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| Anniversary and algorithms |
Dear reader,
I’m back from holidays and therefore relieving Duke from all editorial duties. I hope you enjoyed his address in last month’s newsletter. If you missed it, I recommend you go back and take a look at it; you won’t be disappointed.
This month we are looking back on the 30th anniversary of the Computer Graphics Lab, founded and led to date by my esteemed colleague Professor Markus Gross. CGL celebrated this milestone on 28 June with a symposium and a social event in which numerous current and former companions participated. CGL’s legacy is truly impressive, both in terms of research and innovation output and as a talent factory and incubator of new companies. I extend my heartfelt congratulations to Markus and the entire CGL community and wish them a future as bright as the last three decades!
I would also like to point you to a great article published earlier this month about research conducted by Professor Rasmus Kyng and his team. It is a great piece that explains the development of a nearly perfect flow algorithm, an achievement that comes to solve an almost century-old problem in computer science. The potential societal and economic benefits are enormous. This is a great example of fundamental research with a real chance to positively impact our everyday lives.
And speaking of frictionless flow, I hope you’ll have a good time navigating through the rest of this newsletter to get a bird’s eye view of what’s going on in our department.
Best regards,
Kenny Paterson
Department Head
Title image: SSRF fellows during their visit to the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS).
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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, Yazhuo Zhang
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| Yazhuo joined the group of Professor Ana Klimovic after her doctorate at Emory University. She will work on improving performance and resource efficiency for next-generation cloud computing infrastructure. Her research interests span storage systems, cloud systems, and data center applications. Have a good start, Yazhuo! |
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Farewell, Christof Torres
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| Christof has left ETH Zurich after two years working as a postdoc in Professor Shweta Shinde’s group. He will join the Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) at the University of Lisbon as an assistant professor. Christof’s research interests include security and privacy aspects of blockchains. Good luck with your new position, Christof! |
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Farewell, Ethan Wilcox
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| After two years as a postdoc with Professors Cotterell and Sachan, Ethan is joining Georgetown University as an assistant professor of Computational Linguistics. His research focuses on the analysis and interpretability of language models, and what those models can contribute to cognitive science. All the best in your new role, Ethan! |
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Congratulations, Marcin Copik
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| Upon completing his doctorate in the group of Professor Torsten Hoefler, Marcin has been promoted to postdoc. Marcin did a Master's in Simulation Science at RWTH Aachen. His research interests include high-performance computing, parallel algorithms, and heterogeneous computing. Well done, Marcin!
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Farewell, Zichen Gui
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Zichen is leaving ETH to pursue a career in cryptography research. He worked as a postdoc in the group of Professor Kenny Paterson. His research interests are in applied cryptography, with a focus on encrypted search and encrypted cloud services. We wish you all the best in your future endeavours, Zichen! |
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Farewell, Xiaoyu Zhang
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After a year as a postdoc at the ETH AI Center, Xiaoyu is joining the School of Creative Media at City University of Hong Kong as a tenure-track assistant professor. Her research interests are in data visualization, human-computer interaction and human-AI collaboration. We wish you all the best on your future career path, Xiaoyu! |
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| Congratulations to Ulrike von Groll on 15 years at ETH Zurich |
| Ulrike joined ETH Zurich as part of the Treffpunkt Science City team. She stayed for nine years in that role, demonstrating her passion for making science accessible and exciting to the general public. She then switched to promoting STEM projects for young people at the Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center, inspiring the next generation of scientists with the “Nachtaktiv” series of events. For the past two years, Ulrike has brought her enthusiasm to bear in our department, taking on the crucial role of managing outreach activities and student orientation events. |
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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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Barbara Solenthaler wins Frontiers of Science Award
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| Professor Barbara Solenthaler and a team from ETH Zurich along with external collaborators were recognised for a paper published in 2019 in the journal Computer Graphics Forum. The co-authors included Professor Markus Gross and then ETH doctoral student Byungsoo Kim. Good work! |
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ACM SIGPLAN Award for Benjamin Bichsel
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| Benjamin Bichsel received the ACM SIGPLAN John C. Reynolds Doctoral Dissertation Award for his outstanding doctoral dissertation in the area of programming languages. Bichsel's thesis was honoured for its significant contributions to the emerging field of quantum computing. Congratulations! |
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Ulrik Brandes honoured with Simmel Award
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Affiliated Professor Ulrik Brandes received the 2024 Georg Simmel Award of the International Network for Social Network Analysis (INSNA). The lifetime achievement award recognises major contributions to the study of social networks. Congratulations on this achievement! |
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Computer science talents clear gold medals
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| End of June, Swiss teams took part in the 31st Central European Olympiad in Informatics in Brno, Czech Republic, and the new Western European Olympiad in Informatics in London, respectively. They came back home with two gold and three bronze medals. Well done! |
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Young Swiss computer scientists win silver and bronze
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| From 21 to 27 July, the European Girls' Olympiad in Informatics (EGOI) took place in the Netherlands. Among the almost 200 female computer athletes participating were four Swiss women, all four of whom were awarded a medal at the end. Many congratulations! |
