News
Cyber Valley: “The place to be”
- 25 February 2021
According to the state of Baden-Württemberg’s recent statistics, there are already more than 180 professorships for artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics at the state’s universities. This puts Baden-Württemberg ahead of all other German states, according to a government press release. Photo credit: © Jens Hilberger/Adobe Stock Images
CLS2021 Selection Symposium
- 26 January 2021
The CLS2021 Selection Symposium took place on Monday, 25 January and Tuesday, 26 January, 2021. Thirty candidates for the doctoral training program of the Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems (CLS) presented scientific talks and met with members of the CLS community in a completely online event.
Spin-off receives USD 2.8 million for trustworthy AI
- 20 January 2021
The ETH researchers behind LatticeFlow are aiming to facilitate a new generation of trustworthy artificial intelligence (AI). Professor Andreas Krause is part of the team.
Professor Olga Sorkine-Hornung named ACM Fellow
- 18 January 2021
D-INFK Professor Olga Sorkine-Hornung has been named an ACM Fellow for her contributions to digital geometry processing, computer animation, computer graphics and visual computing.
Research team receives 1.5 million euros to develop algorithms that learn with child-like curiosity
- 13 January 2021
The grant is part of a Volkswagen Foundation funding program that aims at establishing an interdisciplinary network of experts in the field of self-learning AI. Georg Martius, leader of the independent Autonomous Learning research group at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, is part of the team.
A real “gamechanger” for AI in the next decade
- 17 December 2020
The German Federal government and the State of Baden-Württemberg have announced plans to significantly increase their support for Tübingen as a location for excellence in AI research and innovation. In the years to come, several hundred million euros will be earmarked for research and development in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) – including 100 million euros from the Hector Stiftung, a foundation founded and run by SAP co-founder Hans-Werner Hector. Among other things, the money will support “Hector Endowed ELLIS Fellowships” for outstanding researchers in machine learning and related fields. “The German government will continue to support AI research as well as the transfer to application intensively,” said Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday at a virtual event that marked the launch of the AI Breakthrough Hub.
ERC Consolidator Grant for Olga Sorkine-Hornung
- 10 December 2020
One might think that fashion and computer science have nothing in common. Olga Sorkine-Hornung and her team at the Interactive Geometry Lab (Institute of Visual Computing) prove the opposite. One of their research missions is to find out how tailor-made, fashionable garments can be designed on a computer in a way that they precisely fit individual body measurements. Sorkine-Hornung's ERC project is aimed at the development of novel mathematical models for garments and next-gen computer-aided design tools for professionals in the textile and garment industry.
Grand Hamdan Award for Brad Nelson
- 10 December 2020
Brad Nelson, ETH Professor of Robotics and Intelligent Systems at the Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering (D-MAVT), receives the Grand Hamdan International Award for his research on nanorobots for healthcare.
Welcome, Professor Niao He
- 09 December 2020
Niao He joined the Department of Computer Science at ETH Zurich as Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Data Science. Get to know her in a short interview.
Representatives of the Swiss border cantons visit Cyber Valley
- 20 November 2020
As part of a virtual government meeting with the state of Baden-Württemberg on November 20, the seven Swiss border cantons of Aargau, Basel-Stadt, Basel-Landschaft, Schaffhausen, St. Gallen, Thurgau and Zurich visited Cyber Valley.
Cyber Valley institutions again among Germany’s top ranked at NeurIPS
- 10 November 2020
With 31 accepted papers, researchers from the Cyber Valley ecosystem are set to make a strong showing once again at the upcoming 34th Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS). In light of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the world’s leading conference for machine learning is going to be held online from December 6 to 12.
Online PhD application to join in 2021 has closed
- 03 November 2020
The online application phase to join the CLS doctoral training program in 2021 has ended. Missing references that arrive by 9:00 am CET on Wednesday, 4 November will be accepted.
New centre for AI research opens at ETH Zurich
- 20 October 2020
ETH Zurich is opening a new research centre for artificial intelligence. A core team of initially 29 professorships, a new executive director and a Fellowship programme aim to promote interdisciplinary research into this key technology. Photograph: ETH Zurich / ETH AI Center.
Alexis E. Block and HuggieBot in the News
- 20 October 2020
Alexis's PhD research work developing HuggieBot is featured in an article in The New York Times: "When We Can Hug Again, Will We Remember How It Works? How to navigate when you should and shouldn’t hug someone — and how not to hold on too long". It will be in print in the science section of the paper today.
Bernhard Schölkopf wins German AI Innovation Prize
- 19 October 2020
WELT hat am Donnerstag, 1. Oktober 2020, den Zweiten „Deutschen KI-Preis“ verliehen und damit bahnbrechende Leistungen auf dem Gebiet der Künstlichen Intelligenz gewürdigt. Bei Axel Springer kamen führende Persönlichkeiten aus Politik, Forschung, Wirtschaft sowie der Tech– und Start-up-Szene zusammen. Die Preisverleihung fand aufgrund der Corona-Krise in einer hybriden Form statt, viele weitere Gäste konnten per Live-Stream die Veranstaltung verfolgen. Foto Credit: Viviane Wild.
Two weeks to go: PhD application to join in 2021
- 19 October 2020
The online application phase to join the CLS doctoral training program in 2021 is running. Applications must be complete by November 2, 2020.
Machine Learning in Medicine: ETH-Podcast with Julia Vogt and Fanny Yang
- 01 October 2020
In the ETH-Podcast the two computer scientists Julia Vogt and Fanny Yang talk about what drew them to their field and why machines will never replace human beings in the medical field.
