ETH Zurich


ETH Zurich is a public university in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 1854, the university primarily teaches and conducts research in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Like its sister institution École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, ETH Zurich is part of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain, a consortium of universities and research institutes under the Swiss Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research., ETH Zurich enrolled 25,380 students from over 120 countries, of which 4,425 were pursuing doctoral degrees.
Students, faculty, and researchers affiliated with ETH Zurich include 22 Nobel laureates, including Albert Einstein, two Fields Medalists, three Pritzker Prize winners, and one Turing Award recipient. It is a founding member of the IDEA League and the International Alliance of Research Universities, as well as a member of CESAER, the League of European Research Universities, and the ENHANCE Alliance.

History

ETH Zurich was founded on 7 February 1854 by the Swiss Confederation and began giving its first lectures on 16 October 1855 as a polytechnic institute at various sites throughout the city of Zurich. It initially consisted of six faculties: architecture, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, chemistry, forestry, and an integrated department for mathematics, natural sciences, literature, and social and political sciences.
Locally, it is still known as Polytechnikum or simply Poly, derived from the original name eidgenössische polytechnische Schule, which translates to "federal polytechnic school".
ETH Zurich is a federal institute under direct administration by the Swiss government. The creation of a new federal university was heavily disputed at the time; liberals advocated for a "federal university," while conservatives wanted universities to remain under cantonal control, fearing an increase in liberal political power. Initially, ETH was co-located in the buildings of the University of Zurich.
From 1905 to 1908, under the presidency of Jérôme Franel, ETH Zurich restructured its course programs to those of a university and was granted the right to award doctorates. The first doctorates were awarded in 1909. In 1911, the institution received its current name, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule. Another reorganization in 1924 structured the university into 12 departments. Today, it has 16 departments.
ETH Zurich, along with EPFL and four associated research institutes, forms the "ETH Domain" to collaborate on scientific projects.

Campus

ETH Zurich has two campuses, namely Zentrum and Hönggerberg. The Zentrum campus grew around the main building, which was constructed 1858–1864 outside and right above the eastern border of the town, but which is nowadays located right in the heart of the city. As the town and university grew, ETH Zurich spread into the surrounding vineyards and later quarters. Because this geographic situation substantially hindered the expansion of ETH Zurich, a new campus was built from 1964 to 1976 on the Hönggerberg, a northern hill in the outskirts of the city. The last major expansion project of this new campus was completed in 2003.

Zentrum campus

The Zentrum campus consists of various buildings and institutions throughout the city of Zurich.
The Zentrum campus houses the:
The main building of ETH Zurich was built from 1858 to 1864 under Gustav Zeuner; the architect, however, was Gottfried Semper, who was a professor of architecture at ETH Zurich at the time and one of the most important architectural writers and theorists of the age. Semper worked in a neoclassical style that was unique to him; and the namesake and architect of the Semperoper in Dresden. It emphasized bold and clear massings with a detailing, such as the rusticated ground level and giant order above, that derived in part from the work of Andrea Palladio and Donato Bramante. During the construction of the University of Zurich, the south wing of the building was allocated to the University until its own new main building was constructed. At about the same time, Semper's ETH Zurich building was enlarged and received its cupola.
The main building stands directly across the street from the University Hospital of Zurich and, right alongside the main building of the University of Zurich.

Hönggerberg campus

The Hönggerberg campus is a more classical university campus, consisting mainly of university buildings and student accommodation.
The Hönggerberg campus houses the:
There is also an ASVZ sports centre which is accessible to all students and faculty, and includes a gym, beach volleyball court, football field, and martial-arts rooms. In 2005, ETH Zurich's 150th anniversary, an extensive project called "Science City" for the Hönggerberg Campus was started with the goal to transform the campus into an attractive district based on the principle of sustainability.

