Archive internal news

The ETH Executive Board has approved the ¡°Concept for Periodic Equipment Inspection (GeP)¡±. This makes the heads of organisational units responsible for equipment testing and the safety of electrical equipment in their area.

Find out about the topics that the Executive Board of ETH Zurich dealt with at its last meetings.

Learn in this issue of Tips and Tricks what to pay attention to before, during and after an appraisal interview.

The content of the ETH main site (www.ethz.ch) has also been available in French and Italian for a few days now. The translation is completely automated.

ETH Zurich presents its treasures at Zurich¡¯s Long Night of Museums

Last Friday, the H?nggerberg campus was transformed into a fairground for ETH Zurich's staff party. Around 4300 ETH employees and their partners and children enjoyed the beautiful summer evening with great entertainment.

With ¡°AI-Upskilling¡±, ETH Zurich now offers a programme that helps employees and especially managers further understand the opportunities, practical applications and ethics relating to artificial intelligence (AI). In addition to regular lunchtime events, a self-study programme is available on Sharepoint.

Today the media reported on an ETH professor who is accused of inappropriate behaviour. The allegations are currently being clarified by an external company. ETH Zurich has been criticised in the media for its actions in this case. What does Julia Dannath, Vice President for Personnel Development and Leadership, think about this criticism?

As a public employer, ETH Zurich mainly pays its employees according to fixed-rate salaries defined by the ETH Domain salary system. Find out more about how remuneration works at the university and when you might be eligible for a salary increase.

Make your research easy to understand, present your findings in a compelling way and convey a confident image to the media: the Communication Academy course programme for the Fall 2024 Semester is now online.

ETH has spoken out in a consultation on the PAKETH reform project. The major project has gained broad approval. Concerns exist primarily regarding the duration of the exam preparation period and the amount of work required for the implementation.

How well is ETH Zurich positioned in medicine and how is it developing? What obstacles need to be overcome and what potential for cooperation and innovation could be utilised even more effectively? Questions like these will be addressed at the first Medicine @ETH Day on 4 September 2024.

Not only SBB but also ETH Zurich had to contend with IT disruptions today. The network has since been stabilised. However, certain restrictions are still possible.

National Future Day is taking place on 14 November 2024, when fifth to seventh grade pupils will have the opportunity at ETH Zurich to delve into the diverse professional world of science, technology and administration. This year, places for the centrally organised events are for the first time being drawn out of a hat.

Anyone organizing a more sustainable event at ETH will now be rewarded. From today on, internal silver and gold labels will be awarded to qualifying events. New guidelines offer clear direction for event planning and set a higher standard of sustainability for all ETH events. ?

In the run-up to the planned exhibition ¡°KEEP IT CO₂OL¡±,?focusTerra is organising a photo competition in which pictures can be submitted that show, for example, the beauty of nature, visible effects of climate change or possible climate protection measures.

¡®The keys to your future¡¯: under this motto, 51 young professionals from ETH Zurich celebrated the successful completion of their vocational training on 12 July 2024 - and thus also their entry into the professional world of the future.

Last Friday, ETH Zurich celebrated the completion of 145 doctoral theses. To give the doctoral students and their families a special experience, the Academic Services (AkD) calls on the event experts from the 2024Å·ÖÞ±­¿ª»§_Å·ÖÞ±­APPÏÂÔØ-Ͷע|¹ÙÍø Services department.

The Executive Board domain of Research has been reorganised since 1 July 2024. It is divided into an Office of Research and three departments: "Research Initiatives and Infrastructures", "Scientific Integrity and Research Ethics" and "Grants Office".

The project to establish an ETH site in Heilbronn is taking shape. A team of initially three people has been working on this project since 1 July 2024.

Whether you¡¯re out of the office for a few hours or on holiday for a while, the 2024Å·ÖÞ±­¿ª»§_Å·ÖÞ±­APPÏÂÔØ-Ͷע|¹ÙÍø Info team will man your phone and see those calls don¡¯t go unanswered!

