Summer is a season for exploration. Some of us set off for distant destinations, others head into the mountains, discover new ideas from a deck chair, or simply take the time to reflect and recharge.

At ETH Zurich, exploration takes many forms. Through ETH Studios, students step beyond the lecture hall and into real-world environments where they tackle challenges that matter, collaborate across disciplines and cultures, and gain experiences that shape both their careers and perspectives.

This summer, travel with our ETH Ambassadors from the snowy peaks of Davos to the bustling streets of Bangkok, from Mars mission laboratories in California to hidden corners of Japan. Along the way, you will encounter scientific discovery, technological innovation, cultural exchange and personal growth.

Here are five inspiring stories to accompany your summer adventures.

1. Building a Protein Database at SIAF Davos

What happens when a computational biologist swaps the ETH campus for an alpine research institute?

Laura Nieba spent three months at the Swiss Institute of Allergy and Asthma Research (SIAF) in Davos, building an isoform-specific database of the human proteome. Alongside her research, she attended her first international scientific conference, learned new technical skills and watched the Alps transform from winter snow to vibrant spring landscapes.

A perfect read for anyone who loves science, mountains and discovering new paths. Read the article.

2. From River Droughts to Data Clusters: Internship at SLF

Following the hidden patterns of water. Why do rivers run dry?

During her internship at the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, Lydia Seebauer explored this question using decades of hydrometeorological data. Her journey reveals how researchers use data science to better understand droughts and the growing challenges posed by climate change.

If your summer plans include lakes, rivers or mountain hikes, this story offers a fascinating perspective on the forces shaping the landscapes around us. Read the article.

3. Behind the Next Mars Helicopter

From ETH Zurich to the future of planetary exploration. Few internships begin with testing drones in Mars-like deserts.

Benjamin Dupont spent six months at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, helping develop autonomy software for a future Mars rotorcraft. His story provides a rare behind-the-scenes look at cutting-edge robotics, space exploration and the teams working to push the boundaries of what is possible.

A must-read for anyone dreaming of space, engineering and innovation. Read the article.

4. 6 Months in Bangkok to Launch AI at UNDRR

Can artificial intelligence help reduce disaster risks around the world?

At the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction in Bangkok, Bilal Bounajma became the organisation’s first data science and AI intern. Working at the intersection of technology, policy and humanitarian action, he helped lay the groundwork for future AI applications in disaster risk reduction.

This story highlights how knowledge developed at ETH can contribute to addressing global challenges. Read the article.

5. Discovering Hidden Japan

Some journeys begin with an internship and end with a completely new perspective.

Through a collaboration between ETH Zurich and the Marui Group, four students travelled across Japan, exploring how technology, sustainability and storytelling can create meaningful impact. From tea ceremonies and artisan workshops to executive presentations in Tokyo, their experience demonstrates the value of curiosity, openness and intercultural exchange.

An inspiring read for anyone planning a summer adventure abroad. Read the article.

Although these five journeys span different countries, disciplines and challenges, they share a common theme: learning happens when we step outside our comfort zones.

As you head into the summer months, we invite you to take these stories with you. They are reminders that curiosity can lead anywhere, that meaningful learning often happens far from familiar surroundings, and that the next great adventure may begin with a single opportunity.

Happy reading and enjoy your summer!

Looking for inspiring summer reads? Our ETH Ambassadors have spent the first half of 2026 exploring climate change from multiple perspectives, from global energy policy and planetary boundaries to Alpine hazards, drought research and institutional climate action.

This Summer Reading List brings together six stories that highlight how students, researchers and communities are responding to one of the greatest challenges of our time. Whether you are interested in science, policy, technology or human resilience, these articles offer fresh insights and personal perspectives from across the ETH community.

1. CERAWeek 2026: Shaping the Energy Future during a Global Energy Crisis

“Only strong and consistent policy frameworks will enable achieving climate targets.”

