Spotlights 2020

Computer science is a young science that builds on old ideas. Friedemann Mattern has taught this for more than seven years in his computer science lecture for electrical engineering students. With his retirement, an era comes to an end.

Quantum research has long since ceased to be an exclusive domain of physics. The purpose of the new ETH Quantum Center is to ensure ETH Zurich’s various competences and activities in this area are networked even more closely and to raise their public profile.

Computer science student Johan Stettler got elected as the new president of VIS, the official association of computer science students at ETH Zurich. In his new role, he is responsible for representing, coordinating and supporting VIS, its board, its committees and its members in all their various fields and tasks

Theodoros Rekatsinas has been appointed Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Computer Science. He researches databases, data processing and data science.

An app created by the Game Technology Center at ETH Zurich lets visitors experience the new exhibition at the Graphische Sammlung in an interactive way.

Professor Olga Sorkine-Hornung and Professor Torsten Hoefler have been honoured with an ERC Consolidator Grant for the outstanding work in their respective research field.

Niao He joined the Department of Computer Science at ETH Zurich as Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Data Science. Get to know her in this short interview.

David Basin, professor at the Department of Computer Science, has been named an IEEE Fellow for his contributions to formal methods for information security.

Michael Rabinovich and Dimitar K. Dimitrov, two doctoral students from the Department of Computer Science, have won the ETH Medal for their outstanding doctoral theses.

Cybersecurity is important in our increasingly digitised society. Cyber Group ETH Student Initiative, a student-founded organisation, works to educate and inspire students about cybersecurity, for instance by hosting events such as the virtual Meet & Greet.

Lecturer and senior scientist Ghislain Fourny was awarded the Golden Owl 2020, a distinction that honours lecturers for excellent teaching.

The International Open Benchmark Council committee has recognized Professor Torsten Hoefler with the BenchCouncil Rising Star Award for his valuable work in the field of benchmark testing, metrics and optimization.

For the paper “The Multikernel: A New OS Architecture for Scalable Multicore Systems”, Professor Timothy Roscoe from the Systems Group at the Department of Computer Science was awarded the prestigious SIGOPS Hall of Fame Award.

Dr. Manuel Rigger and Professor Zhendong Su from the Advanced Software Technologies Lab have developed SQLancer, a tool to automatically detect logic errors in database systems.

A team from the Centre for Computer Science Education (ABZ) under the direction of Professor Juraj Hromkovic has received the prestigious Worddidac Award for the teaching material "Einfach Informatik 5/6" ("Simply Computer Science 5/6"). The book promotes computer science skills and creative thinking.

At the Digital Days of digitalswitzerland, the first NextGen Heroes were honoured with the Digital Economy Award. David Yenicelik, Master's student at the Department of Computer Science, is one of the two prize winners.

Christian Reiter has co-founded several successful start-ups and does not shy away from new ideas, industries and business areas. In this interview, he explains how his studies in computer science have helped him along the way.

Felix Berkenkamp, a former doctoral student in the Learning & Adaptive Systems Group, has received the annual ELLIS PhD Award for his doctoral thesis.

The newly opened ETH AI Center intensifies the dialogue with business, politics and society about an innovative and trust-​building advancement of artificial intelligence.

Alexander Ilic is the Executive Director of the newly founded ETH AI Center, which will open officially on October 20. What motivated the entrepreneur to return to ETH Zurich?

Shweta Shinde joined the Department of Computer Science at ETH Zurich in October 2020 as Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Computer Science. Get to know her in this short interview.

VIScon Digital is set to take place in ETH’s main building from 5 to 10 October, and will be streamed online. All ETH employees are invited to attend. The talks, presentations and events will offer insights into current trends in and around the field of computer science, including developments relating to the coronavirus pandemic.

Mihai Bâce, a doctoral student at the Institute for Intelligent Interactive Systems, has developed with a small group of researchers a system to measure the visual attention paid to a smartphone.

Dr. Zuzana Trubini and Dr. Martin Hirt receive the prestigious TCC Test-of-Time Award for their 2008 paper titled "Perfectly-Secure MPC with Linear Communication Complexity".

