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This year, the Wolfgang Pauli Lectures will highlight the CRISPR technology, its origins and its current applications in research and medicine. The speaker is Jennifer Doudna, the 2020 Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry.

The CERN international research centre near Geneva explores the tiniest fragments of the universe. Scientists from ETH Zurich, the University of Zurich and PSI are involved in this. An exhibition, guided tours and a series of lectures at ETH aim to provide a broader public with an understanding of the experiments at the world’s largest particle accelerator.

Retiring Vice Rectors Andreas Vaterlaus and Lorenz Hurni explain in an interview the trends they are observing and where in their view changes are needed.

The ALEA – the Art of Leadership Award – has been conferred by ETH Zurich since 2017 in recognition of leaders who facilitate modern and innovative working conditions and who actively encourage and support the reconciliation of work, family, and part-time commitments. This time the award was for the first time jointly presented at an independent event by AVETH (Academic Association of Scientific Staff at ETH Zurich) and VPPL.

While not all subjects taught at ETH Zurich are generally associated with sustainability, much of the expertise acquired in a wide variety of courses is relevant to addressing the climate crisis. This is evident from a current student project that takes a look at the working world of ETH graduates.  

The labs in the future HPQ physics building on the Hönggerberg campus will make possible the study of physical phenomena in smaller dimensions and at shorter timescales then ever before. Diggers will spend the next 14 months excavating a trench with a depth of 31 metres.

Preliminary work on the new physics building on the Hönggerberg campus commenced at the start of August. The surrounding community will be affected by construction emissions.

Three polymechanics apprentices at ETH Zurich have manufactured appliances for physics research equipment as part of their final project, gaining them full marks. Their custom-made apparatus help improve the measurement of magnetic fields.

On 4 May, ETH Zurich is presenting the KITE Award to honour particularly innovative teaching projects and initiatives. In a short series, we present the three projects that made it to the final. All of them were created in the semesters of distance learning.

The winners of the photo competition for ETH members "Favourite places on the Hönggerberg campus" have been selected: Nicolas Ochsner won with a photo of the archive room of the Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture (gta).  

ETH Zurich is working on the further development of its main locations – Zurich Zentrum and Zurich Hönggerberg. This will enable it to accommodate the expected increase in students and researchers and to create the space required to explore new areas of research and innovative teaching methods.

AVETH, the association of scientific staff, has a new president: Martin Roszkowski. The doctoral student in neuroscience replaces physics doctoral student Arik Jung.

In early June, Peter Widmayer led his last University Assembly meeting as president. As a token of appreciation for his services, the University Assembly presented the avid gardener with a fig tree.

The Lecturers’ Conference has a new President: Edoardo Mazza, a Professor at the Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, will be taking over from Felicitas Pauss (D-PHYS).

The Women Professors Forum at ETH Zurich (WPF) has a clear objective: to substantially improve career opportunities for women in science and engineering. Founded in 2011, the women’s network is now welcoming a new chairwoman. Women professors at ETH Zurich will also be working more closely with their counterparts at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL).

The ETH Zurich University Assembly has a new president: Physicist Werner Wegscheider is to take over the position from computer scientist Peter Widmayer.

In the Deliscope blog, ETH educational developers regularly inform readers about innovative teaching trends.

63 newly qualified apprentices successfully completed their apprenticeship at ETH Zurich in 2015. Half of them gained a vocational matriculation certificate.

Change at the top for the Department of Physics (D-PHYS): Simon Lilly succeeds Tilman Esslinger as the new Head of Department.