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| Furry greetings |
Dear members of our department,
Woof woof! I'm Duke, the tail-wagging furball of joy, and I'm thrilled to the tip of my wet nose to be barking at you today on behalf of the head honcho of your pack—I mean department. The big boss is off sniffing out new trails on well-deserved holidays, and guess what? He's tossed me the bone to pen this editorial. Pawsome, right?
In June, we had a howling good time at our department staff paw-ty. Oh boy, oh boy, it was a smorgasbord of new sniffs, each one a tail-twitching delight, mixing in the air like a bunch of newborn puppies on bone marrow pills. My little nose was working overtime! The theme was a real treat: With the Summer Olympics in Paris chasing our tails, you humans were all about fetching those shiny medals. I could sniff out the scents of ambition and camaraderie stronger than my mate Lossy the Squirrel on a sunny day. A big, slobbery lick of thanks to everyone who came and to the bipeds who put it all together!
Now, I've got my ears perked up because we're digging into the thick of the exam period. I know you students will be up to your oxters chewing on your books; I'm wagging my tail in support! Just a wee bit of advice: studying is like gnawing on a big bone—you have to tackle it in bits and take plenty of breaks to stretch those legs and, most importantly, toss a ball or frisbee for your four-legged study buddy to catch. Trust me, it's a barking good strategy!
Keep your nebs to the ground and scamper through the rest of this newsletter for all the latest yaps and yips from the department. Sure, I get a little misty-eyed thinking about the good old days of fetching the paper with that inky smell, but I have to admit, I still get a kick out of watching that READ.ME pop up each month on my loyal human's magic light box.
Stay pawsitive and keep those tails wagging!
Duke
Title image: Staff Party 2024
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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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Niao He joins the Executive Board
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| Professor Niao He has been elected member of the department's Executive Board. She replaces Olga Sorkine-Hornung who stepped down recently after serving for eight years. Congratulations on this new role, Niao! |
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Welcome, new affiliated faculty
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| Three professors have recently joined our department as new affiliated faculty members: Lana Josipović (D-ITET), Helmut Bölcskei (D-ITET) and Bernd Bickel (D-ARCH). We look forward to working with you! |
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New role for Thilo Spinner
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| Thilo was promoted to postdoc in Professor Menna El-Assady's IVIA lab. He joined Menna's group from the University of Konstanz as a research engineer in January. He is responsible for building a microservice-based infrastructure for a wide range of projects. His research focuses on visual, interactive methods for debugging neural networks. Well done, Thilo! |
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Matthias Miller promoted
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Matthias was promoted to postdoc in the IVIA Lab of Professor Menna El-Assady. He joined the lab from the University of Konstanz as a research associate last October. His research focuses on visual analytics for high-dimensional data with a specific focus on visual exploration of digital sheet music. Congratulations, Matthias! |
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Welcome, Yi-Chi Liao
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Yi-Chi has started his new position as a postdoctoral researcher in the SIP Lab, led by Professor Christian Holz. Yi has been granted an ETH Zurich Postdoctoral Fellowship for two years. In his research, he wants to develop future design framework based on simulation and optimisation. It’s great to have you on board, Yi-Chi! |
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Welcome, Elena Frantzis
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| Elena joined the Game Technology Center and the Media Technology Center as center operations coordinator.
For the past seven years, she worked at the University of Zurich, in the Directorate for Real Estate and Facility Management, focusing on
event management besides fulfilling content management and administrative duties. Have a good start, Elena!
