ETH News

As part of the SpaceHopper project, ETH Zurich students are developing a robot that can navigate very low gravity environments using a jumping-like mode of locomotion.

The quadrupedal robot ANYmal went back to school and has learned a lot. ETH Zurich researchers used machine learning to teach it new skills: the robot can now climb over obstacles and successfully negotiate pitfalls.

The new ETH Policy Fellowship aims to foster greater understanding between government and the academic world. Regina Witter from the Federal Office for Spatial Development was among the first cohort to take part.

At its meeting of 6 and 7 March 2024 and upon application of Joël Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, the ETH Board appointed nine professors. The Board also awarded the title of "Professor" three times and the title of "Professor of Practice" once.

Students at ETH Zurich are working together with engineers from the technology firm Bühler to accelerate innovation and minimise the attendant risks. It's a fruitful collaboration that other companies are also poised to benefit from.

The cost of removing large quantities of CO₂ from the air will fall in the medium term, but not as much as previously hoped. This is the conclusion reached by ETH researchers on the basis of new calculations. Efforts to reduce carbon emissions should therefore continue at pace, says the research team.

Roughly one in two wearers of ventricular assist devices are diagnosed with an infection. The reason for this is the thick cable for the power supply. ETH Zurich researchers have now developed a solution to mitigate this problem.

Wherever hot water flows, limescale is never far away. In households, this is a nuisance; in thermal power stations, it’s an expensive problem. Now researchers at ETH Zurich have found an answer.

A new Master’s degree programme in Space Systems will be launched at ETH Zurich in autumn 2024. Interested parties can start applying in April.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have recently developed artificial muscles for robot motion. Their solution offers several advantages over previous technologies: it can be used wherever robots need to be soft rather than rigid or where they need more sensitivity when interacting with their environment.

Researchers at ETH Zurich are developing a new method to remove CO₂ from the atmosphere. It involves molecules that become acidic when exposed to light. Their new process requires much less energy than conventional technologies.

Climate neutrality and nuclear phase-out: Switzerland's ambitious green electricity targets are realistic if the electricity supply is profoundly and rapidly transformed, as a study by the SWEET EDGE consortium shows. The researchers developed three strategies for expanding renewable energies.

Working in a greenhouse is both strenuous and time-consuming. The picking robot from ETH spin-off Floating Robotics takes on particularly repetitive tasks, thereby alleviating the strain on human pickers. It is currently undergoing testing at Beerstecher AG in Hinwil.

Researchers have trained an artificial intelligence to design the structure of so-called metamaterials with desired mechanical properties for a wide range of applications.

At its meeting of 6 and 7 December 2023 and upon application of Joël Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, the ETH Board appointed twelve professors and awarded the title "Professor of Practice" once.  

ETH Zurich researchers have shown for the first time that microvehicles can be steered through blood vessels in the brains of mice using ultrasound. They hope that this will eventually lead to treatments capable of delivering drugs with pinpoint precision.

Capturing carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere and storing it either in recycled concrete aggregate or in geological reservoirs in Iceland is not only technically feasible, but also has a positive carbon footprint. These are the findings of a pilot project lead by ETH Zurich and commissioned by the Swiss confederation.

For her doctoral project at ETH Zurich, Sabrina Badir developed a device that determines the risk of premature birth. Today she is the CEO of spin-off Pregnolia, and her certified measuring device is being used in more than 20 clinics and medical practices.

Marianne Schmid Daners was already fascinated by the human-technology interface when she worked as a registered nurse. Since graduating with a degree in mechanical engineering and a doctorate in biomedical engineering, she has been developing biomedical devices for the treatment of heart failure and hydrocephalus.

Modelled on nature: researchers have developed a new material that replicates the structure responsible for the blue feathers of the North American song bird, among many other birds. It also has other striking advantages.

ETH student Luca Hasler has developed a new set of handlebars for parathlete Flurina Rigling. After clinching two world championship titles, she now aims to qualify for the 2024 Paralympics in Paris.

ETH Zurich researchers taught an autonomous excavator to construct dry stone walls itself using boulders weighing several tonnes and demolition debris.

ETH is offering a new continuing education programme in the serviceability and repairability of buildings and products. The CAS is backed by an architect, a product developer and a production technologist.

Of the 13 scientists receiving an SNSF Starting Grant for projects at ETH Zurich this year, 11 are women.

