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| The next generation |
Dear readers,
The lectures have resumed, which means the new spring semester has begun. It marks a fresh start filled with opportunities for growth, learning and community engagement.
This past month, one topic in particular has been in focus: the promotion of young talents. It is vital that we encourage and equip the next generation with the right tools and knowledge to tackle today’s challenges of computer science.
There have been and will be more events in February and March promoting young talents. Before the semester started, the Schnupperstudium (trial study week) organised by CSNOW took place. 24 female high school students were able to dive into the world of computer science with interesting talks and programming workshops. Another important event is the Informatiktage (Computer Science Days), which will take place from 18 to 23 March. Join us with your friends and families on the open day to listen to interesting lectures, and visit the large exhibition area or the game lounge. And for students, the VIS Kontaktparty on 16 March may provide guidance in the pursuit of employment, internships or topics for Bachelor’s and Master’s theses.
Lastly, I’d like to congratulate the Zurich Information Security and Privacy Center (ZISC) on its 20th anniversary! ZISC will be celebrating with a special event on March 6th, with invited speakers including Prof. Adi Shamir, Turing Award winner and co-inventor of the RSA public key cryptosystem. I’m looking forward to meeting many of you there to talk about ZISC’s cutting-edge research in Information Security.
Explore further news and events at D-INFK in this edition of READ.ME.
Best regards,
Kenny Paterson
Department Head
Title image: "Meitli programmieren" workshop from last year's Informatiktage, 27 March 2023
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| Faculty and staff |
We extend a warm welcome to all new staff members who have joined our department in the last month. We look forward to working with you.
Our new staff
To the staff who are leaving us, we wish you the best of luck in your future careers and hope to work with you again someday. |
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Welcome, Jonas Dann
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| Jonas started his new position as a postdoc in Professor Gustavo Alonso's Systems Group on 19 February. He completed his PhD at the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg. We hope you had a smooth start, Jonas! |
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Welcome, Marcel Lüthi
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| Marcel is the newest addition to the lecturer team. He will be bringing his experience and joy for teaching to a variety of large service courses for different study programmes. We are happy to have you aboard, Marcel! |
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Farewell, Anna Janka
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| Anna leaves our department at the end of this month to pursue new professional challenges. She was part of the Communication & Marketing group, where she focused on writing stories and producing content. Thank you for your contributions and all the best for your future endeavours, Anna! |
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Farewell, Tony Joller
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| After 6.5 years in the Studies Administration group, Tony has left the department to start a new position within the ETH Academic Services. His responsibilities at D-INFK included the admissions and regulations for the Master's programmes and the Student Summer Research Fellowship. Thank you for your excellent work! |
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| Prizes and awards |
Congratulations to our faculty, researchers and students who have won prizes, awards and fellowships for their work. We are proud of you and thank you for asserting our reputation.
Browse our award section |
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ETH Medals for Master's graduates
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| Three Master's graduates from our department have been awarded the ETH Medal for their outstanding Master's theses. Congratulations to Lukas Michael Fluri, Luca Multazzu and Jonas Hübotter! |
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Team dETHroners wins SWERC 2024
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| Two teams from ETH participated in the ICPC Southwestern Europe Regional Contest (SWERC) in Paris. Team dETHroners secured first place with an impressive 11 problems solved. Congratulations! |
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| Stories of the month |
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Programme highlights of the Informatiktage 2024: avatars, bots and cybercrime
From 18 to 23 March, the seventh edition of the Informatiktage will take place. From curious beginners to experienced experts, the carefully curated programme offers something for people of all ages. Programming and cyber security workshops, lectures, a game lounge as well as an exhibition area provide plenty of opportunities to explore the world of computer science. Join us with your friends and family on Saturday, at our open house day! |
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Finding and blocking infection routes in hospitals
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| Onicio Batista Leal Neto, former D-INFK researcher
To prevent infection hazards, scientists from our department have partnered with D-INFK spinoff 3DB Access, EPFL and the ISI Foundation to develop a wearable tracking system. It can measure distance to evaluate an exposure risk to an infection. |
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Breakthrough in the study of ancient scrolls
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| Julian Schilliger, D-INFK alumnus
Using artificial intelligence, three young computer scientists, including former D-INFK student Julian, have extracted text fragments from fragile papyri. Despite years of effort from researchers, no progress was made until a new virtual unrolling technology emerged. |
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"It's okay to take your time"
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Damla Ortac, D-INFK alumna
Studying at ETH Zurich can be challenging at times, and all students have their hurdles to overcome. Damla has already had a job as a software engineer after graduating in computer science. But she began having doubts and decided to do something different. |
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| Tip of the month |
READ.ME survey
We launched our newsletter READ.ME in 2019 and are now conducting a survey. We're seeking your opinion to enhance our content and better serve our readers. Do you have any ideas or suggestions for improvement? Please assist us by completing the survey. It will take approximately 3 to 5 minutes to complete and will remain open until 4 March. |
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| Upcoming events |
Save the Date: D-INFK Staff Party 2024
We are thrilled to announce the next annual staff party! Mark your calendars for Tuesday, 11 June 2024, and join us for an evening of celebration, fun, and delicious food and drinks. More details will follow soon. |
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ETH Global Lecture: Empowering Change, 8 March 2024, 17.30–18.30, HG F 30
This lecture, held on International Women's Day, delves into the transformative role of women in shaping our world across diverse fields. Female scientists have been instrumental in driving societal progress, from groundbreaking discoveries to innovative solutions. Professor Menna El-Assady will be one of the speakers.