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Farewell, Fábio Porfírio
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| After seven years at D-INFK, working at the Game Technology Center and the Media Technology Center, Fábio has moved to D-ARCH. He now serves as operations and administrative manager at the Professorship for Computational Design led by Prof. Bernd Bickel and as the Event Manager for the Design++ initiative. All the best in your new role, Fábio! |
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Welcome, Carole Hamer
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| Carole joined the Software Developers team in June as a System Engineer. She has a Ph.D. in Mathematics and over 20 years of experience in software engineering and DevOps at tech firms in the US, France, and Switzerland. She will support the group in developing and preparing the infrastructure for the challenges ahead. Welcome on board, Carole! |
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| Welcome, SSRF fellows |
| On 1 July, we will welcome 20 fellows from all over the world who will start their journey of two months in our department as part of the Summer School Research Fellowship. They will have the unique opportunity to pursue a research project in a group of their choice, attend social events and explore ETH and Switzerland. Enjoy your time here! |
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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 takes 7th place again in QS ranking |
| ETH Zurich maintains its excellent ranking from the previous year in the QS rankings. Alongside top scores for its academic reputation and international outlook, the university’s efforts in the area of sustainability have also helped it to retain seventh place. The faculty-student ratio remains the indicator in which the university scores lowest. |
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| Fritz Kutter Prize |
| Every year, ETH Zurich awards a cash prize from the Fritz Kutter Fund to honour valuable practice-oriented computer science theses. The prize can be given to graduates from any Swiss university. Please note that submissions can only be made by professors. Deadline: September 24, 2024. |
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| Stories of the month |
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"If you survive this, then nothing will stop you"
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Professor Niao He
In this series of interviews, we talk to three people who chose to become professors after studying computer science. In the second part, Niao He talks about the challenges of academia, what it means for her to be a good teacher, and how being an assistant professor has boosted her self-confidence. |
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SPY Lab researchers first to ever peek into ChatGPT’s black box
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Professor Florian Tramèr
A team from the SPY Lab led by Professor Florian Tramèr along with external collaborators managed to extract undisclosed information on the size of the large language model behind ChatGPT. They responsibly disclosed the results to OpenAI who implemented countermeasures. |
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How top-flight researchers draw global companies to Switzerland
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| Professor Marc Pollefeys
Marc Pollefeys' collaboration with Microsoft in the area of mixed reality is cited in the latest edition of the ETH Globe magazine as an example of how ETH's excellent reputation attracts top-notch researchers to Zurich, which in turn raises the city's allure for global technology companies. |
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| Tips of the month |
Whims of the weather aside, we're now past the equinox and have therefore offcially entered the astronomical summer season in the Northern Hemisphere. So, here are a couple of tips to help you enjoy the hopefully sunny days.
Culinary delights at the top
For a special occasion or just to let loose: the restaurant Berg 8044 is a gem. You will find yourself sitting in a meadow and getting treated to international delicacies in a special atmosphere. Restaurant Berg 8044
Handcrafted cuisine in an urban forest
The restaurant Ziegelhütte cultivates a cuisine that is both handcrafted and sophisticated in its simplicity. Everything is made in-house, sourced regionally and from suppliers who care about sustainable agriculture. Wirtschaft Ziegelhütte
For Latin dancers
This summer will be hot again with the traditional Caliente Festival and Latin music icons such as Dominican Juan Luis Guerra and Puerto Rican Gilberto Santa Rosa rocking the dance floors. Caliente Festival Tickets Juan Luis Guerra Tickets Gilberto Santa Rosa
Xenix Open-air cinema
17 films to choose from, ranging from an anime classic to the 90s pop version of Romeo and Juliet, a newly restored film by Alfred Hitchcock, road movies from Iran and the US, two previews and the classic Cinema Paradiso to rund it off. See full programme
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| Upcoming events |
Colloquium: Celebrating 30 Years of Computer Graphics Lab, 28 June, 13.00 – 16.00, HG D 1.1
The event will feature multiple short presentations where CGL alumni will reflect on their time at ETH. They will also discuss their journeys and career paths after leaving CGL, highlighting the impact of their time at the laboratory on their professional development. Join us for this celebratory event as we look back in time and honour the achievements and legacy of CGL.
Read more
CSNOW Summer Apéro, 8 July, from 16.00, CAB Inner Courtyard
It's almost time for the yearly CSNOW Summer Apéro, the perfect study break during the exam phase! There will be ice cream and drinks, all for free of course, so drop by, bring your friends and hang out! No registration needed.
