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| Strengthening scientific ties |
Dear readers,
This month, ETH President Joël Mesot and our professor Martin Vechev spoke at the opening ceremony of INSAIT – the new Institute for Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, and Technology – located in Sofia. Joël Mesot expressed his delight in strengthening the scientific ties with Bulgaria and Europe. The new institute was established in partnership with ETH Zurich and EPFL.
Martin was a driving force in the foundation of the new talent hub and acts as chair of the supervisory board. Also, our faculty members Srdjan Capkun and Andreas Krause support the institute in a supervisory and advisory role respectively. We look forward to watching the new research unit grow.
Every year, ETH Zurich rewards the most promising invention which resulted in a patent application. Congratulations to Karl Wüst, Kari Kostiainen, and Srdjan Capkun, who made it amongst the five finalists with their new “method and system for a central bank digital currency with unlinkable transactions and privacy-preserving regulation”.
Explore further news and events at the department in this edition of READ.ME. Enjoy!
Best regards,
Timothy Roscoe
Department Head
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| Faculty and staff |
We would like to extend a warm welcome to all new staff members who have joined our department by the end of 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.
Farewells |
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Welcome, Zichen Gui
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Zichen is a new postdoc with the Institute of Information Security. His research interests are practical cryptosystems with a particular focus on encrypted databases. Have a great start, Zichen!
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Welcome, Viacheslav Borovitckii
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| Viacheslav is working on his project "Geometry-aware Gaussian Processes in Machine Learning" as a postdoc in the Learning & Adaptive Systems Group under the supervision of Andreas Krause. Welcome, Viacheslav! |
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Welcome, Nikola Konstantinov
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| Under the supervision of Martin Vechev and Fanny Yang, Nikola started his new position as postdoc. He's working on making machine learning models more trustworthy. We wish you a great start, Nikola!
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| Passed doctoral examinations: April 2022 |
Jonas Kohler (Prof. Thomas Hofmann), 11.4.
Martin Raszyk (Prof. David Basin), 20.4.
Congratulations to our newly minted Doctors of Sciences ETH Zurich! |
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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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Otto Hahn Medal for Alexis Block
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Alexis Block, a former doctoral student at the Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems, has been honoured with the prestigious Otto Hahn Medal for her fundamental and innovative research in the field of human-robot interaction. Congratulations, Alexis!
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System Security Group members in finals for Spark Award
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| Congratulations to Karl Wüst, Kari Kostiainen, and Srdjan Capkun, who made it amongst the five finalists at this year's Spark Award. They invented a system which reliably and securely handles digital currency transactions at a national scale and protects privacy at the same time. |
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CAST/GI Promotion Award for Kristina Hostáková
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| Kristina Hostáková, postdoc in the Foundations of Cryptography Group was given the CAST/GI Promotion Award IT-Sicherheit. The award honours doctoral theses that promote advancements in security and make applications more secure. Well done, Kristina! |
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| Stories of the month |
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New partnership with Bulgaria for artificial intelligence
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| Prof. Martin Vechev
In partnership with ETH Zurich and EPFL, the Institute for Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, and Technology (INSAIT) has been launched in Sofia. Martin Vechev has supported the initiative from the beginning. |
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Using statistical methods to predict the course of disease
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| Dr. Alexander Marx
At the ETH AI Center, Fellow Alexander Marx tackles medical questions in data science with the purpose to bring together theory and practice. One of his goals is to be able to make predictions regarding diabetes in children. |
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A smart use of AI
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Dr. Paulina Grnarova, Alumna
Paulina Grnarova, founder and CEO of DeepJudge, 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. |
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Virtual world, real threats
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| Prof. Adrian Perrig
Digitalisation offers a wealth of new opportunities – and criminals and hostile states are only too happy to exploit them. But Adrian Perrig, originator of the secure internet architecture SCION, is sure that the shortcomings of todays internet can be fixed. |
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"I was curious about computers early on"
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| Alessandro Stolfo, doctoral student
In an interview with EPFL, Alessandro, a doctoral student at D-INFK and recipient of the third CYD Doctoral Fellowship, talks about his current project, his passion for the field and the advantages of the CYD campus. |
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| Upcoming events |
Internet of Things (IoT) Inspire, 9 June, 08:30, SIX Convention Point
20 speakers from industry and academia will be discussing IoT technologies at this upcoming event. Further, various companies will present their IoT solutions and visions. The Canton of Zurich sponsored a number of free tickets for ETH Zurich students. Register here using the code: ETH-STUDENT-25. First come first served! More information |
Systems Theory of Algorithms Symposium, 9 and 23 May, 14:00 - 18:30, ETH Zurich HG E 5
This two-part symposium features an outstanding line-up of experts from the field of systems theory of algorithms who present their results and answer questions in a panel discussion. Each part of the workshop is followed by a reception concluding the day, and individual meetings with researchers on the following day. D-INFK professor Niao He is among the speakers on May 23. More information
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Distinguished Colloquium, 9 May, 16:15 - 17:15, virtual
Professor Costin Raiciu from the Politehnica University of Bucharest will discuss a new line of research that starts from first principles and aims at verifying that actual network performance matches expected (optimal) performance, at all times, from the point of view of applications running over the network. Join via Zoom, no registration required. More information |
Women in Data Sciences (WiDS) Zurich Conference, 6 May, 08:00 - 18:00, Swiss Re Centre for Global Dialogue
Women in Data Sciences is back for its fourth edition! The latest data science related research and applications will be presented. The event contributes to support and empower data scientists and provide visibility for women’s contributions in the field. Irene Baeza Rojo, senior researcher at DisneyResearch|Studios, is among the speakers. Register here |
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School visit Kantonsschule Uster
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| During their visit, students from Kantonsschule Uster were asked to test games that are in development at the ETH Game Technology Center. They had fun and their critical feedback will be incorporated into further development. Do you have exciting research that pupils could learn about or test? We would be happy to receive your ideas for future school visits. |
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Informatiktage 2022
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| It was a great pleasure to see the motivated children, adolescents and teachers programming and learning during the courses offered by D-INFK and ETH IT services at the Informatiktage last month. A big thank you to all D-INFK members who have contributed to this event series and made it such a success! |
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| Please meet... |
Nezihe Merve Gürel, doctoral student at the Institute for Computing Platforms.
