From high-speed electric cars to ETH in space

In transferring knowledge and technology, ETH Zurich is a key driver of Switzerland’s innovation capacity and prosperity. This year, the university was again involved in the launch of numerous start-ups, including aiEndoscopic. This ETH spin-off built a device that uses robotics and artificial intelligence to make intubations for artificial respiration simpler and safer.

In 2023, ETH researchers also developed a range of technologies that benefit society and industry. These include a new self-repairing and reusable corrosion-protection material for buildings and vehicles; smart running leggings that use a textile sensor to detect the wearer’s exhaustion level during physical exertion; a new seismic risk model that shows where and how earthquakes will affect people and buildings; and a fire simulator for testing timber components under realistic conditions.

What’s more, a consortium of partners from science and industry led by ETH Zurich showed that it’s possible to capture CO₂ from the atmosphere and store it either in recycled concrete or in geological reservoirs. ETH Zurich also teamed up with the EPFL to launch two initiatives: a green energy coalition to push solutions for storing and transporting renewable energy carriers; and the Swiss AI Initiative. The goal of the latter is to position Switzerland as a leading hub for transparent and reliable artificial intelligence.

Collaboration across research disciplines and with national and international partners leads to a more fruitful search for solutions to the problems of today and tomorrow. In this vein, in 2023 ETH Zurich and the UN confirmed the launch of a new partnership. In the future, ETH researchers will make their expertise more available to the UN, including in the areas of conflict research, development cooperation and food security. And thanks to a sizeable donation from the Dieter Schwarz Foundation, ETH is planning to establish a new teaching and research centre in Heilbronn. Over the next 30 years, 20 new professorships will be created.

In the field of medical research, scientists from ETH and the University Hospital Zurich developed a fully automated test method for multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer. They are using this method to discover which treatment options provide the best outcome. Meanwhile, ETH material scientists were working with colleagues from Nanyang Technological University Singapore. In the future, they want to use chicken feathers to produce a membrane for fuel cells and thus generate electricity.

ETH Zurich is going to expand its space research activities and its collaboration with the space industry and launch a new interdisciplinary Master’s programme for space science and technology. NASA’s former Science Director Thomas Zurbuchen has been recruited to lead «ETH Zurich Space». Together with partners from the space industry, ETH researchers are already working on broadband internet communication using lasers and satellites.

ETH Zurich is also accomplished at conducting fundamental research. In 2023, several studies generated a buzz, expanded the store of knowledge and laid the foundation for future discoveries.

For example, ETH researchers proved that Mars’s crust is twice as thick as Earth’s. Another team of researchers think it is possible that urea may have played a key role in the emergence of life on Earth. Two other research teams discovered indications that climate change is exacerbating itself: on a warmer and drier planet Earth, microorganisms in the soil will produce considerably more CO₂ and release it into the atmosphere than they do today. At the same time, plants in tropical rainforests will absorb far less CO₂.

Then there was another Schrödinger’s cat: in quantum physics, superpositions can be alive and dead at the same time. This year, ETH researchers created the heaviest Schrödinger’s cat to date.

Bacteria are all about survival: biomedical scientists clarified why different strains of Salmonella can colonise the human gut. The bacteria exchange genetic information that makes them resistant to antibiotics. And finally, ETH bioengineers developed designer cells that could one day supply insulin to diabetics. What triggers these cells to release insulin? Rock music.