D-INFK news channel

On 4 and 5 April, the cyber competition Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge 2024 took place. Four teams from ETH Zurich participated in the challenge and one of them, team CyBerg, won first place. Big congratulations!

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.

Over the final weekend of January, two teams representing ETH Zurich took part in the ICPC Southwestern Europe Regional Contest (SWERC) held in Paris. Team dETHroners seized the SWERC title, clinching the gold medal with an impressive 11 problems solved. Congratulations!

Students of the department have voted for their favourite lecturers and teaching assistants. VIS President Emilia Pucher announced the winners at the last Department Conference.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

Students of the department have voted for their favourite lecturers and teaching assistants. The VIS Teaching Awards winners, Angelika Steger, Dennis Hofheinz, David Basin, Ueli Maurer and Thomas Gross have been announced at the last Department Conference.

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.

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!

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.  

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.

A team of three ETH computer science Master’s students won a silver medal at the World Finals of the International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) and became European Champions – the best placement by an ETH team in the history of the contest.

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.

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.

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.

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.

At the VIS Kontaktparty, students of computer science meet potential employers. Clemens Bachmann, president of the OC for the Kontaktparty 2022, answers the eight most frequently asked questions about the event.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Fredi Schmid was a co-founder and the first President of the Association of Computer Science Students at ETH Zurich (VIS). In the interview he remembers the founding, the parties, and studying computer science in the 1980s.

Next week, the first European Girls’ Olympiad in Informatics will take place in Zurich. The competition, which will have around 160 participants from 43 countries, is organised with a strong involvement from students of the Department of Computer Science.

Under the direction of D-INFK Professor Juraj Hromkovic, the ABZ trained children for the robotics competition entitled "First Lego League". Two teams made it to the finals, one of which was received by ETH Rector Sarah Springman for a visit.

Gifted children are often not challenged enough at school. As a result, their motivation and love of learning suffer. The Centre for Gifted Education at the Department of Computer Science aims to counteract this with extracurricular courses.

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

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.

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.

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?

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 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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

For the second time, computer science students at ETH Zurich are organizing VIScon – a unique combination of a symposium and a hackathon. The three-day event, packed with talks, workshops and coding, enables students to get a deeper insight into computer science, engineering and entrepreneurship.

Congratulations to Team Kassiopeia, who took home the prize for “Most Creative Policy Response Alternative” during this year’s Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge.

Think girls aren’t interested in computers? Think again! ETH Globe accompanied schoolgirls for a week as they took part in a computer science taster course.

Out of a pool of over 1’200 applicants, fifteen highly talented computer science students from all around the world were chosen to participate in ETH’s first Student Summer Research Fellowship (SSRF) program.

The VIS contact party is for students and companies what 'speed dating' is for singles: a chance to get to know the other party personally and to assess the possibility of a future together. (German)

Last week, the second Informatics Cup (I-Cup) took place in Davos, alongside the annual training camp of the informatics olympiads, with international teams from Switzerland, Hong Kong, Romania, Russia and Slovakia. (German)

According to ETH's latest gender monitoring report, around 12% of students at D-​INFK are women, while the share of females at ETH level is almost three times higher (30.6%). So, it is vitally important that the department has promotion processes for female students with aspiration, knowledge and skills. I have talked to Christina Poepper and Adrian Altenhoff about the future of the "Frauenfoerderung" (FF).

Professor Friedemann Mattern, Department Head of the Department of Computer Science, introduces the Kontaktparty 2011. (German)