagnoses and therapeutics.

Mathematician Siddhartha Mishra has been awarded this year's R?ssler Prize for his research on solutions for highly complex flow and wave phenomena. He is being recognised for his contributions to faster and more accurate predictions of weather, climate and tsunamis, and for the computer simulations that enable them.

Today, the latest animated film Elemental from Walt Disney Studios and Pixar Animation Studio is released in Swiss cinemas. The film revolves around the fiery Ember, who lives in Element City ¨C a place where fire, water, earth and air beings live. The film is not only made in Hollywood, but also enabled by ETH technology.

John von Neumann was one of the most important mathematicians and computer pioneers of the 20th century ¨C and an ETH alumnus. He began his studies in chemistry here one hundred years ago. ETH Professor Benjamin Sudakov pays tribute to a mathematical legacy at a symposium.

In theory, quantum computers vastly outperform classical computers in terms of computing speed. For them to do so in practice, it is necessary to design more and novel high-speed algorithms, says ETH supercomputing specialist Torsten Hoefler. ?

ETH students have developed sensors that can indicate how people use urban spaces. They anonymously measure how people use objects such as chairs in a public square. The sensors have proven useful in the test run and could be used in future to plan public spaces based on needs.

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.

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.

Are we witnessing the rise of a different, adaptive artificial intelligence (AI) that works with humans and supports them with smart decisions? Computer scientist Niao He is investigating how this kind of AI can be theoretically underpinned so that it really does provide benefits.

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.

He investigates the mysteries of shapes and curvature in higher dimensions: mathematician Alessandro Carlotto will receive the 2022 ETH Zurich Latsis Prize for his original research at the frontier of mathematics and physics.

Densification is a fundamental principle of urban planning and development today. Nevertheless, it often encounters local resistance. A group of ETH researchers has now systematically investigated factors influencing public acceptance of densification, focusing on the canton of Zurich and six cities of global importance. One key factor: affordable housing.

ETH Zurich researchers have discovered a serious security vulnerability in computer hardware. The vulnerability, called "Retbleed," affects microprocessors from market leaders Intel and AMD. All commercially available operating systems worldwide that use these processors are affected. When computers execute special calculation steps to compute faster, they leave traces that hackers could abuse.

At its heart, is mathematics an aesthetic discipline? Or what does it mean if someone finds a proof ¡°beautiful¡±? And what does mathematical beauty say about physical connections?

Oil and gas prices are currently on the rise, raising questions about the security of Switzerland¡¯s energy supply. In a policy brief, researchers from the Energy Science Center at ETH Zurich have now shown what Switzerland can do to make its energy system independent of fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas.

Microrobots have the potential to revolutionize medicine. Researchers at the Max Planck ETH Centre for Learning Systems have now developed an imaging technique that for the first time recognises cell-sized microrobots individually and at high resolution in a living organism.

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. ?

Sounds provide important information about how well a machine is running. ETH researchers have now developed a new machine learning method that automatically detects whether a machine is "healthy" or requires maintenance.

From a technological and economic perspective, the Swiss energy system could be climate-neutral by 2050. There are various challenges when it comes to implementation, however. Deployment of photovoltaics, for example, would have to increase at a faster rate. Academia and industry discussed possible energy scenarios at ETH Zurich.

Collaboration between talented members of multidisciplinary teams provides the best foundation for innovative, useful and trustworthy applications of artificial intelligence. This approach has been demonstrated at a joint event by ETH Entrepreneur Club and the ETH AI Center.

For a long time, the development of quantum computers was concerned with theoretical and hardware aspects. But as the focus shifts towards programming, software and security issues, the classical computer sciences are coming back into play.

The chaotic behaviour of vortices is one of the things that makes weather forecasting difficult. Researchers at ETH Zurich developed a novel experimental method enabling accurate analyses of the movement and energy of turbulence in fluids with less effort.

What secrets are held by the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way? Andrea Ghez, astronomer and Nobel Laureate in Physics, will discuss this question as part of next week¡¯s Paul Bernays Lectures 2021. The honorary lecture series on the philosophy of the exact sciences will take place for the tenth time.

Torrential rain and flooding have dominated the weather over the past few weeks. To forecast these weather events with greater accuracy and gain a better understanding of them against the backdrop of global climate change, ETH Zurich and partners are developing a new generation of high-resolution weather and climate models.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are key technologies for science, business, and society ¨C but how transparent are their decisions? Andreas Krause, the 2021 recipient of the R?ssler Prize and Chair of the ETH AI Center, shares his thoughts on the opportunities and challenges with trustworthy artificial intelligence.