Learn more
Presentation: AI in Financial Services, 10 July, 17.00 – 20.00, OAT S 16 ETH AI Center
Register
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| Past events - Staff party and more |
| We were pleased to see so many staff members join in and celebrate. Due to high demand, we have compiled the ranking list for you, including team results at the individual stations and the answers to the quizzes. There is also a video with some highlights and a photo gallery. |
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Results
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| Take a look at your ranking and results. PS: You are all winners! |
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Video
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| Relive all the fun and excitement we experienced together in this short video. Password: StaffParty2024 |
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Photo gallery
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| For those who prefer to scroll through still images, we have put together a photo gallery. Password: StaffParty2024 |
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| Visit from KS Schaffhausen |
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| On 20 June, we hosted a class from the grammar school Kantonsschule Schaffhausen. In a workshop, the students learned about the technology behind a small social network and how to exploit a security vulnerability to get unauthorised access to a user's account. Thanks to doctoral student Sven Grübel from the Algorithms and Didactics group for conducting the workshop! |
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Standing ovation at STIU 2024
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| This year's edition of the Swiss Day for Computer Science in Education (STIU) featured the motto “Grundlagen(fach) Informatik”. Teachers from Switzerland and abroad exchanged ideas on how to make computer science more engaging for high school students. The event, held on 12 June, served to honour distinguished computer science educators like Prof. em. Walter Gander and hosted the Swiss computer science contest Informatikbiber. |
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| Open positions and opportunities |
New York Security Challenge 2024
ETH Studio New York is looking for five ETH students to join Bloomberg's CTO office in New York for a three-day security challenge. Deadline for applications is 3 July. Full details.
Supervise Swiss ICT Talents in New York City
TIE International enables Swiss ICT talents a four-week work assignment in New York City. You will supervise the apprentices while they work on real customer projects. Apply by 31 August. Details here.
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Fulbright Specialist Program 2025
Invite an expert from the US for 2 to 6 weeks to your group for lecturing, curriculum development and so much more. Submit your proposals by 30 September 2024 to benefit from full funding. Details here
CYD Fellowships
Call open for proposals for the CYD fellowships, jointly launched by EPFL with the Cyber-Defence (CYD) Campus with the aim to promote research and innovation in cyber-defence. A diverse range of fellowship opportunities are now open in Switzerland aimed at Master's, doctoral and postdoctoral researchers as well as future entrepreneurs. An online Applicant Workshop will be held on 9 July 2024 (11-11:45 CEST). For more information contact the EPFL Research Office or visit the CYD Fellowships website here.
James Dyson Award 2024
The James Dyson Award is accepting nominations from students or recent graduates who wish to "design something that solves a problem". The competition is open to students and alumni in industrial design, engineering, or mechanical engineering, who work on projects in areas such as health, transportation, medicine, nutrition, among others. Winners will receive public recognition along with a cash prize – CHF 5,500 for national winners and CHF 33,000 for international winners. The deadline for submissions is July 17, 2024. Details here.
Become a teaching assistant
CSNOW, the Network of Women in Computer Science is looking for new student teaching assistants (TAs) for next semester. If you are interested in joining the team, please send an email to Sonia Lagunacillero or Kristina Hostakova with the subject “CSNOW Team Member Candidacy”. They are looking forward to hearing from you!
More information on CSNOW 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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| 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 |
Last month, we put out a call for your best computer science jokes, and the response was... underwhelming. We received exactly one submission. That's right, one. Are computer scientists secretly humorless? Are CS jokes just too niche? Or were you all too busy debugging at the end of the semester?
We refuse to believe that you are all cool coding cats without a funny bone. So, we are giving it another shot! Don’t keep your geeky giggles and techie tickles to yourself - share them with us and the rest of the community! |
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| Health tips for the exam period |
| The learning and exam period can be quite stressful. We have a few simple tips for you that might help. Good luck! |
| • | | Stay hydrated: Especially in the morning, when your kidneys are most active, you should ingest at least 250ml of water each hour.
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| • | | Get sufficient sleep: Good sleep is crucial for physical and mental performance. Try to go to bed before midnight and get up at about the same time each day. Also, go out in the early morning and shortly before sunset. That sunlight exposure will set your circadian clock and help with better sleep.
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| • | | Eat a healthy diet: Avoid ultra-processed foods and sugary drinks and make sure you get enough protein as well as micronutrients from veggies. |
| • | | Take breaks: Don't strain your brain with protracted study sessions. Going for walks in the forest or by a body of water will help you come up with fresh ideas for solving tough tasks. |
| • | | Exercise: This should be a no-brainer: Keeping your body fit will boost your mood, memory and attention. Remember the ASVZ slogan: For brain, body and soul. Sign up for a class now!
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