D-INFK news channel

Professor Menna El-Assady shines a torch into the black box of generative AI and talks about how a model makes decisions and whether we can correct them.

QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) unveiled its 2024 World University Rankings by Subject. ETH Zurich landed with 3 subjects in the top spot. A further 14 placed within the top ten in the world, among them Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (rank 7) and Computer Science and Information Systems (rank 9).

Flink Robotics, a newly founded D-INFK spin-off, is crafting cutting-edge software for next-generation robots to enable automation anywhere and for everyone. Professor Stelian Coros, doctoral student Simon Huber and former postdoc Moritz Geilinger are the co-founders.

Every year, a cash prize is awarded from the Fritz Kutter Fund to honour valuable practice-oriented computer science theses. The fund is administered by ETH Zurich, but the prize can be awarded to any graduate of a Swiss university.

Marita Berger, a Bachelor's student from the Department of Computer Science, spent her last semester in Beijing, China. For the ETH Ambassadors Blog, she  looks back on her transformative journey. 

The three D-INFK graduates Lukas Wolf, Dustin Klebe and Chris Aeberli, are the visionary minds behind "Sonia", a mental health app that provides mental health support to students. 

Three young computer scientists, including D-INFK alumnus Julian Schilliger, have achieved what researchers have been trying to do for 270 years: Using artificial intelligence, they have extracted text fragments from fragile papyri. This has been generously rewarded.

How can robots and humans work together? ETH Zurich and Microsoft researchers use mixed reality devices to make human-​robot interaction simple and intuitive. This will allow robots to learn from interactions with humans and perform more complex tasks.

From 15 to 19 January 2024, the AI House in Davos brought together industry leaders, tech founders, researchers, companies, investors and political decision-makers to discuss the impact of AI on the world. ETH Zurich was one of the initiators of the event with its AI Centre. Watch the sessions with our professors Andreas Krause, Menna El-Assady, Florian Tramèr and many others now.

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.

IBM and ETH Zurich announce a Discovery Accelerator Hub within the ETH AI Center, as ETH joins the AI Alliance.

The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) and ETH Zurich, with global partners, are unveiling the International Computation and AI Network (ICAIN) at the 2024 World Economic Forum in Davos. Its goal is to create inclusive, sustainable AI technologies, contributing to global equality.

This special edition of the department newsletter was made in honour of computer pioneer Niklaus Wirth. It reflects on his life and his achievements and features tributes from his colleagues.

Computer science student Constantin Pinkl embarked on a unique adventure from Zurich to NYC with TIE-INTERNATIONAL: Exploring landmarks, navigating work life, and embracing the vibrant energy of the Big Apple.

Computer pioneer Niklaus Wirth died on 1 January 2024, just weeks before his 90th birthday. The long-​serving ETH Professor of Computer Science achieved world fame by developing the Pascal programming language in the 1970s. In 1984, he became the only German-​speaking computer scientist yet to have received the Turing Award, which is regarded as the Nobel Prize for computer science.

Thank you to everyone who shared their wishes for the upcoming year with us. We hope you find inspiration in the wide array of wishes that were shared. Additionally, we have compiled a list of tips that may help you accomplish these goals in 2024.

Our alumnus Severin Hacker is the co-founder and CTO of Duolingo. He joined the ETH Foundation for an interview and shared his thoughts about innovative ideas, the entrepreneurial spirit and unexpected connections.

ETH Zurich and the Dieter Schwarz Foundation have signed a far-reaching letter of intent to establish a new teaching and research centre for responsible digital transformation with a global reach. As a concrete first step, two new professorships in the field of computer science and data science will be established in Zurich, and the Zurich Information Security and Privacy Center (ZISC) will be further developed.

Michalis Kokologiannakis, currently a doctoral student at the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems, Kaiserslautern, Germany, was appointed as Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Computer Science in the Department of Computer Science by the ETH Board.

A research highlight in the December issue of Communications of the ACM is describing an award-winning publication from 2022 by Prof. Rasmus Kyng and Dr. Maximilian Probst Gutenberg from the Algorithms and Optimization Group at D-INFK and co-authors from Georgia Tech, Stanford, Waterloo and Toronto. The group developed an algorithm that computes exact maximum flows and minimum-cost flows on directed graphs.  