Three ETH students, Vivian Chen, Benedikt Buhk and Florian Marco Možina, travel to Houston to attend one of the world’s most influential energy conferences. Their reflections offer a behind-the-scenes look at global debates on energy security, climate policy and the role of academia in shaping the future of energy.

Read the article.

2. When Johan Speaks, You Listen

Are We Still Operating Within Earth’s Safe Limits?

In this article, Viktoria Österdahl reflects on a remarkable Global Lecture at ETH Zürich featuring leading climate scientist Johan Rockström and ETH Assistant Professor Millie Chapman, exploring one of the defining questions of our time: how do we keep humanity within a safe operating space on our planet?

Read the article.

3. EAGLE Hackathon at SLF: Mass Movement Detection in the Alps

What happens when students from different disciplines come together to tackle real-world challenges in the Alps?

In our latest ETH Ambassadors Blog, ETH Zürich students Bhawana Bhawana, Lilian Obrist and Sujani Mugunthan share their experience of detecting mass movements posing a risk for infrastructure and people living in alpine regions as part of the EAGLE Hackathon project at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL in Davos.

Read the article.

4. Net Zero Day: What Institutional Climate Action Looks Like from the Inside

What does climate action actually look like behind the scenes of a university?

Climate action is often discussed in abstract terms. In this article, Sebastian Kahlert shows what it looks like in practice at ETH Zürich, highlighting the people, projects and decisions that contribute to the university’s Net Zero ambitions.

Read the article.

5. From River Droughts to Data Clusters: Internship at SLF

What does it take to understand why rivers run dry?

In this article, ETH Zürich’s Lydia Seebauer shares how she explored the hidden patterns behind river droughts during her internship at the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF.

By working with decades of hydrometeorological data and learning to apply clustering techniques, she uncovered how different processes shape drought events across time and regions. From uncertainty at the start to meaningful insights, her journey highlights what research really looks like.

Read the article. 

6. Brienz – A Village on the Verge of a New Beginning

What does a mayor do when his entire village must leave its homes?

In Brienz (GR), this question became reality. After more than a year of evacuation due to a moving mountainside, the village of Brienz is now entering a new chapter. In this article, Charles Bara recaps a talk by Daniel Albertin, Mayor of Albula/Alvra: a deeply personal account of leadership, uncertainty and responsibility, guiding a small Alpine community through an unprecedented natural hazard.

Read the article.

Together, these six stories demonstrate that climate change is more than an environmental issue. It is a challenge that touches energy systems, ecosystems, infrastructure, communities and policymaking. They also show that solutions emerge through collaboration between science, society and the next generation of researchers.

We hope these articles inspire you to explore new perspectives, ask critical questions and discover how research can help shape a more sustainable future.

It’s not every day you get to meet in person a fellow Swede who happens to also be a rockstar in the world of climate science, and a generally lovely human being. Having witnessed him in action previously in grand speaking arenas including TED and the World Economic Forum, it was a bit surreal to find myself on stage next to him, co‑moderating our Global Lecture on “Taking the Pulse of the Planet.” I am talking about none other than the legend that is Johan Rockström, the man behind the Planetary Boundaries Framework and co-creator of the recently launched Planetary Health Check. My colleague Chris Luebkeman and I were joined by ETH Assistant Professor Millie Chapman to hear from and talk to the man himself on the occasion of the inaugural Climate Week Zurich.

Here are the most important things he had to say in an hour that flew by and was by no means enough to go through everything that needed to be said on one of the key topics of our time.

We are living in the Anthropocene, a new geological age in which human activity fundamentally shapes the Earth system. Humanity and nature are now fully intertwined, co-evolving across planetary scales. This means that the stability of our societies is inseparable from the stability of the Earth’s life-support systems.