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| Stories of the month |
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PURE: New security solution wards off digital pickpockets
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Doctoral student Daniele Coppola
Using only moderate technical skills and affordable technology, scammers can make contactless payments without the victim's permission, even from a remote location. To counteract this threat, a team of researchers has created a security solution called PURE. |
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"I value the freedom of being able to listen to my innate curiosity"
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Professor Ana Klimovic
In the third installment of our interview series highlighting people who decided to pursue an academic career after completing their studies, Ana Klimovic talks about the freedom in academia, the value of interactions with industry for her research and what it takes to transition from a doctorate to a professorship. |
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Researchers at ETH Zurich develop the fastest possible flow algorithm
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| Professor Rasmus Kyng, lecturer Maximilian Probst
Rasmus Kyng and his team have written the near-perfect algorithm. It computes the maximum transport flow at minimum cost for any kind of network – be it rail, road or electricity – at a speed that is, mathematically speaking, impossible to beat. |
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| New spin-offs |
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Revolutionising network monitoring
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| NetFabric, a newly founded ETH spin-off with D-INFK participation, is on a mission to build the next-gen network observability platform. They are using AI and advanced modelling to provide real-time insights and predictive capabilities. Professor Martin Vechev, affiliated Professor Laurent Vanbever, postdoc Benjamin Bichsel and others are part of the co-founding team. We wish you every success in this new venture! |
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Secure agentic AI systems
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| Invariant Labs is a new ETH spin-off co-founded by Professors Martin Vechev and Florian Tramèr, D-INFK alumnus Mislav Balunovic and doctoral students Marc Fischer and Luca Beurer-Kellner. With Invariant Analyzer, their open-source analysis tool, they aim to enhance the security and reliability of AI systems by using deterministic security measures. All the best and great success with your start-up! |
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| Tip of the month |
Walk the slackline
As a remainder of our Staff Party in June, the slackline from the D-INFK Olympic Games has been set up in the CAB courtyard for everyone to enjoy throughout the summer. It will stay there until the beginning of September, so feel free to use it on a lunch or study break and show off the slackline skills you learned at the party.
Stay safe and have fun!
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| Upcoming events |
CSNOW Trial Study (Schnupperstudium)
The next CSNOW Trial Study for female high-school students will take place from 9 through 13 September. Registration is open until 1 September. The trial study is free of charge and participants get a confirmation of their enrollment that they can use to request a leave of absence at school. The programme includes workshops where participants will get hands-on experience working on a computer science related project, as well as in-person discussions with former and current computer science students. Please help spread the word!
More details |
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| Past events |
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30 years CGL
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| On 28 June, the Computer Graphics Lab founded and led to date by Professor Markus Gross celebrated its 30th anniversary with a colloquium and a reception. Former and current associates of the lab gathered to reflect on CGL's legacy and look to the future. |
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SSRF fellows at CSCS
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| On 12 July, the SSRF fellows visited the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS) near Lugano. Through presentations and a tour of the facility, the visitors learned about this important piece of IT infrastructure for ETH Zurich and Switzerland. Get an impression of the visit by browsing the photo gallery. |
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| Open positions and opportunities |
Data Science Internship with Schwarz IT
Schwarz IT offers three challenges to motivated ETH Zurich working students who want to expand their practical knowledge and skills in the field of computer vision, are interested in AI technologies, and already have knowledge in data science and machine learning. For each challenge, two to four ETH Zurich students are sought. The internships will run from October 2024 through February 2025 in Heilbronn, Germany. Applications are due by 16 August 2024. More information here
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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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| 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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| Fun zone |
Two newsletters ago, we put out a call for the best computer science jokes. Despite trying the classic "turn it off and on again" trick, our inbox remained quiet. Only one brave D-INFK member stepped up and shared a joke. Thank you!
We have added two more below for your enjoyment. If you stumble upon a funny joke later on you'd like to share with the community, don't hesitate to send it our way: |
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The fun zone images are from Reddit
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| Fun summer activity |
Do you know the game Kubb (also known as Viking Chess)? Kubb is a Swedish lawn game played by two teams aiming to knock over wooden blocks (Kubbs). The game is played on a rectangular field, with each team placing five Kubbs on their baseline and the king in the center. Players take turns throwing wooden sticks to knock over the opponent's Kubbs. Knocked-over Kubbs are thrown into the field and must be knocked down before targeting baseline Kubbs again. The first team to knock down all the opponent's Kubbs and then the king wins. The game emphasizes skillful throwing, strategic placement of Kubbs, and good sportsmanship.
Maybe an idea for your next summer outing? |
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| CSNOW Summer Apéro |
| On 8 June, CSNOW organised their traditional summer apéro. About 100 members of our department enjoyed ice cream and refreshing drinks while chatting about CSNOW activities. On behalf of CSNOW, thanks to all who participated, and in particular for your valuable feedback. |
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