ETH Zurich and EPFL are launching the “Swiss AI Initiative”, whose purpose is to position Switzerland as a leading global hub for the development and implementation of transparent and reliable artificial intelligence (AI). The new Alps supercomputer based at the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS) provides the supporting world-​class infrastructure.

At this year’s ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security (CCS), doctoral student Jingxuan He was awarded the Distinguished Paper Award for his paper titled “Large Language Models for Code: Security Hardening and Adversarial Testing”. Congratulations!

Doctoral students Marcin Charpek and Mikhail Khalilov from Professor Torsten Hoefler's SPCL group have won the Best Student Paper Award and Best Reproducibility Advancement Award at the SC23 Conference. Congratulations! Watch the video from the conference here.

The new CAS ETH AIS helps managers with non-computer science backgrounds advance their careers by providing technical fundamentals in machine learning, AI and software development.

Hundreds of girls and boys enthusiastically accompanied their parents to their workplaces on 9 November, the National Future Career Day. ETH Zurich had its own offer with 19 different programme items to choose from, one of which was organised by the Center of Computer Science Education (ABZ).

Research News: Professor Christian Holz and his research group have developed a new teleconferencing system called ViGather. The System enables participants across all devices – VR/XR devices and traditional laptops, tablets, or PCs – to participate in immersive 3D meetings as avatars. 

The computer science student and former president of the Association of Computer Science Students (VIS), has been leading the Student Association of ETH Zurich (VSETH) as its President since September. In this recent interview, she shares her passion for higher education politics and outlines her goals for the upcoming year.

The United Nations has launched a global AI Advisory Body to work on risks, opportunities and international governance of the technology. Professor Andreas Krause, head of the Learning & Adaptive Systems Group and Chair of the ETH AI Center, is amongst the appointed experts. Congratulations!

Researchers from the Department of Computer Science at ETH Zurich, in collaboration with clinical care researchers at the University Hospital Basel, have developed a new treatment solution for children born with a cleft lip and palate. Learn more about the treatment and its implementation in the video.

Eight students from the Department of Computer Science have been awarded an Excellence Scholarship & Opportunity Programme (ESOP) scholarship. The scholarship allows them to develop to their full potential and to focus on their studies and research. Congratulations!

The VIScon Symposium, organised by students from the Association of Computer Science Students at ETH Zurich (VIS), is back for its sixth year on Saturday, 21 October. Learn more about the yearly conference from Alisa, who is on the VIScon organisational committee. 

3db Access is a pioneer in secure low-power Ultra-Wideband (UWB) technology, and their integrated products enable a broad range of applications, such as secure vehicle access. It was co-founded by ETH Alumni Dr Boris Danev (D-INFK), and Dr David Barras (D-ITET) and two of our faculty members, Professors Srdjan Capkun and David Basin. By joining forces, 3db Access and Infineon want to create full system solutions in the market opportunities of secured, connected devices.

Mennatallah El-Assady, a Research Fellow at ETH Zurich, has been appointed Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Computer Science. She works at the intersection of data analysis, visualisation, computational linguistics and explainable artificial intelligence. Her research delivers an innovative methodology that contributes to creating explainable, robust and versatile AI. 

On Monday, 18 September, the autumn semester begins at ETH Zurich and many new students experience their first day at university. Once again, the numbers of first-semester students in our department show an upward trend.

From Sept. 1, 2023, Professor Torsten Hoefler will be affiliated with the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS). CSCS, with its upcoming new “Alps” high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure, and the ETH professor want to jointly test and advance methods and applications for machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications.

Together with the Handelszeitung, PME and Digitalswitzerland, BILANZ has selected the 100 most important minds for the digitisation of Switzerland. Among them are several current and former D-INFK members and spin-offs.

Professor Ce Zhang was Associate Professor in the Data Sciences, Data Systems, & Data Services Lab (DS3Lab). He left ETH Zurich at the end of last month to take a position as an associate professor at the University of Chicago, USA. We wish him all the best!

April Yi Wang, currently a doctoral student at the University of Michigan, is appointed Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Educational Technology. Her research focuses on the investigation and development of modern digital technologies, using AI and other tools to facilitate cooperation between data scientists.