That stability is increasingly under pressure. Already today, with an increase by around 1.4°C since the pre-industrial era, extreme events are already disrupting lives and livelihoods worldwide. Beyond this, risks accelerate non-linearly: tipping points are hard-wired into the Earth system, and crossing them could trigger cascading feedback loops. This raises the possibility of a “hothouse Earth” trajectory well beyond the 2-3°C pathway currently projected, and ultimately beyond conditions in which modern societies can function.

These dynamics point to a deeper issue: the erosion of Earth’s resilience. Systems such as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) illustrate how destabilisation could produce profound and uneven regional impacts, while also feeding back into the global climate system. Importantly, these processes are interconnected: disruptions in one part of the Earth system amplify pressures elsewhere.

The Planetary Health Check provides the clearest scientific diagnosis to date. It tracks the state of nine critical Earth system processes, the “vital organs” that regulate stability and resilience, and shows that seven of nine planetary boundaries have now been breached, with pressures continuing to intensify. These boundaries function as guardrails for a safe operating space: once crossed, the Earth system moves into a zone of increasing risk, where tipping points, irreversible change, and loss of resilience become more likely.

What emerges is a stark but actionable insight: the planet’s “vital signs are flashing red”, yet the framework also shows where intervention is possible. Because these systems are tightly interconnected, stabilising the Earth system requires coordinated action across climate, biodiversity, land, water and pollution; not in isolation, but as part of a whole-Earth approach to staying within a safe operating space for humanity.

Millie Chapman brought in the decision-making dimension linked to the issues highlighted by Johan to the fore, by sharing her work at the Environmental Policy Lab of ETH Zurich. She examines how policies, institutions, and digital technologies shape outcomes for people and ecosystems. The work is structured in 3 focus areas:

Cooperation across scales: understanding what drives coordinated environmental action across actors, sectors, and governance levels. 

Decision-making under uncertainty: designing robust, data-informed strategies and policies that remain effective despite complex ecological and social uncertainty. 

Justice in an algorithmic era: examining how data and digital tools shape environmental decisions, with a focus on fairness, accountability, and bias.

Her point was that how decisions are made matters; the information decision-makers have to hand, on which to base their decisions, is the key to them developing effective and equitable strategies to meet global biodiversity targets. Data and algorithms can potentially reshape our management of environmental systems, and AI can help us move towards more sustainable and just futures in the context of environmental justice.

The well-attended event could have gone way past the scheduled hour, as was highlighted by the large number of poignant questions from the audience we did not manage to get to at the end. We closed the evening with a touch of optimism to add to the sense of urgency. Climate Week Zurich is a nice example of the local community getting together with global representatives from business, research and policy to accelerate climate impact in everyday life. Our event was a fitting addition to the inaugural schedule of activities taking place around the city, illustrating ETH Zurich’s commitment to sustainability.

Check out the pictures from the event here: Meet ETH Flickr

I hope this glimpse encourages you to come to a future event. I find that with our Global Lecture Series, we begin a new journey every time, giving ourselves pause to reflect on key topics on the global agenda and learning from individuals with remarkable clarity and foresight. I invite you all to come and join us! The next event will be on 10 September on the topic of research, with Nature’s Magdalena Skipper and ETH Zurich’s Annette Oxenius.

How can we redesign the global energy system to meet the needs of both our economies and the environment? What are the economic risks and where are the opportunities for our society? And what can each of us do to contribute to solutions?

When Lint Barrage, Professor at the Department of Management, Technology and Economics at ETH Zurich, stepped on stage at Treffpunkt Science City this autumn on 16 November 2025, she didn’t begin with charts, equations or policy terms as it could be expected given the talk was about energy and climate protection. Instead, she began with a photo, intriguing….!

But a satellite image of the Korean peninsula at night, the south bright with economic activity, the north nearly dark, set the tone for her central message: energy is the lifeblood of modern civilisation. It is the invisible infrastructure behind our prosperity, our safety and our wellbeing. And rethinking how we produce, use and value energy will determine whether we can protect both our economy and our climate.

