D-INFK news channel

We've all heard it, we all know it, we’ve all seen it: Computer science is not regarded as a “beacon” of diversity. In this interview, Professor Kenny Paterson, Head of the Department of Computer Science details his experiences with diversity, the challenges we face, and how D-INFK might be getting a bit better one step at a time.

Monitoring and treating a case of multiple sclerosis requires reliable and long-​term data on how the disease is progressing in the person in question. Fitness trackers and smartphones can supply this data, as a research team led by ETH Zurich has now shown.

Artificial intelligence is transforming the way in which art is created and experienced. Are we at the beginning of a new artistic revolution? Or at the end of creativity as we know it? Adrian Christopher Notz from the ETH AI Center puts things in perspective.

Juraj Hromkovic has been Professor of Information Technology at ETH Zurich for the past 20 years. During this time, he has been a leading advocate of teaching computer science in schools. He’s now giving his farewell lecture.

Public cloud services employ special security technologies. Professor Shweta Shinde has, together with her Secure & Trustworthy Systems Group, discovered a gap in the latest security mechanisms used by AMD and Intel chips. This affects major cloud providers.  

Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a smartphone app that can be used to check the authenticity of documents and other items. Extracts from the debt enforcement register of the City of Zurich are being made forgery-​proof as part of a pilot project.

In this series of interviews, we talk to three people who decided to pursue an academic career after studying computer science and are now working as professors. In the first part, Dennis Hofheinz explains why he chose this path and describes the hurdles he had to overcome.

Last year, it was decided that computer science would become a core subject in Swiss baccalaureate schools from the 2024/25 school year onwards. In this conversation, three generations of professors who have committed themselves to this cause look at the past and future of the school subject of computer science.

ETH spin-​off dAIgnose is developing an algorithm that can be used to analyse ultrasound images of the womb on an automated basis. This should enable doctors to diagnose endometriosis more quickly in the future.

Researchers from the group led by Professor Julia Vogt, who runs the Medical Data Science Group at ETH Zurich, and KUNO Klinik St. Hedwig in Regensburg have developed an algorithm that provides an automatic and reliable method of detecting a certain heart defect in newborns.

Georgette Weingärtner was always enthusiastic about computer science. But at ETH she was confronted by situations involving a multitude of challenges. In the video she tells us what helped her to overcome these.

During the COVID-​19 pandemic, hospitals often became hubs of infection. Researchers from the Department of Computer Science at ETH Zurich, EPFL and the ISI Foundation are developing a wearable tracking system for healthcare facilities that can identify the risks of infections. Initial tests in Switzerland and Africa show its potential.

Damla Ortac already had a job as a software engineer when she graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science. But she began to have doubts about her chosen career and decided to do something totally different. Watch the video here.

The seventh edition of the Informatiktage will take place from 18 to 23 March 2024. The Department of Computer Science and the IT Services of ETH Zurich are once again participating as partners this year. The carefully curated programme offers something for everyone – from curious beginners to experienced experts.

For the past two years, Professor Zhendong Su has been the Director of Studies of our Department of Computer Science and, therefore, part of the department's executive board. In this interview, Professor Su talks about the accomplishments and challenges during his term. He also tells us what good teaching means to him, and we find out what four dreams he wants to accomplish before retirement.

Since 1996, Emo Welzl has been a professor at the Institute of Theoretical Computer Science. He has dedicated his career to developing and analysing combinatorial algorithms and discrete mathematics. Among other things, he has worked on algorithmic geometry and the analysis of geometric structures. As he will be retiring at the end of January, we look back on his career in this interview and learn how he found his way into theoretical computer science and what fascinates him about it.

Raphael Steiner received his doctorate in mathematics at the age of 21. Now the Swiss National Science Foundation is funding his research at the ETH Institute of Theoretical Computer Science in the field of graph theory. Among other things, this involves proving a conjecture that is over 80 years old.

Lindt & Sprüngli, a global leader in the premium chocolate sector, has partnered with EthonAI. The company is a spin-off from the Department of Management, Technology, and Economics and has Bernhard Kratzwald, an alumnus from the Department of Computer Science on board as a co-founder. Lindt & Sprüngli is leveraging EthonAI's tools to perfect the production of their chocolate and achieve best-in-class performance.

Studying Data Science at ETH Zurich means being part of one of the most exciting driving forces of today’s Information Age. To gain deeper insights into the field, we have talked to various students, professors, and an alumna. In these video conversations, the interviewees elaborate on the growing need and importance of data science – both now and in the future.

