ETH News

During this year¡¯s ¡°Innovation Project¡±, mechanical engineering students built robots that can cultivate a model-scale permaculture garden. In the final, on 16 December, the best teams will demonstrate how their autonomous systems sow, harvest and deliver fruit sorted by variety.

ETH Professor Nicola Spaldin will soon take over one of the Vice Presidencies of the European Research Council. In this interview, she explains what the role means for her as a researcher, and what it means to her personally.?

Researchers from ETH Zurich have succeeded in introducing large quantities of unnatural amino acids into bacteria, enabling the creation of innovative and highly efficient designer proteins. These can be used as more efficient catalysts or more effective drugs.?

In the latest allocation of European funding for cutting-edge research, ETH Zurich scientists have performed exceptionally well. Here, we present the projects that will receive several million euros in funding.

Ursula Keller, Professor of Physics at ETH Zurich, will deliver her farewell lecture on Monday, 15 December 2025. Her talk, entitled ¡°Ultrafast science: a 32-year journey in Physics at ETH Zurich,¡± marks the close of more than three decades at the forefront of ultrafast laser science ¨C a field she helped build from the ground up.?

In Switzerland¡¯s first inclusive 'ParaWG'-flatshare, students from ETH Zurich live alongside people with spinal cord injuries. It is hoped that the students will draw on this experience to help make the world more accessible for disabled people.?

Gregor Spuhler has headed up the Archives of Contemporary History (AfZ), home to important historical resources, for 18 years. In this interview, he talks about what he thinks about Nazi comparisons and why Switzerland needs a memorial for the victims of National Socialism right now.?

At its meeting of 3 and 4 December 2025 and upon application of Jo?l Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, the ETH Board appointed eleven professors. In addition, seven adjunct professorships were awarded.

For the first time, researchers have observed live and in high resolution how influenza viruses infect living cells. This was possible thanks to a new microscopy technique, which could now help to develop antiviral therapies in a more targeted manner.?

Beginning in 2027, fire safety engineering will be planned more precisely as new regulations are introduced. ETH Zurich trains engineers by applying principles of physics and conducting experiments in a fire simulator.

The prize for the most promising invention developed at ETH Zurich last year has been awarded to a research team from the Laboratory of Organic Chemistry. The scientists received the Spark Award 2025 for a novel process for converting common global pollutants into industrial raw materials.?

War in Europe, the escalating rivalry between the USA and China - the rapidly shifting geopolitical situation is focussing more than ever on the question of how Swiss universities will be able to protect their knowledge.

ETH Zurich researchers have developed a process that can be used on site to render environmental toxins such as DDT and lindane harmless and convert them into valuable chemicals ¨C a breakthrough for the remediation of contaminated sites and a sustainable circular economy.?

Researchers from ETH Zurich have manufactured organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) on a nanoscale ¨C that¡¯s around a hundred times smaller than a human cell. This not only enables ultra-sharp screens and microscopes, but also opens up entirely novel possibilities for wave optics applications thanks to the extremely minute pixel size.??

Approximately 600 guests celebrated ETH Zurich's 170th anniversary on Saturday. Federal Councillor Beat Jans, Rector G¨¹nther Dissertori and ETH President Jo?l Mesot emphasised the importance for academia of an open Switzerland, informed individuals and the courage to embrace uncertainty.?

An international team of researchers including a scientist from ETH Zurich has shown that friction in magma leads to the formation of bubbles that influence whether a volcano erupts explosively or releases gently flowing lava.

The CRISPR gene scissors are only of limited use to detect cancer-causing genes in animals because the method interferes with their immune system. Researchers at ETH Zurich, however, have now shown that a few tricks can be pulled to render the gene scissors invisible to immune cells.?

How people deal with uncertainty influences their political behaviour ¨C and the stability of democracy. A new study by ETH Zurich shows that if uncertainty is seen as an opportunity, the willingness to vote for right-wing populist parties such as AfD decreases.?

ETH researchers have developed a digital co-pilot that helps to assess?the conservation condition of?historic sandstone buildings, thereby supporting?their restoration. The 750-year-old Lausanne Cathedral serves as a case study.?

