Robots move into ML Hall
The renovated hall in the ML building is an architectural gem. Since July 2025, it has been home to the robotic excellence of the Center for Robotics at ETH Zurich. It also provides space for better training and collaboration among researchers. The inauguration took place on 12 November 2025.
Robotics is booming, and in recent years ETH has established itself as a world-leading center for research and education in this field. The move of the Center for Robotics into the ML Hall opens up new opportunities for researchers and students in their work and projects.
On Wednesday, the hall was handed over by Ulrich Weidmann, Vice President for Infrastructure and Sustainability, to Dennis Kochmann, Head of the Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering (D-MAVT).
Kochmann emphasises: ‘The ML Hall offers robotics a versatile new home. With currently eight professorships and the largest specialised Master's programme at ETH – Robotics, Systems and Control – robotics has grown to become an essential part of D-MAVT and also offers many opportunities for cooperation with other departments and industry.’
Inauguration on 12 November 2025
Joint research platform
Until now, the professors have conducted their research at various locations and departments within ETH Zurich. What was missing was a shared, central research platform. ‘The ML Hall perfectly meets these requirements and creates synergies,’ says Anastasia Paschou, project manager at ETH Zurich's Real Estate Management.
Following the renovation of the hall, the expansion for the Center for Robotics took place from 2024 to mid-2025. What was special about this was that most of the space remained free. Only meeting rooms and seating areas for discussions, which are always needed regardless of the temporary projects, were permanently installed. This allows several student teams or research groups to work in the hall at the same time. Space is allocated flexibly and for a limited period of time.
“The hall will remain flexible in its use in the future thanks to the open spaces, even if research needs change.”Hannes Pichler, Director of Real Estate Management, ETH Zurich (Photo: ETH Zurich)
ETH Zurich is generally pursuing such approaches. This would allow resources to be used more effectively without compromising research and teaching, Pichler emphasises.
From steam engines to robots
In the past, large machines for teaching and research were located in the ML Hall, hence the name machine laboratory, or ML for short. Steam engines, for example, were researched here.
“We couldn't have wished for a more fitting use for this location. It allows ETH to continue its research history in the building in a contemporary way.”Anastasia Paschou, project manager at Real Estate Management (Photo: ETH Zurich / Yves Bachmann)
‘The original idea for the robotics hall came from the portfolio management team in the real estate department,’ explains portfolio manager Christian Feghali. ‘The concept was quite clear to us from the outset because we had to completely rethink the hall.’ Or, as Feghali puts it, ‘reinventing research.’
He says that one of the typical tasks of portfolio management is to come up with ideas like this, develop them further and convince others of their merits. This required a great deal of clarification and consultation with various departments.
Original idea ten years old
The outcome was that the hall had to be cleared and renovated in line with conservation guidelines. ‘This raised the question of what subsequent use would be suitable for the hall,’ says Feghali. The idea and concept were already proposed to the D-MAVT in 2017/18 as part of a spatial strategy. The hall was described as an ideal location for robotics. The aim was to repurpose the hall for emission-free research – clean technology. And: to give the public occasional insights into the research.
In order to be able to use the hall as flexibly as possible and for reasons of space, there are no workshops, 3D printers or laser cutters in the hall. Instead, these are shared with other units.
Past and present: ML Hall and SPH
From 1897 to 1900, the most modern machine laboratory (ML) in Europe was built at the Swiss Federal Polytechnic, the predecessor of ETH Zurich. Original machines enabled realistic teaching and experiments.
The former ETH+ initiative RobotX, which has been incorporated into the Center for Robotics, aims to position the university and Switzerland as a world leader in robotics research. The Center seeks to train and promote new talent and attract international experts.
The Center has established programmes for training, research and collaboration with industry. More than 200 students are trained each year in this promising field in the Master's programme in Robotics, Systems and Control. A total of eight departments participate in the Center for Robotics.
Guided tours and mini-exhibitions
The hall is not open to the public, but those interested in architecture can apply for a tour (approval via Servix tool). However, interested parties can get an impression of the hall and the research being carried out there from the neighbouring turbine hall or through the large windows in the corridors of the ML1 building section.
The Center for Robotics offers tours for groups or school classes, with a particular focus on robotics. Those interested in tours are welcome to the Center. The Center's annual RobotX Innovation Day also brings research, industry, politics and the public closer together.
Research on display
Anyone interested in the changes in research and teaching in the hall should head to the entrance area. Here you can see photos of early researchers working on huge machines. Hanging high above are aircraft models that were once used in the in-house wind tunnel and now belong to the ETH Library's collection of scientific instruments and teaching aids. A video shows research today.
On the so-called command bridge, there are photo projections and old robots on display. The concept for the mini-exhibitions was developed by the Real Estate Department in collaboration with the Center for Robotics and the ETH Library.
Addition to the Dübendorf Innovation Park
The ML Hall is used for research and teaching in the field of robotics. Its proximity to teaching and learning facilities is important, as is the fact that students can easily integrate their practical projects into their timetables.
The Center for Robotics in the ML Hall thus complements the uses of Halls 2 and 3 of the ETH in the external page Dübendorf Innovation Park (IPZ), where large-scale test areas are available for outdoor activities and projects with space-intensive testing requirements in the fields of mobility, robotics and aerospace.
ETH Zurich at the Dübendorf Innovation Park
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