More information and registration
Distinguished Colloquium: Polynomial Time Cryptanalytic Extraction of Neural Network Models, 11 March 2024, 16.15–17.15, CAB G 61
In the first colloquium of the spring semester, Professor Dr Adi Shamir from the Weizmann Institute of Science will talk about Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) and demonstrate the practical efficiency of an attack by applying it to a full-sized neural network. More colloquia from the spring series will be announced soon.
More information here
ZISC: 20 Years Celebration, 6 March 2024, 14.00–19.00, Audi Max and Dozentenfoyer
The ZISC center was established 20 years ago to bring academia and industry together to solve the information security and privacy challenges of tomorrow. There will be a set of speakers, including Turing-Award winner Adi Shamir as the keynote speaker. A panel discussion will provide insights from the global tech industry and the Swiss Federation. The full programme and registration are now available online.
Learn more
Fit in Research Data Management – workshop series, online
Get yourself and your research project in shape with the research data management workshop programme in the Spring Semester 2024. In seven individual online workshops, the ETH Library, in collaboration with Scientific IT Services, will address the various elements of research data management (RDM) along the research data life cycle.
More details and registration
Coffee Lectures by the ETH Library, online
Get useful tools and topics to support you in your daily research work at the Coffee Lectures in just 15 minutes. The lectures are held via Zoom at 15.15 on Wednesday afternoons until 13 March 2024.
More details here |
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| Past events |
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CSNOW Schnupperstudium
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| The Network for Women in Computer Science (CSNOW) organises a one-week introductory programme twice a year. This month, the Schnupperstudium introduced 24 female high school students to computer science studies at D-INFK and potential future career paths. Thank you to the CSNOW team for the organisation of this event! The next one will take place in autumn. |
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ETH Unterwegs
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| ETH Zurich and we as a department visit selected secondary schools in Switzerland with the travelling exhibition ETH Unterwegs. The aim is to familiarise high school students with the world of science and technology and to give them a realistic picture of the ETH study programmes. In addition to the exhibitions of current projects, there are always presentations by lecturers. |
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| Open positions and grant opportunities |
Registration for the ETH Research Data Management Summer School 2024 is open
The ETH Summer School offers a thorough grounding in research data management, a crucial skill for budding scientists. The upcoming session will provide doctoral students and researchers with practical tools, emphasising core principles and essential skills. Doctoral students can earn 2 ECTS points through participation.
More details and registration here
ETH4D Humanitarian Action Challenges Grants, apply until 21 March 2024
Do you have an idea that can help with a humanitarian challenge? The goal of this grant is to support project-based research between ETH Zurich and EPFL researchers and the International Committee of the Read Cross (ICRC) to leverage science and technology for a greater impact of humanitarian action. Connect with the ICRC to find suitable partners for an innovative product, policy or service.
More details here
Administrative Assistance at the GTC (50-60%)
The Game Technology Center (GTC) is looking for someone to support the management, who can also navigate different cultural contexts and support young researchers. In addition to general administrative tasks, the responsibilities include financial management and human resources at the centre as well. Are you interested?
Apply here
VIS job mailing list
Are you a student interested in open positions, full-time or part-time, and internships? Then the job mailing list by the Association of Computer Science Students (VIS) is for you. |
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VIS Kontaktparty, 16 March, 11.00–17.00, ETH MM building
Join the largest academic IT job fair in Switzerland, organised by our students, for our students. This is the place to be if you're looking for your first full-time job, internship or ideas for your Bachelor's or Master's theses. The event takes place in the MM building, where the Polymensa is.
More information here |
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| This is a spontaneous, light-hearted and fun segment, where we can share bits and pieces that we see along the way. We are also open to suggestions and submissions from our community! |
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| Working out in the office? |
| Getting physical exercise in while working – that's possible in the Sensing, Interaction & Perception Lab. Sebastian Reidy, Robotics, Systems & Control Master's student, was part of a project in Prof. Christian Holz's group that used a portable ultra-wideband device to measure respiratory rates. The electrical characteristics of the lungs change as a person breathes, affecting the ultra-wideband transmission channel, which can be measured. The study involved testing the device during different activities such as running, walking, and cycling. |
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| D-INFK in the news |
| • | | David Zollikofer, Computer Science Student
SRF Echo der Zeit: Künstliche Intelligenz als Problem für Cyber-Sicherheit
Watch here |
| • | | Prof. David Basin
Wired: Apple's iMessage is getting post-quantum encryption
Learn more |
| • | | Prof. Mathias Payer, D-INFK alumnus
EPFL News: "I'm a researcher, I want to work on the next security challenge!"
Read here |
| • | | Cristian Grossmann, ETH alumnus and co-founder of D-INFK spin-off Beekeeper
Swissinfo: What Switzerland can learn from Silicon Valley
Read news |
| • | | Martin Wechsler, D-INFK alumnus and group CIO Migros
Netzwoche: Beyond ICT
Read here |
| • | | Prof. Torsten Höfler, Prof. Thomas Schulthess
SRF 10vor10: Supercomputer in Lugano
Watch here |
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| Introducing Sonia, your AI therapist |
| The three D-INFK graduates Lukas, Dustin and Chris have one common belief: prioritising mental health should be as integral as maintaining physical well-being. This is why they developed Sonia, an app that makes mental health support more accessible to everyone. Sonia offers three free sessions to all users, but for ETH students, it is completely free as a way to give back. Find out more about the app and how to get free access here. |
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