WPF News

Congratulations to Anne-Florence Bitbol and Maryam Kamgarpour for both being promoted to Associate Professor at EPFL. Anne-Florence Bitbol’s research at the School of Life Sciences at EPFL investigates the coevolution and structure of proteins, as well as the spatial dynamics of populations. Maryam Kamgarpour’s work in Mechanical Engineering at the School of Engineering at EPFL is about theoretical frameworks for trustworthy automation in areas such as intelligent transportation systems, smart grids and energy systems, multi-robot systems for assembly and construction, and air traffic control.

The WPF and the SNSF jointly hosted an event on November 25, 2025 surrounding Dr. Anna Feller receiving the Marie Heim-Vögtlin Prize. A panel discussion was held on the topic „Career perspectives for postdocs“ with the panelists Dr. Anna Feller, Prof. Dr. Verdon Taylor, Dr. Regina Notz and led by Prof. Dr. Rachel Grange, with senior PhD students and postdoctoral students in mind.

After this, Prof. Dr. Verdon Taylor of the SNSF spoke about the work the SNSF does to support research careers, which includes the Marie Heim-Vögtlin Prize, awarded to an outstanding woman researcher each year. Following this, Anna Feller gave a talk on her innovative work on plant speciation and diversity that earned her this award. Verdon Taylor then presented the Marie Heim-Vögtlin Prize to her.

The event was held in the Semperaula at the ETH Zentrum. Some impressions:

Copyright photos: ©SNF/Julia Foster

Congratulations to Janet Hering for being awarded an honorary Doctorate from the University of Basel. At their Dies Academicus, the Faculty of Medicine awarded her this honorary doctorate for her research into drinking water quality and the relationship between environment and health.

Congratulations to Sabine Süsstrunk for winning the UK Royal Photographic Society Award for Imaging Science. The Royal Photographic Society has hosted the world’s longest running photography prize for 147 years and this year they are recognizing Sabine Süsstrunk’s notable contribution to the advancement and application of imaging science.

Her research focuses on computational photography and imaging, generative AI, image quality, and image aesthetics.

Congratulations to Julia Vogt, Giulia Tagliabue and Mahsa Shoaran for recently being promoted to Associate Professors. Julia Vogt’s research at the ETH is in Computer Science where she combines computer science with medicine to improve machine learning tools. Giulia Tagliabue’s research in Mechanical Engineering at the EPFL is on nanoscience applied to energy technologies, nanophotonics, and the nanoscale control of energy conversion processes. Also at the EPFL, Mahsa Shoaran conducts research in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, namely at the intersection of circuit design and algorithm development, with a particular focus on biomedical and neural interfaces.

Congratulations to Sonia Seneviratne who is set to receive the German Environmental Award bestowed by the German Federal Environmental Foundation (Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt – DBU). The award is given to people whose work has greatly contributed to the understanding of climate change, in the case of Sonia Seneviratne both in her research and her activities on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

More details and an interview with Sonia Seneviratne about receiving the award can be found in this article.

On November 28, 2024 Women in Natural Sciences (WiNS) will host an event at the ETHZ with a panel discussion featuring four of our members on the topic of Women in Academia. This is the second event of its kind that WiNS has organized and both times with a varied group of panel members. 

The event will take place at 17:00 at HCI J4, ETH Hönggerberg and the panel discussion will be followed by an apero. Please register in advance using the QR-Code below.

On October 28, 2024 Prof. Ruth Signorell of the ETHZ will take part in the IMX Seminar Series at EPFL with her talk titled “Chemical and physical processes in the confined environment of an aerosol particle”.

It will take place from 13:15 to 14:15 at the MXF 1 hall. View more details on the event and a summary of its contents on the EPFL website.

The next installment of the D-BAUG Spotlight seminar series is coming up on June 25th 2024, under the theme of Geospatial Modelling Challenges. The event is followed by a panel discussion touching on aspects/considerations for women in STEM.

Deadline to register: June 17th 

Congratulations to Prof. Anna Fontcuberta i Morral for her appointment as EPFL president, starting on January 1, 2025. She has been at EPFL since 2008, when she began as Assistant Professor Tenure Track and became Full Professor in 2019.

Anna Fontcuberta i Morral is the first woman to head one of the two Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology. She has already made an impact as a leader for many years as an award winning teacher, as the head of the WISH Foundation, and as a board member on the SNSF. She has served as an Associate Vice-President for Centers and Platforms at EPFL for the past 4 years. Her plans for shaping the EPFL during her term will be revealed at a later point. 

Read more on the EPFL website.

Congratulations to Prof. Karen Scrivener for being selected by the United Nations Secretary-General for the Group of Ten High-level Representatives of Civil Society, Private Sector and Scientific Community to Promote Science, Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals (10-Member Group).

As an internationally recognized engineering expert in developing environmentally friendly building materials from decades of research into cement and concrete, she now works closely together with the UN Task Team on Science, Technology and Innovation while contributing to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Read more on the EPFL website.

In the coming spring semester, the ETH Zurich is hosting a series of Inaugural, Farewell and Introductory Lectures that are open to the public. Some of our members are among the professors giving a lecture.

Spanning all ETH departments, the lectures will take place from February 21, 2024 to May 30, 2024, mostly in the same hall.

Explore the list of lectures and topics here.

A live stream of the events will take place here.

The introductory and the farewell lectures will be live streamed here.