ETH News

Science diplomacy can transcend the geopolitical arena, building trust and bridging gaps between nations, emphasises Jo?l Mesot. And presents three partnerships in generative AI that highlight the power of cross-sector cooperation ¨C for humanitarian and peacekeeping missions as well as trustworthy AI.

Where is generative AI already proving its worth in teaching and what are its limits? Will avatars soon replace lecturers? In this interview, Jan Vermant, Vice Rector for Curriculum Development, talks about trends at ETH and his own experiences.

ETH doctoral student Rolf Imseng comes from a working class family. Together with ETH Vice-President Julia Dannath and ETH Professor Ursula Renold, he talks about the hurdles that his background brings with it. A conversation about social mobility in Switzerland.

From devising forecasting models for the Federal Finance Administration and describing the latest trends in civil protection, ETH researchers routinely supply vital support to the Swiss state and help drive innovation.

At its meeting of 11 and 12 July 2024 and upon application of Jo?l Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, the ETH Board appointed six professors. The Board also awarded the title of "Professor" two times and the title of "Professor of Practice" once.

Everyone talks about Artificial Intelligence but its current adoption rates are low in the Swiss tech industry, especially in manufacturing-related applications. This is one conclusion of a survey conducted by ETH Zurich in collaboration with Swissmem and Next Industries. Professor Torbj?rn Netland, responsible for the report, explains why Swiss tech companies are still faring well in an international comparison and how they can release the potential.

At its meeting of 22 and 23 May 2024 and upon application of Jo?l Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, the ETH Board appointed twelve professors. The Board also awarded the title of "Professor" four times and the title of "Professor of Practice" three times.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) provides medical supplies to people in need. A planning tool developed by researchers at ETH Zurich will make this complex task more efficient in future and save the ICRC millions.

Hans Gersbach and Martin W?rter explain why Switzerland should not join the emerging international subsidy race. Sticking with the proven ¡°Swiss way¡± is much more promising.

A new model designed by ETH Zurich researchers measures how flexible medication distribution systems are in real time. It shows that supply shortages can be eased if pharmaceutical wholesalers coordinate their inventories and reroute scarce products as flexibly as possible along existing supply chains.

As society increasingly expects the responsible use of digital technologies, firms with better practices will have a distinct advantage, says Tomoko Yokoi. Digital responsibility should not only be seen as a duty to comply with regulations but also as an activity that generates value.

How productive are we when we work from home? It¡¯s an increasingly common question. But Gudela Grote believes it¡¯s the wrong question, because it says more about our conceptions of human nature than about effective ways of working.

ETH Zurich researchers show in a new study that a short reflection exercise to boost self confidence increases job search success. This holds true even for the long-term unemployed and people over 50.

With its ability to write text and generate images, artificial intelligence is making inroads into many areas of life. Perceived as threatening, enriching or just plain gimmicky, AI also raises a fundamental question: what is it that makes us human?

Malte Toetzke calls for more ambitious standards in the voluntary carbon offset market. While this would lead to fewer projects getting funded, the benefit for the climate would be greater overall.?

At its meeting of 12 and 13 July 2023 and upon application of Jo?l Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, the ETH Board appointed ten professors.

Gabriela Hug ¨C an expert in power transmission networks ¨C argues that securing an affordable energy supply from renewable sources is not a utopian ideal for Switzerland, but rather a practical and feasible necessity.

At its meeting of 24 and 25 May 2023 and upon application of Jo?l Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, the ETH Board appointed nine professors and awarded the title of professor twice. At the same time, the Board also bid farewell to nine professors and thanked them for their service.

Security of energy supply in a fossil-free Switzerland is feasible and affordable according to a new white paper from an expert group at the Energy Science Center. It will require increased production of renewables and efficient energy trading with neighbouring countries.

Psychologist Verena Zimmermann joins computer scientists Joachim Buhmann and Elgar Fleisch to discuss whether our feelings can be measured, what role they play in human-machine interactions, and the use of smart technologies.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a model that detects workplace stress just by how people type and move their computer mouse. This might enable employees to prevent chronic stress early on.

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.

Life is a constant stream of decisions that pit sober reflection against powerful emotions, conscious deliberation against gut instincts. Using complex models and sophisticated experiments, ETH researchers study how we combine these different decision-making strategies.