What followed was one of the most thoughtful, nuanced, motivating, inspiring, engaging and human-centred perspectives on climate and energy I have ever heard.

Seeing the World As It Is And As It Could Be

Professor Barrage invited us to zoom out and look at the global energy system with clarity. Today, humanity consumes the equivalent of 8 million atomic bombs in energy every year. Despite impressive growth in renewables, 80% of global energy still comes from fossil fuels.

And yet, as she reminded us, nearly 1 in 10 people worldwide still has no access to electricity, and half the global population lives with unreliable energy. Without energy, there is no modern healthcare, no education, no economic opportunity. “There are no rich countries that use little energy,” Barrage noted, a simple but profound observation.

This poses an unavoidable reality: the future growth in energy demand will come almost entirely from developing economies. Their choices will shape the fate of the global climate.

So where does Switzerland fit in?

With just 0.1% of global emissions, Switzerland alone cannot change the climate trajectory. But it can influence the world profoundly — not through size, but through innovation, policy leadership, and the ability to develop technologies others can adopt.

That, Professor Barrage argued, is where our responsibility lies.

Avoiding The Illusion Of “Domestic Only” Solutions

One of the most striking parts of her talk was her explanation of how well-intentioned climate policies can backfire. For example, if Switzerland simply bans all emissions-intensive production domestically, manufacturing will move abroad, often to countries with higher carbon intensity.

The result?

Lower Swiss emissions on paper, but higher global emissions in reality.

The alternative is far more ambitious and far more promising: Switzerland developing technologies, business models and policy frameworks that can be exported worldwide.

Her example of low-emission Swiss cement said it all: if cleaner Swiss innovations became the global standard, worldwide emissions could drop by up to 3%, thirty times Switzerland’s annual footprint. That is the leverage of innovation.

Incentives, Investments and the Power of Innovation

Reaching net zero will require more than goodwill. It demands:

• Smart incentives to reduce emissions, such as carbon pricing
• Massive investments into the energy transition – more than CHF 100 billion in Switzerland alone
• Focused innovation, from hydrogen to carbon capture to sustainable aviation fuels
• Stable political frameworks that make long-term investment possible

Professor Barrage showed clearly that technologies exist but too often, they are still too expensive or not yet deployed at scale. Clean innovation, she emphasized, doesn’t happen automatically. It requires intention, support and thoughtful policy.

A Climate Strategy With A Human Heart

But perhaps the deepest message of the talk was not about economics. It was about people.

Transitions create winners as well as losers. Workers in fossil industries, communities dependent on resource revenues, and low-income households facing rising energy costs all bear risks in the energy transition.

These realities, Barrage urged, must be acknowledged with empathy and seriousness.

Policy must be economically sound and socially fair.

She quoted her doctoral advisor, Nobel laureate William Nordhaus: “We need to approach these issues with a cool head and a warm heart.”

Evidence and compassion. Logic and empathy. Climate ambition anchored in humanity.

Walking Out Inspired

Leaving the auditorium, I felt a rare combination of clarity and motivation. Professor Barrage didn’t sugar-coat the challenges. She didn’t offer simple answers. Instead, she offered something far more valuable: a way to think about climate and energy that is honest, innovative and deeply human.

Her message is one that stays with you:

• Think globally
• Design smart incentives
• Invest in innovation
• Build policies that people can believe in
• And above all, combine a cool head with a warm heart

Please watch Professor Barrage’s full talk in German here:

On 30 October 2025, ETH Zurich hosted a compelling edition of its Global Lecture Series: Powering Change – The Energy Transition in Practice. Moderated by Chris Luebkeman from ETH Zurich’s Strategic Foresight Hub, the discussion brought together two inspiring women speakers: Bettina Bachmann, a veteran energy executive with over three decades of experience at Shell and an advocate for Women in Tech, and Lint Barrage, ETH economist specialising in climate and energy policy.