In an interview with the ETH Foundation, Computer Science Alumnus Francisco Fernandez speaks about ambition, gratitude and promoting talented people.

The SSRF programme has started! Two months full of research, socialising and getting to know Switzerland lie ahead of our 20 visiting undergraduate and graduate students.

With the full revision of the Matura Recognition Ordinance, which was passed by the Federal Council on 28 June 2023, Computer Science will finally become a basic subject at Swiss high schools.

The indoor drone company Tinamu Labs, a spin-off from the Department of Computer Science, has secured fresh capital in a pre-series A financing round of CHF 1 million to speed up growth and development.

Companies process dozens of customer orders, order confirmations, delivery notes, and invoices every day. Our spin-off BLP Digital is revolutionising resource planning with an application that saves costs and reduces the potential for errors.  

The results of the Swiss Olympiad in Informatics were announced on 27 May. 16 young talents earned four gold, silver and bronze medals each with clever code and efficient algorithms. The best of them will represent Switzerland at international computer science competitions throughout Europe this summer.

After nearly ten years as Co-Director of the Max Planck - ETH Center for Learning Systems (CLS), Professor Thomas Hofmann steps down and hands over this role to Niao He, Professor of Data Science at the Department of Computer Science.

Dr Johannes Lengler, currently Lecturer in the Department of Computer Science at ETH Zurich, has been awarded the title of Adjunct Professor by the ETH Board. As a leading theoretical computer scientist, his research ranges from pure mathematics to the neurosciences.

Former computer science students David Niederberger and Philipp Hadjimina co-founded the ETH spin-off Quazel. The new AI-based language learning app acts as a tutor, adapting to the users' skills and correcting their mistakes.

Two new projects from the Sensing, Interaction & Perception Lab of Professor Christian Holz advance the versatility of today’s Virtual Reality (VR) platforms, taking advantage of common devices such as a fitness watch or a smartphone. By developing novel AI frameworks, they allow VR users to freely interact in 3D space and grab objects that are out of sight, or even play in places as small as a car, a train or an airplane seat.

Every year on the fourth Thursday of April, International Girls in ICT Day is celebrated to raise awareness about the need for greater representation of women in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector.

Nine ETH Zurich students participated in the Global Young Scientists Summit in Singapore to get inspired by the journey of Nobel laureates and discuss the role of science for human society, among them Computer Science Master’s students Raphaël Baur and Jasmin Schult.

Team nETHics, composed of ETH students and trained by the student organisation ETH Cyber Group, placed second at this year's Geneva Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge. Congratulations!

Theodoros Rekatsinas, Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Computer Science in the Department of Computer Science, left ETH Zurich at the end of January to take up a position with Apple. We wish him all the best!

Dr Barbara Solenthaler, currently Lecturer and Senior Research Scientist in the Department of Computer Science at ETH Zurich, has been promoted to Adjunct Professor at ETH Zurich. Barbara Solenthaler develops algorithms and techniques for data-driven simulations and 3D modelling. 

Ce Zhang, currently Tenure Track Assistant Professor at ETH Zurich, has been promoted to Associate Professor of Computer Science. Zhang conducts research at the interface between data science and systems, and works at the cutting edge of developments in IT following the transition to cloud-based systems. 

The new Internet protocol SCION, developed by our Professor Adrian Perrig among others, solves the fundamental problem of meeting the security demands of the modern digital economy. The technology is currently being used by the Swiss National Bank and the financial industry to secure data communication.

Prof. Peter Müller is the department’s representative in the Digital Transformation Steering Committee. Created in the frame of the university’s rETHink project, the committee will advise the Executive Board on matters related to implementing and development of the digitalisation strategy.

Tamara Gini, D-INFK Master’s student, joined a group of apprentices as a supervisor for 4 weeks thanks to TIE International as part of the ETH Zurich Studios project. For ETH Ambassadors she wrote a blog post about her expierence in NYC.

Computer vision, next-generation human-computer interface and augmented reality make for successful spin-offs. Founded in 2009 by D-INFK researchers, Scandit is one of 2022’s three unicorns coming from ETH. Animatico and the recently founded Aperion XR also have a bright future ahead.