At its meeting of 8 and 9 March and upon application of Jo?l Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, the ETH Board appointed 14 professors and awarded the title of professor five times. At the same time, the Board also bid farewell to three professors and thanked them for their service.

On the current list of Highly Cited Researchers, 21 have a connection to ETH Zurich. Four of these appear on the list for the first time.

The promise of industrialised countries to financially support emerging and developing countries in climate measures remains unfulfilled at the beginning of the climate conference in Egypt. Florian Egli explains what the states are negotiating at COP27 and what could help to alleviate the loss of trust.

Agriculture practices that preserve resources? Enough food to make sure that everyone can enjoy a healthy and balanced diet? We still are a long way from that, finds Robert Finger ¨C and outlines the most important fields of action to make the food system more sustainable.

Using innovative technologies and scientific expertise to help people in need is the goal of the Engineering for Humanitarian Action initiative launched by the ICRC, ETH Zurich and EPFL in 2020. Six of the projects are already offering results for tangible improvements for the ICRC.

Cognitive flexibility improves leadership, according to numerous studies conducted by ETH Zurich researchers. The Swiss Armed Forces are planning to employ this knowledge in the training of officers to better prepare them for future crises. ?

This year¡¯s ETH award for particularly innovative teaching projects goes to a course that brings physics experiments for students right into their home.?The project was up against 24 others competing for the KITE Award 2022.

A research team from ETH Zurich and LMU Munich is using artificial intelligence to analyse 3.2 million development aid projects worldwide. Their research reveals trends and funding gaps. ?

The war in Ukraine has fanned the flames of inflation. Is this merely a temporary shock ¨C or the start of a new normal?

In an interview with ETH News, ETH Professor Emeritus and former State secretary Michael Amb¨¹hl outlines possible cornerstones of a diplomatic solution for the war in Ukraine.

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. ?

Erika Meins explains the science behind why returning to the office is good for our performance as well as our well-being.? ?

After nine years as ETH Professor of Negotiation and Conflict Management, Michael Amb¨¹hl is soon to become a professor emeritus. We look back at the remarkable career of a former State Secretary who was determined to translate practice into theory.

ETH researchers are using artificial intelligence to improve quality management in digital production processes. The team has succeeded in halving the proportion of defective products in an experiment with the semiconductor manufacturer Hitachi Energy.

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.

Following the termination of negotiations for a framework agreement, ETH researchers outline a three-stage plan for the further development of a constructive partnership between Switzerland and the European Union.

The benefits of strict climate policies are often underestimated in public debate, while the costs are generally overestimated, says Lucas Bretschger. Climate protection does not have a negative impact on economic development.

Extreme weather poses increasing challenges to the agricultural sector. New insurance models based on satellite data may reduce the risk of drought for farmers, writes Robert Finger.

How do you get more people to have vaccinations? Gudela Grote firmly believes that it¡¯s worth looking at team dynamics.

Disruption has the power to upend our lives. But approached constructively, disruption and resilience can be positive.

Where should radioactive waste be packaged before it is stored in a deep geological repository? Daniela Scherer explains how stakeholders are being brought on board to tackle this thorny question.

Katharina Fellnhofer researches how intuitive decision-making influences personal success. She is convinced that people who follow their intuition tend to be more successful in their decision-making.?

ETH Zurich and the University of St.Gallen (HSG) are launching a joint Executive MBA programme, the emba X. The two universities are combining their know-how in technology and management as well as their networks for this innovative programme.

Scientists at ETH Zurich have leveraged big data from recruitment platforms and machine learning to study hiring discrimination. They show that discrimination against immigrants depends, among other things, on the time of day; and that both men and women face discrimination.

An interdisciplinary research team from ETH Zurich is developing the Nexus-e modelling platform in a project supported by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy. The platform facilitates the analysis of how technological, economic and regulatory developments affect the energy system of the future.

ETH researchers have created a database of over 3,000 primary and secondary packaging items from the range of the retailer Denner as a basis for ensuring more environmentally friendly packaging.

The Engineering Humanitarian Aid initiative, officially launched on 10 December 2020, will harness the expertise of Switzerland's two federal institutes of technology to benefit humanitarian aid programs. The effort will focus on the areas of energy and the environment, data sciences and digital technologies, and personalized health and related technologies.