The conversation went far beyond technicalities. It explored the realities behind the energy transition, challenging assumptions and highlighting what truly matters: adding energy to meet global demand, driving innovation beyond technology, and ensuring equity across nations. Here’s more in the shape of 5 key takeaways and stand-out quotes from our guest speakers:

Energy Transition: More Than Replacement

“Adding energy is often forgotten in this conversation,” Bachmann reminded the audience. “We cannot just replace fossil fuels; we have to grow at the same time.” Her point was clear: with global energy demand rising, the transition is not a simple swap—it’s an expansion.

Urgency and Continuum

Barrage offered a sobering perspective: “We’ve been too slow for decades. If we had started gradual action earlier, the same level of climate protection could have been achieved at a much lower cost.” Climate action, she stressed, is not binary. Every tonne of emissions avoided today reduces future harm tomorrow.

Innovation Beyond Technology

Both speakers agreed that technology alone won’t solve the problem. “We’re not waiting for a silver bullet,” Bachmann said. “We have the technologies—we need to scale them up and integrate them.” Barrage added that innovation must extend to finance, policy, and behaviour: “People respond to incentives. We need to make clean tech massively more profitable to redirect R&D.”

Global Equity

The panel underscored the ethical dimension: developing nations must leapfrog polluting paths. “We have a duty to ensure they don’t have to go the same hard, slow path that we did,” Bachmann said. Barrage pointed to creative financial instruments as key: “We need smarter ways to leverage private investment and reduce risk.”

No-Regret Actions

Both experts closed with practical advice. Bachmann urged: “Think hard before you replace something—whether it’s clothing or heating systems. Avoid waste.” Barrage’s top three? “Invest massively in innovation, provide better information on energy use, and price carbon where feasible.”

Check out the pictures from the event here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/meeteth/albums/72177720329550116/

And in case you missed, watch the talk here:

If you enjoyed this post and the lecture, you may be interested in the upcoming Energy Week at ETH Zurich: https://esc.ethz.ch/events/energy-week.html

The Catalyst for Change

Hi! My name is Bettina and I recently graduated from ETH in environmental science and policy. How on earth did I get here? It was actually more of a coincidence than a planned step in my career, much like getting into politics at a young age.

How so? After having flown as a flight attendant for two years, I figured I wanted to do something that felt more purposeful than tending to passengers’ needs even though I did feel a sense of purpose at times– for example when I tended to people who were part of an American immigration project: They saw electronics for the first time in their life and had to be told how to plug in headphones; and a mom had to be helped who had never used a diaper for her children before.

Without giving it much time and thought, I met someone who had studied the same. It sounded interesting along with the allegedly pleasant, cooperative mindset of people who went for the same studies. My career advisor told me to rather go for some hard science, like maths or biology and do an MBA afterwards, because environmental science was nothing really concrete, scratching the surface of a lot of topics.

Academic Pursuit at ETH

Well, he was right about that part. To show how vaguely defined the studies are in peoples’ minds, this is what a different set of people think I do as an environmental scientist:

Jokes aside, what environmental studies allow you is to get the fundamental basics of all hard sciences and learn to think systemically. That I see as the main benefit of my studies: the way we learned to think.

What do I mean by that? While a biologist might see the ecological niche for a certain species, the geographer sees how that certain ecological niche came about, the mathematician delivers the tools to calculate and measure it, an environmental scientist needs to understand all these factors on a general level, make the connections and often apply it to human life.

Real-World Application and Discoveries

Last week, I was discussing with the professor of quaternary geomorphology (glaciers and how they formed our landscape), how gravel pits have been filled around Zurich. Imagine Regensdorf, which is densely populated now, had to fill up its gravel pits to make room for

settlements. Now instead of taking any kind of cheap material, what has been done is to take gravel material from digging holes for houses (from nearby places). How neat and efficient and cost-effective a solution is that? These are things that get me excited: concrete, effective solutions to real-world problems.