ETH Zurich has revised its regulations regarding procedures for inappropriate behaviour and conflicts in the workplace. The new Clarification Office, established on 1 July 2024, complements existing support services for employees. Nadia D?rflinger-Khashman was interviewed about ETH¡¯s contact and advice services and explained what has changed.

The HIF building on the H?nggerberg campus has been renovated and extended for the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering (D-BAUG). The department's research now benefits from an enlarged building hall and new laboratories, among other things. The new building was officially opened in mid-June.

ETH encourages students and lecturers to engage with GenAI and appeals for responsibility, transparency and fairness.

Starting today, a new appraisal interview format called "Dialog" will be rolled out at ETH Zurich. Dialog provides a platform for supervisors and employees to discuss tasks, objectives, collaboration and personal development at least once per year. The new format focuses on mutual feedback, sharing expectations, and appreciation.

For the 2025-2028 term of office, the University Assembly is looking for candidates who are willing to represent employees on the pension fund's equal representation body. This is an interesting role for anyone who wants to contribute to the common good and is interested in pension schemes, HR policy and financial markets.

From 1 July 2024, the Grants Office will bundle all services relating to internal research funding and the acquisition of third-party funding from public funding bodies in Switzerland and abroad. ?

Building automation has become an independent section of VPIN's Engineering and Systems department at the beginning of 2024. This change reflects the growing importance of this area in the context of digitalisation and provides a solid foundation for future developments.

How can I make my lessons and learning materials accessible? What challenges do neurodivergent students face? Various videos answer questions about accessibility in a creative way. A new video from the ETH Library is also available in sign language for the first time.

Applications are open (until 15 July 2024) for IARU Early-Career Collaboration Grants for a short-term research stay at one of ETH Z¨¹rich's ten IARU partner universities.

Just a few minutes' walk from the ETH Zentrum campus, the Oberstrass-M??rt attracts young and old alike. The 2024Å·ÖÞ±­¿ª»§_Å·ÖÞ±­APPÏÂÔØ-Ͷע|¹ÙÍø Community Relations stand with vegan oysters from the ETH spin-off Tastelab and Globi's forest laboratory were right in the middle of it all. Shortly beforehand, the Fluntern neighbourhood association visited the new Gloria Cube (GLC building).

The revision of the regulations on inappropriate behaviour, the staff units in VPWW and ETH joining an association that deals with sustainable food systems: These were some of the topics discussed at the last Executive Board meetings.

Crawling, climbing, flying, swimming or hopping in space ¨C the Center for Robotics at ETH Zurich shows what robots are capable of today in the historic machine hall.

Invite a US Expert for 2 to 6 weeks to your group for lecturing, curriculum development and so much more. Submit your proposals by 30 September 2024 to benefit from full funding by the Fulbright program. ?

What does lifelong learning mean and what does it bring us to go through (working) life with curiosity? With the learning event in November, we invite all ETH employees to exchange ideas. Be inspired by experts from neuroscience, time research, leadership culture and other exciting topics.

The first phase of public tenders for the takeover of the standard range and examination printing was successful. The project team was able to define a shortlist of printing companies that can now submit a concrete offer by July. The plot on demand (PLOD) service will be handed over to an external operator in December.

In light of the crisis in the Middle East, ETH President Jo?l Mesot underlines in an interview the importance of fact-based and respectful dialogue within the university and announces a discussion event this Friday for ETH members.

The ETH animal welfare and 3R specialists organised a booth on the H?nggerberg campus to provide information about animal experiments at ETH Zurich. As part of the dialogue, ETH members are invited to a guided tour of an ETH laboratory animal facility for the first time.

The majority of ETH Zurich buildings are not yet barrier-free. In addition to a lack of automatic entrance doors or insufficient wheelchair-accessible toilet facilities, many buildings are not yet equipped with the new barrier-free signage. Two projects have started work and aim to make ETH barrier-free over the next twenty years.

Claudia Zingerli, Head of ETH Sustainability, takes inventory after two years in office: as a change agent, she wants to ensure that resource-conscious behaviour becomes an even more powerful principle at ETH Zurich. ?

Reproducible research is a key standard in science. At the inaugural Swiss Reproducibility Conference, researchers will discuss the best ways to meet this requirement ¨C including how to cope with growing data volumes and pressure to publish.