For mathematician Joaquim Serra, sketches are a gateway to insight. Sketching out geometric relationships helps him unlock the abstract reasonings required to prove his theorems. On Sunday, he is being honoured for his research into partial differential equations.

Next week, the first European Girls¡¯ Olympiad in Informatics will take place in Zurich. The competition, which will have around 160 participants from 43 countries, is being organised by ETH students, who also came up with the original idea and are the driving force behind the event.

How do you teach machines to learn for themselves and support people? Andreas Krause is one of Europe¡¯s leading machine learning researchers. His approaches combine mathematical elegance with a sense of social responsibility. He has now been awarded the R?ssler Prize, ETH Zurich¡¯s most generous research award.

The future quantum computers should be capable of super-fast and reliable computation. Today, this is still a major challenge. Now, computer scientists led by ETH Zurich conduct an early exploration for reliable quantum machine learning.

The most capable geotechnical research centrifuge in Europe is currently being built on the H?nggerberg campus. It will enable researchers to simulate geotechnical structures, such as foundations, dams and tunnels, and the effects of natural hazards, such as earthquakes, landslides, flooding and tsunamis. The centrifuge itself was installed on Wednesday with meticulous precision.

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.

Implementation of the ¡°ETH ·ÆÂɱösunbetÏÂÔØ_Éê‘_sunbetÏÖ½ðÍø-¡¾¹Ù·½ÍøÕ¾¡¿ 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.

Leading AI researchers from 30 top institutions across Europe are joining forces to form the European AI network ELLIS. Today, it celebrates its launch, with ETH Zurich as a founding member. The ETH Zurich ELLIS Unit is set on establishing the foundations for reliable and trustworthy artificial intelligence.

Artificial intelligence is having a growing impact on our daily lives and is also revolutionising research. ETH Zurich recognises its responsibility in this area and is striving to promote innovation and trust in this fast-evolving technology.

The fact that there are many different types of infinities is one of the big puzzles in mathematics. One mathematician who enjoys investigating which infinities can actually occur is Saharon Shelah, the guest speaker at this year¡¯s Paul Bernays Lectures.

ETH researchers have built an ultrafast chip that can speed up data transmission in fibre optic networks. The chip combines several innovations at the same time and, given the growing demand for streaming and online services, represents a significant development.

The Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems has established itself as an address for AI research and the promotion of young scientists. "We answer pressing questions that arise today," says its co-director Thomas Hoffmann.

Several technical advances have been achieved recently in the pursuit of powerful quantum computers. Now, Computer scientists from ETH Zurich have made an important breakthrough in the field of programming languages: their quantum language is the first of its kind that is as elegant, simple and safe as classical computer languages.

Difficulties with schoolwork? ¡°Lern mit mir¡± (Learn with me) is a platform for pupils that gives them access to their own personal tutor. ETH¡¯s Vocational Education and Training division is heading the programme.

The Basel Botnar Research Centre for Child Health is funding five research projects at ETH Zurich dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

Moving images in the newspaper as in Harry Potter, or digital weather forecasts in the Bern dialect? New media technology is transforming journalism. The Media Technology Center at ETH Zurich supports media companies on their path to the future.

How exactly is the coronavirus spreading in Switzerland? To determine this based on a large dataset, Biomedical informatics specialists from ETH Zurich and the canton of Bern have now combined their online questionnaires on the shared platform covidtracker.ch.

Participate in containing coronavirus: medical informatics specialists at ETH Zurich have developed a monitoring system to complement corona tests and track how the virus is spreading in Switzerland. All residents of Switzerland can take part in the online survey.

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.

The coronavirus outbreak has made solidarity more important than ever. Pharmacy students, for example, are getting involved and offering pharmacies a helping hand. The new ¡°pharmadelivery¡± platform enables pharmacies to connect quickly with students who are eager to help.

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.

Cancer¡¯s genetic causes are more diverse than previous scientific studies have indicated ¨C a conclusion reached by researchers from ETH Zurich and University Hospital Zurich. Through their participation in an international research collaboration, they helped compile the most comprehensive catalogue to date of gene alterations associated with cancer. Their work was based on the analysis of whole cancer genomes.

The ·ÆÂɱösunbetÏÂÔØ_Éê‘_sunbetÏÖ½ðÍø-¡¾¹Ù·½ÍøÕ¾¡¿ 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?

