AVETH NEWS 2018 ALL ABOUT AVETH AND ITS DEPARTMENT ASSOCIATIONS - FOR THE SCIENTIFIC STAFF AT - ETH Zürich
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AVETH NEWS 2018
ALL ABOUT AVETH
AND ITS DEPARTMENT ASSOCIATIONS
FOR THE SCIENTIFIC STAFF AT
ETH
CONTENT 03 Editorial About AVETH 05 What is AVETH? 08 The AVETH Board 10 Politics 13 Events 17 Special events 19 Counseling 21 Postdocs 22 Communication 23 Telejob 25 Polyhack 27 ALEA award The Department Associations 28 D-ARCH AAA 57 D-PHYS AMP 30 D-BAUG ASB 59 D-USYS VMUSYS 32 D-BIOL AMB 61 AsETH 34 D-BSSE VMB 36 D-CHAB PSA 37 D-CHAB VAC 39 D-ERDW VAME 41 D-GESS ASST 43 D-HEST HAS 45 D-INFK VMI 47 D-ITET VMITET 49 D-MATH VMM 51 D-MATL SAM 53 D-MAVT AV@MAVT 55 D-MTEC ScSt@MTEC 2
EDITORIAL
How would you describe the year international attention. In our
2017 in one word? In German we public appeal, we asked everyone
have the term “Weichenstellung” to remind themselves of our
(engl. changing the tracks for a train) community’s rules and ideals.
that is used to describe strategic and
political course-setting and in my While we wait for the verdict of
opinion encompasses the general this investigation, we continue to
situation for AVETH, the scientific tackle the underlying problems
staff and ETH itself throughout the to the best of our abilities. In two
past year. working groups, we will come up
with solutions for issues concerning
The school board unveiled their employment, supervision, and
plan to massively expand ETH misconduct—together with various
Zurich in the next years with the units of the ETH administration.
initiative “ETH+”. We will have the
opportunity to participate in the idea Last year we finalized the report of
contest and give feedback. AVETH the follow-up survey on employment
and its department associations conditions and launched a new
continue to engage in university survey on supervision of doctoral
politics, the university assembly, students. This will give us a basis to
various commissions, argue our needs
and working groups and wishes for
across ETH. This is "AVETH and its the future. A first
our way of shaping improvement was
discussions and making department associations our intervention to
the voice of the scientific are not only working at combat fake part-
staff heard. an abstract level, but also time employment
of postdocs this
AVETH and its on a very personal level." summer.
department associations
are not only working at an abstract Integrating new-comers is
level, but also on a very personal an important task. Last year we
level. Our counselling team and introduced AVETH welcome
help desk are available to advise our bags in most departments to
members in challenging situations. raise awareness and recruit
The importance of such a service new members. Connecting our
for our members was highlighted members with their peers is not only
last year by the incident (alleged important but also inspiring. Six of
supervision abuse by a Professor) our department associations came
at the Institute for Astronomy that together this year to organize the
gained a lot of national and even successful “Hönggergames” for
3
scientific staff and our business unit In addition, there will be new
Telejob executed the first business and interesting events waiting for
hackathon “PolyHACK” at ETH. you. If you want to get involved,
you can always drop by our regular
meetings or contact anyone on the
So what is planned for 2018? board directly.
We will publish the results on
the satisfaction of doctoral student I w is h yo u a g o o d
supervision, participate in the ETH t im e at ETH. Jo in ing
working groups, contribute to ETH+ and part i cipat ing in
and continue to work on various AVETH o r o n e of o u r
projects within AVETH - one of which De part m e nt Asso ci at io ns
is the upcoming 50th anniversary of w i ll w i t ho ut a do ubt
our association in 2019. e nhance yo u r exp er ie nce!
AVETH board 2017
4
WHAT IS AVETH?
The Academic Association of Scientific Staff at the ETH Zurich
(AVETH) represents all doctoral students, research assistants, post-
docs and higher scientific staff excluding professors and lecturers.
AVETH counts more than 2000 members and is organized in 18
sub-associations in all departments at ETH.
Our mission is to make ETH a We share and contribute to the
better place to learn, teach and constructive and inclusive spirit of
do research. The elected board ETH Zurich. All in all, we try to make
of AVETH organizes the political sure that the voice of the scientific
representation of the scientific staff staff is heard at ETH Zurich.
at ETH, brings people together
by holding a variety of events and We bring people together by
offers counseling and other services regularly organizing events. Social
for AVETH’s members. events like our ski weekend or our
pub-crawl bring people of different
What we do: departments and backgrounds to-
gether. Excursions help to broaden
Our activities revolve around three the horizon and deepen the identi-
fundamental tasks: representing fication of our international commu-
scientific staff, bringing people nity with Switzerland and thus foster
together and providing support. We the academic community at ETH.
represent the scientific staff at ETH
by taking part in the governance Moreover we regularly organize
of ETH Zurich, by voicing our career-related events that aim to
opinion, actively contributing to the provide insights and advice for how
discussion leading up to important to pursue academic and industrial
decisions and raising issues to careers for doctoral students and
different stakeholders within ETH post-doctorates. We support our
Zurich. We also participate in members by providing information
debates about strategic issues at different levels. We publish the
and decision-making processes popular “Survival Guide for Scientific
(“Mitwirkung”, i.e., joining the Staff”, which provides practical
debate). This is accomplished mainly information about ETH Zurich, and
via regular meetings with different offers hints and tips about living in
school board members and through Zurich.
various commissions.