For a two-​part interview, we visit our alumnus Tobias Nägeli. In this second part, Tobias gives us an insight into his former student days and tells us how he met his three co-founders. Additionally, we learn more about the skills from his studies that benefit him today as CEO.

In this interview, Professor Wang offers a brief insight into her research interests and explains why she decided to pursue an academic career. She also shares her advice for computer science students and discusses the three pedagogical principles that guide her teaching and mentoring.

Warfare is increasingly spreading to the realm of cyberspace. In response, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) wants to protect its digital infrastructure and that of humanitarian organisations with a digital emblem. The Information Security Group from the Department of Computer Science has developed a standard for this along with initial pilots.

For a two-part interview, we visit our alumnus Tobias Nägeli. In this first part, we learn more about the turbulent times of founding the spin-off Tinamu and how Tobias and his three co-founders managed to find the right market for their technology. We also discover the connection between starting a business and his two hobbies, marathon running and paragliding, and how a tragic accident influenced his willingness to take risks.

The Erstsemestrigen weekend (ESW) is traditionally the first event many computer science students attend. Since 2016, the Association of Computer Science Students (VIS) has been organizing this gathering to facilitate connections among first-year students, so-called "Erstis". The weekend trip has proven helpful since getting to know people in a new environment can be daunting.

Experts from ETH Zurich including Professor Gunnar Rätsch, the University of Zurich, and the University Hospital Zurich have used machine learning to jointly create an innovative method. This new approach can predict how individual cells react to specific treatments, offering hope for more accurate diagnoses and therapeutics.

Twice a year, the Network for Women in Computer Science (CSNOW) organises a one-week introductory programme called “Schnupperstudium” for secondary school girls. In this interview, three participants share their experiences and reasons for participating in the programme.

Since May 2006, Simonetta Zysset has been a cherished member of the Department of Computer Science (D-INFK), where she has been working as an administrative assistant. Over the past 17 years, she supported ten different professors in her role. As she is retiring at the end of this month, we look back at her time at ETH Zurich together.

The “Student stories” video series gives a somewhat different insight into everyday life as a student: Eren Akbiyik worked as a software developer at IBM and is now pursuing a Master's degree at ETH Zurich in the Department of Computer Science. In this video, he talks about how he finds relaxation in his packed daily study routine.

On 6 and 7 September, over 5800 secondary school students from Switzerland and neighbouring countries visited the Information Days to explore the various Bachelor’s programmes offered by ETH Zurich. The Department of Computer Science was also present with information booths and presentations.

The treatment of children born with cleft lip and palate typically includes the use of therapeutic intraoral plates before surgical closure of the cleft. Now, researchers from the Department of Computer Science have teamed up with clinical care researchers at the University Hospital Basel to create a digital pipeline that enables the automatic production of the plates.

During the ETH Student Summer Research Fellowship (SSRF), twenty Bachelor's and Master's students from universities worldwide gained insights into everyday research at the Department of Computer Science and life in Switzerland. Four student researchers share some impressions of their stay during the past two months shortly before their return.

With its ability to write text and generate images, artificial intelligence is making inroads into many areas of life. Perceived as threatening, enriching or just plain gimmicky, AI also raises a fundamental question: what is it that makes us human?

Dr Chengyu Zhang has been a postdoc in the Advanced Software Technologies (AST) Lab of Professor Zhendong Su since the beginning of 2022. He joined the group after completing his doctorate at the East China Normal University (ECNU) in 2021. He had come to ETH Zurich before, as a visiting doctoral student in Professor Su’s group in 2018 and 2019.

The first-ever Bachelor Graduation Ceremony organised by VIS, the Association of Computer Science Students at ETH Zurich, took place on 27 June 2023. Eligible Bachelor’s graduates were invited to the ceremony to celebrate this important achievement.

Large language models such as GPT-​3 are able to learn new concepts by interacting with their users. Doctoral student Johannes von Oswald reports in an interview on what lies behind this ability.

David Dao recently defended his doctoral thesis, conducted in the ETH Systems Group under the supervision of Professors Ce Zhang and Gustavo Alonso. His childhood fascination for Albert Einstein led him all the way from Munich to ETH Zurich. During his doctorate, he discovered a lot about himself, what he is passionate about and the value of thinking outside the box.

