Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
History
The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) is a science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and management university in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. The school was founded by the Swiss Federal Government in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, serve as a national center of excellence in science and technology, and provide a hub for interaction between the scientific community and industry.
ETH Zurich is consistently ranked among the top universities in the world. It is currently ranked as the best university in continental Europe by the QS World University Rankings, and is ranked 8th in the world by the 2021 edition of the QS World University Rankings. It is known for its cutting-edge research in fields such as computer science, physics, and biology.
Academics
ETH Zurich has 16 departments that offer academic programmes and conduct research in various fields. These departments include Architecture, Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, Mechanical and Process Engineering, Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, Biology, Earth Sciences, Mathematics, Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, Health Sciences and Technology, Materials Science, and Humanities, Social and Political Sciences.
The university offers Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral programs. The Bachelor’s degree programs are taught in German, while most Master’s and Doctoral programs are taught in English. The university also offers continuing education programs, which include Executive MBA programs and specialized Master’s programs.
Research
Research at ETH Zurich is highly interdisciplinary and is organized into five focus areas: Natural and Engineering Sciences, System-Oriented Natural Sciences, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Management and Social Sciences, and Humanities and Social Sciences. The university is home to dozens of research institutes and centers, including the Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics, the Institute for Machine Learning, the Institute for Biomedical Engineering, and the Institute for Quantum Electronics.
ETH Zurich is known for its innovation and technological advancements. The university has been the birthplace of many inventions and discoveries that have had a significant impact on the world. These include the invention of the velcro, the discovery of the p-n junction in semiconductors, and the development of the World Wide Web.
Campus
The main building of ETH Zurich was designed by Swiss architect Gottfried Semper and was completed in 1864. The campus has since expanded to include numerous other buildings and facilities, including the ETH Hönggerberg campus, which is located on the outskirts of Zurich and is home to the departments of physics, chemistry, biology, and earth sciences.
The university also has several other facilities and resources for students and researchers, including a library that houses over 7 million items, a supercomputing center, and several museums and collections.
Notable Alumni and Faculty
ETH Zurich has been associated with 21 Nobel laureates, including Albert Einstein and Richard Ernst. Other notable alumni and faculty include John von Neumann, one of the key figures in the development of digital computing; Vladimir Prelog, a Nobel laureate in Chemistry; and Fritz Haber, a Nobel laureate in Chemistry known for his work on the Haber-Bosch process.