5
We inform our members about membership fee is 4 CHF/month.
important transformative changes Half of this money goes directly to
at ETH (i.e. changes in the salary the Department Associations (see
system for doctoral students). In below). The other half enables us
addition our AVETH counseling to organize various events and
team offers help to talk about your networking activities. Although
problems and assist in potential all scientific staff benefit from our
conflict within the ETH. activities, only AVETH members can
profit from reduced prices at most
We are also involved in other welfare of our events.
related projects, like the Respect
campaign and the launch of the new
ALEA award, with which we honor How are we organized:
outstanding team leaders once a
year together with ETH Equal! and AVETH is an independent
Human Resources. Fundamental to association (“Verein”), which is
our work is communicating to our recognized by the school board
members via different means, be it as the official representation of
this copy of the AVETH News, the scientific staff at ETH Zurich. Like
bi-weekly newsletter or our social many other associations, we have a
media pages. board to lead the operations of the
association.
The board is elected at one of our
Finances: two general assemblies each year.
All AVETH members can attend
If you belong to the scientific and vote at the general assemblies.
staff at ETH Zurich, you can Have a look at our bylaws, which
become a member of AVETH. Our you can find online on our website,
6
if you want to know more about our within ETH: the more people we
legal structure. Within the board, represent, the more we can achieve
we have different subgroups that at ETH.
are responsible for our various areas
of activity:
Related organizations:
- Politics
- Events AVETH is not only an organization
- Counseling spanning all departments; it also
- Post-Docs /Higher Scientific Staff includes sub-associations for
- Communication every department. They form
an important part of the AVETH
A coordinator leads each sub- family, represent scientific staff in
group and oversees the work in their respective departments (e.g.,
this group. The president, the in the department conference)
vice president and the treasurer and organize department-specific
are responsible for the overall events.
organization and for long-term
strategies of AVETH. Telejob is another sub-
organization of AVETH, which runs
Our secretary Michèle probably the graduate job portal “ETH get
has more years of AVETH experience hired” together with the ETH Career
than the rest of the board put Center. These are also a great way
together. She is responsible for to get involved - see how to contact
administrative work and ensures your Department Association or
we don’t reinvent the wheel. Telejob in the next sections or online.
Once a month we have a board The rest of this booklet will give you
meeting, where all current issues more information about AVETH
are discussed. working groups, the Department
Associations, and Telejob. There
Ready to get involved? Just write are so many ways to get involved in
us an email: AVETH!
interested@aveth.ethz.ch and we
will invite you to one of our board If you are not yet a
meetings. This is a great opportunity member, join the AVETH
to get to know us and join us in family by registering either
making ETH Zurich a better place online on our website or
for scientific staff. It’s very easy, you using the form on the back
don’t need any requirements other of this booklet.
than interest and motivation in what Thank you!
we do! You can start with a small
activity and decide how much time
you can invest.Our memberships are
core to a successful representation
7
THE AVETH BOARD
Coordination Team
Martin Roszkowski Betty Friedrich-Grube Fabian Brüning
President Vice President Treasurer
Dehua Zhu Roger Stark
President Treasurer
Telejob Telejob
Coordinators
Nina Ripin Iselin Medhaug Anna Vagstad
Counseling PostDocs Communication
Luca Neringa
Isenmann Mannerheim
Politics Events
8
Regular Board Members
Tanja Eberhart Deepak Kumar Ravi Irena Kuzmanovska
Counseling Communication Politics
Romain Jacob Sasha Cisar Ian de Albuquerque
Politics Politics Events
Diyora Salimova Anastasia Sycheva Roelinda Jongstra
Events Events Events
Michèle
Grieder
Staff
9
POLITICS
One of AVETH’s main functions is the political representation of
doctoral students and higher scientific staff at different levels of
ETH. The Politics Team is the subgroup within AVETH that focuses
on ETH university politics.
Monthly meetings are used as a
forum to discuss and work on vari- Department level:
ous matters, such as statements on
new regulations at ETH and topics • Under the AVETH umbrella,
that arise from the scientific staff Department Associations (DA)
through personal contacts and sur- represent the scientific staff in
veys. As a basic principle, the Poli- each ETH department. This gives
tics Team meetings are open to the us the opportunity to be involved
entire scientific staff. in the departmental commissions
(e.g. Department Conference) and
Everyone is welcome to join the further allows a great exchange
discussion and initiate new topics. across all departments.
AVETH is involved in the political
decision process and the represen-
tation of the scientific staff at several Swiss and European level:
levels.
• Membership in ActionUni— the
Swiss organization for scientific staff
ETH level:
• EuroDoc—an organization for
• ETH commissions (e.g. stra- doctoral students across Europe
tegy, teaching, ASVZ, WOKO, Fo-
rum Nachwuchsförderung, etc.)
We worked on the
• University Assembly following projects in 2017:
• Regular meetings with the Exe-
cutive Board (e.g. ETH rector, presi- • The employment regulations of
dent, vice-presidents, etc. doctoral students at ETH has been
a long-lasting topic of discussion
in the past few years, starting with
the new salary system introduced in
2015. To fuel the discussion, AVETH
10conducted a survey in fall 2016 to how to improve the reputation and
monitor the changes induced by attractiveness of ETH for future
this new system. In spring 2017, the PhDs and postdoctoral researchers.