Xenia Hofmeier attended high school in Basel before coming to ETH Zurich to study computer science. Now in her second year of a doctorate in the Information Security Group of Professor David Basin, she is learning to manage her workload and time between teaching and research, and between short and long-term assignments

Founded by Professor Torsten Hoefler and his students, and supported by the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre, Team RACKlette offers computer science students the chance to learn about high-performance computing and get first-hand experience of how to set up and optimise such systems to run scientific or industrial applications.

An AI-based 3D simulation technology developed in the Computer Graphics Lab of Professor Barbara Solenthaler brings life to the characters of Elemental, the latest animated film from Walt Disney Studios and Pixar Animation Studio. The movie was just released in Swiss cinemas.

What does a life scientist do at the Department of Computer Science? Martina Baumann is a science coordinator and supports her group in setting up complex research projects with sensitive medical data, among other things. She is an expert at mediating between internal and external bodies

The Morphs are here! The smart, eager-​to-learn creatures are now waiting in the ETH main building for players to train them. "Morph Tales - Exploring Artificial Intelligence" is a new game from ETH Zurich that is fun to play and shows how humans and AI master tasks together.

Cella Florescu is in the final year of her Bachelor’s studies at ETH Zurich. Despite the challenges of moving to a new country amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, she embraced the opportunity to join the student association VIS, meet new people, and learn about herself along the way. Today, she feels that her voice is heard, and takes pride in contributing to positive change at ETH.

In theory, quantum computers vastly outperform classical computers in terms of computing speed. For them to do so in practice, it is necessary to design more and novel high-​speed algorithms, says ETH supercomputing specialist Torsten Hoefler. 

Doctoral student Fabian Laumer and his colleagues are using machine learning to develop new personalised 3D models of the beating human heart. Their objective is to assist clinicians and improve the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases, the most prevalent cause of deaths worldwide.

Luca Beurer-Kellner, Marc Fischer and Prof. Martin Vechev created a new open-source platform and programming language called LMQL that make it easier, cheaper, and safer to interact with large language models like ChatGPT.

The Direct Doctorate in Computer Science was developed to draw talented undergraduates from all over the world. Six years after welcoming its first two enrolees, the programme now receives more than 100 applications every year. Students and professors testify that direct access to doctoral studies and the great atmosphere at ETH Zurich are large parts of its success.  

In an open letter, tech luminaries from the worlds of science and industry are calling for a freeze on training new AI models that are more powerful than GPT-​4. ETH AI experts Andreas Krause and Alexander Ilic from the ETH Zurich AI Center consider this to be difficult to enforce and associated with risks.  

Given the sharp rise in security attacks on systems, networks and programs, cyber security has become a crucial topic. In response to this phenomenon, the joint-degree Master’s programme in Cyber Security was established in 2019 by ETH Zurich and EPFL. We spoke with both professors and students who have first-hand knowhow of the programme, gaining insights into their experiences and perspectives.

Psychologist Verena Zimmermann joins computer scientists Joachim Buhmann and Elgar Fleisch to discuss whether our feelings can be measured, what role they play in human-​machine interactions, and the use of smart technologies.

On the occasion of International Women's Day, we celebrate and thank all women working at the Department of Computer Science.

From 13 to 17 February, 33 young women joined a weeklong course organised by CSNOW to learn more about studying computer science at ETH Zurich. Between lectures and programming workshops, they discovered the welcoming community of women at the department.

From 27 March to 1 April 2023, the Informatiktage (Computer Science Days) will take place in the Greater Zurich Area for the sixth time. The Department of Computer Science and ETH Zurich’s IT Services will be hosting a variety of workshops, talks, and exhibits showcasing some of the latest technologies.

Prof. Gunnar Rätsch is part of the new platform created by The LOOP Zurich. The goal is to support the exchange of health data between the University of Zurich, ETH Zurich and the four university hospitals, allowing data to be utilised quickly and easily to the benefit of patients. 

The "International Day of Women and Girls in Science" was launched in 2015 and is celebrated annually on the 11th of February. It aims at raising awareness of the crucial role played by girls and women in science and technology. As part of this day, ETH drew attention to the many exceptional female scientists who study, teach and research at ETH Zurich.

In the latest episode of the “Student Stories” series, Jan Blum talks about his everyday life as a hard-​of-hearing Bachelor’s student, the difficulties he faced when he started studying computer science and what helped him combat the feeling of being the odd one out.