Research and education

Undergraduate education at ETH Zurich is marked by the distinctive Basisprüfungen, intensive first-year examination blocks, typically encompassing foundational subjects in mathematics, physics, and engineering disciplines. These exams serve both as a filter and as preparation for advanced, research-oriented coursework. Students must pass these examinations within two attempts, with failure rates in mathematics-intensive programmes often reaching between 50% and 60%. Doctoral education at ETH emphasizes hands-on research experience, where PhD candidates are hired directly as paid employees in professors' laboratories, conducting independent research and actively contributing to teaching. Many departments further structure doctoral training through thematic graduate schools, promoting collaborative research with multiple advisers and international cooperation, notably with the University of Zurich.
Its research is especially focused on the STEM areas and ETH hosts several research hubs.

ETH AI Center

The ETH AI Center is ETH Zurich's central hub for artificial intelligence research. It is an active member of the European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems, hosting the ELLIS unit in Zurich and offering ELLIS PhD fellowships. Through the Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems, it cooperates closely with the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, jointly funding research and supervising doctoral students.

Swiss National Supercomputing Center

The Swiss National Supercomputing Center is an autonomous organizational unit of the ETH Zurich. It is a national facility based in Lugano-Cornaredo, offering high-performance computing services for Swiss-based scientists. In 2024 it deployed the Alps Supercomputer, existing of over 10,000 H100 Nvidia GPUs, making it one of the largest academic supercomputers in the world.

ETH Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics

The ETH Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics is a physics laboratory located in Science City. It specializes in accelerator mass spectrometry and the use of ion beam based techniques with applications in archeology, earth sciences, life sciences, material sciences and fundamental physics.

Spin-offs

ETH Zurich promotes technology and knowledge transfer through an entrepreneurial ecosystem to foster spin-offs and start-ups. As of 2022, 527 ETH Zurich spin-off companies had been created.

Rankings and reputation

Historically, ETH Zurich has achieved its reputation particularly in the fields of chemistry, mathematics, physics and computer science. There are 22 Nobel laureates who are associated with ETH Zurich, the most recent of whom is Didier Queloz, awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2019. Albert Einstein is perhaps its most famous alumnus.
ETH Zurich is ranked 7th worldwide in the QS World University Rankings 2025, 11th worldwide in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2024, and 20th worldwide in the Academic Ranking of World Universities 2023. ETH Zurich ranked 1st in Europe in the 2025 QS Europe rankings. In the 2023 Nature Index of academic institutions, ETH Zurich ranked 20th worldwide and first in Switzerland.
In the 2024 QS Word University Rankings by subject, ETH Zurich was ranked within the top 10 in the world in architecture, engineering and technology, and the natural sciences. It ranked first worldwide in the earth and marine sciences, geology, and geophysics. In the 2024 THE World University Rankings by subject, it was the top Swiss university in all ranked subjects. In the 2023 ARWU Subject Ranking, the university was ranked within the top 10 worldwide in civil engineering, water resources, environmental engineering, automation, mathematics, earth sciences, and ecology.

Student life

Tuition and financial assistance

Being a public university, the subsidized tuition fees are CHF 730 per semester, regardless of the student's nationality. From the autumn semester 2025, tuition fees for foreign students will be tripled to CHF 2190 per semester. Both merit and need based scholarships are also available.

Student associations

ETH Zurich has well over 100 student associations. Most notable is the VSETH which forms the umbrella organization of all field of study specific student associations and comprises a large variety of committees such as the Student Sustainability Committee and the ETH Model United Nations. The associations regularly organize events with varying size and popularity. Events of the neighboring University of Zurich are well-attended by ETH Zurich students and vice versa.
The largest career fair on campus is the Polymesse which is organized by students in the Forum und Contact committee of VSETH. Many student associations however organize career fairs specifically for the students in their departments. The VSETH is also the official representation of the student body towards the school and has been working with ETH on various projects with the aim of improving the students' experience at ETH. The representation towards the various departments is handled by the respective student associations.
ETH Juniors is another student organization. It forms a bridge between industry and ETH Zurich and offers many services for students and companies alike as a student-led consulting group.