Professor Onur Mutlu has left the Department of Computer Science to join the Department of Electiral Engineering. He remains affiliated with D-​INFK and will continue to teach and mentor students. 

Prof. Torsten Hoefler, head of the Scalable Parallel Computing Laboratory, has been promoted to Full Professor. He has won many awards and is known for his commitment to teaching.

DeepCode, a spin-​off of the Secure, Reliable and Intelligent Systems Lab that built the first AI platform for code, is to be acquired by Snyk, a world leader in developer-​first security code analysis.

Four Master's graduates from the Department of Computer Science have won prizes for their outstanding Master's theses and grades: three ETH Medals and one Willi Studer Prize. Many congratulations!

The Media Technology Center is teaching computers to speak Swiss German and searching for applications that could lend a hand with day-​​to-​day editorial work. Professor Ryan Cotterell brings together linguistics, automated language processing and artificial intelligence to change the one-​​solution approach that modern translation programs typically offer.

ETH Zurich promotes innovation in AI technology. This includes the extension of its partnership with the Max Planck Society, the launch of the European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems (ELLIS) and the opening of the ETH AI Center. Professors Thomas Hofmann and Andreas Krause are at the forefront of these efforts.

The European AI network ELLIS celebrates its launch today, with ETH Zurich as a founding member. The ELLIS Unit is an integral part of the new ETH AI Center, which are both chaired by Prof. Andreas Krause.

Valentina Boeva, Professor of Biomedical Informatics at the Department of Computer Science, uses modern methods of machine learning to analyse the whole-​genome sequence of a tumour. One focus of her research is on epigenetic changes in tumour cells. These are temporary and reversible changes in the genome.

How do you calculate the coordinated movements of two robot arms so they can accurately guide a highly flexible tool? Our researchers have integrated all aspects of the optimisation calculations into an algorithm. The hot-​wire cutter will be used, among other things, to develop building blocks for a mortar-​free structure.

Ana Klimovic officially joined the Department of Computer Science of ETH Zurich in August 2020 as Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Engineering. Due to the coronavirus crisis, her arrival was postponed until September. Get to know her in this short interview.

Doctoral student Johannes de Fine Licht and Bachelor student Manuel Burger from the Scalable Parallel Computer Laboratory have won in two categories at the Xilinx Open Hardware Design Contest.

Larger amounts can only be debited from credit cards with a PIN code. Three of our researchers have now discovered a flaw in the security system.

As the coronavirus pandemic exploded in March 2020, students at ETH Zurich founded two online platforms that assigned volunteers to healthcare institutions in need: Students4Hospitals and Care Now. After six months of living with the virus, where are these platforms now?

In the latest episode of the ETH podcast Professors Julia Vogt and Fanny Yang explain why machine learning is an important tool in medicine.

Mrinmaya Sachan officially joined the Department of Computer Science at ETH Zurich in July 2020 as a Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing. Due to the coronavirus crisis, his arrival was postponed until August. Get to know him in this short interview.

Christian Schüller, co-​founder of the ETH Spin-​off Animatico, explains how animated, talking avatars are set to simplify interactions with computers in everyday life.

From an early age, Patrice Becker had an interest in computer science. He was fascinated by the idea of being able to reach the whole world with just a laptop and some programming skills. Today, the computer science student successfully combines studies and entrepreneurship at ETH Zurich.

Dr. Shweta Shivaji Shinde’s research focuses on the overlaps between trusted computing, systems security and programme analysis.

David Steurer, currently Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Theoretical Computer Science, has been promoted to Associate Professor. His research focuses on complexity theory. 

Prof. Niao He’s research explores the point at which the optimisation of large-​scale systems intersects with machine learning techniques.

Twenty international teams competed in the Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge 2020, including five teams from ETH Zurich. In an unprecedented winning streak, the ETH Zurich teams not only took the top five places, but also won all the special prizes. The thorough preparation by the student organisation Cyber Group was one of the reasons for their success.

The International Conference on Machine Learning award committee has recognized Prof. Andreas Krause and his collaborators with a Test of Time Award for the paper "Gaussian Process Optimization in the Bandit Setting: No Regret and Experimental Design". 