Riccardo Roveri has co-founded Animatico, an ETH spin-off that creates interactive avatars and was acquired by NVIDIA in 2022. In this interview, he talks about his love for computer graphics and how he experienced moving from Lugano to Zurich for his studies.

Valentina Boeva has been a Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Biomedical Informatics at D-INFK since June 2019. She speaks not only Russian, French and English, but also the languages of computer science and biology. A rare talent that she is passing on to an increasing number of students.

The Department of Computer Science is rapidly growing, and so is the number of its current sites. Being so fragmented and spread around the city, it can be difficult for department members to find a sense of belonging. Professor Kenny Paterson, the new Department Head, talks about the challenges but also opportunities he will face in this demanding role.

After two years as Department Head, Professor Timothy Roscoe is going back to business as usual – teaching and research. He reflects on his time running the department and the importance of having a positive outlook.

Are we witnessing the rise of a different, adaptive artificial intelligence (AI) that works with humans and supports them with smart decisions? Computer scientist Niao He is investigating how this kind of AI can be theoretically underpinned so that it really does provide benefits.

ETH AI Center fellow 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.

The mTORUS project, funded by The LOOP Zurich, will use AI to explore novel treatments for urinary tract infections. Professor Gunnar Rätsch and Senior Scientist Andre Kahles from the Biomedical Informatics Lab are among the researchers involved.

D-INFK students Jan Schnyder, Nicolas Muntwyler and Konstantin Wohlwend teamed up with UZH computer science student Kyrill Hux to launch "Generai", a platform that creates works of art from text prompts.

Ralf Jung joined the Department of Computer Science at ETH Zurich in November 2022 as a Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Computer Science. Get to know him in this short interview.

Johanna Pirker, Assistant Professor at Graz University of Technology, spent September and October as a visiting professor at the Game Technology Center (GTC) of ETH Zurich. In this interview, she explains what we can learn from video games and why our image of gamers does not correspond to reality.

Computer science student Emir İşman is the new President of the student association VSETH after taking over from Nils Jensen at the start of the semester. Together with 11 Executive Board members, he will spend the next 12 months representing students’ concerns and implementing the association’s activities.

Being able to try on an outfit virtually to see if it fits would result in fewer returns. Fayçal M'hamdi, Master's student at the Department of Computer Science and Pietro Zullo, Master's student at the Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering are working on making this possible.

Autonomous virtual humans that move and behave naturally are Siyu Tang’s vision. One area from which the computer scientist draws inspiration are our behavioural patterns. Collaboration with architects and surgeons provides further input – and it also reveals the enormous potential of virtual people.

Daniel Yang always planned to go on an exchange semester. In this article, the Bachelor’s student details his experiences at Princeton University and explains why he would strongly recommend an exchange to his peers.

Florian Tramèr joined the Department of Computer Science at ETH Zurich in August 2022 as a Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Computer Science. Get to know him in this short interview.

Game developers from the ETH Game Technology Center have created an app that explains bone remodelling in a playful way. If students point the camera of their mobile device at the textbook, they find themselves transported to the bone’s surface, where they help cells break down bone tissue.

Dennis Komm joined the Department of Computer Science at ETH Zurich in June 2022 as Associate Professor of Algorithms and Didactics. Get to know him in this short interview.

A team of cryptographers, led by Professor Kenny Paterson, conducted extensive testing on the New Zealand-​based cloud platform Mega. In doing so, they discovered security holes that would allow the provider to decrypt and manipulate customer data.

Did you miss an important moment? Professor Christian Holz and his postdoc Andreas Rene Fender have developed a system that can record and later replay events in a room in 3D.

An exhibition in the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, features ETH Zurich architects who show their vision of utopia - a vertical city built by drones, developed in 2012. Along with computer scientists, including Professor Siyu Tang from our department, they have now populated the structure with autonomous avatars.

Founded by students, the ETH organisation Cyber Group ETH Student Initiative is dedicated to cyber security. Its co-founder and former president, Karin Holzhauser, and current president Christian Knabenhans explain where Cyber Group came from and where it’s headed.

Theodoros Rekatsinas joined the Department of Computer Science at ETH Zurich in May 2022 as Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Computer Science. Get to know him in this short interview.

Digitalisation offers a wealth of new opportunities – and criminals and hostile states are only too happy to exploit them. Protecting against such attacks requires a broad range of measures. Adrian Perrig, professor in the ETH Zurich Network Security Group, is confident that the shortcomings of the modern internet can be fixed.