Florian Emaury, CEO and co-founder of Menhir Photonics, has a dream: to shake up the market with ultrafast lasers. The company¡¯s approach is based on reliable, robust, high-precision lasers ¨C and a strong presence both in the markets and on social media.

A new generation of low-flying satellites promises an ¡°Internet from space¡±, that will be able to cover even remote regions around the world. Computer scientists at ETH Zurich are proposing a novel network design that could double the network capacity of such systems.

Computer scientist David Dao develops intelligent algorithms that use satellite and drone images of rainforests to predict where the next sites of deforestation will be. He will be presenting his research at the climate conference in Madrid today, and will start a pilot project in Chile in January.

400 secondary school students visited the winner of the 2018 Fields Medal, Alessio Figalli. You don't have to be a genius to do mathematics, said Figalli.

Dominik Hangartner, a political scientist at ETH Zurich, has received one of Switzerland¡¯s most prestigious science awards. The National Latsis Prize has recognised the quality of Hangartner¡¯s research on migration and its importance for public policy. We sat down with Hangartner to find out what drives him and what he finds so exciting about turning research into concrete policies.

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.

Bernhard Sch?lkopf, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems and Affiliated Professor at ETH Zurich, today received the K?rber European Science Prize for his research in the field of machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Alessio Figalli¡¯s life has changed since he was awarded the Fields Medal one year ago. There¡¯s now more intensive contact to schools and public life, and he has taken on new tasks in research. He masters them with a joyful outlook and optimism.

Are there limits to what computers are actually able to compute, and do quantum computers really solve more problems than conventional computers? Computer scientist Scott Aaronson will discuss these kinds of fundamental questions during the Paul Bernays Lectures 2019.

Time is a fundamental dimension of human existence and comes in many forms. Using a comparative approach, philosopher and physicist Norman Sieroka looks at what distinguishes them, using time travel and music.

Bursting balloons and exploding cans ¨C and some weird behaviour from suitcases. Experiments play a vital role in unlocking new knowledge about the natural sciences. This quiz has some surprises in store for you.

Making music with transformers. Developing robots that dive and wheelchairs that climb stairs: studying at ETH has many aspects and learning is not confined to the lecture theatre. This quiz gives you a few insights into studying at ETH.

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.

What is the public¡¯s opinion when it comes to the responsibility of Swiss companies abroad? ETH researchers have investigated this question and are able to show that there is a great deal of support for the so-called Responsible Business Initiative.

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.

Viruses, crime, and many other problems spread through networks. ETH researchers have now developed a new method of protecting them cost-effectively. When budget matters, networks are best dismantled starting with some middle nodes.

Many small, local steps may lead more sustainably to peace than big dreams of the perfect state. This principle lies at the heart of an innovative approach to conflict mediation developed by a Kenyan mediator and an ETH researcher.

What do liquid chocolate and the movements of satellites have in common? Jagna Wi?niewska is intrigued by such mathematical puzzles. Together with seven other women, she will show in the goMATH series of events at ETH Zurich why she is fascinated by mathematics.

Is China about to catch up with the US, the world¡¯s leading military and geopolitical power? Researchers at ETH¡¯s Center for Security Studies and NATO¡¯s Defense College say no. The growing complexity of military technology makes it difficult for modern weapon systems to be imitated.

The higher the income of individuals living in Switzerland the higher their greenhouse gas emissions. But to what extent do differences in income actually have an effect on emissions, and to what extent do household emissions differ? The main differences were found in the areas of mobility and housing. For nutrition, the differences in individual emissions are less pronounced. These are the findings of a study conducted by social scientists at ETH Zurich

ETH Zurich and EPFL, in cooperation with their longstanding Swiss industry partners B¨¹hler, Givaudan and Nestl¨¦, are launching the Future Food Initiative. The initiative promotes innovative research approaches for sustainable food production. A select group of talented individuals will receive financial support made possible by CHF 4.1 million in donations from industry partners

Intelligent data science approaches are changing science, the economy and society. In a new interdisciplinary initiative, ETH researchers from the fields of mathematics, computer science and information technology are therefore increasingly dedicating themselves to the foundations of data science. ?

Students who prepare for their exams with friends are more likely to succeed. Sociologists from ETH Zurich examined how networks among Bachelor¡¯s students influenced their exam results in the first year. Their results show that informal relationships and friendships are just as important as self-motivation and discipline.

The first architectural projects for Zurich¡¯s central university district have been revealed: The designs for the "USZ Kernareal" come from Christ & Gantenbein, those for the FORUM UZH from Herzog & de Meuron.