AVETH Politics Team worked hard Additionally, we discussed the co-
to put together a clear, concise, ming changes to the role of senior
and comprehensive survey report scientists. After all this hard work,
(available online). It revealed for ins- we finished the evening with pizza
tance that doctoral students at ETH and some great wine.
evaluate spending more than 40%
of their working time on various
duties (not related to their doctoral • The ETH proposed a change to
thesis research). the roles of senior scientists and at
the end of summer sent out a first
This survey is an important tool proposal. This change was a major
to work towards fairer employment topic at both the politics day and
conditions for everyone at ETH. If several politics team meetings. We
you answered the survey, thanks a have now sent the ETH administrati-
lot for contributing! on our comments and contributions
on the future role of senior scien-
tists.
• In fall 2017, AVETH launched
another survey focusing on the • Other Statements: In addition
supervision of doctoral students at to the previously mentioned topics,
ETH. Good supervision practices we were asked to give our opinion
are essential for the success of about several issues.
everyone, therefore it seemed very
interesting to gain more insight.
The topics included: strategies
What are the different cultures of for equal opportunity and gender
supervision at ETH? Are supervision balance, increase in study fees, stu-
tools (like the appraisal interview) dent admission, and code of con-
used and appreciated? Most duct for the role of senior scientists.
importantly, are doctoral students In the next year, we are planning
satisfied with the supervision they to use the data from the surveys
receive? The survey analysis has on the employment condition and
started and we plan to publish the supervision of doctoral students to
report in early spring 2018. Stay work on several key topics. AVETH
tuned! will mainly continue to work with all
involved organizations — including
the human resource department,
Politics day: department heads, and ETH recto-
rate — to improve the employment
The politics team organized a conditions of PhD students and
half-day event with a workshop on postdoctoral researches.
11Our focus will be the improvement of the supervision of doctoral students and to find a satisfying solution to how scholarships that pay less than the ETH level 1 salary are to be handled. We believe that the hard data form the surveys will enable us to have a strong position in these di- scussions. If you are interested in a certain topic or would like to become involved, join one of our monthly meetings or contact the Politics Team via e-mail: politics@aveth.ethz.ch You can find all the information and previously mentioned survey results on the AVETH website. 12
EVENTS
The year 2017 saw many events organized by AVETH. Guided
tours, social events, and sports activities let our members get to
know each other in fun and active ways.
Ski weekend
As has become a tradition,
in January 2017 we organized
our annual ski weekend. Ski
and snowboard fans joined
for a weekend of snow, food,
hot chocolate, and games.
ETH members from all de-
partments, skiers and boar-
ders, pros and beginners,
could all enjoy the beautiful
slopes of St. Moritz. After a
cold day on the slopes, we
relaxed with a warm sauna or Ski weekend 2017
a cup of hot chocolate.
students and postdocs from various
Orientation event ETH institutes, and occasionally
even UZH, to explore the city of
As every year, AVETH was present Zurich. We think that meeting in such
at several official ETH gatherings. an informal setting allows unique
The orientation event was the per- friendships and collaborations to
fect occasion to welcome newco- develop.
mers to our big family and AVETH
was there to present itself to the Don Giovanni opera
new arrivals.
Pub crawls Last spring, we visited Zurich’s
beautiful Opera house and enjoyed
Mozart’s Don Giovanni. The specta-
The Pub Crawl is an event series cular atmosphere and wonderful
that has a long tradition at AVETH. music left us no chance but to fall in
During pub crawls, we gather PhD love with opera!
13focusTerra earthquake simulator 300 exhibits that present the history
of timekeeping from 1400 BC to the
present day. From sundials to water
Is there a safe way to experience an
and tower clocks, Renaissance
earthquake? Would you guess that
automata, magnificent pendulum
the answer is YES? In 2017, AVETH
clocks, pocket
organized a guided tour of
watches, and the
the Earth Science exhibition
prototype of the first
focusTerra that hosts an
quartz wristwatch
earthquake simulator. The
were all presented
facility, weighing a massive
to us in the heart of
three tonnes, can simulate
Zurich.
the ground motion of
earthquakes up to an
intensity of Richter scale Zurich academica
8. The electrically driven BBQ
simulator is furnished with
tables and other movable
objects. Using real recorded In another tradition
seismic signals and with no — together with our
risk, visitors can experience sister associations
the phenomenon of an Clock and watch at the University of
“earthquake”. museum Zurich, VAUZ and UZH
Graduate Campus
— we met up for a yearly summer
Wine tasting BBQ at Campus Irchel. Over 200
graduates came and enjoyed grilled
Every year on the 1st of May is a food, drinks and lovely scientific
special day for wine lovers! Not only company. Even after all that grilling,
is it a public holiday in Switzerland, we had ice cream to top it off. Not
but also most of the vineyards in the even late-night rain could destroy
whole of German-speaking Switzer- our moods!
land open their cellar doors for free
wine tasting. In 2017, the group
of wine lovers from AVETH visited
eight different wineries and tasted
at least 200 different wines.
Clock and watch museum
This year AVETH visited one of the
world’s leading private collections
of clocks found at the Beyer Clock Zurich academica BBQ
and Watch Museum. We saw over
14Luzern's bunker
This year, a group of
adventure seekers had
an amazing opportunity
to experience Mount
Sonnenberg, the former
largest civilian bunker in
the world located in the
heart of the city of Luzern!
