D-INFK news channel

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.

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.

Niao He, Ana Klimovic, Rasmus Kyng and Fanny Yang are among the recipients of a SNSF Starting Grant for their respective research projects. This grant is currently awarded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). Congratulations!

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!

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.

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?

Professor Bernhard Schölkopf from the Institute for Machine Learning is recognised with the 2022 ACM - AAAI Allen Newell Award for his widely used research in machine learning. Congratulations!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Clara Meister, doctoral student at Rycolab at the Department of Computer Science, was awarded the prestigious Google PhD Fellowship. The Fellowship programme was created to recognise outstanding students doing innovative research in areas relevant to computer science.

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.

Five Master's graduates from the Department of Computer Science have won prizes for their outstanding performance. Four have received the ETH Medal and one the Willi Studer Prize. Congratulations!

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.

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.

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 Julia Vogt from the Institute for Machine Learning and Professor Ce Zhang from the Institute for Computing Platforms receive ERC Starting Grants for their respective research projects. Researchers whose projects are selected in the ERC’s highly competitive procedure receive not only international recognition, but also substantial funding for their project.

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

Manuela Fischer, Maciej Besta and Francesco Locatello, three doctoral students from the Department of Computer Science, have won the ETH Medal for their outstanding doctoral theses.

ETH and the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems are intensifying their partnership to promote doctoral candidates and research: ETH professors Otmar Hilliges, Thomas Hofmann, Andreas Krause and Klaas P. Prüssmann are new Max Planck fellows.

Two research teams from ETH Zurich, led by Gunnar Rätsch and Karsten Borgwardt, won the 2021 SIB Bioinformatics Graduate Paper Award. Their paper is about predicting circulatory failure in the intensive care with the aid of machine learning. Congratulations!

The EXCLAIM research initiative is developing a new generation of high-resolution weather and climate models. D-INFK professors Torsten Hoefler and Andreas Krause, as well as the Swiss Data Science Center, are part of the multidisciplinary project.

How transparent are decisions that are based on artificial intelligence and machine learning? Professor Andreas Krause, Chair of the ETH AI Center and head of the Learning and Adaptive Systems group, shares his thoughts on trustworthy artificial intelligence.

Researchers from the Biomedical Informatics Lab at ETH Zurich have participated in an international study to analyse the microbes in the air and on the surfaces of 60 cities, including Zurich. Their findings could help develop new drug therapies and learn more about evolution.

The doctoral student Jonas Rothfuss of the Learning and Adaptive Systems Group lead by Professor A. Krause receives an Apple Scholars in AI/ML PhD fellowship.

As part of a clinical study involving patients from the University Hospitals in Zurich and Basel, researchers are conducting a thorough and highly precise investigation into the molecular and functional properties of tumours. D-INFK Professor Gunnar Rätsch contributed biomedical informatics expertise to the project.

The ETH researchers behind the spin-off LatticeFlow, among them Petar Tsankov, Pavol Bielik, Martin Vechev and Andreas Krause from our department, are aiming to facilitate a new generation of trustworthy AI.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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". 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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!

Three doctoral students from the computer science department win the ETH Medal for their outstanding doctoral theses. Congratulations!

For the fourth time, an eleven-person jury from the Swiss business magazine BILANZ has selected the one hundred most important brains at the forefront of digitalisation – Professor Srdjan Capkun, Professor Andreas Krause and alumnus Dr. Lorenz Meier are amongst them.

A team of physicists and computer scientists at ETH Zurich have programmed computers to teach themselves how to extract relevant information from maps of the universe.

Prof. Andreas Krause and five further authors were honoured with lifetime achievement in their approach to outbreak detection, featured in their research paper "Cost-Effective Outbreak Detection in Networks".

Mrinmaya Sachan explores concepts and methods of machine learning for the comprehension of natural language.

Professor Valentina Boeva officially joined the Department of Computer Science of ETH Zurich in early June 2019 as Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Biomedical Informatics. Get to know her in this short interview.