The research contract group in the Knowledge Transfer and Corporate Relations department has reorganised itself and geared its services even more closely to the needs of researchers.

Greater storage volume and enhanced security ¨C but restraint when sending and receiving private messages: what switching email services to Exchange Online means for our day-to-day work.

In the presence of the artist Maya Rochat, her multi-part series ¡®Language of Color¡¯ was inaugurated as art in architecture in the machine laboratory and district heating power plant (ML/FHK) of ETH Zurich. The installation was created by the artist especially for ETH Zurich.

In April 2024, the focusTerra exhibition platform celebrated its 15th anniversary. International Museum Day, which will take place at focusTerra on Sunday, 26 May 2024, will be dedicated to this anniversary.

The Engineering & Systems department organized the second edition of the "2024Å·ÖÞ±­¿ª»§_Å·ÖÞ±­APPÏÂÔØ-Ͷע|¹ÙÍø of the Future" conference at the beginning of April. Around 60 experts from various departments and domains as well as ETH stakeholders came together to discuss the future campus infrastructure. A review.

How accessible is ETH Zurich? On the occasion of the ¡°Rights of Persons with Disabilities Action Days¡± taking place throughout Switzerland from mid-May to mid-June, Ulrich Weidmann, Vice President for Infrastructure, takes stock of the ¡°Barrier-free at ETH Zurich¡± programme and explains what still needs to be done.

Would you like to get to know the latest results and laboratories of ETH research into health and medicine? On 6 June 2024, ETH members are invited to visit the new GLC building. The programme offers LabTours, architectural tours and scientainment for adults and families.

When publishing scientific papers, different conditions and requirements must be observed. One of these is the indication of your institutional affiliation, which is based on the standardised ETH address format.

Yesterday, ETH Zurich had a pro-Palestinian demonstration in the main building broken up by police. Ulrich Weidmann, Vice President for Infrastructure and ETH Zurich's chief security officer, explains what led to this decision.

On May 15, ETH Zurich will honor particularly innovative teaching projects with the KITE Award for the fifth time. In a short series, we present the three projects that made it to the final.

On May 15, ETH Zurich will honor particularly innovative teaching projects with the KITE Award for the fith time. In a short series, we present the three projects that made it to the final.

Chatbots are already serving as digital mentors in lectures. Gerd Kortemeyer, a specialist in AI in teaching, explains what they can do ¨C and soon will be able to.

On May 15, ETH Zurich will honor particularly innovative teaching projects with the KITE Award for the fifth time. In a short series, we present the three projects that made it to the final.

The City of Zurich intends to take over ETH¡¯s district heating system in the Zentrum area. With the sale, ETH is strengthening its focus and is drawing a line under a situation that has developed over time.

Remote working, lifelong learning and digital transformation: for some ETH employees, this is already a reality. Others have had little contact with these developments to date. Thanks to a new position paper and a range of support offers, all ETH employees should now be able to engage more closely with the future of work.

Anyone wishing to procure an IT product such as software or a cloud service at ETH Zurich has to meet a number of requirements. A new course programme provides support.

The ETH Foundation celebrated its twentieth anniversary last year. But why does the Foundation exist and how does it work?

ETH Zurich has published its annual report 2023 today. It provides an update on the university¡¯s financial situation and describes how the 2025-2028 ERI Dispatch is forcing it to consider drastic measures. Stefan Spiegel, Vice President for Finance and Controlling, and ETH President Jo?l Mesot explain what this means for the ETH community.

The new equipment brings the H?nggerberg campus one step closer to efficient and environmentally friendly heating and cooling and helps to further reduce CO₂ emissions and the consumption of fossil fuels.

The concept for the major teaching reform has been drawn up. The consultation period will run until 14 June.

Many people at ETH Zurich are faced with the challenge of combining their professional activities with caring for family members. A new, comprehensive website and events are designed to support ETH members in this endeavour.

For over 150 years, ETH Zurich has not only been teaching technical and scientific knowledge, but also art: with the Collection of Prints and Drawings, the university has an internationally renowned institution for art on paper. But how did this come about in the first place - and what significance does this art form still have today in the age of digitalization and AI?