ETH alumna Paulina Grnarova wants to use artificial intelligence to revolutionise the way the legal industry works. Her recent appearance on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list has catapulted her into the spotlight.

Data contains much more than just the information on the surface. With statistics, deeper cause-​and-effect relationships can be brought to light. This is what Alexander Marx is researching as a Fellow at the ETH AI Center using artificial intelligence. One of his goals is to be able to make predictions regarding diabetes in children.

Cookie consent banners only appear to give users control over their data. Researchers from the Information Security Group have developed a browser extension that uses machine learning to recognise and block unnecessary cookies.

Mennatallah El-​Assady develops explainable AI programs that explain their own workings – and let users provide input. Her speciality is interactive information visualisation, a skill she has brought to the AI Center of ETH Zurich, where she was recently appointed a Pioneer Fellow. Her work can help analysts take a deep dive into political debate.  

From 28 March to 1 April, the Informatiktage (Computer Science Days) will take place. The Department of Computer Science and ETH Zurich’s IT Services are once again involved as partners and offer a variety of events for school classes, teachers and interested students.

Postdoc Moritz Geilinger visited the Pestalozzi School Camps to show children what a robotics researcher does and how robots can be used in the real world.

In this video, postdoc Ece Özkan Elsen talks about her return to research, why she loves medical data science, and how she works to support other women in computer science.

Professor Ueli Maurer was Director of Studies at the Department of Computer Science (D-INFK) from January 2020 to December 2021. In his farewell interview, he looks back on an intense but rewarding time.

Modelling a human being in detail and in motion is a task that continues to challenge developers. Researchers led by Otmar Hilliges, Professor at the Department of Computer Science, showed how to do this more easily: Instead of modelling every last detail, they use intelligent algorithms that learn to automatically render animated avatars in every conceivable pose by observing 3D images of humans in just a few poses.

In an interview with the ETH School for Continuing Education, Christian Kunz, a student in the CAS ETH in Cyber Security, explains that the continuing education has bridged the gap between law, with whose system, possibilities and limitations he is familiar, and technology, in which he is fascinated but has no previous knowledge.

Since June 2020, Professor Kenny Paterson has represented the Department of Computer Science in the Commission for Good Scientific Practice at ETH Zurich. In this interview, he talks about the role of scientists and scientific integrity in computer science.

Insight into everyday life as a student: In the first episode of this video series, computer science student Selin Baris talks about how she moved from Turkey to Zurich, how she got over her homesickness and how she learned to strike a balance between her studies and free time.

In the last part of this video series, Niklaus Wirth tells us what doors the Turing Award opened for him and how he got one step closer to perfection with each programming language.

Flavio Pfaffhauser completed his Master's degree in computer science at ETH Zurich in 2010. Today, as Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) and co-founder of the ETH spin-off Beekeeper, it is his mission to take the rising software provider to the top of the world.

In this continuing conversation, Niklaus Wirth talks about the hurdles he had to overcome when introducing computer science to Switzerland and why the label "made in the USA" was absolutely necessary at the time.

Remo Gisi studied computer science at ETH Zurich from 2005 to 2012. A few years later, he founded the spin-off Tastelab, which operates at the intersection of food, science and sustainability. His knowledge of computer science also helps him with tasks and hobbies that have nothing to do with programming.

When algorithms reinforce biases: doctoral student Afra Amini is studying automated human language processing and its pitfalls.

David Dao, a doctoral student in the DS3Lab at the Department of Computer Science, visited the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference and explains what computer science can do to help.

1970, Prof. em. Niklaus Wirth developed the programming language Pascal and became world famous with it. In this conversation with Prof. em. Friedemann Mattern, Wirth talks about the beginnings of computer science and how he influenced them significantly.

As one of the first computer science students at ETH Zurich, Cornelia Haldemann began her studies in 1981 and graduated in 1987. Today, she heads the product data management of an internationally active Swiss company and, after many years of work, meets change with serenity.

Alexandre de Spindler was an active VIS member from 2001-2003 and is the founder of the Snowdayz. Visionen editor Ricardo Heinzmann asks him in an interview about his time in VIS 20 years ago.

Christian Plattner completed his diploma in computer science at ETH Zurich in 2002. Already a coder while at secondary school, he worked in industry while studying at ETH and founded his own company while still a doctoral student.