ETH Zurich Architectural historian Anne Hultzsch has researched how women wrote about architecture between 1700 and 1900. In this interview, she talks about her findings ¨C and about the authors from housewives to princesses.?

How do spatial planners handle AI, regulation, biodiversity and housing shortages? In this interview, the program managers of the continuing education programme MAS in Spatial Development at ETH Zurich show why good planning begins with people.?

In future, flexibly operated heat pumps and electric cars could reduce both electricity imports and electricity prices. That is according to a new study by a Swiss research consortium led by ETH Zurich.

The European Research Council (ERC) has agreed to fund two high-profile international projects with ETH¡¯s backing. Markus Reiher is helping to accelerate the development of chemical catalysts, while Christoph Studer is working on a new wireless communication solution.?

An alpine plant could hold the key to its survival in a steadily warming climate. ETH Zurich researchers have identified the origin of two particular ancient gene variants in the plant that control its flowering time.

For decades, the oat variety ¡®Hative des Alpes¡¯ ?had been all but forgotten. Now, its genetic information is being incorporated into the first gene atlas for oats ¨C and will one day contribute to the cultivation of new oat varieties.?

Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed artificial muscles that contain microbubbles and can be controlled with ultrasound. In the future, these muscles could be deployed in technical and medical settings as gripper arms, tissue patches, targeted drug delivery, or robots.?

Thanks to CRISPR/Cas technology, researchers can precisely edit genetic material to treat hereditary diseases. To achieve this, they need to identify undesirable cuts in the genome at an early juncture. Pioneer Fellow Lilly van de Venn is developing exactly such testing methods.

ETH spin-off Ucentrics assists inexperienced employees in safely and accurately performing complex technical tasks.?

Diabetes leads to nerve damage in half of all people affected, starting in the feet. The smart sock from ETH spin-off MYNERVA helps sufferers feel the ground again when walking and alleviates their chronic pain.

On 21?October, the University opened a new interdisciplinary centre to improve links between science, technology and policymaking. The director of the centre, Tobias Schmidt, talks about the first activities planned for the Einstein School of Public Policy.

Once a sperm has broken through to an egg cell in order to fertilise it, the two cells need to hold together tightly. This occurs via a type of protein binding that is among the strongest in biology ¨C and it is also unique.

A glass plate, a delicate tube and an oil bath are all that is required: thanks to a new method, researchers at ETH Zurich can produce tens of thousands of tiny droplets within minutes. This enables them to test enzymes and active ingredients faster, more precisely and in a more resource-efficient manner than previously.?

The surface of the lungs is covered with a fluid that increases their deformability. This fluid has the greatest effect when you take deep breaths from time to time, as researchers at ETH Zurich have discovered using sophisticated measurement techniques in the laboratory.???

The Energy Science Center at ETH Zurich is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Executive Director Christian Schaffner sits down with us to take a look back at the Center¡¯s beginnings, the key moments, and the current challenges. He also explains why the upcoming Energy Week is more than just a professional event.?

Peter Chen, Professor of Physical-Organic Chemistry, will be delivering a farewell lecture to mark his upcoming retirement. Chen is a man with a remarkable history who has played a significant role in shaping ETH Zurich for over thirty years.

Some data is so sensitive that it is processed only in specially protected cloud areas. These are designed to ensure that not even a cloud provider can access the data. ETH Zurich researchers have now found a vulnerability that could allow hackers to breach these confidential environments.??

Do cells contain a mechanism that decides on their fates? Researchers at ETH Zurich have demonstrated in a new study that large clusters of molecules determine a cell¡¯s future. ?

Following last year¡¯s rejection of the expansion programme for Switzerland¡¯s national highways, and the financial difficulties in the 2035 rail expansion service concept, Swiss transport policy is at a crossroads. On behalf of the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC), ETH Zurich has prioritised around 500 planned projects for road, rail and urban transport. Ulrich Weidmann, Professor of Transport Systems, explains the key?insights.