This giant bunker was built
between 1970 and 1976 at Tram museum
a cost of 40 million Swiss
francs. If it ever had been Tram museum
needed, two motorway tunnels
would have been sealed by four
350-ton gates, with room enough for Could you imagine Zurich
20,000 beds and hundreds of toilet city without trams? Because we
definitely cannot! Trams have been
a part of Zurich for more than 100
years. For this reason, in 2017 we
visited the unique and historic
Zurich Tram Museum. We were able
to see original vehicles from 1897 to
1960, including engines, uniforms,
ticket machines, a model layout of
working trams, and a rolling Baby
Cobra.
Luzern's bunker
Waste-burning power plant
In November, we visited Switzer-
cabins. One-third of the population land’s most modern thermal power
of Luzern would have found shelter station. We discovered how Zurich
inside Mount Sonnenberg. During a Disposal and Recycling Services
two-hour guided tour, we visited the (ERZ) uses the power of fire to con-
seven-floor subterranean building vert our waste into clean thermal and
furnished with a control office, a electrical energy. During the guided
radio studio, an emergency hospital, tour, we followed the waste and
a kitchen, and even detention cells! saw it being burned and converted
into usable energy. Along with get-
ting informed about the technology
15behind it, we also obtained
valuable knowledge about
the treatment process of the
residues.
Game night
Autumn is the perfect time
to learn new strategy games!
For the first time AVETH,
VAUZ, and UZH Graduate
Campus organized a joint
“Game Night” at Campus Freitag factory visit
Irchel. PhD students, post-
docs, and other scientific
staff enjoyed drinks, snacks, and ga-
mes like Saboteur, Codenames, and You too can join our Events Team
Mafia. in 2018 and become an active part
of the AVETH board. For a lesser
Freitag factory visit commitment, you could help us
organize a one-off event or realize
In November, AVETH visited one an event idea of your own for ETH
of the most recognizable Swiss bag scientists.
brands “FREITAG”. It all started 20
years ago, when two brothers desi-
gned a functional bag using used Just get in touch with us:
truck tarpaulins, discarded bicycle
events@aveth.ethz.ch
inner tubes, and car seat belts. Du-
ring our visit, we got a unique op- We are looking forward
portunity to see how old and dirty to seeing you again next
materials can turn into a fashionable year!
recycled bag that is an internatio-
nally recognized product.
16SPECIAL EVENTS
HÖNGGERGAMES - SCIENTIFIC STAFF EDITION
To increase the interaction across all of ETH, six Department Asso-
ciations, AMB, AMP, HAS, PSA, VAC & VAME joined forces in 2017
and invited the scientific staff from all ETH departments to join the
Hönggergames.
Logo and map
The scientific staff association of D-BIOL institutes were challenged
Biology (AMB) organized the first in multiple disciplines until only one
“Höngger-AMB-Games” in 2014. team remained. Now, teams from
There, the scientific staff from all all ETH departments were invited to
join the ultimate challenge on ETH’s
Hönggerberg campus.
Teams of up to 5-8 members
competed against each other in
twelve more or less physically
demanding and fun disciplines
spread out around the entire
Hönggerberg campus. Balancing
on slippery ground, staff with
various backgrounds, from biologist
to engineers, were challenged in
Floor is lava their pipetting skills, teamwork and
time management skills in “slippery
17Catapult Caterpillar
pipetting”. “Angry nerds” gave success. We are looking forward to
staff a stress test and offered them a welcome you to the next challenge
platform to work on their precision, in 2018 with new games, more fun
understanding and processing and less mercy! Prove that you have
under helpful advice from the the guts to make it to the very end…
instructor. “Barter trade” forced
teamwork, logic, computing and If you have any questions
sensitiveness under intense time or are interested in helping
pressure. Luck was important to! us with the organization
of the next Hönggergames
A scoring phase across all 12 please contact us:
games revealed the finalist team
& survivors of the Hönggergames. hoenggergames@aveth.ethz.ch
They, along with all the fallen, were
then rewarded with a barbecue. The The Hönggergames — no mercy
organizing committee would like to crew 2017 (Representatives of AMB,
thank all the participants for making AMP, HAS, PSA,VAC & VAME)
these Hönggergames a great
BBQ
18COUNSELING
For several years, AVETH has provided doctoral students and
scientific staff with help and support whenever needed. An official
group, the Counseling Team, was created within the AVETH board
to fulfill this mission.
This helpdesk serves as a possible and expertise before any bridges
first point of contact for people who are burned.
have problems at ETH (whether
they concern the atmosphere at There are several other points
work or general issues with life in of contact at ETH to get help, and
Switzerland). Most importantly, knowing which one to contact is
everything is treated confidentially! not always obvious. Our counselors,
who are themselves PhD students
Working at a top research institute and postdocs, can advise you in
is a great opportunity for young complete confidentiality on which
researchers around the world. institution will be most relevant for
However, this pleasant experience you. There is also a brief explanation
can turn into on our website about
a nightmare if the different centers of
personalities do expertise. Furthermore,
not work well "It is important that the counseling team
together leading you approach us early, focuses on creating
to issues with the awareness within ETH to
supervisor or co- to allow us to assist you make sure our members
workers. Whenever with our experience and are informed of their
a problem appears, expertise before any rights. Such campaigns
we encourage you are important to
to deal with it right bridges are burned. " ensure that the AVETH
away. If you are not counseling service is
sure how, or if your attempts are not contacted before the situation
fruitful, please contact the AVETH escalates. It is sometimes difficult
counseling service. to realize if one is overworked or if
real problems exist with colleagues
We will help you to de-escalate or the supervisor(s). Here we try
the situation quickly and derive a to make you self-aware of your
strategy that will make sure your situation.