The official ETH app has been given a new design. In addition to the fresh look, it presents itself with an up-to-date user experience and some technical innovations.

Work on the new computing centre on the H?nggerberg (HRZ) is progressing. The foundation stone was laid last Friday, marking the start of construction. ETH Zurich is thus taking a further step towards a modern and energy-efficient IT infrastructure.

At its last meeting, the Executive Board of ETH Zurich elected members for the new Integrity Commission and confirmed new members for the Teaching Commission and the ombuds office.

What does the future of continuing education look like? The continuing education forum 2024 on April 23 will focus on perspectives and outlooks.

The new Hub is a point of contact for researchers with questions about the 3Rs ¨C the three foundational principles of animal experimentation to which the ETH is committed: Replace, Reduce and Refine. The 3R Hub raises awareness among researchers and the public about compassionate animal research.

To promote the development and implementation of new methods for refining, reducing or even replacing animal experiments (known as the 3Rs), ETH Zurich¡¯s Vice President for Research launched the 3R Hub. He has also expanded the university¡¯s Animal Welfare and 3R office. In this way, ETH is affirming its position that animal experiments are necessary in many areas of basic research.

Cycling is good both for you and the environment. And it will particularly pay off in May and June when ¡°Bike to Work¡± will also be offering attractive prizes for all frequent cyclists to win.

How are our scientific staff doing? To be able to answer this question better, ETH Zurich has conducted surveys among its doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers and established researchers in the last three years. The results of the 2023 surveys are now available and are pleasing.

At the end of 2023, the Executive Board decided to incorporate and further develop the role of Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) within IT Services in a new section. The position has therefore been filled anew. The new CISO Johannes Hadodo has been heading the section since 1 April 2024.

Four projects in the ¡°Barrier-Free at ETH Zurich¡± program were successfully completed at the end of 2023. The quarterly reporting provides a comprehensive overview of all ongoing activities and results achieved in the 14 sub-projects. All projects have the common goal of making ETH Zurich's infrastructure accessible in accordance with the "Design for all" principle.

What will it feel like to research, teach, study and work at a climate-neutral ETH Zurich? With the launch of the "ETH net zero" programme, all ETH members are on a major expedition together towards an ambitious goal. The message: "All for zero 2030".

In 2024, ETH Zurich will be implementing a new appraisal interview format called ¡°Dialog¡± for all employees. The idea is to foster ongoing discussion and mutual feedback exchange between employees and supervisors. The format was tested and evaluated as part of a pilot project in autumn 2023.

Research and innovation are needed to solve the planet¡¯s most pressing challenges, which disproportionately affect those living in low-income countries. ETH4D¡¯s Research Challenges and Pilot Grants fund ETH researchers to develop solutions for those living on $10 a day or less. Apply by 21 April.

At present, specialist knowledge within IT Services is spread across many specialist areas. With the first newly introduced Product Centers, we have therefore defined how we want to work together more efficiently in the future. The biggest change? Our collaboration model in the Product Centers is organized directly around customers and products. This allows us to work together efficiently, independently and in a self-organized manner to optimally implement our heterogeneous customer needs.

Since the beginning of March, members of ETH Zurich have been able to take advantage of the Respect programme to deepen their skills in respectful collaboration. The first live event is dedicated to the topic of emotion regulation. Nadia D?rflinger-Khashman, Head of Diversity and Cooperation, explains how we all benefit from the input lecture.

The call 2025¨C2026 of the "Germaine de Sta?l" programme for bilateral research cooperation between Switzerland and France has been launched. The application deadline has been extended until 30 May 2024.

New guidelines for policy engagement and science-based policy advice have been in force at ETH Zurich since February. They offer guidance for ETH members wishing to participate in the dialogue between science and policy. Benedikt Kn¨¹sel, Head of the Science-Policy Interface unit, explains the key issues in this obvious field of tension.