Ranked eleventh, ETH Zurich is once again placed among the world¡¯s best universities in this year¡¯s Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings. This means it remains the highest-ranked university outside the Anglo-Saxon sphere.

Computer scientists at ETH Zurich have developed a digital tool capable of searching through millions of published DNA records in a matter of seconds. This can significantly accelerate research into antibiotic resistance and unknown pathogens.

Thirty years ago, Swiss physicist Didier Queloz discovered the first planet outside our solar system, revolutionising astrophysics. What the discovery has brought him and why he still hasn¡¯t had enough.?

Demolition is not the only option: two ETH professors aim to give buildings and building materials a second life.

How does he manage to balance two great passions? Bachelor¡¯s degree student Milan K¨¹hn opted to study mechanical engineering, but still devotes a lot of time to music. He explains why in the video.

For the first time, a new ultrasound technique allows researchers to stimulate multiple locations in the brain simultaneously. This opens up new possibilities for treating devastating brain diseases such as Alzheimer¡¯s, Parkinson¡¯s and depression in the future.

ETH spin-off Soverli is bringing a new smartphone architecture to the market. The technology allows areas on a device to be sealed off ¨C such as for secure chats, crisis communications, or sensitive data belonging to companies and public authorities.

Construction still relies on concrete and steel ¨C at a high cost to the climate. But interest is shifting back to natural and reusable materials.?

Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed an innovative hand exoskeleton that helps persons after stroke re-learn how to grasp. Its accordion-like structure makes it light, robust and easy to integrate into everyday life.?

It is not only antibiotics but also certain viruses ¨C known as bacteriophages ¨C that can kill off pathogenic bacteria. However, Switzerland lacks the legal framework for the use of these viruses in therapy. What would need to change so that more patients can benefit from this form of treatment? Researcher Alexander Harms explains.?

Researchers at ETH Zurich have been able to measure - for the first time - how the amount of dissolved organic carbon in the sea has changed over geological time. The results reveal that our explanations of how the ice ages and complex life forms came about are incomplete.?

ETH spin-off Mondaic uses wave physics to analyse the interior of bridges, pipelines or aircraft components and check their stability. The story of how a scientific code for exploring Mars turned into a successful start-up.???

Anirudhh Ramesh began developing his own apps at the age of 14. He is currently pursuing a Master¡¯s degree in Computer Science at ETH Zurich and intentionally choosing a different path to many of his peers.

Michael Hagner was Professor of Science Studies at ETH Zurich for over 20?years. He held a mirror up to academia and advocated for its freedom. But what does he have to say about science on his retirement??

Effy Vayena will take up the post of Vice President for Knowledge Transfer and Corporate Relations on 1 January 2026. The following is a portrait to commemorate her election by the ETH Board.

At its meeting of 17 and 18 September 2025 and upon application of Jo?l Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, the ETH Board appointed eight professors. The Board also awarded the title of "Professor of Practice" once.

There is much less water on the surfaces of distant planets outside our solar system than previously thought. These exoplanets do not have thick layers of water, as was often speculated. That¡¯s the conclusion of an international study led by ETH Zurich.?

A new national initiative aims to use AI-based models to improve the diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients. In this interview, Professor of Computer Science Gunnar R?tsch explains the role ETH Zurich will play.

The Robotics and AI Institute (RAI) in Zurich Oerlikon celebrated the opening of its new centre on 15 September. Marco Hutter, ETH professor of robotic systems and director of the RAI Institute Zurich, sat down with us to talk about the new opportunities that the research centre opens up and how it came about.

ETH Zurich¡¯s Institute of Cartography and Geoinformation has just celebrated its 100th anniversary with a symposium for experts. A commemorative publication provides in-depth insights into 170 years of cartography at the university and is also aimed at laypeople interested in map art and a well-told (hi)story.?

Ece Sar studies mathematics at ETH Zurich. She puts a lot of perseverance and enthusiasm into pursuing her goal of passing on her love of mathematics and inspiring others to do the same.

ETH Professor Sonia Seneviratne is the first Swiss citizen to receive the prestigious German Environmental Award bestowed by the German Federal Environmental Foundation. The climate researcher shares the prize, endowed with a total of 500,000 euros, with a company from Gelsenkirchen.