What can computers do better than people? Fields Medal winner Timothy Gowers is one of the leading mathematicians of our time. He doesn't avoid the big questions. On Wednesday, he will deliver the Wolfgang Pauli Lecture entitled ¡°Why isn't mathematical research impossible?¡±

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.

Nature is a source of inspiration for the mathematician. That was a key message of the Fields Medal winner Alessio Figalli's honorary lecture on Monday. ETH Zurich celebrated the Italian's outstanding achievement with his PhD supervisors Luigi Ambrosio and C¨¦dric Villani in attendance and held a debate about the growing scientific and economic significance of mathematics.

Siddhartha Mishra is the winner of the 2019 ICIAM Collatz Prize which is one of the most prestigious prizes awarded in applied mathematics.

At the Architecture Biennial in Venice, a group of students, a colour artist, an architect and an ETH surface physicist will examine the symmetries of ornaments at the Basilica di San Marco. There will be an accompanying exhibition.

Harvard mathematician Barry Mazur will talk about the unity and scope of mathematics on 11 September in his Paul Bernays Lectures at ETH Zurich. Variety enriches mathematics. This is why it is intriguing to enquire about a unification that combines different mathematical theories and methods. ?

ETH Zurich peace and conflict researcher Lars-Erik Cederman has won Switzerland¡¯s biggest science award for 2018, the Marcel Benoist Prize. In his research he studies how the fair distribution of power and resources can reduce the risk of ethnic conflicts. As both a person and researcher, a balanced nature is one of his defining features.

Lymphatic vessels actively contribute to the spread of cancer metastases from various organs. This unexpected realisation is the result of a joint study by researchers from ETH Zurich and the University Hospital Zurich as part of the research initiative Skintegrity.

Alessio Figalli is a recipient of the Fields Medal for his research into optimal transport theory. Who is this individual? What characterises his research? In what way is mathematics a creative thought process? How are clouds, soap bubbles and crystals related to transport costs? The portrait of a mathematician who has made problem-solving his profession.

Avalanches, tsunamis, solar storms: Siddhartha Mishra is captivated by unstable and turbulent flows. He combines mathematics with scientific computing in a bid to understand their common causes. Helping him in his quest are equations, first written down by the Swiss mathematician, Leonhard Euler.

For the first time, ETH Zurich invited the 100 best school girls from the Mathematical Kangaroo competition.

Sometimes viruses and bacteria undergo genetic changes that alter their properties and eventually make them more dangerous to humans. Tanja Stadler¡¯s mathematical models shed light on how fast they can mutate and spread.

As a spatial planner, Bernd Scholl spent his career planning how to design areas for the future. His search for comprehensive solutions involving transport, settlement and landscape made him a resolute supporter of Switzerland¡¯s direct democratic system. Portrait of a passionate spatial developer.

Strategic Trends 2018: ETH Zurich¡¯s Center for Security Studies has published its annual analysis of key trends in world politics, such as the roles of the US, China and Russia as superpowers.

In a video interview with the German Physical Society, ETH professor Nicola Spaldin talks about the fascination of materials research.

Philosophy of science in medical research: pharmacy students are learning how theory, methods and experiments affect scientific results and how to assess the significance of the results.

New research findings from biology and chemistry are a blessing for the world of medicine. However, if they are misused for military purposes, they can reveal a darker side. How to deal with the ¡°dual-use dilemma¡±? This was the subject of a course aimed specifically at biology and chemistry students.

At ETH Zurich, the Research Commission promotes young talents at the beginning of their careers as well as projects that open up new scientific horizons. Today this Commission is celebrating its 75th anniversary. Uwe Sauer, President of the Commission, explains how it is going to proceed.

Identifying a small number of pathogenic cells among many millions of cells is tricky. Researchers at ETH Zurich have now developed a technology that is able to identify enormous quantities of cell properties on a small scale, individually and in detail.

Richard M. Schoen is a bridge-builder between physics and mathematics, and has enriched the theory of relativity with his proofs and geometric methods. On Monday, ETH Zurich will award him the Heinz Hopf Prize 2017.

What do the smallest particles locked up in protons have to tell us about how the universe began and how it will end? This week, physics Nobel laureate David Gross will present three public lectures at ETH Zurich on the theme ¡°A Century of Quantum Physics ¨C from Nuclear Physics to String Theory and Beyond¡±.

Chemical engineers from ETH Zurich have succeeded in generating ultra-pure green light for the first time. The new light-emitting diode will pave the way for visibly improved colour quality in a new generation of ultra-high definition displays for TVs and smartphones.