The Executive Board issued the 2024 regulations for the new Master's degree programme in Space Systems and the continuing education programme Master of Advanced Studies ETH in AI and Digital Technology (MAS ETH AID). It also simplified the financial planning of the Central Administrative Units. In addition, new guidelines for engagement at the science-policy interface and for the provision of political advice have been in effect at ETH Zurich since 1 February.

¡°Respect ¨C Reflect ¨C Respond¡±: Starting today, you¡¯ll come across this slogan at various places at ETH Zurich. It¡¯s part of the new Respect programme aimed at all members of the university community. These three words summarise how we should treat each other at ETH: on equal terms, willing to reflect on our own thoughts and actions, and responding appropriately in a variety of contexts.

As part of the Disability Rights Action Days, ETH Zurich is presenting the "Design for all" campaign and organizing various events: learn sign language in the "Caf¨¦ des Signes", change your perspective in the newly designed awareness workshop or explore the ETH buildings with the new accessible navigation app "PolyMaps".

The Informatiktage 2024 will take place from 18 to 23 March 2024. The Department of Computer Science and the IT Services of ETH Zurich invite you to a carefully curated programme. It offers something for everyone - from curious beginners to experienced experts. ?

Budgeting and financial planning at ETH Zurich is to be simplified. The Executive Board has approved a proposal by the Vice President for Finance and Controlling to optimise financial planning processes.

People from more than 120 nations work at ETH Zurich. They all shape the culture and success of our university. For the next "life" magazine, we would like to focus on their cultural backgrounds - and are looking for employees who did not grow up in Europe.

The objective of the call for tenders is to find printers who can continue the ETH's printing services externally from 2025. The call for tenders is expected to start in the coming months. The search for solutions is ongoing for employees of the Print Group who have not yet found a new position internally.

Decide which internal ETH topics you would like to be regularly informed about in the future: Thanks to the new, personalisable Internal news newsletter, you can select specific topics that you want to be kept up to date on.

The Institute of Molecular Plant Biology is getting a new laboratory on the H?nggerberg. Construction work began this week and should be completed in June 2025

Not only is inflation having an impact on our heating bills, grocery shopping and the price of eating out ¨C it is also driving up the costs faced by our community catering services. The ETH Executive Board has had no other choice but to agree to price increases across its catering operations.

Movetia, the Swiss national agency for exchange and mobility, has launched a call for its "International Programme". The programme supports cooperation in education with partner institutions worldwide.

The new rules of procedure to address scientific misconduct enter into effect on 1 June 2024 at ETH Zurich. What has changed and why a revision was necessary.

The Executive Board of ETH Zurich has issued new rules of procedure for scientific misconduct, completed the rETHink project, renamed the joint initiative with UBS to promote young STEM talent "UP4mint" and approved the implementation of a Swiss Chip Initiative.

Over the last months, laboratories at ETH had the opportunity to participate in the GreenLabs pilot and drive sustainability efforts in their lab practices. End of January 2024, the first certification ceremony of the pilot took place, awarding 19 labs for their progress. ETH GreenLabs will be further rolled out with the goal to review all labs at ETH.

Do you regularly meet up with other ETH members to yodel? Do you play exotic sports such as unicycle hockey or canoe polo with colleagues? Or do you compete with each other as gourmet chefs?

Invite a US Expert for 2 to 6 weeks to your group for lecturing, curriculum development and so much more. Submit your proposals by 28 February 2024 to benefit from full funding by the Fulbright program. ?

At the start of the year, Gisbert Schneider handed over management of the Singapore-ETH Centre (SEC) to Manu Kapur. The outgoing SEC Director looks back in an interview at his three years in office and explains why he is keeping one foot in Singapore.

Hannes Pichler has been Director of the Real Estate Management Department at ETH Zurich since 2023. This means that he is responsible for the timely provision of rooms and buildings at ETH. In this interview, he explains what the savings requirements in his department mean for teaching and research and how he came to ETH.

In mid-December, climate researchers from ETH gathered in the CHN building for the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union. Although the event took place in the United States, there was no shortage of stimulating conversations and debates, nor informal exchanges over coffee.

A broad survey of students at ETH Zurich shows: Language models are still rarely used in the classroom, but they are used frequently and creatively as learning aids.