The garden of the Kunsthaus Zurich now features an unusual sight: Zardoz, an eight-metre-high head sculpture that you can not only view but also enter and climb.

According to ETH Zurich climate researchers, greenhouse gas emissions from major fossil fuel and cement producers are significant contributors to the occurrence and intensity of heat waves. These findings have been published in a new study in the journal?Nature.

The exterior railings of the 125 year-old Schatzalp Hotel in Davos were in poor condition. Researchers at ETH Zurich teamed up with a local timber construction company and an ETH spin-off to find a replacement, using state-of-the-art technology.??

Nine researchers from ETH Zurich have just been awarded Starting Grants from the European Research Council (ERC). This is a positive signal for Zurich as a research location.

Students at ETH Zurich have developed a laser power bed fusion machine that follows a circular tool path to print round components, thereby being able to process multiple metals at once. The system significantly reduces manufacturing time and opens up new possibilities for aerospace and industry. ETH has filed a patent application for the machine.

Measurements analysed by an international research team led by ETH Zurich show that the global ocean absorbed significantly less CO? than anticipated during the unprecedented marine heatwave in 2023.

After 25 years at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Richard Kornfeld is returning to his alma mater. Starting in September, he will take over the operational management of ETH Zurich Space, bringing extensive experience of space missions to his new role.

Cancer cells provide healthy neighbouring cells with additional cell powerhouses to put them to work. This has been demonstrated by researchers at ETH Zurich in a new study. In this way, cancer is exploiting a mechanism that frequently serves to repair damaged cells.

After ten years, the Future Resilient Systems programme at the Singapore-ETH Centre (SEC) is drawing to a close. In our interview, Programme Director Jonas J?rin talks about the programme's successes and the future of resilience research.

In a groundbreaking study, researchers from the University of Bern and ETH Zurich have shown how climate change is intensifying supercell thunderstorms in Europe. At a global temperature increase of 3 degrees Celsius, these powerful storms are expected to occur more frequently, especially in the Alpine region.

For the first time, chemists at ETH Zurich have successfully used extremely short, rotating flashes of light to measure and manipulate the different movements of electrons in mirror-image molecules. They showed that chirality of molecules is not just a structural but also an electronic phenomenon.

The HIL building on the H?nggerberg campus is set to become a living lab. Now in need of renovation, the building will be remodelled and extended, with completion pencilled in for 2035.?Professorships at ETH Zurich will engage with the project directly to research techniques and designs. Their aim is to advance sustainable redevelopment and retrofitting methods.

ETH Zurich researchers have found the holy grail of brewing: the formula for stable beer foam. But it's not just breweries that will benefit from these findings.

A research team from ETH Zurich has taught the four-legged robot ANYmal to play badminton ¨C including precise arm movements, quick reflexes and nimble footwork.

Science no longer enjoys unlimited and universal trust. An array of groups are questioning scientific wisdom. What does this mean for students and researchers? Gabriel Dorthe studies how trust and mistrust emerge through mutual interaction between scientific and research-sceptical?thinking.

The lecture series on aviation began over ten years ago. Today, it is one of the largest of its kind in Europe. Lecturer and initiator Peter Wild explains how it all began and how the course paves the way for students to enter the profession.

The Greenland ice sheet is melting at an increasing rate, a process accelerated by glacier calving, in which huge chunks of ice break free and crash into the sea, generating large waves that push warmer water to the surface. A new study now shows that this mechanism is amplifying glacial melt.

Even large objects with several hundred million atoms can exhibit quantum mechanical behaviour ¨C without cooling and at room temperature, as researchers at ETH Zurich have shown. This yields exciting potential for new technologies.

How do left-handed and right-handed molecules differ? Researchers at ETH Zurich are using a new imaging method to visualise what was previously only measurable as an average, opening up new possibilities for biology and materials science.

Dust particles from deserts promote ice formation in clouds. This discovery highlights the importance of aerosols for understanding cloud behaviour, predicting precipitation, and assessing the role of clouds in climate change.