future is not compromised and your
problem is solved. It is important A complementary approach to
that you approach us early, to allow institutional support is to build
us to assist you with our experience human support networks, so called
19peer groups, which develop and The Counseling Team is not only
exchange strategies for challenging working on current problems, but
situations together. We will facilitate wants to improve the work and life at
the formation of any peer-groups ETH in the future. Therefore, if you
and lend you support with our vast have any comments or suggestions,
network of contacts. Besides peer- our door (and email) is always open!
groups, we are working on a buddy
system at ETH. Volunteers (buddies) To contact the counseling team,
will be assigned to newly arriving just visit the AVETH homepage or
scientists to help them integrate into email:
ETH and provide a first contact point
and source of practical information counseling@aveth.ethz.ch
for life at ETH and Zurich.
If you are new at ETH and would
like to get in contact with a “buddy”
to get help and advice around ETH
or meet new people faster, just
contact us.
20POSTDOCS
The AVETH postdoc team addresses the needs of the postdocs
in terms of career, networking, and politics at ETH.
Postdocs are in general at a financially support your family—in
later stage of career planning and addition to how to organize child-
personal life than doctoral students care and about equal opportunities
and thus have specific needs and for women and men to successfully
interests within ETH. work and study at ETH while having
a family. The event closed with an
Many postdocs and senior scien- informal lunch where everyone had
tists come to ETH as a transition the chance meet others in the same
to find a suitable academic or in- situation and to share their expe-
dustry career, and some move to riences.
Zurich with their families. As such,
postdocs and senior scientists may On the networking side, the
feel the need to network with col- postdoc team organized “Wine &
leagues at a similar stage of life for Cheese” events, a postdoc and
career and family related matters. senior scientist lunch, and a picnic
at the Limmat. The idea of these
In 2017, the AVETH Postdoc networking events is to get to know
Team organized several successful fellow postdocs and senior scientists
career and networking events. The all over ETH. The “Wine & Cheese”
largest one was aimed at the Eng- event took place twice, once at
lish-speaking postdocs and senior Zentrum on 10. May and once at
scientists who are or are planning to Hönggerberg on 5. December and
become parents in the near future, were both well attended.
since the previous ETH organized
event on the topic had only been in If you would like to participate in
German. our activities, please join AVETH.
If you have ideas for activities or if
The event took place on the 30. there are issues relevant to postdocs
May at ETH Hönggerberg and had and senior scientific staff that you
95 registered participants. The fo- would like to discuss, please contact
cus was on how to plan and orga- us. And finally, if you want to join the
nize family life that is compatible Postdoc Team, please contact us at:
with professional aspirations. It postdocs@aveth.ethz.ch
consisted of a series of short talks
to inform about possibilities concer- We look forward to seeing you in
ning part-time work, maternity and our upcoming events in 2018!
paternity leave, and how ETH can
21COMMUNICATION
The Communication Team is a sub- In the past year, we’ve also
group under the AVETH umbrella expanded the ‘AVETH Welcome
whose function is to disseminate in- Pack’ program. This initiative was
formation about upcoming events, launched in late 2016 in close
opportunities, and politics of inte- partnership with a selection of
rest to scientific staff at ETH Zurich. Department Associations. The
It acts as a direct communication link concept is to personally welcome
between the elected board and the incoming scientific staff with a
members of AVETH. There are three warm smile, information about
main communication channels—the AVETH and its subsidiaries, and
website, the biweekly newsletter, a few small gifts. We hope that
and direct advertising platforms this early communication will
(such as information monitors and create an inclusive culture, provide
posters). In the coming year, we are useful information about available
expanding our social media presen- resources at ETH Zurich, and
ce; look for us on Facebook to stay encourage involvement in AVETH,
current on events and happenings! the Department Associations, and
Telejob. Our biweekly newsletter is
In the past years, the only distributed to AVETH members,
Communication Team has launched so we encourage you to become
a number of noteworthy initiatives. a member now (see the ‘Become
In early 2016, a new and improved an AVETH Member’ section in this
version of the AVETH website was booklet). Due to the resounding
unveiled. With a clean new look, success of the pilot phase, welcome
mobile functionality, and a user- packs are now distributed to more
friendly interface, it is now easier than and more incoming scientific staff
ever to stay informed. In addition to and the program will be continuely
general information about AVETH, expanded in 2018.
the website has up-to-date news
on events, politics team projects, AVETH relies on a community of
counseling services, ways to get members and volunteers. If you’d
involved, and more. There’s a digital like to be involved, whether as a
version of the the AVETH Survival contributing board member or as
Guide, which contains information simple as passing along a helpful
on life as a grad student and a idea, please contact us:
wealth of practical tips for living and communication@aveth.ethz.ch
working in Zurich to help incoming
doctoral students and postdocs We’re always looking for ways to
with their transition. We encourage improve our services. Best wishes in
you to check out our website (www. 2018 from the AVETH Communica-
aveth.ethz.ch). tion Team!
22TELEJOB
Telejob is a tech-company-like
organization of AVETH mainly
run by postgraduate volunteers.
