Welcome
 
Welcome
 

The Collegium Helveticum is the joint Institute for Advanced Studies (IAS) of ETH Zurich, the University of Zurich, and the Zurich University of the Arts. We aim to provide a meeting place and forum for dialogue between the humanities, social sciences, physical sciences, engineering, medical science and the arts.

 
 
Fellows
 
Fellows
 

Starting in September 2023, nine early-career fellows will pursue their projects at the Collegium Helveticum along with a varying number of senior and associate fellows.

Yael Borofsky

Early-Career Fellow
Development economics

Noé Brasier

Early-Career Fellow
Translational medicine

Georgia Drew

Early-Career Fellow
Evolutionary ecologist

Emma Mavodza

Early-Career Fellow
Development studies

Bruno Moreschi

Early-Career Fellow
Visual arts

Celestin Mutuyimana

Early-Career Fellow
Psychology

Ari Ray

Early-Career Fellow
Political science

Madeline Woker

Early-Career Fellow
History

Paulo Wirz

Early-Career Fellow
Fine arts

Veronica Akle

Senior Fellow
Neuroscience
University of Los Andes

Tuncay Alan

Senior Fellow
Mechanical engineering
Monash University

N. Asokan

Senior Fellow
Computer science
University of Waterloo

Maneesha Deckha

Senior Fellow
Law
University of Victoria

Somayeh Dodge

Senior Fellow
Geographic information science
University of California Santa Barbara

Niels van Doorn

Senior Fellow
New Media Studies
University of Amsterdam

Katherine Elvira

Senior Fellow
Analytical Chemistry
University of Victoria

Huib Ernste

Senior Fellow
Geography
Radboud University Nijmegen

Kenneth Gillingham

Senior Fellow
Environmental economics
Yale University

Christopher Hasson

Senior Fellow
Sensorimotor Control and Learning
Northeastern University

Makiko Hashinaga

Senior Fellow
Pedagogy
Sapporo Gakuin University

Inge Hinterwaldner

Senior Fellow
Art history
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

Ulrike Klinger

Senior Fellow
Communication Science
European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder)

Urte Krass

Senior Fellow
Art history
University of Bern

Marielle Macé

Senior Fellow
Ecocriticism
EHESS

Kettly Mars

Senior Fellow
Fiction Writing

Galen McKinley

Senior Fellow
Climate and oceans
Columbia University

Francesca Melandri

Senior Fellow
Literature

Bernhard Mikeska

Senior Fellow
Art
RAUM+ZEIT

Maryna Nehrey

Senior Fellow
Agriculture economics
National University of Life and Environment Science of Ukraine

Vadym Rakochi

Senior Fellow
Musicology
Zurich University of the Arts

Kriss Ravetto

Guest of the director
Film, Digital Media, and STS
University of California, Los Angeles

Lyudmyla Romanyuk

Senior Fellow
Developmental psychology
Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv

Lorenzo Romito

Senior Fellow
Space and Design Strategies
University of Arts Linz

Walid Sadok

Senior Fellow
Crop science
University of Minnesota

Thomas Schroepfer

Senior Fellow
Architecture and sustainable design
Singapore University of Technology and Design

Margaret-Anne Storey

Senior Fellow
Software engineering
University of Victoria

Tim Shaw

Senior Fellow
Sound and media art
Newcastle University

Anke te Heesen

Senior Fellow
History of science
Humboldt University

Nikolaos Zagklas

Senior Fellow
Byzantine studies
University of Vienna

 
 
Fellowship program
 
Fellowship program
 

Located in the historic Semper Observatory, the Collegium Helveticum offers academics and artists a highly international, interdisciplinary environment where they can work on their research projects.

 
 
Event calendar
 
Event calendar
 

March 25, 2024,  17:30–19:00

Can We Be Smarter than the Phytoplankton?

A Perspective on the Global Climate and Sustainability

March 26, 2024,  09:00–16:30

Digital Money and Digital Futures for Value Exchange

May 08, 2024,  13:00–15:30

Drivers of Ethical Consumption in Switzerland and Japan

Past Events

March 04, 2024,  18:00

Ukrainian Chamber Music

An Autobiography

February 27, 2024   –  February 28, 2024

Accelerating Replacement

Toward Animal-free Science Research at Swiss Universities

February 24, 2024,  11:00

AI and the Transformative Power of “Good Enough”

February 21, 2024,  14:00–17:00

Docu & Demo

Workshop on Condensed Knowledge Formats

February 20, 2024,  18:15 – 21:00

In Between Performance and Documentation

Keynote lecture by Dragan Espenschied

February 16, 2024,  17:00–18:45

The Global Tax Evasion Report 2024

Panel discussion with Gabriel Zucman

February 15, 2024,  11:00–16:30  –  February 29, 2024

Docu & Demo

Exhibition on Archiving Programmed Media Art

This exhibition addresses the question of how programmed media art can and should be documented, recorded, and discussed in the future.