My professor, seeing my awe, said: “We quaternary geologists get really frenzied up by looking at rocks and analyzing them and this is what excites you.” Nice to see how people and their knowledge complement each other.

Challenges Along the Way

Because of being uncertain whether I was learning something that could actually serve my initial goal, moving towards doing something “more purposeful”, along with little vacation and tight requirements of ETH, I seriously thought about quitting several times. But I pushed through and I’m glad I did. One important factor that kept me going were the regularly occurring excursions where what was learned could actually be applied and put into practice to make a difference in real life. Or attending ETH week, where basically a group of overexcitedly motivated nerds works on a project about a real-world problem for a week.

At this point, I would like to point out a rather inconvenient truth – studying at ETH is tough and a shocking high number of people studying with me actually went into burnout, even I was close to it at some point and my counsellor back then was wondering what was going on at ETH, because she allegedly had many clients from ETH. Having said all that, it is reassuring to know that this problematic is addressed with projects such as wie gETH’s? by VSETH. This is a representative study about mental well-being at ETH, for students and employees alike and had been done already in 2018. The results led to improvements to tackle exactly aforementioned problematic, e.g., more peer-mentoring programs or changes in study regulations.

Career Reflections and Opportunities

So where do I stand now, after my studies? Let me explain first how I came to today: along with family planning (I am a mom), I was trying hard to choose the right career path.

ETH offers many great opportunities to help shape this decision. Such as doing programs at the FAO in Rome (for editors: picture 2), or in my department, D-USYS, being relatively free to choose the direction of one’s thesis. I was always interested in development and cooperation, so I went for it and thanks to that I figured out that this sector/world is not for me, the reasons for which would go beyond the bounds of this blog post.

Another route I was taking, was due to getting into an entrepreneurial program (again by chance), rooted in ETH. I learned a lot of essential things (how to “think business”, something that just didn’t fit in our curriculum, but would be vital in a capitalist world) that I know I will use later in my life.

Another thing I was wondering about, was whether to go into consulting, as I do feel the need to bring across what I actually learned. I found it intriguing, but not easily combinable with being a mom.

However, coming from ETH, I got into consulting recruitment events fairly easily, so I could attend the Sustainable Switzerland event last year and even briefly meet Gro Harlem Brundtland, a sustainability legend, due to her chairing the UN commission which defined the term “sustainable development” in 1987 as it is used today.

I also felt at the conference, which was more of a business and less academic setting how prestigious our institution is regarded. It said BCG and ETH on my name tag, and people treated me differently than they use to without this specific name tag, they came and talked to me! This never happened at another conference before – it seems like the hard work of the last half decade is paying off in some sense at least. 😉  

So, consulting wasn’t the right path either, how did my career continue then? Again, by chance, in my last master’s year I was asked to substitute as a high school teacher. This is something that feels purposeful, aligned with my talents, and combinable with being a mother: Becoming a teacher for young people who want to learn something and guide them in a sense, trying to bring across systemic thinking and also thinking out of the box while hopefully making them excited about science.

So, this is where ETH has taken me for now. I will start off learning how to teach people (yes, ETH also offers a teaching diploma) and trying to become really good at it, while I will keep one foot in the sustainability scene. To all you readers out there – do you have any projects in the sustainability scene and feel like I could contribute? Please reach out to me at: bhaenny@ethz.ch .

Looking Ahead

Whoever of you knows Richard Feynman’s famous “Six Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics Explained by Its Most Brilliant Teacher» might remember that he proposed the following: If we were to only pass on one scientific principle to next generations, it would be about the principle that everything is made up of the same set of particles.

Why on earth do I bring this up? Well, to me it feels like ETH – metaphorically speaking –  has given me the knowledge that everything is made up of particles. So now I have the privilege to know what I need to explore the planet and find where, with my talents, I can be content and best contribute.