The ETH Zurich Latsis Prize goes to Professor Inge Herrmann, and the Lopez-Loreta Prize to researcher Alexandre Anthis. The two scientists have been working together for five years to develop new materials and applications for medicine.

For the first time, researchers have succeeded in printing a robotic hand with bones, ligaments and tendons made of different polymers using a new laser scanning technique.

Dimos Poulikakos is retiring in January 2024. The ETH Professor of Thermodynamics has developed many practical applications. His lectures on the fundamentals of thermodynamics have delighted more than 8,000 students; now he passes on a piece of advice for aspiring researchers.

ERC Synergy Grants have been awarded to Barbara Treutlein from the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering and Nicolas Noiray from the Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, together with their European partners.

Using a new 3D printing technique, researchers at ETH Zurich have developed special ceramic structures for a solar reactor. Initial experimental testing show that these structures can boost the production yield of solar fuels.

For the first time, a team of students from ETH Zurich is taking part in the renowned World Solar Challenge. Will they be able to keep up with the world’s best?

Through a new bilateral carbon trading pact, Switzerland is poised to fund thousands of household biogas reactors in Malawi. Marc Kalina has worked with biogas projects across Southern Africa and explains why they often fail to make their promised impact.

Gravity keeps our feet firmly on the ground and Earth in its orbit around the Sun. Meanwhile, satellites in space measure the acceleration caused by the Earth’s gravitational pull.

The start-up Treeless Pack produces cellulose with microorganisms - entirely without wood. The cellulose can be used to produce paper, packaging material or composites for the construction industry in a resource-saving way.

ETH spin-off Gaia Tech transforms waste from olive oil production into high-quality antioxidants for use in cosmetics or food. This turns waste into valuable raw materials.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have demonstrated the use of a specially coated metal mesh to harvest water from fog and simultaneously remove pollutants. People living in dry but foggy areas should benefit from this technology.

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

Swiss engineers are training legged robots for future lunar missions that will search for minerals and raw materials. To ensure that the robots can continue to work even if one of them malfunctions, the researchers are teaching them teamwork.

Sewer systems and centralised treatment plants are not a sustainable solution for managing the world’s wastewater. Environmental engineers at ETH Zurich and Eawag have been helping to develop decentralised, closed-loop modular systems.

Innovative production technologies are crucial to the chemical industry’s net-zero endeavour – but they’re not always enough, says Paolo Gabrielli.

Researchers at ETH Zurich and Empa have developed a patch with a sensor function. It can be used to seal wounds in the abdomen after surgery. The polymer patch warns before the occurrence of dangerous leaks on sutures in the gastrointestinal tract.

The Collegium Helveticum opens an exhibition this weekend that is all about data, patterns and artificial intelligence.

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

The start-up Unbound Potential has developed a new battery technology for long-duration energy storage – and received a grant of one million euros for it.

From tackling micropollutants in wastewater to removing plastic waste from rivers, here are five solutions based on ETH expertise.

Divers are often put at considerable risk when searching for people or objects underwater. The ETH spin-off Tethys has developed an underwater robot that can be used in situations that are too dangerous for human divers.

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.

Bachelor’s students at ETH Zurich were given a year to turn their original ideas into finished products. ETH News presents videos of two of these projects.

Yesterday, Swiss President Alain Berset toured the Carbfix plant in Iceland and visited the facilities where the pilot project "DemoUpCARMA" is implemented. The project aims at injecting and storing CO₂ in the Icelandic underground. Marco Mazzotti, project coordinator and ETH Zurich professor, explains why Swiss CO₂ is being shipped all the way to Iceland.

If European countries collaborate, they can avoid severe energy scarcity due to a gas shortage. This is the finding of a new study by ETH Zurich researchers.

It is not easy to make batteries cheap, efficient, durable, safe and environmentally friendly at the same time. Researchers at ETH Zurich have now succeeded in uniting all of these characteristics in zinc metal batteries.

For minimally invasive surgery, the instruments used must be small. ETH Zurich researchers have now developed a method to transport large devices through a narrow catheter. This expands the possibilities for designing minimally invasive surgical tools.

Robots that can perform guarding tasks and overcome obstacles have already been seen in films such as the Pixar animation "Wall-E ". This film is set 800 years in the future. But similar robots are now becoming reality.

More effective, reusable and self-repairing: a new kind of corrosion protection developed by the ETH researchers Marco D'Elia, Walter Caseri und Markus Niederberger has been honoured with ETH Zurich’s Spark Award 2023. The innovation offers excellent market potential and could significantly slow down the deterioration of buildings and vehicles.