February 07, 2024,  17:00–18:00

Bespoke Artificial Cells and Tissues for Drug Discovery

February 05, 2024,  16:00–18:00

SustainAgro

Strengthening Economic Growth, Sustainability, and Innovation in Agriculture

In this event, participants discuss the establishment of an agricultural cluster within the framework of the Swiss Network with Ukraine and emphasize the paramount importance of promoting sustainable development in the agricultural sector.

February 03, 2024,  15:30–17:00

I Prefer Not To

Hito Steyerl in conversation

In this conversation, Hito Steyerl will speak about indiscernibility, how to become invisible, and eventually disappear. Following Bartleby’s queer formula, the conversation explores, among other issues, the character of artistic work between societal expectations and the art market.

January 31, 2024,  20:00

Structural Media

Performance

January 30, 2024,  10:00–17:00

Structural Media

Workshop and Seminar

January 22, 2024   –  February 01, 2024

Structural Media

Exhibition by Tim Shaw

January 22, 2024,  17:00–19:00

Corpses, Casts, and Copyrights

Displaying Human Remains

January 16, 2024,  14:00–17:00

Working the Image

Exch W/ Turkers and Other Collective Experimentations

December 18, 2023,  14:00–17:00

Sample Delivery Methods

For In-Situ Studies and Serial Crystallography

This workshop will bring together chemists, structural biologists, beamline scientists, and engineers to explore the latest advancements in sample delivery techniques for X-ray sources, with a specific focus on in-situ monitoring of bio-chemical reactions and serial crystallography.

December 15, 2023,  8:30–17:00

Rise of Atmospheric Drought

Integrating Across Scales and Disciplines To Boost Plant Resilience

The main focus of this workshop is on the effects of global atmospheric drying, a phenomenon that has major implications on plant productivity. The effects of rising atmospheric drying at different organizational scales, from the gene to the landscape will be covered by topical presentations followed by open and long-form discussions.

December 11, 2023,  18:30–20:00

Politics and Poetics of Exile

December 04, 2023,  17:00–19:00, mit anschliessendem Apéro

Brauchen wir kurze Bücher? (Do We Need Short Books?)

Paneldiskussion mit Anke te Heesen, Valentin Groebner, David Hesse und Niki Rhyner

Das Podium mit einem Mediävisten, einer Wissenschaftshistorikerin, einem Journalisten und einer Verlagsgründerin stellt neuere Trends bei Verlagen vor und diskutiert die Frage, ob wir lange oder kurze Bücher brauchen, was das mit dem Markt zu tun hat und ob man mit „kurz“ und „lang“ sogar bestimmte epistemische Tugenden verbinden kann.

November 29, 2023   –  December 13, 2023

DENSE+GREEN CITIES

Architecture as Urban Ecosystem

The exhibition delves into the intricate relationship between urban structures and the urban environment, treating them as interconnected ecological systems. This exploration spans various facets, including conceptualization, planning, design, technology, and the human experience.

November 22, 2023,  9:15–17:00

Radical Reading

What are the prospects of humanist knowledge in a cultural environment where the practice of reading is adrift? What does radical reading mean in a digital age? This workshop seeks to bring together scholars devoted to exploring the radical potential of reading today.

November 08, 2023,  9:00–17:00

Time to Socialize

Does the Timing of Brain Development Predict Prosocial Behavior?

This workshop seeks to investigate neurobiological and life-history traits that may explain the high levels of sociality in some primates, especially in humans and marmosets.

October 31, 2023,  17:00–18:30

Literatur und Recht in der römisch-griechischen Tradition

Paneldiskussion – Literature and Law in the Greco-Roman Tradition

October 27, 2023,  18:30–21:00

(Re-)Searching for Resonances

Contemporary Music at the Collegium

Musical works explore the various spaces of the Semper observatory.