ETH researchers have used an experiment in a simulated group office environment to show for the first time that the body produces more stress hormones when people are repeatedly interrupted at work. And yet the subjects did not experience an equal rise in their consciously perceived sense of psychological stress.

Bans and simple measures alone won¡¯t solve the problems in plant protection. Robert Finger presses for a comprehensive pesticide policy.

More and more companies say that AI will be an important tool in the future. AI could also be useful for administration and management ¨C but this journey has only just begun.

The way people move around in cities gives us clues as to when many crimes are committed and in which hotspots, as ETH researchers have demonstrated using anonymised data from? location technology plattforms.

A healthcare solution born in an ETH student workshop has now entered mass production: the helpfulETH initiative is supporting hospitals during the coronavirus crisis by producing special face shields. ETH Zurich is working on the project alongside the University of Applied Sciences Rapperswil (HSR Rapperswil), Geberit and Swiss Prime Pack.

Entering invoices, checking delivery slips, auditing expense receipts: these repetitive tasks fill the days of many office employees. The ETH spin-off BLP Digital hopes to provide them with some relief ¨C thanks to algorithms.

What happens when COVID-19 means architecture students have to get by without a workshop, electrical engineers without high-voltage laboratories and environmental scientists without field trips.

Rather than delaying the much-needed restructuring, we should use recovery programs to reset the economy?on a sustainable?footing, urges Jochen Markard.

For close to two months now, many of us have been working almost entirely from home. And it¡¯s going far better than some people anticipated. What has now become normal will change the working world profoundly, believes Gudela Grote.

The current situation presents an enormous challenge for economists. Normally they would wait for an economic quarter to end before analysing data ¨C now all of a sudden they have to try to work with data that is changing every day.

Torbj?rn Netland advocates a global approach to the production of ventilators and defines six areas of activity.

In the video series "Ask the Expert", the head of the?KOF Swiss Economic Institute estimates the impact of the pandemic on the economy.

The Assistant Professor of Organisational Behaviour is currently planning a new study on how feedback affects the motivation and focus of people working remotely.

With many of us thrown into an unusual work situation, now¡¯s a good moment to think about boundaries, says Gudela Grote.

When making decisions, we¡¯re often influenced by our social environment. This can be used in a targeted way to encourage people to adopt a healthier, cleaner lifestyle, writes Suchita Srinivasan.

What should society do about the tech giants¡¯ growing monopolies? Let¡¯s democratise them by giving users a say in decisions, suggests Hans Gersbach.

Farmers could increase their revenues by increasing biodiversity on their land. This is the conclusion reached by an interdisciplinary research team including the fields of agricultural sciences, ecology and economics at ETH Zurich and other universities.

Separation of powers, foreign policy, economic policy and climate change ¨C at a two-day event in the Bern region, ETH imparted expertise to newly elected parliamentarians.

ETH Zurich researchers are reexamining the causes of soil erosion around the world ¨C and have found that countries themselves have a surprisingly strong influence on their soil. This country effect was previously undetected.

On behalf of a German ship operator, a team from ETH Zurich mapped out ¡°routes¡± towards emission-free shipping. To this end, they investigated shipping activities in the North and Baltic Seas as well as the infrastructure, costs of new fuels and storage options.

New technologies are radically transforming not just the world of work, but the relationship between employees, companies and trade unions too, as Gudela Grote shows.

She was involved in developing the world¡¯s most accurate clock, and now she helps companies adopt more sustainable business practices: Petrissa Eckle, Executive Director of the Sustainability in Business Lab at ETH Zurich.

A new machine-learning method developed by ETH scientists makes it possible to predict burglaries even in sparsely populated areas.

An institutional framework agreement between Switzerland and the EU is due to be concluded ¨C although it still faces a number of hurdles on the domestic front. ETH professor Michael Amb¨¹hl and his team have developed a concrete proposal for a solution that would remove these hurdles. It includes a dispute settlement procedure that does not involve the European Court of Justice.

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

ETH Zurich is fostering responsible air travel to help resolve the conflict between international research activities and climate protection. ETH units worked together to set targets for reducing flight-related CO₂ emissions.

More than half of foreign employees in Switzerland feel well-integrated in their work environment. Language difficulties serve as one of the main reasons for a lack of integration. This is concluded by the latest issue of the Swiss HR Barometer issued by the Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich and the Universities of Lucerne and Zurich.