We help finding dream jobs since 1989.
We are best known for operating The profit generated through
the biggest online job platform ETH- ETH-gethired.ch fuels further
gethired.ch for Swiss graduates, as activities of Telejob, helping
well as hosting financial and health students during the transition phase
insurance seminars, Career Day, and between graduation and starting
ETH’s largest hackathon PolyHACK. their first jobs.
We are financially independent The main programs include career
through our revenue-generating advice, soft-skills training, and
activities, which offers full autonomy semi-monthly financial knowledge
for our team members. Telejob is and health insurance seminars, for
a playground for entrepreneurial- which we invite high-profile guests
minded postgraduate students to to exchange their experience
experience the passion in running and expertise with students. Our
their own business. flagship project Career Day also
inspires other similar events at ETH,
Founded in 1989 and being the sponsored by Telejob and organized
first of its kind to advertise open job by partner associations.
positions through telefax, Telejob
never changes its vision—’we help With the rise of new technological
Swiss graduates find dream jobs’. trends in digital recruitment, Telejob
Around 1995, we launched one is also adapting. In October 2017,
of the first online job platforms in the very first ETH-wide hackathon
Switzerland, which over the years PolyHACK was introduced, which
has evolved into ETH-gethired. now becomes a yearly event due to
ch, the largest digital recruiting its success. (See the section about
service for university graduates in PolyHACK for more information).
Switzerland, in partnership with the Inspired by ideas generated during
ETH Career Center. Each year, job the event and our cumulated
seekers contribute about 1.4 million understanding of the current market,
page-views to over 3,000 hand- Telejob has launched its next big
picked new positions from academia project titled Moonshot, which aims
and industry, each tailored for ETH to provide a personalized platform
graduates. for job seekers and companies.
23None of these achievements If you are interested
could have been possible without a in gathering some
motivated team. We foster a culture entrepreneurial experience
of entrepreneurship and education. along with your daily
Members are encouraged to work, contact us through:
develop their own ideas and
projects, while Telejob provides the www.telejob.ch
resources.
and we would love to
Twice a year, we spend a weekend meet you.
together to simply reward ourselves.
Telejob is an ideal place to develop
and strengthen your personality
outside your daily routine and to
foster lifelong friendships with fellow
postgraduate colleagues from other
departments.
Telejob board 2017
24POLYHACK
October 21–-22. During a couch, brainstorm ideas with a
weekend in CAB StuZ2 and strategy consultant from Synpulse,
work on the code together with a
lasting over 24 hours, more than software developer from ELCA, get
60 ETH students were challenged inspired by the former Senior Vice
to find a solution for the “Future President of XING, or simply play
a round of table soccer with the
of Digital Recruitment”. marketing leader of JobCloud.
Work hard, play hard. The
That was PolyHACK, a first-of-its- PolyHACK 2017 offered a variety
kind ETH-wide business hackathon of fun activities: building a tower
organized by Telejob.
More than a dozen
mentors—professionals
in the recruitment sector,
strategy consulting,
software development,
data analysis and design—joined out of spaghetti and marshmallows,
the event to share their expertise while listening to funky music,
with participants and guide them free massage service, tasty food
individually throughout the whole and smoothies, and even a light
event. High-profile referees such show at midnight performed by a
as Prof. Sarah Springman (ETH professional stuntman throwing a
Rector), Davide Villa (Lead Business hologram of the PolyHACK logo
Development, JobCloud), Nalan into the room!
Ayyildiz (Lead Employer Branding,
Ernst & Young), and Ferrucio The results of the 14 teams were
Lagutaing (COO, ELCA), inspired truly impressive, which gave the jury
the participants with exciting of seven a tough time in choosing
keynote talks. the winners. The third prize—an
assemble-yourself computer and
A series of workshops were many other cool gadgets by Open
offered by Telejob and partners to Systems—went to team Pepe by
equip participants with essential offering a game-like app where
tools and skills for “hacking—the job seekers can “play” assessment
spirit of creative problem solving”. challenges provided by job
During the event, one could always providers and “buy” themselves
visit the sponsor stands: to have a interviews with the in-app currency
chat with a recruiting expert from won through completing in the
Ernst & Young on a comfortable challenges.
25The second prize - a management members. We are overwhelmed by
consulting workshop in Bratislava by the event’s success and are thrilled
Synpulse - went to team WildDucks to extend PolyHACK as an annual
by providing a virtual environment signature event of ETH.
enhancing the personal contact
between jobseekers and employers With that said, we invite
before they meet. you (if you feel driven
to gain this lifetime
Finally, the grand prize of experience in organizing
5000 CHF by JobCloud went to a hackathon) to join our
team Jobroulette, with an app PolyHACK family by visiting
circumventing the CV-screening us at:
challenge where applicants can
present oneself in a live video feed www.telejob.ch
allowing them to be matched with
interested companies.
PolyHACK 2017 ended with
a roaring applause by the 100+
dedicated participants, sponsors,
mentors, jury members, and Telejob
Polyhack 2018
26ALEA AWARD
Since 2007, AVETH and the Office remarkable. He enables the
of Equal Opportunities (Equal!) have reconciliation of work and family,
awarded every year the Golden especially for his female doctoral
Tricycle to supervisors of ETH students. Prof. Renner supports
Zurich who supported the balance the diversity in his team with a
of work and family. After ten years, high female proportion and an
it was time to update the award international team. Moreover, he
and expand the focus. Therefore, gives his employees the feeling that
AVETH together with Equal! and they can achieve their goals even
Human Resources, created the Art under rather difficult conditions, or
of Leadership (ALEA) award. as written in the nomination: „We
can do it“. Prof. Renato Renner is the
In analogy to the six faces of head of the Quantum Information
a dice, a number of criteria are Theory group at D-PHYS and the
required for modern leadership. first winner of the ALEA award.