Researchers at ETH Zurich achieved a shape memory effect for the first time with objects that are only a few nanometers in size. This can be used to manufacture tiny machinery and robotic devices on the nanoscale.

A new study shows what it will take for the plastics industry to become completely sustainable: lots of recycling combined with the use of CO₂ from the air and biomass. It is also the image of plastics that need to change.

Robotics specialists from a group led by ETH professor Raffaello D’Andrea have created a new, cube-shaped robot that can balance on its pivot and compensate for external disturbances. What makes the One-Wheel Cubli unique? Unlike its predecessors, it only requires a single reaction wheel.

Until now, microscopic robotic systems have had to make do without arms. Now researchers at ETH Zurich have developed an ultrasonically actuated glass needle that can be attached to a robotic arm. This lets them pump and mix minuscule amounts of liquid and trap particles.

A grand total of 26 spin-offs were founded at ETH Zurich in 2022. Their businesses range from new cancer drugs and sustainable water bottles to digital mapping of urban traffic flows. The ETH spin-off family also welcomed three new unicorns and raised 1.2 billion Swiss francs in fresh capital.

Researchers at ETH Zurich and the Carnegie Institution for Science have shown how nitrogen fertiliser could be produced more sustainably. This is necessary not only to protect the climate, but also to reduce dependence on imported natural gas and to increase food security.

Elvis Nava teaches robots to carry out oral and written commands. To this end, he sends them to “training camps” where they learn to combine image, text and motion data.

We posed this question to ETH Zurich researchers. In return, we got five intriguing answers from the perspectives of biomedicine, computer science, biology, robotics and philosophy.

ETH Zurich and armasuisse Science and Technology are launching a joint security robotics programme. Over the course of five years, armasuisse will be investing 2.5 million Swiss francs in selected research projects.

Researchers from ETH Zurich have developed a new transparent gold nanocoating that harnesses sunlight to heat the lenses of glasses, thereby preventing them from fogging in humid conditions. This coating could potentially also be applied to car windshields.

As part of a two-day state visit to Switzerland, the Italian President stopped off at ETH Zurich on Wednesday (30 November) in the company of President of the Swiss Confederation Ignazio Cassis. After a welcome by ETH President Joël Mesot and some words of greeting from the two guests, researchers and students of the university provided an insight into their work.

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.

ETH Zurich researchers have developed a structure that can switch between stable shapes as needed while being remarkably simple to produce. The key lies in a clever combination of base materials.

How much electricity is generated from hydropower? How many batteries are recycled? And what has been the increase in electric car registrations? Put your knowledge to the test by taking our energy quiz* about facts and figures from Switzerland.

The four-seater electric aircraft “e-Sling”, which was developed by ETH students, has taken flight for the first time. The student project has taken two years and a lot of dedication.

At its meeting of 21 and 22 September 2022 and upon application of Joël Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, the ETH Board appointed four professors and awarded the title of “Professor of Practice” once.

We all understand the importance of energy security. To maintain it, we need to chart the right course. But how can we know what that is?

Studying at ETH Zurich is challenging, and all students have their own personal hurdles to overcome. This short video series gives a somewhat different insight into everyday life as a student. It provides an account of students, their setbacks and how they dealt with them.

Much controversy surrounds the Neugasse project in the city Zurich. Spatial development scientist Sibylle Wälty shows how this area could contribute to alleviating the housing shortage: by building more densely than currently planned.

Canadian researchers have discovered that they can stick hydrogel plasters to the skin very effectively using ultrasound. ETH Zurich professor Outi Supponen has now explained the underlying mechanism: imploding bubbles that form within the adhesive located between the plaster and the skin anchor the one on the other.

ETH Pioneer Fellow Alexandre Anthis has developed a patch that seals surgical sutures on the intestines or the stomach. The material designed can also detect any leakage at an early stage – thus preventing serious complications.

Most vaccines require constant refrigeration during shipment to remain effective. An international research team led by ETH Zurich has now developed a special hydrogel that vastly improves the shelf life of vaccines, even without refrigeration. The development could save many lives and lower the cost of cold chains.

ETH spin-off Nanoflex has developed a magnetically steerable catheter for quick and safe stroke treatment that no longer requires surgeons to be on site.

