News & Events

Ananya Amitabh is 21 and studying for a Master’s degree in quantum engineering at ETH Zurich. She is impressed by the diversity and top level of quantum research conducted here. In the video, she explains why she chose this path, how she strikes a balance between her studies, karate and music, and why she thinks more women should opt for technical degree programmes. 

How and where does life originate in the universe? How can physical phenomena be measured with the highest precision? How is Switzerland handling increasing climate and weather extremes? Three new National Centres of Competence in Research (NCCRs), awarded to ETH Zurich and its partner universities, seek to answer these questions.

Researchers at ETH Zurich and the University of Basel have succeeded in changing the polarity of a special ferromagnet using a laser beam. In the future, this method could be used to create adaptable electronic circuits with light.    

Researchers at ETH Zurich have shown, for the first time with very high time and spatial resolution, that electrons in certain two-dimensional materials only follow the motion of the atomic nuclei with a delay. This insight could lead to the development of novel electronic devices in the future.

In part two of the interview marking the 100th anniversary of quantum mechanics, ETH Professor Klaus Ensslin explains why quantum technology is developing at such a rapid pace at the moment and why Switzerland needs to make an effort if it doesn’t want to be left behind. 

Three quantum researchers were presented with the Nobel Prize in Stockholm on 10 December. Meanwhile, this year marked the centenary of quantum mechanics as a field of research. In this two-part interview, ETH Professor Klaus Ensslin looks back at its beginnings and talks about where the technology is headed. 

Even large objects with several hundred million atoms can exhibit quantum mechanical behaviour – without cooling and at room temperature, as researchers at ETH Zurich have shown. This yields exciting potential for new technologies.

In 2019, ETH Zurich launched one of the world’s first Master’s degrees in Quantum Engineering. Since then, interest in the programme has soared – and its first graduates are already making their mark in industry.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a method that makes it easier to study interactions between electrons in a material. Using a moiré material consisting of twisted atomic layers they created an artificial crystal lattice in a neighbouring material.