CLS Alumnus Felix Berkenkamp receives ELLIS Ph.D. Award 2020
- 30 September 2020
The annual ELLIS Ph.D. Awards are sponsored by the Kühborth Stiftung GmbH and have been established to recognize and encourage outstanding research achievements during the dissertation phase of outstanding students working in the field of artificial intelligence and machine learning including related fields such as computer vision and robotics. From a set of very strong nominations, an international committee of renowned experts chose the following scholars as ELLIS Ph.D. Award winners: Felix Berkenkamp (Bosch Center for Artificial Intelligence, Germany) and Gül Varol (INRIA & Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris, France). Felix Berkenkamp carried out his PhD at the Learning & Adaptive Systems Group at ETH Zurich, advised by CLS member Andreas Krause, and is a former CLS associate doctoral fellow.
Gary Bécigneul from Hofmann group defends
- 30 September 2020
First Full CLS Doctoral Fellow completes program
New associate member Daniel Razansky
- 28 September 2020
Daniel Razansky is a Full Professor for Biomedical Imaging in the Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering at ETH Zurich. He leads the Functional and Molecular Imaging research group at the Institute for Biomedical Engineering (IBT). Welcome!
New associate member Robert Katzschmann
- 21 September 2020
Robert Katzschmann is an Assistant Professor of Robotics in the Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering at ETH Zurich, where he leads the Soft Robotics Lab. Welcome!
ELLIS inaugurates 30 research units at leading institutions across Europe
- 16 September 2020
At a virtual event on Tuesday, the European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems presented the broad scope of research its units will cover in the field of modern AI. Units in Zurich and Tübingen are included amongst the first 30.
Christoph Keplinger, new Director for Robotic Materials at MPI-IS, joins CLS
- 14 September 2020
The Max Planck Society has appointed Christoph Keplinger as a director at the Stuttgart location of the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS). He will lead the newly established “Robotic Materials” department to pursue research on soft robotics, functional polymers and energy capture – three interrelated areas that are critical to robotic materials, a new class of material systems that tightly integrate actuation, sensing and even computation to provide physical building blocks for the intelligent systems of the future. We are pleased to welcome Christoph Keplinger as a member of CLS faculty.
New associate member Stelian Coros
- 10 September 2020
Stelian Coros is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at ETH Zurich, where he leads the Computational Robotics Lab (CRL). Welcome!
Stefan Bauer elected CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar
- 13 August 2020
The research group leader at the MPI-IS is one of thirteen early-career researchers that have been elected. He will join the “Learning in Machines & Brains“ CIFAR research program.
Open now: PhD application to join in 2021
- 10 August 2020
Our recruitment round for CLS doctoral fellows wishing to join in 2021 has opened. Apply online by November 2, 2020.
CLS Senior Fellow Peter Dayan
- 10 August 2020
Prof. Dr. Peter Dayan, Director of the Department for Computational Neuroscience at the MPI for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen, has joined our Center as a CLS Senior Fellow. Peter Dayan has long worked at the interface between natural and engineered systems for learning and choice, and is also regarded as a pioneer in the field of Artificial Intelligence.
Bernt Schiele joins as CLS Senior Fellow
- 09 August 2020
We welcome Prof. Dr. Bernt Schiele, Director of the Computer Vision and Machine Learning Department at the Max Planck Institute for Informatics in Saarbrücken, who joins our Center as a CLS Senior Fellow. His research currently focuses on two main areas: computer vision and multimodal sensor processing.
New CLS faculty members at ETH Zurich
- 03 August 2020
Five researchers from four different departments at ETH Zurich join our body of CLS faculty members: Afonso Bandeira (D-MATH), Caroline Uhler (D-BSSE), Klaas Prüssmann and Fisher Yu (both D-ITET), and David Steurer (D-INFK). Welcome!
Prof. Florian Dörfler receives prestigious awards
- 16 July 2020
Florian Dörfler, Professor at the Automatic Control Laboratory (IFA), has received the IFAC Manfred Thoma Medal and the EUCA European Control Award. Both prizes are awarded to scientists under 40.
Sebastian Trimpe appointed full professor at RWTH Aachen University
- 10 July 2020
The Cyber Valley research group leader has taken on the “Data Science in Mechanical Engineering” chair
Prof. Andreas Krause receives ICML Test of Time Award
- 02 July 2020
The International Conference on Machine Learning award committee has recognized Prof. Andreas Krause and his collaborators with a Test of Time Award for the paper "Gaussian Process Optimization in the Bandit Setting: No Regret and Experimental Design".
Hollywood honours Markus Gross
- 01 July 2020
Markus Gross, Professor of Computer Graphics at ETH Zurich, has accepted to join the Academy as a “Member-at-Large”. The invitation recognizes Markus Gross’s leadership of DisneyResearch|Studios, the most impactful research organization in the film business. It is also based on his scientific and technical contributions that led to leading creative tools for the crafts involved in the creation of the theatrical motion picture experience. Photo credit: DisneyResearch|Studios Zurich.
Julian Nubert receives Willi Studer Prize
- 01 July 2020
Julian Nubert will receive two honours for his outstanding performance in the Master’s degree programme in Robotics, Systems and Control at the Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering (D-MAVT), ETH Zurich.
New Ph.D. representives
- 29 June 2020
The CLS doctoral training program has new student representatives. Taking on this role as of July 1st, 2020 are Olga Mineeva, Kamil Adamczewski and Cathrin Elich.
Machine learning summer school (MLSS) 2020 in Tuebingen opens
- 29 June 2020
Machine learning summer schools present topics which are at the core of modern Machine Learning, from fundamentals to state-of-the-art practice. MLSS 2020 will be a virtual event between 28 June to 10 July 2020. Most lectures will be live-streamed on YouTube, depending on the speaker's agreement.
Nucleus of artificial intelligence in Europe
- 26 June 2020
The Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems has established itself as an address for AI research and the promotion of young scientists. "We answer pressing questions that arise today," says its co-director Thomas Hofmann.
Michael J. Black awarded “test of time” prize at CVPR 2020
- 16 June 2020
Michael J. Black has been awarded the 2020 Longuet-Higgins Prize at the IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR). The prize is awarded annually by the IEEE Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence (PAMI) Technical Committee for “Contributions in Computer Vision that Have Withstood the Test of Time.” It recognizes CVPR papers from ten years ago that have made a significant impact on computer vision research.