In one sentence, what do you do?
I try to make machine learning more practical and resource-efficient.
What do you find most challenging about your role?
The vast amount of developments in the fields of machine learning and artificial intelligence fascinates and overwhelms me at the same time. I keep asking myself whether I should have included other studies or angles in my research.
What is the topic of your thesis and why?
Machine learning techniques are very effective when large amounts of data and compute resources are available. When the practitioners want to adopt these techniques into compute-intensive real-world applications, however, resources are limited, and learning has to happen with limited resources. My thesis addresses several open questions in resource-efficient machine learning and aims to make ML algorithms more resource-friendly, while still maintaining their quality and robustness.
How do you get out of a motivational low?
I often practice the cello, play lots of board games and play hide and seek with my cat.
What is your favourite lunch place at and around ETH?
Clausiusbar! If there are also any white chocolate muffins left, I consider the day a success. |
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| D-INFK in the news |
| • | | Prof. Martin Vechev
The Recursive: A dream come true: How Bulgaria got its MIT
Read the interview
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| • | | Prof. Kenny Paterson
ITSP Magazine Podcast: Redefining Society
Listen to podcast
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| • | | D-INFK Spin-off Arbrea Labs
Startupticker.ch: 10 innovative startups will advance their global growth in Boston
Read article
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| • | | Prof. Markus Gross, D-INFK Spin-off Animatico
SRF Einstein: Unsterblich dank digitalem Zwilling
Watch video
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| • | | Dr. Petar Tsankov, Co-founder and CEO, D-INFK Spin-off LatticeFlow
VentureLab: The Venture Leader Technology that enables robust and trustworthy AI
Read interview |
| • | | D-INFK Spin-off Caplena
Great Reporter: Swiss AI SaaS startup Caplena raises 7-Figure seed round
Read article |
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| Open positions – Two opportunities with TIE International |
Internship in Berlin, 26 May - 17 June
TIE International is searching for a Bachelor, Master or doctoral student who would like to take part in an apprenticeship exchange programme in Berlin. The responsibilities include personal and technical support of six Swiss ICT apprentices in their daily tasks, while they work in renowned stunning startups. Flight, public transport and apartment are covered and the student will be compensated. If you are interested, please contact Adrian Krebs. More information
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Entrepreneurship, 60-100%
Are you interested in block chain and are you looking for a new opportunity as a co-founder for a startup in this field? TIE International is currently putting together a team for such a project, with a commitment from a first customer already lined up. If you have finished your Bachelor's degree and are ready to develop in the area of classic software development and blockchain, then reach out to Adrian Krebs for a meeting.
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| Call for proposals - Extended deadline |
VIScon, 14 - 16 October
Are you interested in sharing your striking ideas or are you passionate about inspiring others? The call for proposals for this year’s VIScon is open until 16 May. The event is organised by the department's student association VIS and features a hackathon and a symposium. Enter your submission here. |
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| Tip of the month – Mental health |
| Between the pandemic and the war, personal issues and conflicts at work can easily become overwhelming. Several contact points at ETH offer help with mental health problems – in the form of psychological counselling sessions, conversations in a spiritual context or a support hotline for students from students. Get help here. |
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| Ukraine: Assistance increased further |
ETH Zurich condemns the acts of war in Ukraine and has extended the range of support it offers to students and researchers affected by it. Find an overview of the recent developments here. All updated information on ETH Zurich support initiatives can be found on the website Solidarity with Ukraine. Freely available background information about the war compiled by the ETH Library is available here.
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| The COVID-19 section will be discontinued until further notice. |
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| All pandemic regulations are withdrawn |
| Effective April 1, the Executive Board of ETH Zurich has lifted all pandemic regulations. For most ETH staff, the resumption of normal operations as of 1 April means a gradual return to the workplace, in accordance with the “Return to the Office” plan. Answers to urgent questions about what the return to the office means in concrete terms were provided in the Town Hall meeting of 28 March. |
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