Professor Kenny Paterson, doctoral student Matteo Scarlata and Master’s student Kien Tuong Truong (meanwhile also a doctoral student) of the Applied Cryptography Group conducted a security analysis of the Threema messenger application and found vulnerabilities.

Scanning the environment with a camera and interactively creating a virtual 3D model? Researchers from the Computer Vision and Geometry Group at D-INFK receive funding from the Sony Research Award Program to advance their pioneering computer vision methods.

The Department of Computer Science is looking to fill tenure-track positions in the fields of Visualisation, Educational Technology, and Computer Security, specifically in the areas System and Network Security as well as Software Security and Formal Methods. The closing date for applications is 8 January 2023.

Dr. Frederick P. Brooks, Jr., a pioneer in the field of computer science and an honorary doctor of D-INFK, passed away on November 17, 2022, at the age of 91. As a recipient of the A.M.Turing Award, the US National Medal of Technology and numerous other awards, Brooks was one of the most respected people in the field of computer science.

The term "high-​performance computer" already implies a high energy demand. Energy efficiency is therefore a central consideration in the procurement and use of supercomputers at the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS).

Beekeeper, a spin-off from the Department of Computer Science, has raised 50 million US dollars in its most recent round of funding. The Beekeeper platform helps companies connect with "deskless" frontline workers.

The International Committee of the Red Cross aims to create a digital emblem to distinguish the computer systems of medical and humanitarian facilites and to protect them from cyberwarfare. The Center for Cyber Trust, which includes three D-INFK research groups, is developing the necessary technologies.

Eight students from the Department of Computer Science have been awarded with an Excellence Scholarship & Opportunity Programme (ESOP) scholarship. The scholarship allows them to develop to their full potential and to focus on their studies and research. Congratulations!

PD Dr. Andreas Mueller from University Hospital Basel and Dr. Barbara Solenthaler from the Computer Graphics Laboratory at D-INFK are combining medicine and computer graphics to improve pre-surgical cleft lip and palate treatment.

LatticeFlow, a spin-off from the Department of Computer Science, raises $12M to eliminate computer vision blind spots. The company helps machine learning teams improve their AI vision models by automatically diagnosing issues and improving both the data and the models themselves.

Times Higher Education (THE) has released its latest Subject Rankings: ETH Zurich has 6 subjects in the top twenty with 3 in the top 10 in the world. Computer Science ranks 4th in the rankings and maintains its position from last year. 

The ETH Global Lecture "The Wild, Unexpected, Exponential Ride Through Computer Graphics" by Ed Catmull (Pixar / Walt Disney Animation Studios) will take place on November 2. 

The Engineering for Humanitarian Action initiative by the ICRC, ETH Zurich and EPFL aims to use innovative technologies to help people in need. One of the projects offering tangible improvements is the secure digial infrastructure project, based on the SCION network technology and involving D-INFK professors Srdjan Capkun and Adrian Perrig.

Jonas Rothfuss, doctoral student in the Learning & Adaptive Systems group, talks to ETH Foundation about what being an Apple Scholar means for him.

Thanks to the generous support of the Dieter Schwarz Foundation, ETH is able to establish two new professorships at the interface of education, digital transformation and artificial intelligence and boost the fellowship programmes of the ETH AI Center by funding 20 additional fellows.

For the sixth time, ETH Zurich is involved as a partner of the Swiss Digital Days. From 20 September 2022 onwards, it will present five projects that illustrate different aspects of the digital transformation, among them two projects from our department.

The 34th International Olympiad in Informatics took place in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, from August 7 to 15. Young people traveled from all over the world to participate in the competition. Elias Bauer and Josia John from Switzerland were each awarded a bronze medal.

Ralf Jung is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA. He was appointed as Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Computer Science. With this, the department boosts its expertise in programming languages.  

Otmar Hilliges has been promoted from Associate Professor to Full Professor of Computer Science. Hilliges conducts research in the areas of human-​machine interaction, machine vision and machine learning. 

A new ETH laboratory makes high-​resolution 3D recordings possible, enabling researchers to animate avatars or train robots, for example. Professors Otmar Hilliges, Marc Pollefeys, Markus Gross and Stelian Coros are involved in this project.

When it comes to a surgical operation, everyone wants optimally prepared surgeons. But training today mainly takes place by observing operations on real patients. Now, Swiss hospitals, universities and companies have joined forces to digitally transform surgical training. Prof. Siyu Tang and Prof. Marc Pollefeys are part of this project.