Professor Markus Gross has been invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his technical contributions to filmmaking.

The Cyber Group – ETH Student Initiative prepares ETH Zurich students taking part in the Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge, where participants need to respond to a realistic cyberattack scenario using not only computer science, but also political and oratory skills.

The Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems has just been renewed for another five years. Co-director Prof. Thomas Hofmann explains the role he sees for the center in Europe.

Entering invoices, checking delivery slips, auditing expense receipts – all these tasks can be tedious and repetitive. ETH spin-off BLP Digital invented a solution to provide some relief.

For 25 years, Marianna Berger held various administrative positions at ETH Zurich, in particular at D-INFK. Before her retirement at the end of June, she looks back on her varied career at the university.

A team of researchers around Prof. Martin Vechev has developed Silq, the first high-level programming language for quantum computers.

Professors David Basin and Joachim Buhmann as well as former doctoral student Mario Frank have received the Symposium on Access Control Models and Technologies (SACMAT) Test of Time Award.

Doctoral student David Dao (D-​INFK) and postdoctoral researcher Lynn Kaack (D-​GESS) speak on the ETH Podcast about how we can use AI to help in the fight against climate change. 

The pilot phase for the long-​awaited COVID-​19 tracing app developed by ETH Zurich and EPF Lausanne has started. Prof. Srdjan Čapkun explains what makes it special. 

Entrepreneur, app developer, ESOP scholarship holder: at the age of only 24, Larissa Laich has already achieved a lot. Her curiosity and enthusiasm for her field have shaped the young computer scientist’s career from her first programming attempts at school to her Master’s degree at ETH Zurich.

The committee of the 41st IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy has honoured Prof. Adrian Perrig with four Test-of-Time awards for papers published in the 12-year period between 1995 and 2006 of which he was an author.

The majority of multiple sclerosis patients consider fatigue the single most wearing symptom. And yet, fatigue is still poorly understood. Doctoral student Liliana Barrios wants to change that by introducing smartphone-based methods enabling patients to measure their motor fatigability remotely and more frequently.

The internet has changed our lives in positive ways, but it also has its risks. Adrian Perrig and his team are set on creating an Internet where society would regain more control.

A step towards new media worlds: The Media Technology Center at ETH Zurich is researching how Augmented Reality can be applied to everyday life and supports media companies on their path to the future.

ETH Zurich is one of four selected universities around the world to establish adaptive compute research clusters with teams from Xilinx, a company that develops highly flexible and adaptive processing platforms to enable rapid innovation across a variety of technologies.

Prof. Srdjan Capkun and his ‘Snappy’ team have developed a system that speeds up cryptocurrency transactions: a secure, practical and fast, like a snap of the fingers, solution.

Julia Gschwind, BA-​student at the department of computer science, is one of the two winners of the Alfred Escher Prize 2020. This year, the "Swiss Youth in Science" competition provided the framework for the award.

Communicating with photorealistic avatars: Prof. Markus Gross, an expert in the field of visual data processing, explains how telepresence could improve teleconferencing in the near future.

Nicola Rüegsegger and Pascal Wacker are studying computer science at ETH Zurich as a second career path. With their know-how, they helped set up two platforms that help place students and personnel in the most affected hospitals.

VIScon, the largest student-organised conference at ETH Zurich, continues to grow. The next edition in October 2020 invites students to dive deeper into topics from academia and industry. Labs, institutes and professors can now submit proposals to participate.

To better track the coronavirus in Switzerland, biomedical informatics specialists from ETH Zurich and the canton of Bern have combined their online questionnaires on the shared platform covidtracker.ch.

Katja Wolff, a doctoral student at the Interactive Geometry Lab, has developed an algorithm that aligns textile patterns along seams.

An interdisciplinary team of scientists from ETH Zurich have organised an “epidemic datathon” to develop new prediction models for the spread of the virus.

Professors Emo Welzl and David Haussler have received the Symposium of Computational Geometry (SoCG) Test of Time Award for a paper with long-term impact they published 34 years ago. 

One of the most prestigious prizes in the area of theoretical computer science has been awarded to Robin Moser for his algorithmic version of the Lovász Local Lemma.