The ALEA award recognizes
supervisors who support employee
commitment, diversity, and mutual
respect. In addition, they create
a working environment where
employee development and high
levels of flexibility play a key role.
The ALEA award aims to represent
that at ETH Zurich, top research and
exceptional commitment lead to the
greatest success when employees
are given a flexible and supportive
working environment.
ALEA Award
In 2017, a total of 36 people
were nominated for the ALEA AVETH would like to thank the
award by their employees. The jury employees for the impressive
was especially impressed by three nominations. In addition, we
nominations: Michelle Grant, Marco congratulate the finalists Michelle
Mazzotti, and Renato Renner. They Grant and Marco Mazzotti, and of
are role models for a sound work course this year’s winner Renato
life balance. Their motto: target Renner. The portraits of the two
achievement instead of attendance finalists and the winner have been
time. Out of these three ideal uploaded on www.ethz.ch/alea.
leaderships, the nomination of
Prof. Renato Renner was notably
27D-ARCH AAA
The AAA is the Association of
Assistants at the Department of
Architecture.
The department’s mix of
practitioners, teachers, and
researchers builds the foundation
for an eclectic and interdisciplinary
community.
The AAA thus represents We have repeatedly advocated
more than 400 members with a for expanding and introducing
variety of job profiles: practicing platforms that specifically cater for
architects who are working as clearer and more effective career
design instructors in our design opportunities for the mid-level
studios; doctoral students who are faculty.
both researching and contributing
to the many teaching tasks within At the same time, our faculty is
the curriculum; full-time scientific undergoing a sweeping generational
staff and senior researchers who change, which means that our
work on long-term research delegates have been involved in
projects; lecturers who extend and many appointment commissions,
support the Department’s teaching trying to place the assistants’
spectrum; or the scientific staff and interests within the discussions and
respective experts who work for the selection processes.
many postgraduate programs (MAS)
that our Department offers. Furthermore, our colleagues from
the Parity Group have been highly
The AAA has a respectable op- engaged in addressing the lack of
portunity to engage with depart- diversity and gender parity at the
ment politics: being part of the Department during the last three
Departementsausschuss (DA), the years. As a crucial result of these
Departementskonferenz (DK), the long-lasting efforts, the Department
Unterrichtskommission (UK), and the has finally adopted a Gender Action
Berufungskommissionen, our dele- Plan (GAP) this spring.
gates can officially place their voices
and votes for ongoing processes A further milestone was achieved
and future directions. at the last DK of the year, when –
in a joint effort with the students’
We again had a busy political year. association ‘architektura’– the
28Department could be convinced to With such crucial topics and
vote in favor of installing a ‘Diversity partial successes in mind, we are
and Parity Commission’. looking forward to next year, where
our agenda will not only be packed
The new commission, consisting with these ongoing tasks, but also
of two professors, two assistants by our planned involvement in
and two students, has the mandate clarifying particular issues regarding
to propose and introduce measures the new doctoral regulations, or
to achieve the GAP goals on the by introducing a series of events
one hand, and to monitor the to improve our network within and
implementation and progress of the outside the Department.
GAP objectives on the other hand.
As a first measure, a proposed We wish all AVETH
initiative to request the Department, members equally exciting
all chairs and all institutes that tasks, and a successful
– beginning next semester – all year.
invited guests for lecture series
and final review panels shall be http://www.aaa.arch.ethz.ch/
composed according to gender
parity, successfully passed the DK
as well.
AAA Board 2017: Sascha Delz, Berit Seidel
29D-BAUG ASB
The Association of Scientific
Staff at D-BAUG (ASB) is
the official representative
association of the scientific staff
(wissenschaftlicher Mittelbau) at
D-BAUG.
plays a pivotal role in collecting
It was founded in September and consolidating the opinion of
2013 and it is now the voice of the scientific staff and in officially
the scientific staff at both internal conveying their opinion to the
and external platforms. It strives to appropriate administrative levels.
serve as a hub for collective opinion
making on pertinent issues. The The ASB General Assembly elects
ASB is a member of the Academic the scientific staff representatives to
Association of Scientific Staff at ETH the DK (Department Conference)
Zurich (AVETH). and the UK (Teaching Commission).
The ASB provides pertinent
information and serves as the point
What do we do? of contact for general questions
regarding the scientific staff at
The ASB undertakes several D-BAUG.
important tasks. Primarily, it acts
as the official representative of The ASB fosters exchange
the scientific staff at D-BAUG. It among scientific staff at D-BAUG
through a variety of social
events and scientific activities
— such as the yearly “Meet
& Share Your Research
Day”. This event provides
a platform for the scientific
staff to present their research
to their peers. Additionally,
regularly organized lab tours
ASB Meet & Share Your
Research Day 2017 at
D-BAUG.
30Where to meet us next?