For more than 100 years, scientists have puzzled over whether the Earth¡¯s magnetic field had already been generated stably back in its early days when its inner core was fully liquid ¨C unlike it is today. A team of geophysicists has used a simulation to show that this was highly likely.

The cultivation of thick muscle fibres from bovine cells in the lab has long been a challenge for scientists. Researchers from ETH Zurich have now successfully tackled this issue ¨C with the goal of one day producing edible meat.

Nationalism is surging at an alarming rate in many parts of the world. Conflict researcher Lars-Erik Cederman explains the paradoxical impact of nationalists¡¯ repeated underestimation of the nationalism of others. This could also hold true in the attack on Iran.

The rapid rise in global rocket launches could slow the recovery of the vital ozone layer, says Sandro Vattioni. The problem is being underestimated ¨C yet it could be mitigated by forward-looking, coordinated action.

Time and again debris flows cause death and destruction. A research team has measured these flows of water, earth and debris with high precision. The study shows previously unexplained factors that determine the destructive force of debris flows ¨C which allows appropriate protective measures to be put in place.

Pioneer Fellow Edoardo Pezzulli is developing software that makes it possible to continuously monitor carbon storage in the ground and reduce its risks. Now he is striving to bring his technology to market.

ETH professor Ueli Maurer has provided cryptography with a theoretical basis. Now he is retiring. However, his most important research project is yet to come.

At its meeting of 9 and 10 July 2025 and upon application of Jo?l Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, the ETH Board appointed eight professors. The Board also awarded the title of "Professor of Practice" once.

The Vice President Knowledge Transfer and Corporate Relations, Vanessa Wood, will step down from the ETH Executive Board effective December 2025. She looks back at her leadership roles within ETH and on the successful establishment of the new Vice Presidency.

For the first time, researchers at ETH Zurich have successfully produced hundreds of different types of nerve cell from human stem cells in Petri dishes. In the future, it will thus be possible to investigate neurological disorders using cell cultures instead of animal testing.

ETH Zurich and EPFL will release a large language model (LLM) developed on public infrastructure. Trained on the ¡°Alps¡± supercomputer at the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS), the new LLM marks a milestone in open-source AI and multilingual excellence.

ETH Zurich will receive 10 million Swiss francs a year from the J?rg G. Bucherer-Foundation for the next ten years. The university will use the funds to establish a competence centre for Earth observation with global appeal and a physical presence in the Canton of Lucerne. The Canton of Lucerne is to support the project as infrastructure partner.

A new 3D simulation tool developed by ETH and SLF researchers now allows for significantly more accurate predictions of complex alpine mass movements, supporting alpine risk management.

Chronic wounds are a major medical challenge, burdening healthcare systems with billions of dollars in costs every year. Pioneer Fellow B?rte Emiroglu is developing a new product: a selective, sponge-like hydrogel that reduces inflammatory signals and actively promotes healing.

High temperatures and more frequent heatwaves are causing many people to doubt whether high-density urban planning is still sustainable. However, building physicist Jan Carmeliet argues that even dense cities can be cool if they are planned correctly.?

Giuseppe Antoniazzi is developing a diagnostic toolkit that gives early warning of fibrotic diseases. In doing so, this Pioneer Fellow wishes to contribute to the early detection of tissue scarring, which is usually noticed too late and can barely be halted, and enable countermeasures to be implemented.

Using nuclear magnetic resonance, researchers at ETH Zurich have studied the atomic environments of single platinum atoms in solid supports as well as their spatial orientation. In the future, this method can be used to optimize the production of single-atom catalysts.

Scientists are using trapped ions in experiments to search for signs of a new particle that could help explain the mysterious dark matter. Researchers at ETH Zurich are combining their results with findings from teams in Germany and Australia.

The ETH professor has received one of the most prestigious awards in space research. According to the laudation, Thomas Zurbuchen has distinguished himself by his contributions to the aerospace community.

Following the resignation of the ETH Alumni Association Board of Directors, outgoing President Jeannine Pilloud looks back on the last two years and explains where the Association stands today.