ETH Zurich remains the top-ranked university in continental Europe
- 15 June 2020
ETH Zurich held its sixth place in the new QS World University Ranking. According to QS, it remains the top-ranked university in continental Europe, confirming its position among the leading universities worldwide.
Prof. Joachim Buhmann shares SACMAT Test of Time Award
- 12 June 2020
Professors David Basin and Joachim Buhmann as well as former doctoral student Mario Frank have received the Symposium on Access Control Models and Technologies (SACMAT) Test of Time Award.
Metin Sitti appointed Affiliated Professor of Physical Intelligence at ETH Zurich
- 01 June 2020
Metin Sitti, Director at the MPI-IS and deputy Co-Director in CLS, has been newly appointed as Affiliated Professor of Physical Intelligence in the Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, starting on June 1st, 2020. According to ETH “the appointment of Metin Sitti is of strategic significance because of ETH Zurich’s commitment to medical and health technology and its investment in the most up-to-date imaging procedures”.
Research beacons MPI-IS and ETH Zurich strengthen cooperation
- 27 May 2020
Both world class research institutions in the field of intelligent systems have agreed to continue their research partnership, the Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems, for a further five years. Meanwhile, senior scientists from the MPI-IS have been appointed as Affiliated Professors at ETH, intensifying the academic exchange.
ELLIS against Covid-19
- 20 May 2020
The world is facing a public health emergency caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. We all need to take this on, and science can make a major contribution. This online workshop hosted by the ELLIS Society presents projects on how to tackle Covid-19 using methods of machine learning and AI, carried out by leading international researchers. Research topics include outbreak prediction, epidemiological modelling, drug development, viral and host genome sequencing, and health care management.
Seeing each other in times of Covid
- 22 April 2020
Markus Gross is convinced that there are better technologies available than today's video conference systems. The key technology is developing at a rapid pace – but not fast enough.
How robots can help fight pandemics
- 09 April 2020
Robots allow people to interact with each other without physical contact. This means they can protect us from infectious diseases, which has been given too little consideration in robotics, says Brad Nelson.
Marloes Maathuis: Van Dantzig Award
- 18 March 2020
We are very pleased to announce that Professor Marloes Maathuis has been awarded the 2020 Van Dantzig Award. This prize is considered the highest Dutch award in statistics and operations research and is awarded once every five years.
International Women's Day - interview with Prof. Julia Vogt
- 09 March 2020
In light of International Women's Day 2020, ETH Zurich puts successful women centre stage. Read about Prof. Julia Vogt, tenure track assistant professor of medical data science, in this article.
Bernhard Schölkopf receives Frontiers of Knowledge Award
- 19 February 2020
The BBVA Foundation recognizes Schölkopf for his work that has advanced the field of artificial intelligence by teaching machines the human skill of classifying data
Prof. Benjamin Grewe selected as Leshner Fellow
- 17 February 2020
Prof. Benjaman Grewe of the Institute of Neuroinformatics has been selected as Leshner Fellow in the area of artificial intelligence by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Peer Fischer appointed Visiting Professor
- 03 February 2020
Peer Fischer has been appointed visiting Professor at the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), South Korea.
Welcome, Professor Fanny Yang
- 28 January 2020
Fanny Yang officially joined the Department of Computer Science at ETH Zurich in January 2020 as Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Computer Science. Get to know her in this short interview.
Professor Siyu Tang joins the Department of Computer Science of ETH Zurich
- 28 January 2020
Siyu Tang officially joined the Department of Computer Science of ETH Zurich in January 2020 as Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Computer Vision. Get to know her in this short interview.
"Our goal is to develop safe autonomous cars"
- 07 January 2020
In our interview, Prof. Luc Van Gool, head of the Computer Vision Lab (CVL), explains how it has become much easier for a machine to recognize the content of an image in the last decade and how autonomous driving might be pushed forward over the next years.
17 ELLIS units across 10 European countries and Israel established
- 11 December 2019
The European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems (ELLIS) is a pan-European effort initiated in 2018 to foster European research excellence in machine learning and related fields. It aims to offer European researchers outstanding opportunities to carry out their research in Europe, and to nurture the next generation of European young researchers in this field of strategic importance. Its goal is to enable Europe to be competitive in modern AI and benefit from positive economic and societal impact. Today, ELLIS announces the establishment of the first 17 ELLIS units across 10 European countries and Israel. The list of directors of ELLIS units includes CLS researchers such as Thomas Hofmann, Bernhard Schölkopf and Luc van Gool.
Peer Fischer delivers Distinguished Lecture at CeNSE
- 26 November 2019
Peer delivers the CMTI lecture as part of the Distinguished Lecture Series of the Centre for Nano Science and Engineering (CeNSE), at the Indian Institute of Science.
Andreas Geiger selected as Top 40 under 40
- 21 November 2019
Andreas Geiger has been selected as top 40 under 40 by the capital magazine. The prices are given to the most important talents from economy, politics, science und society that influence the country and have been awarded at the Google headquarters in Berlin.
Prof. Markus Gross inducted into the IEEE Visualization Academy
- 29 October 2019
Prof. Markus Gross is among the thirty-two computer visualisation leaders who have been inducted into the IEEE Visualization Academy. The Academy recognises individuals who have made substantial contributions to the field of visualisation.
New Microsoft research laboratory collaborates with ETH Zurich
- 03 October 2019
These days, Microsoft officially opens a lab in Zurich dedicated to researching mixed reality technologies and artificial intelligence. The software company is working closely with ETH Zurich. ETH News spoke with the director of the new research and development lab, ETH Professor Marc Pollefeys (Photograph: ETH Zurich / Giulia Marthaler).