October 25, 2023,  19:30

Francesca Melandri im Gespräch mit Zora del Buono

Teil des Programms von «Zürich liest»

Zwei Autorinnen im Gespräch: Zora del Buono spricht mit Francesca Melandri über deren Romane und die Verbindung von persönlicher Geschichte, Fiktion und Politik.

October 17, 2023,  15:00–17:30, followed by a small reception with drinks and snacks

Hidden Deep

Demystifying the Coca-Plant for Science and Beyond

October 16, 2023,  17:00–19:00

How AI is Disrupting Developer Productivity

It’s More Complicated Than We May Think

In this Fellow Lecture, Margaret-Anne Storey will explore how AI is impacting software development practices, development productivity, and software developer experience.

September 13, 2023,  09:00–18:00

Epistemic Authority

What is epistemic authority? The workshop invites an open-ended discussion about epistemic authority, its present and future role in science and society.

July 05, 2023,  18:30

The Talmud, Yiddish, and the Formation of Jewish Memory

Omanut Lecture with philosopher of religion Daniel Boyarin

June 20, 2023,  13:15–17:00

Integrating Diverse Forms of Knowledge in Health Care Research

How can interdisciplinary studies in health help bridge between the biomedical field and other academic fields as well as non-academic settings to expand our global understanding of health and address health inequalities? This is the main question, which this workshop wants to discuss.

June 16, 2023,  11:00–18:00

+/- 1632m: Disturbing the Swiss/African Commons

Workshop organized Hannah le Roux and Tom Avermaete

The concept of the commons has entered urban studies as a way to describe the shared resources that shape cities. In contrast with this positive view, histories of north-south extractivism show the territorialisation of indigenous common lands and praxis. This event suggests a third, intersecting definition of a commons.

June 09, 2023,  08:40–17:00

The Moral Underpinnings of Political Preferences

An Interdisciplinary Approach

This workshop brings together an interdisciplinary group of scholars to discuss working papers related to this topic and identify future avenues of research.

June 09, 2023   –  June 24, 2023

Data Alchemy

Observing Patterns from Galileo to Artificial Intelligence

Based on the history of the Semper Observatory, the exhibition explores the human fascination about the creation of meaning out of patterns like the constellations of stars and planets and, today, from all kinds of extracted data.

June 08, 2023   –  June 11, 2023

AI + Art Conversations

Part of the exhibition "Data Alchemy"

With the AI+Art Conversations the ETH AI Center and the Collegium Helveticum encourage the dialogue between art and science, by bringing artists and scientists, as well as curators, engineers, critical thinkers and more together to exchange their ideas, practices, and works.

June 02, 2023,  19:30

Die Orte, an denen meine Träume wohnen

Ein Gespräch mit Felwine Sarr

Felwine Sarr erzählt von Afrikas Zukunft anhand von senegalesischen Zwillingsbrüdern auf der Suche nach sich selbst.

May 31, 2023,  13:00–17:35, followed by an aperitif

Plastics

Essential Materials! and Pandora's Box?

This workshop will give perspectives on plastics in society, sustainability and environmental challenges, emerging sustainability research, industrial involvement, and analysis of potential solutions.

May 23, 2023,  18:00–20:00, followed by an aperitif

Styles (Logics, Worlds) in Tension–the Tragic Case of Cleanliness

Fleck Lecture by Annemarie Mol

In this lecture, Annemarie Mol explores different logics behind cleanliness.

May 17, 2023,  16:00–17:30

Theodor W. Adorno und Hannah Arendt sprechen Deutsch

Öffentlicher Vortrag von Liliane Weissberg

Der Gebrauch der deutschen Sprache kann einerseits Zugehörigkeit signalisieren, andererseits zu einem Instrument der Ausgrenzung werden. Kann sie aber auch Medium des Widerstands sein? Der Vortrag möchte diese Fragen anhand der Schriften von Theodor W. Adorno und Hannah Arendt untersuchen.

May 16, 2023,  18:30–19:30, followed by an aperitif

Metabolism Spiralling Out of Control

Fellow Lecture by Alexander Pfeifer

The lecture will focus on the causes for metabolic diseases and imbalances in energy homeostasis as well as on new approaches to tackle these diseases.

May 12, 2023,  13:00–18:05

Building Blocks for Reuse

Art, Ethics, and Engineering

May 09, 2023,  09:55–16:15

Central Bank Digital Currencies

This colloquium provides an in-depth analysis of several issues relating to Central Bank Digital Currencies.