Professor Julia Vogt officially joined the Department of Computer Science of ETH Zurich at the beginning of May 2019 as Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Medical Data Science. Get to know her in this short interview.

Researchers from the Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems and Google Research Zurich received the Best Paper Award at the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML).

Doctoral student Francesco Locatello has received the Google PhD Fellowship. With this fellowship, Google acknowledges his contributions to foundations of optimization algorithms and provides funding for his education and research.

Professor Gunnar Rätsch played a major part in creating the biggest public database for anonymised information on two important breast cancer genes. The database helps to improve the treatment of patients.

Andreas Krause and David Steurer have been awarded with the Consolidator Grant for their projects in the field of learning systems and algorithmic methods. 

Congratulations to Zsolt István, Stefan Bauer, and Josip Djolonga for obtaining the ETH Medal for their outstanding doctoral theses.

When scientists at ETH Zurich, led by Professor Gunnar Rätsch, analysed huge amounts of genetic cancer data, they found previously unresearched molecular changes. These could help in developing new personalised cancer treatments.

In his research on machine learning and artificial intelligence, Professor Krause develops innovative models and algorithms that can optimize submodular quality functions efficiently.

ETH Professor and computer scientist Joachim Buhmann works intensively on healthcare issues. In an interview with ETH News, he explains how computer models will make their way into the world of medicine, and talks about models that are so complicated that humans can no longer process them alone.

What if you had the chance to complete your own research project at ETH over the summer and to join in discussions about the university’s future? Read more about Katherine Bancroft and Siqi Liu. 

Genomics, digital patient files and real-​time health surveillance – never before have we had access to so much health data. Three ETH researchers, including Professor Gunnar Rätsch, explain how they extract relevant information from this sea of data and the potential benefits for personalised medicine.

Gunnar Rätsch joined the Computer Science Department as a Full Professor of Biomedical Informatics in May 2016. Prior to accepting this position, he was conducting research at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, NY, USA. Professor Rätsch develops machine learning algorithms for the analysis of biological and medical data. His research will be central in ETH Zurich's initiative for personalized medicine.

At one of the most important international competitions in text sentiment analysis, two ETH Master’s students designed the most accurate algorithm worldwide. Jan Deriu and Maurice Gonzenbach won the 2016 SemEval text sentiment classification competition, placing first out of 34 teams from all over the world.

Big data, artificial intelligence, industry 4.0 – the new opportunities information technologies offer will change the world. Take a glimpse inside the world of researchers who teach machines how to think.

Machines will become not just more intelligent in the future, but also more capable of learning. To promote research in this field, ETH Zurich and the Max Planck Society officially open the Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems today. The scientists want to understand the theoretical principles of learning and how these can be applied to real machines.

The machines that surround us in everyday life are not only becoming more intelligent, they’re also turning into gifted learners. To prepare the next generation of computer scientists for the challenges presented by this rapidly developing research area, ETH Zurich has joined forces with the Max-​Planck-Institute for Intelligent Systems.

ETH and the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems have joined forces to form a research network in learning systems.

Nowadays, evaluating large amounts of data enables us to examine issues for which there were still no viable theories until only recently. Two ETH computer science-​professors, Joachim M. Buhmann and Donald Kossmann, explain how this will change society.

Data is treasure: new worlds open up to organisations that understand how to scoop useful information out of unstructured data. At the President of ETH Zurich’s "Lokaltermin", researchers and business representatives revealed how data could serve a broad public in future.

Redmond, Washington, May 23rd, 2012 – This year’s Microsoft Research Faculty Fellow honorees span the physical globe as well as the world of computer research. The researchers are advancing computing research in novel directions with potential for high impact on the state of the art. Recipients also must demonstrate the likelihood of becoming thought leaders in their fields.

The Department of Computer Science welcomes its new Assistant Professors, Prof. Olga Sorkine und Prof. Andreas Krause. They will start teaching at the department in the Spring Semester of 2011. (German)