Prof. Andreas Krause amongst the Digital Shapers 2019
- 26 September 2019
How can machines learn within complex settings? This is one of the key question of Prof. Andreas Krause's research. The computer science professor leads the Learning & Adaptive Systems Group at ETH. He also serves as Academic Co-Director of the Swiss Data Science Center. Together with his colleagues, he tries to shape algorithms in a way that self-learning systems function reliably in an unstructured environment.
Andreas Geiger receives a Starting Grant of the European Research Council (ERC)
- 23 September 2019
The MPI-IS group leader and professor at the University of Tübingen will receive a grant of some 1.47 million euros for his "LEGO 3D" project. Photo credit: Annette Cardinale
Klaas Enno Stephan: "The human being is always at the centre of our research"
- 16 September 2019
Portrait interview with Klaas Enno Stephan, Deputy Head of Department at D-ITET and Professor at the Institute for Biomedical Engineering (IBT) of ETH and the University of Zurich. He talks about his cooperative working environment, explains how mathematical models might help to find the right therapies for psychiatric diseases and how his research contributes to building bridges between medicine and engineering.
Cathrin Elich receives DAGM Best Master Thesis Award
- 13 September 2019
Cathrin Elich received this year's DAGM Best Master thesis award at the GCPR 2019 conference for her thesis "3D Birds-Eye-View Instance Segmentation" which she wrote at RWTH Aachen University. Cathrin joined CLS as a PhD Fellow in April 2019 under the supervision of Dr. Joerg Stueckler (Embodied Vision Group, MPI-IS) and co-supervised by Marc Pollefeys (Computer Vision and Geometry lab - ETH Zurich).
ERC Starting Grant for Marco Hutter
- 03 September 2019
Marco Hutter, Professor at the Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems specialises in developing quadrupedal robots, some of which can operate autonomously. In his ERC project, he aims to apply new machine learning methods to enhance the robots’ mobility and prepare them for autonomous locomotion in extremely difficult terrain. In the future, these robots could take over dirty and dangerous tasks for humans, for example in disaster areas, sewers and mines, or on offshore platforms.
Quiz: Artificial intelligence at ETH
- 03 September 2019
Artificial intelligence will continue to have an ever greater impact on our lives in the years to come. We show in our quiz what AI can already do right now on the occasion of the national Digital Day.
Prof. Andreas Krause wins ACM SIGKDD Test of Time award
- 22 August 2019
Prof. Andreas Krause and five further authors were honoured with lifetime achievement in their approach to outbreak detection, featured in their research paper "Cost-Effective Outbreak Detection in Networks".
Isabel Valera appointed Group Leader of the new independent Probabilistic Learning Group
- 16 August 2019
The award-winning scientist specializes in research aiming to make machine learning methods more flexible, robust, and fair. Photo credit: Alejandro Posada
Prof. Markus Gross selected as member of the ACM SIGGRAPH Academy
- 13 August 2019
The ACM SIGGRAPH Academy honours Prof. Markus Gross with a membership for his contributions in computer graphics and interactive techniques.
Siyu Tang appointed Tenure-track Assistant Professor at ETH Zurich
- 26 July 2019
Siyu Tang will join ETH Zurich as a Tenure Track Assistant Professor for Computer Vision as of January 2020. “This appointment is very important to me,” says Tang, “ETH Zurich is an amazing place to be and the professors in the Computer Science department are widely recognized as leaders in their fields. I’m very excited to join the faculty and I’m very much looking forward to working closely with them.” Tang currently leads the Holistic Vision Group in the Perceiving Systems Department at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS) in Tübingen, where she researches at the interface between numerical optimization and machine learning. She develops computer-aided processes for the perception and digitization of people and their activities in complex and natural environments.
Katherine J. Kuchenbecker appointed Managing Director of the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems
- 03 July 2019
The Director of the Haptic Intelligence Department is the first female Managing Director in the institute’s history.
Welcome, Professor Valentina Boeva!
- 27 June 2019
Professor Valentina Boeva officially joined the Department of Computer Science of ETH Zurich in early June 2019 as Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Biomedical Informatics. Get to know her in this short interview.
Körber Prize 2019 goes to Bernhard Schölkopf
- 26 June 2019
The Körber Foundation honors the MPI-IS Director and Cyber Valley Scientist for his ground-breaking research in mathematical methods that have made a significant contribution to helping artificial intelligence reach its most recent heights.
Welcome, Professor Julia Vogt!
- 18 June 2019
Professor Julia Vogt officially joined the Department of Computer Science of ETH Zurich at the beginning of May 2019 as Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Medical Data Science. Get to know her in this short interview.
CLS researchers among the winning team at world's leading AI conference
- 11 June 2019
Researchers from the Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems and Google Research Zurich received the Best Paper Award at the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML).
Bernhard Schölkopf honoured as one of the leading minds in German AI research
- 28 May 2019
The Director of the Empirical Inference Department at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, one of the world's leading researchers in the field of machine learning, has been named among the top ten influential minds in the history of German AI.
Francesco Locatello recieves Google PhD Fellowship
- 24 April 2019
Google presents these awards to exemplary PhD students in computer science and related disciplines. With these unique fellowships Google acknowledges contributions of the receiving students to their areas of specialty and provides funding for their education and research.
2019 RAS Award Recipients Announced!
- 29 March 2019
The IEEE Robotics & Automation Society recognizes and congratulates the following individuals for their outstanding accomplishments and service to RAS and the robotics and automation community. They will be honored during an award luncheon to be held during the IEEE International Conference on Robotics & Automation (ICRA 2019) on 22 May 2019 at the Montreal Convention Centre, Montreal, Canada. Please join us in congratulating these outstanding recipients!