The research group of Prof. Gunnar Rätsch wants to track the spread of coronavirus in Switzerland using a short questionnaire. Every person currently living in Switzerland can participate.

In this interview, pioneer fellow Mohsen Ewaida (group Prof. Alonso) speaks about his first software product "SnowBell", using Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) devices to run machine-learning applications.

Virtual assistants cannot understand Swiss German. The ETH Media Technology Center is working to change that by teaching machines to speak and understand different Swiss German dialects.

Video conferences instead of social coffee breaks and a very short commute to work. In order to slow the rapid spread of the coronavirus, most members of the Department of Computer Science are now working from home. Read how they are experiencing their new reality.

To slow down the spread of the coronavirus, most ETH staff had to move their teaching duties and research to their home offices. However, collaboration and communication must be re-invented and everyone needs to adapt to the new routine. Alexander Viand, president of the association of scientific staff at D-INFK, is now working from home, too. Read his estimate of the current mood of the scientific staff and his recommendations for how to work from home successfully.

Like many other students these days, VIS President Jonathan Chen is working from home. In this interview, he talks about his new routine, the positive effects of the coronavirus and how VIS supports all students at the Department of Computer Science.

The Coronavirus pandemic affects us all and we need to adapt almost daily to new changes and rules. For students from abroad, these times are even tougher since their families and long-time friends are far away. Michael Aerni is the president of MoEB and knows what particular challenges international students encounter during this intense period.

As Director of Studies, Professor Ueli Maurer is responsible for teaching at the Department of Computer Science. When ETH Zurich discontinued all classroom teaching on March 16, he, too, was faced with the challenge of ensuring that the department’s more than 1'000 Bachelor's and Master's students could continue their studies.

In light of International Women's Day 2020, ETH Zurich puts successful women centre stage. Read about Prof. Julia Vogt, tenure track assistant professor of medical data science, in this article.

Prof. Gunnar Rätsch co-led the effort to develop a method to predict circulatory failure in patients in intensive care using machine learning.

During the CSNOW taster week, 37 young women visited the Department of Computer Science for a week. They coded their own app, met students and researchers and created a basis for choosing a field of study.

Congratulations to Prof. Onur Mutlu for receiving the prestigious award given for innovative and impactful contributions to computer memory systems.

Ryan Cotterell officially joined ETH Zurich’s Department of Computer Science in February 2020 as Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Computer Science. Get to know him in this short interview.

Die genetischen Ursachen von Krebs sind noch vielfältiger als bisher wissenschaftlich belegt, sagt Prof. Gunnar Rätsch sowie Forschende der ETH Zürich und des Universitätspitals im Rahmen des Pan-​Cancer-Projekts.

Am 10. Schweizer Tag für den Informatikunterricht vermittelte die ETH Zürich Lehrkräften neue Ansätze des Informatikunterrichts und ehrte Schulen und Lehrpersonen, die sich für einen lebendigen Unterricht einsetzen.

Dennis Hofheinz ist ab Februar 2020 offiziell als ordentlicher Professor für Informatik am Departement Informatik der ETH Zürich tätig. In diesem kurzen Interview stellt er sich vor.

Siyu Tang officially joined the Department of Computer Science of ETH Zurich in January 2020 as Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Computer Vision. Get to know her in this short interview.

Fanny Yang officially joined the Department of Computer Science at ETH Zurich in January 2020 as Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Computer Science. Get to know her in this short interview.

Three Master's graduates from the Department of Computer Science have won the ETH Medal for their outstanding Master's theses. Many congratulations!

The CSNOW (Network of Women in Computer Science) supports and connects women the Department of Computer Science. At the turn of the year, the organisation’s leadership changed.

Initially, he wanted to be a particle physicist. Today, he helps protect the rainforest using artificial intelligence and blockchain. David Dao, a doctoral student at the DS3Lab at the Department of Computer Science, travelled to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Madrid in December to present his research. In an interview, he explains how artificial intelligence can help the climate, but how it also poses risks.

For his interdisciplinary research on how to evacuate large cities, postdoctoral researcher Leonel Aguilar won a prize for "Innovators under 35 in Latin America".