May 03, 2023,  10:00–16:00

Mathematics from a Cultural Perspective

A richer mathematics education comes from teaching it from a cultural perspective. This approach bears the potential to develop a deeper connection with mathematics. This workshop is addressed to a general audience, in particular to high school students.

April 28, 2023,  15:00–18:00

Deep Physics Concepts Made Simple

For science and engineering students, and the curious

Three lectures for a general audience, which demonstrate how to explain difficult physical concepts by illustration, demonstration and simple to graps explanations.

April 24, 2023,  09:30–16:30

The Role of Technological Innovation in Environmental and Climate Policy

How can the energy transition succeed?

This workshop brings together academics working on technological innovation and practitioners working with innovative technologies.

April 20, 2023,  19:00–20:00, followed by an aperitif

Einstein Shock

The Making of a Global Celebrity

Historical and musical reflections with reading by Massimano Bucchi and music by Kateryna Tereshchenko and Hanna Weinmeister.

April 04, 2023,  9:30–13:00

Rethinking Law beyond Linear Time and the Individual Subject

Workshop

This workshop explores law as both discourse and technique that makes social reality. It analyzes nature among its creations and how it has been established through the invention of juridical forms.

April 03, 2023,  17:00–19:00

Forests | An Evocation

Film screening with a short introduction by the artists, Mali Weil.

The film screening is the public part of the workshop "Rethinking Law Beyond Linear Time and the Individual Subject." The film collects the legacy of three years of research on the legal relationships that the West maintains with the physical and conceptual space of the forest.

April 03, 2023   –  April 21, 2023

Bubbles, Droplets, Membranes, and Interfaces

Materials Science Meets Visual Arts

The exhibition “Bubbles, Droplets, Membranes, and Interfaces” displays a collection of posters that navigate the field between science communication, graphic design, and the visual arts. While some of these posters stay true to conventions from the sciences, others start to break those norms, with some veering farther into abstraction.

March 31, 2023,  10:00–16:00

Mental Health Surveillance in Ukraine

Essential Basis for Public Mental Health

March 28, 2023,  13:00–18:15

The Materials Science and Visual Arts of Bubbles, Droplets, Membranes and Interfaces

Workshop

This workshop connects the field of research on oft interfaces and multiphase systems with a wide range of disciplines and applications, such as in environment, food, biology, and beyond.

March 24, 2023,  10:00–13:00

Ethnography, Economy and Ecology of Pastoralism in Kazakhstan

Capitalism and the Future of Central Eurasian Grasslands

This roundtable assesses and discusses ideas and possible solutions for livestock and herding practices that have the potential to maintain a viable, global industry while committing less damage to one of the earth's most valuable and fragile grassland systems.

March 21, 2023,  13:00–17:00

Rethinking Science in Times of Open Science?

Workshop

Open Science–a “constitutional moment” for the science system or a threat to the autonomy and integrity of science? This workshop brings together scholars from different disciplines, including the history and sociology of science, to discuss chances and challenges for the science system in the digital age.

March 17, 2023,  14:00–19:30

A New Agenda for Gottfried Semper

Book Launch

Three roundtables present new approaches to the architect and theorist Gottfried Semper in recent publications on architecture culture.

March 15, 2023,  19:30

Schreiben wir anders nach Künstlicher Intelligenz?

Eine Kooperation zwischen dem Literaturhaus Zürich und dem Collegium Helveticum

Ein Gespräch zwischen Ann Cotten, Monika Rinck und Hannes Bajohr darüber wie Künstliche Intelligenz das literarische Schreiben beeinflusst und welche Möglichkeiten, Herausforderungen oder sogar Gefahren uns bevorstehen. Eine Kooperation zwischen dem Collegium Helveticum und dem Literaturhaus Zürich

March 07, 2023   –  March 08, 2023

Thinking Futures from Elsewhere

Conference with contributions from across disciplines to engage in comparative and connected deliberations on thinking the future and thinking with and within (multiple) future/s.

February 27, 2023,  18:30–20:00

Jacob Taubes–Professor of the Apocalypse

Omanut-Lecture

Omanut-Lecture by Jerry Z. Muller about the biography of Jacob Taubes and his time in Zurich. Followed by a conversation with Raphael Gross.