Leading researcher in small-scale robotics receives ERC Advanced Grant
- 28 March 2019
The European Research Council is awarding a 2.5 million Euros research grant to Dr. Metin Sitti, who is a Director at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems. Sitti is the head of the Physical Intelligence Department and one of the world's leading researchers in the field of small-scale and soft robotics and its use in medical applications. The funding will go toward ground-breaking basic research in soft-bodied miniature mobile robots. These tiny machines could one day have a radical impact on non-invasive medical interventions and diagnostics.
Awards for robotics experts
- 20 March 2019
Roland Siegwart, Bradley Nelson and Marco Hutter, professors at the Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems at the Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, are honored by the Robotics and Automation Society.
ETH Zurich promotes data science research
- 31 January 2019
Intelligent data science approaches are changing science, the economy and society. In a new interdisciplinary initiative, ETH researchers from the fields of mathematics, computer science and information technology are therefore increasingly dedicating themselves to the foundations of data science. Peter Bühlmann (in the middle between Alessio Figalli and Cédric Villani) heads the initiative “Foundations of Data Science”. (Photo: PPR / Christian Merz)
Peter Bühlmann: Challis Lectures
- 30 January 2019
We are delighted to announce that Professor Peter Bühlmann will deliver the 2019 Challis Lectures organized by the Statistics division of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at University of Florida.
Wissenschaftspreis der Hector Stiftung geht an Prof. Dr. Bernhard Schölkopf
- 28 January 2019
Prof. Dr. Bernhard Schölkopf erhält in diesem Jahr den mit 150.000 Euro dotierten Wissenschaftspreis der Hector Stiftung. Die Jury würdigt damit seine herausragenden Leistungen in der Grundlagenforschung zum maschinellen Lernen und der Künstlichen Intelligenz, die als Schlüsseltechnologien der digitalen Revolution gelten.
“We have succeeded in sharing genetic data across national borders”
- 09 January 2019
ETH Professor Gunnar Rätsch played a major part in creating the biggest public database for anonymised information on two important breast cancer genes. The database helps to improve the treatment of patients. ETH News spoke with him about the background, his motivation and the challenges such a project presents. (Photograph: MSKCC)
Bernhard Schölkopf appointed Affiliated Professor of Empirical Inference at ETH Zurich
- 01 January 2019
Bernhard Schölkopf, Director at the MPI-IS and Co-Director of the Center for Learning Systems, has been appointed as Affiliated Professor of Empirical Inference in the Department of Computer Science, starting on January 1st, 2019. Image credit: Herlinde Koelbl
Bernhard Schölkopf erhält Landesforschungspreis 2018
- 10 December 2018
Der Direktor der Abteilung für Empirische Inferenz am Max-Planck-Institut für Intelligente Systeme in Tübingen erhält den diesjährigen Landesforschungspreis Baden-Württemberg. Die Auszeichnung ist mit 100.000 Euro dotiert. Theresia Bauer, Ministerin für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kunst, hat den Experten für Maschinelles Lernen im Rahmen eines Festakts in der Staatsgalerie Stuttgart geehrt. Bild: Bernhard Schölkopf und Baden-Württembergs Wissenschaftsministerin Theresia Bauer. Copyright: MWK BW / Jan Potente.
European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems (ELLIS) Launches
- 06 December 2018
Top European Machine Learning Scientists Join Forces to Establish European Excellence Network for Public Artificial Intelligence Research
University of Basel awards honorary doctorate to Prof. Robert Riener
- 05 December 2018
At its Dies Academicus on 30 November 2018, the University of Basel awarded Prof. Robert Riener with the title Honorary Doctorate in the faculty of medicine.
Michael Black receives UBC Computer Science Department Alumni Research Award 2018
- 29 November 2018
Michael Black was awarded the University of British Columbia, Computer Science Department, Alumni Research Award 2018.
Metin Sitti receives Rahmi Koç Medal of Science
- 22 November 2018
Award recognizes most promising researchers of Turkish origin
ERC Consolidator Grants for Andreas Krause and Mehmet Fatih Yanik
- 13 November 2018
ERC Consolidator Grants awarded to CLS faculty members Andreas Krause (Professor of Computer Science at ETH Zurich) and Mehmet Fatih Yanik (Professor for Neurotechnology at the The Institute of Neuroinformatics, UZH / ETH Zurich).
Student Representatives
- 17 October 2018
The CLS community has elected our new student representatives for the period October 17th - January 17th, 2019. Our student representatives are the point of contact for the collection of matters that are of daily concern to the PhD students. All student representatives meet each other and the coordinator regularly.
Symposium Artificial Intelligence and Society
- 14 September 2018
In honour of the 70th anniversary of the Max Planck Society, the 100th anniversary of the Nobel Prize award to Max Planck and Max Planck’s 160th birthday, the Max Planck Society will hold a Germany-wide Max Planck Day on September 14, 2018.
Andreas Geiger receives the Young Researcher Award of the IEEE Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence (PAMI) Technical Committee
- 20 June 2018
For the first time, the prestigious IEEE PAMI Young Researcher Award was given to a German researcher.
Research Headlines: Alexis Block is teaching robots to give good hugs
- 01 June 2018
Scientist working in the Haptic Intelligence Department at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems receives great media feedback on her research
John Lygeros receives European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant
- 10 April 2018
Professor John Lygeros within the Center for Learning Systems has been awarded the prestigious ERC Advanced Grant to fund his research on computation and control.
Peter Bühlmann receives European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant
- 10 April 2018
Professor Peter Bühlmann within the Center for Learning Systems has been awarded the prestigious ERC Advanced Grant to fund his research on statistics, machine learning and bioinformatics.
Peer Fischer receives European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant
- 10 April 2018
Professor Peer Fischer, the head of the Micro, Nano and Molecular Systems Lab at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems was awarded 2.5 Mio Euro from the ERC.
