More than 300 children aged 10 to 13 visited the ETH Zukunftstag, or “Future Day”, last Thursday. They enjoyed a varied programme that gave them an idea of what it’s like to learn, research or work at our university.
“Are all these buildings part of ETH?” “What’s that big construction site over there?” “It’s like a whole ETH village!” On the bus to H?nggerberg, it’s already clear that this day is not like any other: among the many students and employees who are crowded together on their way to the ETH campus, a few younger passengers stand out. They look out the window, full of curiosity, and ask questions as soon as the first ETH buildings come into view. Today is external page National Future Day – when children in Switzerland can discover the diversity of the professional world and expand their future prospects by visiting a place where people work.
When work is fun
Future Day at ETH was extremely popular again this year, with more than 300 children aged 10 to 13 in attendance. Among them was a group of selected pupils from non-academic families or with no connection to science, whose participation was made possible by ETH for the first time this year. They first all assembled in the foyer of the HPH building. It was remarkably quiet in the large entrance area as the children waited in a state of focused anticipation for the start of Future Day.
And then it began: host for the day Anna Serarda Campell welcomed the children, briefly introduced ETH, and then called Julia Dannath, Vice President of Personnel Development and Leadership, to the stage. As Dannath spoke, the children learned firsthand what a typical day as vice president is like, what her dream job was as a teenager, and the most important thing when choosing a career: “If you enjoy what you do so much that it doesn’t feel like work – then you've found the right profession!” is how she put it.
The excitement continued with the second guest, Jennifer Wadsworth, an astrobiologist at ETH’s AI Center who spoke about her career and current research – which sometimes includes experiencing zero gravity.
"Future Day" in pictures
Something for everyone
After these presentations, the children moved on to the various programmes, where they were given in-depth insights into a field of their choice. The array of options was vast: from game design to a robotics workshop, from a molecular biology lab to designing your own dream library – all interests were represented.
For lunch at the end of the event, everyone met again in the HPH building foyer. One look at the children’s faces showed the event was a hit: they’d had a fun and exciting morning of new experiences – and perhaps the cornerstone was laid for one or two future careers at ETH.
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