Congratulations to our spin-off DeepJudge and the student start-up Alter Ego for winning Venture Awards for Swiss start-ups. DeepJudge placed second in the category ICT while Alter Ego took third place in Retail and Consumer Services.  

Octavian Ganea passed away unexpectedly while hiking in French Polynesia in late May 2022, at the age of 34. He was a doctoral student at the Department of Computer Science from 2014 to 2019 and, more recently, a postdoctoral researcher at MIT.

Thirty international teams competed virtually in the Geneva Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge 2022, including two teams of ETH students. Both made it all the way to the finals, winning second and fourth place, and a special prize. Before the competition, all students went through a rigorous two-month training programme provided by the student organisation Cyber Group.

The new collaboration with professor Ryan Cotterell focuses on AI text prediction technology with a specialisation in advanced sentence prediction, grammar assistance, enterprise customisation, and voice support. The work is funded by the Swiss innovation agency Innosuisse.

Kristina Hostáková, postdoc in the Foundations of Cryptography Group at the Department of Computer Science was given the CAST/GI Promotion Award IT-Sicherheit. The award honours doctoral theses that promote advancements in IT security and make IT applications more secure.

In an interview with EPFL, Alessandro Stolfo, doctoral student at the Department of Computer Science and recipient of the third recipient of a Doctoral CYD Fellowship, talks about his current research and shares tips for future applicants.

Today, in partnership with ETH Zurich and EPF Lausanne, the Institute for Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, and Technology (INSAIT) has been launched in Sofia. Professor Martin Vechev from the Department of Computer Science has supported the initiative from the beginning.

The Computer Graphics Laboratory, led by Professor Markus Gross, is working with Align Technology to advance the field of digital dentistry.

In an interview with EPFL, Adalsteinn Jonsson, Master’s student at the Department of Computer Science and recipient of the seventh CYD Master Thesis Fellowship, talks about his current project and the advantages of conducting his thesis at the CYD Campus.

Martin Vechev, head of the Secure, Reliable, and Intelligent Systems Lab at the Department of Computer Science, has been promoted from Associate Professor to Full Professor.

Professor Ankit Singla, head of the Network Design Lab, is leaving ETH Zurich to take on a new role with Google.

The LegalTech spin-​off from the Computer Science Department DeepJudge assists law firms, corporations, and courts by making data-​sensitive administrative work more efficient.

When working with neural networks, their training is the single most resource-​demanding and costly process. Two computer scientists from Torsten Hoefler's team have now developed a software that considerably speeds up training. This will be especially relevant for scientific applications of future users of “Alps” at CSCS.

The alternative internet SCION, invented and developed at ETH Zurich by Adrian Perrig, provides fast, secure and reliable connections for data transfer. It is now available to any ETH lecturers, researchers or employees with special security, performance or reliability requirements.

Stelian Coros, currently Tenure Track Assistant Professor, has been promoted to Associate Professor of Computational Robotics in the Department of Computer Science.

Björn the Polar Bear has been the unofficial mascot of the Association of Computer Science Students (VIS) since the turn of the millennium. Happy Birthday!

During her visit to ETH Zurich, Defence Minister Viola Amherd sketched a picture of an unstable, unpredictable world to which Swiss security policy must adapt. D-INFK contributes to Swiss cyber security through a number of initiatives and projects, including the secure internet architecture SCION and the Cyber Security Master's programme.

Prof. Angelika Steger has been elected as a new member of the ETH Zurich Prize Committee as of 1 November 2021. The Prize Committee advises the Executive Board on science prizes.

Almost 70 D-INFK researchers and students attended a talk and Q&A session on October 28 to learn about the complex process of applying for – and getting – faculty positions.

Collaboration between talented members of multidisciplinary teams provides the best foundation for innovative, useful and trustworthy applications of artificial intelligence. This has been demonstrated at a joint event by ETH Entrepreneur Club and the ETH AI Center.

On October 12, a small get-together was held in the CAB building in honour of D-INFK founders Niklaus Wirth and Carl August Zehnder. Alumni, former employees and professors from the founding period of the department 40 years ago attended the event.