Nature-inspired soft millirobot makes its way through enclosed spaces
- 24 January 2018
Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems invented a magnetically controlled soft robot only four millimeters in size, that can walk, crawl or roll through uneven terrain, carry cargo, climb onto the water surface, and even swim in it. The inspiration comes from soft-bodied beetle larvae and caterpillars, and even jellyfishes posed as biological models. One day, this small-scale robot may enable targeted drug delivery or minimally invasive surgery, the researchers hope. Its multiple locomotion capability in complex environments is so unique that science journal Nature will publish the researchers´ findings in its February edition.
Margarita Chli received the Prix Zonta
- 14 December 2017
Margarita Chli, one of the world's most powerful women in robotics research, was awarded the Prix Zonta.
Bernhard Schölkopf receives Leibniz Prize 2018
- 14 December 2017
Germany's most prestigious research funding prize - €2.5 million each for outstanding research work
Die Zahlenkünstlerin
- 04 November 2017
Informatikerin Olga Sorkine-Hornung wurde mit 30 Professorin an der ETH Zürich. Ihre Algorithmen in 3-D-Modellierung gelten als die besten.
«Oft entscheiden Menschen sehr schlecht»
- 01 November 2017
Für Thomas Hofmann hat die künstliche Intelligenz ein gewaltiges Potenzial. Der ETH-Professor und Ex-Google-Manager erläutert im Interview, wie die neuen Technologien eingesetzt werden können und was dabei die Gefahren sind.
Interdisciplinary insights and a marvellous mountain view
- 23 October 2017
High above Lake Lucerne, the three-day CLS retreat took place at Stoos, a magnificent place in the heart of Central Switzerland.
Impressions from the CLS Retreat in Stoos
- 21 October 2017
Have a look at the photo gallery of the CLS Retreat in Stoos!
Der Schatzsucher
- 21 October 2017
Die personalisierte Medizin ist ein boomendes Forschungsfeld. Einer, der ganz vorne mitmischt, ist der junge Informatikprofessor Karsten Borgwardt.
“Our Master’s programme is in great demand”
- 17 October 2017
Mathematics is the basis for all the new opportunities opened up by digitalisation. Statistics professor Nicolai Meinshausen discusses the increasing importance of his field and the challenges it faces.
Data – the key to success
- 16 October 2017
Data permeates every aspect of our lives and forms an integral part of any research work. Data scientists collect, analyse and process enormous volumes of data. ETH Zurich is focusing on three areas. One is learning systems. (see page 10)
«Das Gefühl, mir schmelze das Hirn weg»
- 15 October 2017
Die 36-jährige Olga Sorkine-Hornung über ihren Weg zur ETH-Professorin, zu wenig Frauen in der IT und den Wodka aus eigener Küche.
Jeannette Bogh is one of 25 women in robotics you need to know about – 2017
- 10 October 2017
On the occasion of Ada Lovelace Day on 10 October 2017, robohub presented their annual list of “25 women in robotics you need to know about”. Jeannette Bohg, alumni fellow of the CLS, is one of them. Congratulations!
«In der Schweiz kommt es auf Sekunden an»
- 27 September 2017
Sein Kosmos ist die ETH. Seine Heimat ist München. Dennoch schätzt Roboterforscher Robert Riener typische Schweizer Eigenschaften: Pünktlichkeit, Ordnung und nicht zuletzt die Schweizer Apéro-Kultur.
Maschinen mit Gewissen
- 16 September 2017
Viel wird erfunden, aber sollte alles davon erlaubt sein? Vor allem geht es um die Frage: Können und dürfen Roboter Entscheidungen fällen?
«Die Medizin wird modellgetrieben»
- 28 August 2017
ETH-Professor Joachim Buhmann beschäftigt sich als Informatiker intensiv mit Fragen des Gesundheitswesens. Im Gespräch mit ETH-News erklärt er, wie Computermodelle Einzug halten werden in die Medizin. Dabei spricht er von Modellen, die so kompliziert sind, dass wir Menschen sie uns nicht mehr selbst überlegen können.
4D Movies Capture People in Clothing, Creating Realistic Virtual Try-on
- 01 August 2017
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS) have developed technology to digitally capture clothing on moving people, turn it into a 3D digital form, and dress virtual avatars with it. This new technology makes virtual clothing try-on practical.
Can you feel me now? The Science of Digitizing Touch
- 28 July 2017
Scientists are developing tools that allow you to digitally feel textures like wood and cotton. Listen to this twelve-minute radio show to learn about Katherine J. Kuchenbecker's research - incorporating the sense of touch into robotic and computer systems.
Mobile Microrobotics
- 11 July 2017
Progress in micro- and nano-scale science and technology has created a demand for new microsystems for high-impact applications in healthcare, biotechnology, manufacturing, and mobile sensor networks. The new robotics field of microrobotics has emerged to extend our interactions and explorations to sub-millimeter scales. Metin Sitti wrote the first textbook on micron-scale mobile robotics, introducing the fundamentals of design, analysis, fabrication, and control, and drawing on case studies of existing approaches.
Vision algorithms teaching drones to 'see'
- 10 July 2017
Prof. Margarita Chli and her team are developing computer vision algorithms to help drones 'see' and understand their environment.
Olga Sorkine-Hornung wins Rössler Prize
- 22 June 2017
Computer scientist Olga Sorkine has won this year’s Rössler Prize for her work in the field of computer graphics. The prize comes with a research award of CHF 200,000.
The eyes have it
- 21 June 2017
Patients with age-related retinal disease need regular injections in the eye. At the moment, these must be given by specially trained medical doctors, but a robot may well handle this task in the near future.
Medicine is awash in data
- 15 June 2017
Genomics, digital patient files and real-time health surveillance – never before have we had access to so much health data. Three ETH researchers explain how they extract relevant information from this sea of data and the potential benefits for personalised medicine.
ETH medals for two excellent ETH-MPI Master theses
- 13 June 2017
Cédric de Crousaz and Julian Viereck have recently received ETH medals for their excellent Master theses. Their theses are a result of very successful collaborations between the Autonomous Motion Department at MPI-IS and the Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering and the Department of Computer Science at ETH Zurich, respectively.