Does nuclear power have a future? Are electric cars dirty? In a four-part series, the ETH Podcast takes a detailed look at popular theories about the future of energy.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have redetermined the gravitational constant G using a new measurement technique. Although there is still a large degree of uncertainty regarding this value, the new method offers great potential for testing one of the most fundamental laws of nature.

Eight ETH students are working on battery and hydrogen versions of an electric aircraft as part of the e-Sling focus project. For the past year, their lives have revolved around Hangar 3 at the Innovation Park Zurich in Dübendorf.

ETH alumnus Christoph Rennhard runs a company that develops precision machines for the global market. The keys to his success are technical expertise, customer orientation and talented staff – plus the ability of his SME to respond faster than big corporations.

In this year’s innovation projects, ETH students had to develop an engineering kit that can be used to spark adolescents' interest in engineering.

The multidisciplinary Zurich research team Liver4Life has succeeded in doing something during a treatment attempt that had never been achieved in the history of medicine until now: it treated an originally damaged human liver in a machine for three days outside of a body and then implanted the recovered organ into a cancer patient. One year later, the patient is doing well.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have succeeded for the first time in trapping excitons - quasiparticles consisting of negatively charged electrons and positively charged holes – in a semiconductor material using controllable electric fields. The new technique is important for creating single photon sources as well as for basic research.  

The VIEshunt student team aims to benefit patients by developing an intelligent shunt able to regulate the intracranial pressure.

ETH News has been videoing three student teams working on focus projects. One of these is the Sowa team.

The robotic explorer GLIMPSE, created at ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich, has made it into the final round of a competition for prospecting resources in space. The long-term goal is for the robot to explore the south polar region of the moon.

Focus projects allow mechanical and electrical engineering students to put what they have learned into practice. ETH News accompanied three student teams with a video camera – one of which was the “Raptor” team.

For his doctorate, Johannes Weichart is developing an artificial skin that could give robots a sense of touch similar to humans. This would make them much more adept at handling objects.

ETH spin-off Climeworks is specialised in technology that filters CO₂ directly from the air. The company secured CHF 600 million in investment in its latest equity round, allowing it to invest in new large-​scale air capture facilities.

Four researchers from ETH Zurich have been awarded a Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). Since Switzerland is no longer fully associated, they will receive the approximately eight million francs in research funding from the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).

At its meeting of 9 and 10 March 2022 and upon application of Joël Mesot, President of ETH Zurich, the ETH Board appointed ten professors and awarded the title of professor twice.  

No sooner had David Shapira and Kordian Caplazi finished their studies than they set about creating a start-up. Rimon develops virtual user manuals for industrial companies, enabling users to quickly and intuitively learn how to operate complex machines with the aid of AR glasses.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a new algorithm that allows them to model the dynamics of physical systems from observations. In the future it could be applied to the onset of turbulence and tipping points in climate.

Whether on top of a cappuccino or in the wake of waterfalls, foam is omnipresent. Until now, simulating foams realistically with a supercomputer has been almost impossible, but a method further developed by the research group of ETH and Harvard professor Petros Koumoutsakos has overcome the hurdles.

ETH Zurich researchers led by Marco Hutter have developed a new control approach that enables a legged robot, called ANYmal, to move quickly and robustly over difficult terrain. Thanks to machine learning, the robot can combine its visual perception of the environment with its sense of touch for the first time.

Since 17 January, ETH lecturers have been working alongside colleagues at Ashesi University in Ghana. On Monday, the new joint Master’s in Mechatronic Engineering launched with 26 students from seven African countries.

In the last application process for the sought-after ERC Starting Grants, the European Research Council made 11 awards to ETH researchers worth about CHF 17 million. Due to Switzerland’s non-association, however, the researchers will not receive these grants. The funds will now be provided by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).

Whether for squats or sit-ups, the software created by the start-up VAY alerts exercisers about incorrect movements via a smartphone screen. Now the ETH spin-off has been acquired by connected fitness equipment manufacturer Nautilus.

The breakdown for spin-offs in 2021: 25 new start-ups and about CHF 390 million in capital raised. Faster coronavirus tests, artificial coral reefs and automated insect breeding have found their place in the economy. The proportion of female entrepreneurs has increased significantly.

ETH alumna Leonie Flückiger is blazing a trail through the male-dominated world of tech start-ups with her company Adresta, which uses a blockchain-based certificate to authenticate luxury timepieces. She hopes to encourage other women to follow in her footsteps.