Until you've lost your reputation ¡­ Unlike the saying, you do have something left to lose. On the contrary, reputational loss is costly. Students have proved that through business-based risk analyses.

We should not adapt work to technology but, conversely, find ways in which technology can benefit everyone. Not least for economic reasons, says Gudela Grote.

We must reduce the environmental and health risks of pesticides. However, rather than banning them completely, Robert Finger advocates an intelligent approach to crop protection.

The big data hype is in marked contrast to tangible results in the social sciences, says Frank Schweitzer.

Swiss companies make less use of new technologies and work more traditionally than is commonly believed, says Gudela Grote.

Science has to prove its relevance to society. ETH Zurich is therefore expanding its blog activities: in future, the Zukunftsblog will cover digitalisation and health alongside the topic of sustainability.

In response to the proposals received from the President of ETH Zurich, Professor Lino Guzzella, the ETH Board resolved to appoint 10 professors.

Future locations of deep geological repositories for radioactive waste are expected to receive remuneration payments. These payments are not regulated by law and are therefore a matter for negotiation. Now there exists a broad-based framework for this process, writes Michael Amb¨¹hl.

New manufacturing technologies will transform the way we produce things. So can we expect everything to come off a 3D printer? Mirko Meboldt, an expert in product development, talks to management expert Torbj?rn Netland about the potential ¨C and reality ¨C of the situation.

ETH Zurich researchers developed a feasible approach for the migration issue in post-Brexit negotiations between the UK and EU. An existing mechanism in Switzerland¡¯s bilateral treaties served as inspiration.

Neophytes ¨C invasive plants that are alien to the region ¨C are a huge burden on the public purse. The ETH spin-off ¡°In-Finitude¡± has set up a new online platform right on time for the growing season. This displays the locations of the invasive neophytes across Switzerland and offers support to landowners and local authorities in combatting them.

Ingo Scholtes from the Chair of Systems Design has developed an analytical method that takes account of the chronological order of connections within networks. This not only makes it possible to more accurately identify links between topics on the internet, but also makes it easier to predict the spread of epidemics, for example.

What¡¯s the point of smart assistants and intelligent electricity meters if people don¡¯t use them correctly? In order to cope with the energy transition, we need a combination of digital technologies and smart user behaviour ¨C and the social sciences can help.

The ETH Board appointed new professors at ETH Zurich as part of its meeting of 5/6 July 2017, in accordance with the application submitted by ETH Zurich President Lino Guzzella.

Efficient use of electricity is central to Energy Strategy 2050. But how much electricity-saving potential do Swiss households actually have? And which factors influence this efficiency?

An app for building managers ¨C or data glasses that help you learn physics concepts? During the first "SPH Innovation Challenge", ETH students spent a week working on their own project ideas. Set up as a pilot station in autumn 2016, the Student Project House on the H?nggerberg campus provided the necessary space and resources.

The ETH Board appointed three new professors and awarded the title of Professor to five recipients upon application of ETH President Lino Guzzella

Players in the energy industry and the policy domain often depend on forecasts. A closer look reveals that these predictions sometimes fall wide of the mark. Underestimating innovation dynamics is one reason why.

Switzerland¡¯s economy is facing some tough challenges: technologies are developing rapidly, processes are being amalgamated both inside and outside production facilities, and business units are becoming increasingly interconnected. This means businesses need to constantly adapt. The issue has been taken up by researchers from the Chair of Strategic Management and Innovation and from the KOF Swiss Economic Institute, both at ETH Zurich.

Switzerland¡¯s electricity companies, and in particular the operators of its nuclear power plants, are in poor financial shape. Regardless of the outcome of the Nuclear Withdrawal Initiative, the funding required for dismantling and disposal raises issues of state redistribution.

Every fourth employee regards promises made by the company they work for as having been broken and every third is not satisfied with their relationship to their superior and with their co-workers. This is shown by the current results of the Swiss Human Relations Barometer of the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich.

Riding the Polybahn from Central up to ETH Zurich with Elgar Fleisch: the Professor of Information Management at ETH Zurich tells us in a new Polybahn Pitch how the Internet of Things allows the development of better therapies for chronically ill people.?