ICRA 2017 Awards
- 02 June 2017
Several CLS fellows and members received awards at the 2017 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)
Programmable self-assembly
- 01 June 2017
Scientists under the lead of Metin Sitti at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart have recently constructed a material system that provides dynamic self-assembly.
City model created from images alone
- 17 May 2017
ETH scientists have combined millions of images and videos into a three-dimensional, living model of the city of Zurich. The new technology has many possible applications – for example, it can analyse where and when pedestrians are on the move and parking spaces become free.
«Autonome Maschinen sind dem Menschen überlegen»
- 02 May 2017
Der ETH-Forscher Roland Siegwart entwickelt intelligente Drohnen und autonome Roboter. Wie weit ihre Macht gehen darf, muss die Gesellschaft ausdiskutieren.
Student projects on the website via SiROP
- 08 March 2017
The Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems offers its members and associated members to use the database SiROP to publish their student projects directly to the center’s website. Read this quick guide: http://bit.ly/sirop-cls
New drive for tiny vessels
- 14 February 2017
Nanorobots and other mini-vehicles might be able to perform important services in medicine one day – for example, by conducting remotely-controlled operations or transporting pharmaceutical agents to a desired location in the body. However, to date it has been hard to steer such micro- and nanoswimmers accurately through biological fluids such as blood, synovial fluid or the inside of the eyeball. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart are now presenting two new approaches for constructing propulsion systems for tiny floating bodies.
„Ich fühle mich von Künstlicher Intelligenz überhaupt nicht bedroht“
- 09 February 2017
Joachim Buhmann ist Leiter des Instituts für Maschinelles Lernen an der ETH Zürich. Im Gespräch erklärt er uns, warum ihn die Angstvorstellungen von Stephen Hawking kaltlassen, was der „Heilige Gral“ des maschinellen Lernens ist und warum Depressionen unausweichlich sind, wenn der Mensch lediglich als Denkmaschine gesehen wird.
How Can We Use Machine Learning in the Search for Exoplanets?
- 01 February 2017
Exoplanets are planets beyond our own solar system. Since they do not emit much light and moreover are very close to their parent stars they are difficult to detect directly. Using machine learning, observations of the brightness of the parent star can be used to train a system to predict the errors and correct the light curves.
Peer Fischer wins World Technology Award 2016
- 20 December 2016
Peer Fischer, head of the Micro- Nano- and Molecular Systems Lab at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems and Professor of Physical Chemistry, University of Stuttgart, has received the World Technology Award 2016. Together with his group, he has developed new 3D nanofabrication methods and nanorobots, made the first reciprocal microswimmer, and realized the first swimming soft microrobot that moves using only body shape changes.
The Rise of Machine Learning (ft. Martin Jaggi)
- 15 December 2016
This video presents the rise of machine learning as the leading approach to artificial intelligence. It features Martin Jaggi, assistant professor of the IC School at EPFL and alumnus of the CLS.
Vom Geheimnis guter Lehre
- 13 December 2016
Der ETH-Professor John Lygeros hat den CS Award for Best Teaching erhalten. Der Preisträger arbeitet stetig an innovativen Formen der Lehre. Das gefällt den Studierenden.
Prof. Rätsch, welcome to ETH
- 13 December 2016
Gunnar Rätsch develops machine learning algorithms for the analysis of biological and medical data. His research will be central in ETH’s initiative for personalized medicine.
«Neue Technologien sollen helfen, unser Leben einfacher zu gestalten»
- 05 December 2016
Prof. Dr. Margarita Chli, 33, forscht als Assistenzprofessorin auf dem Gebiet «Computervision für Robotik» an der ETH Zürich. Was sie an ihrem Beruf so fasziniert und wie sie die technologische Zukunft sieht, verrät sie im Interview.
Raffaello D'Andrea: Der König der Drohnen
- 02 December 2016
Der Kanadier ist Professor für dynamische Systeme und Regelungstechnik an der ETH – und verkörpert in vielerlei Hinsicht, wofür der Forschungsplatz Schweiz steht.
Mini-Roboter heilen von innen
- 21 October 2016
Sie transportieren im Inneren des Körpers Medikamente oder nehmen kleine Operationen vor: Mikro-Roboter könnten bald die Medizin revolutionieren.
Shape-programmable miniscule robots
- 26 September 2016
One day, microrobots may be able to swim through the human body like sperm or paramecia to carry out medical functions in specific locations. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart have developed functional elastomers, which can be activated by magnetic fields to imitate the swimming gaits of natural flagella, cilia and jellyfish.
ERC Starting Grant for Otmar Hilliges
- 23 September 2016
The main objective of his ERC funded project is to develop computational tools to allow non-experts to create complex interactive technologies such as wearables, augmented and virtual reality, and personalised assistive technologies.
CYBATHLON: Wettkampf für Athleten mit Behinderungen
- 01 September 2016
Menschen mit körperlichen Behinderungen messen sich dank neuester technischer Assistenzsysteme in sechs anspruchsvollen Disziplinen.
Die ETH forscht an einem Roboter für die Drecksarbeit
- 11 August 2016
Der neue Roboter der ETH Zürich kann klettern und springen wie ein Tier und soll künftig in unwegsamem Gelände eingesetzt werden. Er könnte zum Beispiel nach einem Erdbeben helfen, verschüttete Menschen zu finden.
"Skypen" wie bei Star Wars
- 29 June 2016
In manchen Science-Fiction-Filmen "telefoniert" man schon lange per Hologramm. Forschende der ETH Zürich haben einen Prototyp gebaut, der Videochats dieser Vision ein Stück weit näher bringt.
ETH bringt Computern das Sehen bei
- 19 June 2016
Smartphones lernen, die Welt zu erkennen und dreidimensional zu vermessen. Google will damit die nächste digitale Revolution auslösen. Schweizer Hochschulen und Startups sind ganz vorne mit dabei.