February 07, 2023   –  February 08, 2023

Crimea’s Polylinguism–Reflections in World Literatures

This workshop is organized by Tatjana Hofmann, Slavic literary scholar. She is currently junior fellow at the Collegium Helveticum.

February 01, 2023,  18:00–21:00

A Taste of Climate Change–The Future of Swiss Wine

Organized by Emma Sayer, currently senior fellow at the Collegium.

The Collegium invites you to experience the impacts of climate change in an entirely different way – via your tastebuds.

December 14, 2022,  17:45–18:45, followed by film screening

Swiss Landscapes in Films

Panel discussion in German with Monika Dommann, Christina Schumacher and Marcel Bächtiger.
Organized and moderated by Jacqueline Maurer, who is exploring interrelations between Swiss landscapes and films during her fellowship at the Collegium.

December 05, 2022,  13:00–18:00, followed by an apéro

The Future of Machine Learning in Chemistry

A workshop organized by Heather Kulik, associate professor at MIT. Leading researchers discuss recent advances and outstanding challenges in applying state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms to key targets in chemistry, ranging from reaction prediction to accelerating computational chemistry simulation.

November 24, 2022,  19:30

Alain Mabanckou – Petit Piment, Commerce des Allongés

Lesung und Gespräch

Organisiert in Zusammenarbeit zwischen dem Literaturhaus Zürich, dem Collegium Helveticum, der Gastprofessor für französische Literatur und Kultur an der ETH Zürich, dem Romanischen Seminar der Universität Zürich und Aux arts etc.

November 15, 2022,  09:00 – 19:00

Wisdom

– What is it? What is its use (if any)?

Live at the
Collegium Helveticum (STW)
Meridian Saal
Schmelzbergstrasse 25
8006 Zurich
–No registration required

A workshop organized by Prof. Dr. Giulia Bonasio

October 28, 2022   –  October 30, 2022

«Verschwörung, Fake und Gewissheiten»

– Jahrestagung des Doktoratsprogramms «Epistemologien ästhetischer Praktiken»

Die Tagung widmet sich den Künsten und ihren Theorien in Debatten um Verschwörungen, Fake-News und (Un-) Gewissheiten heute und wirft die Frage auf, welche Rolle letzteren bei der Formung aktueller Zustände zukommt.

October 28, 2022,  18:00 – 19:30, mit anschliessendem Apéro und Führung durch die Semper Sternwarte.

Mito e Scienza in Galileo – Mythos und Wissenschaft bei Galileo Galilei

Eine Veranstaltung im Rahmen von «Zürich liest», in Zusammenarbeit mit der Cattedra De Sanctis, Gastprofessur für italienische Literatur und Kultur der ETH Zürich.

Der Wissenschaftshistoriker Massimo Bucciantin erörtert in seinem Vortrag den Einfluss von Galileis Schriften, insbesondere in wissenschaftlichen, philosophischen und politischen Kreisen.

October 26, 2022,  19:00 – 20:15

Lemberg oder eine andere Kriegsgeschichte

Der jüdische Arzt Ludwik Fleck im Porträt von Andreas Pospischil live am Collegium Helveticum.

Eine Veranstaltung im Rahmen von «Zürich liest», in Zusammenarbeit mit Omanut.

 
 
About us
 
About us
 

The Collegium Helveticum is the joint Institute for Advanced Studies (IAS) of ETH Zurich, the University of Zurich, and the Zurich University of the Arts. We aim to provide a meeting place and forum for dialogue between the humanities, social sciences, physical sciences, engineering, medical science and the arts.

 

Conference

March 26

Digital Money and Digital Futures for Value Exchange

 
 
 

Contact/Newsletter

 
Our Location

Collegium Helveticum
Semper-Sternwarte (ETH/STW)
Schmelzbergstrasse 25
CH-8006 Zurich
Switzerland

Postal adress

Collegium Helveticum
ETH Zurich/STW
Schmelzbergstrasse 25
CH-8092 Zurich
Schweiz

info(a)collegium.ethz.ch
+41 (0)44 632 69 06

 

Arrival by public transport from Zurich main station

Tram 10 from Zürich Bahnhofplatz (direction Zürich Flughafen) or Tram 6 from Bahnhofstrasse/HB (direction Zoo), three stops to ETH/Universitätsspital. Go left from University Hospital Zurich and follow Schmelzbergstrasse to Schmelzbergstrasse 25. Climb the stairs by the green fountain and you have arrived at the Collegium Helveticum. Welcome!