Jonas Peters new member of the German "Young Academy"
- 13 June 2016
Young, excellent and motivated - Jonas Peters has been elected as one of new members in natural sciene / mathematics to the "Junge Akademie" and will contribute to the interdisciplinary work of this organization.
When machines learn
- 11 June 2016
Big data, artificial intelligence, industry 4.0- the new opportunities information technologies offer will change the world. Take a glimpse inside the world of researchers who teach machines how to think.
Bildung ist Arbeit an mir selber
- 10 June 2016
Thomas Hoffmann wollte schon als Kind Professor werden. Heute arbeitet er am Institut für Maschinelles Lernen der ETH Zürich. Der 25-jährige Patrick Frei studiert Informatik im vierten Studienjahr. Hier sprechen sie über ihre beruflichen Träume – und über die Realität.
Call for applications: CLS Exchange Fellowships
- 23 May 2016
The Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems (CLS) invites all associated PhD fellows of the center to apply for the new CLS Exchange Fellowships. This program will allow highly motivated PhD students with excellent track records to spend 3-12 months at the other institution, ETH Zurich and MPI Tübingen/Stuttgart, respectively. The aim is to foster cross-institutional collaborations within the center and to create an added value for the PhD students.
Heinz Maier-Leibnitz-Prize and RAS Early Career Award (Academic) for Ludovic Righetti
- 19 May 2016
Medal-Marathon for Robotics Researcher: Tübingen – Stockholm – Berlin – Stockholm – Tübingen. Ludovic Righetti receives within 24 hours two renowned prizes for young researchers for his outstanding science on movements of robots.
Switch and stick
- 18 May 2016
Some adhesives may soon have a metallic sheen and be particularly easy to unstick. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart are suggesting gallium as just such a reversible adhesive.
The man who builds robotic animals
- 12 May 2016
He develops walking robots that move like living creatures: Marco Hutter is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems and a fellow of the Society in Science. One day his machines might be able to carry out the menial and dangerous work human beings would rather avoid.
Michael J. Black inducted as foreign member of Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
- 12 May 2016
Body Labs (bodylabs.com), the provider of the world's most advanced technology for analyzing the human body's shape, pose and motion, announced that Michael J. Black, Body Labs co-founder and founding director leading the Perceiving Systems Department at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, will be inducted as a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Bernhard Schölkopf has been elected member of the "Leopoldina"
- 30 April 2016
Founded in 1652, the Leopoldina is one of the oldest academies of science in the world. It is dedicated to the advancement of science for the benefit of humankind and to the goal of shaping a better future. With some 1,500 members, the Leopoldina brings together outstanding scientists from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and many other countries.
Sanfte Kraft für Roboter
- 26 April 2016
Ein weicher Aktuator aus elektrisch steuerbaren Membranen könnte Menschen die gefahrlose Interaktion mit Maschinen ermöglichen. Forscher des Max-Planck-Instituts für Intelligente Systeme in Stuttgart stellen nun ein Bewegungssystem vor, das für Menschen ungefährlich ist und sich platzsparend in Roboter integrieren lässt.
Two Master’s students won the prestigious SemEval-2016 competition
- 19 April 2016
Huge amounts of posts in social media are generated every day. People share their opinions and sentiments about what is going on in the world. To evaluate these opinions automatically computers can interpret and “understand” the content and also in particular the attitude of a writer. At one of the most important international competitions in text sentiment analysis two ETH Master’s students designed the most accurate algorithm worldwide. Jan Deriu and Maurice Gonzenbach won the 2016 SemEval text sentiment classification competition, placing first out of 34 teams from all over the world.
Ludovic Righetti receives the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize 2016
- 31 March 2016
The most important German prize for junior scientists is awarded annually by the German Research Foundation (DFG). One of the awardees is Ludovic Righetti from Max-Planck-Institute for Intelligent Systems. He is investigating how robots can be taught to walk. He models his ideas on movement patterns from nature such as the climbing skills of animals.
Microrobots learn from ciliates
- 25 February 2016
Ciliates can do amazing things: Being so tiny, the water in which they live is like thick honey to these microorganisms. In spite of this, however, they are able to self-propel through water by the synchronized movement of thousands of extremely thin filaments on their outer skin, called cilia. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart are now moving robots that are barely perceptible to the human eye in a similar manner through liquids.
Robots go to school
- 07 January 2016
As domestic help, healthcare assistants or emergency response units: robots are suitable for these jobs only if they are capable of learning and acting independently, at least to a certain extent. Stefan Schaal and the members of his Autonomous Motion Department at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Tübingen are teaching machines to become flexible and autonomous.
Diagnostics with a stomach pill
- 07 January 2016
Gastroscopy usually requires patients to swallow an endoscope tube. Although camera-carrying capsules are also suitable for the task, it is still not possible to control them. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart plan to change all that. And their tiny capsule-shaped robots can do a lot more than merely take snapshots of the stomach’s interior.
Cars open their eyes
- 07 January 2016
A time may yet come when everyone has their own chauffeur-driven car – if robots take the wheel, that is. In order for autonomous vehicles to become a reality without huge technical outlay, however, computers will have to be able to assess complex traffic situations at least as well as drivers do. Andreas Geiger and his team at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Tübingen are working to develop the necessary software.
Teaching machines how to learn
- 30 November 2015
Machines will become not just more intelligent in the future, but also more capable of learning. To promote research in this field, ETH Zurich and the Max Planck Society officially open the Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems today. The scientists want to understand the theoretical principles of learning and how these can be applied to real machines.
Machines learn how to learn
- 30 November 2015
For humans, and for animals in general, it is normal; but machines have first to learn it: how to learn. To assist them in this process, the Max Planck Society and the ETH Zurich have set up the Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems. The researchers at the Center want to understand what the principles of learning are - in theory as well as in real machines.