ASB holds regular board
meetings, to which interested
scientific staff is welcome
to attend. At the beginning
of the spring semester, we
usually organize a “Start-of-
Semester Apéro” as a friendly
get-together. This is a nice
opportunity for members
to interact with colleagues
among the scientific staff at
D-BAUG, and of course to
ASB board 2017/2018, Sasha, Max,
make new friends! The exact
Sebastian, Natalia, Abhishek, Helge,
date and time of the event
Stefano, Charis, Marion, Joseph.
will be communicated on our
website and via our newsletter.
give the opportunity to discover We are looking forward to seeing
one of the many interesting labs you there! Further activities for 2018
at D-BAUG. ASB collaborates with will be announced at a later date.
the department in various working
groups, including “Gender & Please do not hesitate to
Diversity”, to help implement the contact us at:
Gender Action Plan at D-BAUG. asb@ethz.ch
and go have a look at
How do I become a member? our website:
All scientific staff (scientific www.asb.ethz.ch.
assistants and staff, doctoral
students, postdocs, senior
assistants, and higher scientific
staff) at D-BAUG become regular
members of the ASB, if they are
member of AVETH. All members
are eligible to vote at the General
Assembly.
If you would like to be involved
in a more active way in the activities
of the association, please feel free
to contact us anytime (contact data
below).
31D-BIOL AMB
AMB
Politics
At the Department of Biology,
the process of taking decisions is
embedded in a political landscape Akademischer Mittelbau am
in which all members can raise
Departement Biologie DBIOL
their voice. To strengthen its
representation at departmental
conferences, the scientific staff series is an opportunity offered
(Mittelbau) has joined forces in to doctoral students at D-BIOL
AMB. Delegates are send to the to invite their favorite speakers.
department-, professor conference, Beginning of 2017, AMB organized
teaching- and library commission. In the first excursion to CERN where
addition, AMB representatives are participants were able to receive
part of recruitment committees for an impression about the exciting
new assistant professorships. work of particle physics and to
catch a glimpse of the famous CMS
detector (Compact Muon Solenoid;
Scientific and career events an experiment at the Large Hadron
Collider (LHC particle detector)).
Beyond its political task, AMB is
providing support and a platform As in previous years, AMB and
for the organization of scientific AMP organized interdepartmental
and career events. During the lab tours, where participants gained
PostDoc Day 2017, postdoctoral insights into the research topics
fellows from all life sciences of biology and physics labs. The
joined to listen to interesting talks event was followed by an apéro to
and to discuss about their own discuss impressions and to foster
research. The D-BIOL PhD Lecture interdepartmental communication.
CERN Visit (left) and Summer Volleyball Tournament (right)
32AMB Board 2017
Another career event, the PostDoc Future events
to PI transition, was organized as
round table discussion. Postdoctoral - 2nd Excursion to CERN in Geneva
fellows who pursue an academic at 27th of January 2018
career got inspired by successful - Newcomer's Pizza event: 16th of
young group leaders and could ask February
for advice. - Nuclear power plant visit
- Hoenggergames 2018, in
collaboration with other DAs
Social events (participation from more department
associations in the organization are
At the departmental level, AMB very welcome. Please contact us, if
promotes internal networking by you are interested to join this event)
organizing social events, such as the - Volleyball Tournament: 24th of
Hoenggergames, in cooperation August
with AMP, HAS, PSA, VAME and
VAC, as well as the legendary AMB …and many more
Happy Hour, the Summer Volleyball
Tournament & BBQ or the casual If you want to join AMB
Newcomer's Pizza event. or if you have more ideas
you would like to promote,
To foster communication and please contact us:
cooperation at D-BIOL, AMB
maintains the project “Lunchmates”, amb@biol.ethz.ch
where people from various institutes
are randomly mixed in small groups Or visit:
to go for lunch together.
http://amb.ethz.ch.
33D-BSSE VMB
The VMB - also called Associa-
tion of Scientific Staff D-BSSE - is
the official voice of doctoral and
postdoctoral resear chers, as
MB
Verein des Mittelbaus
well as of scientific assistants at Association of Scientific Staff
D-BSSE
the Department of Biosystems
Science and Engineering (D-BS- leadership and helps establish a di-
SE). alogue between management and
research personnel.
What do we do? In addition to its political engage-
ment, the Association of Scientific
The Association of Scientific Staff Staff organizes events to improve
acts as a link between employees the scientific, social, and professio-
and department leadership and nal atmosphere at the department.
strives to make D-BSSE not only a Weekly intra-departmental semi-
place of academic excellence but nars promote the interaction bet-
also an attractive work environment. ween different groups and allow re-
With the help of the elected Mittel- searchers to optimally benefit from
bau representatives, the association each other’s expertise and our inter-
informs and advises department disciplinary environment.
The association also orga-
nizes sports events such as
football and volleyball tour-
naments, ski weekends, and
beer brewing to invite people
to know their colleagues.
On a more professional
note, the scientific staff as-
sociation organises ongoing
series of seminars on em-
ployment equality and finan-
cial planning. Furthermore,
the association subsidises
Ski Weekend in Engelberg German courses for its inter-
national peers through the
34voluntary contributions to AVETH, Our future events
helping newcomers from all over
the world to hit the ground running - Ski Weekend to Engelberg
when coming to Switzerland. - End of Semester party
- Summer football tournament
If you wish to get in- - Weekly intra-departmental scien-
volved in making D-BSSE tific seminars
be a better and livelier
workplace, please get in
- Beer brewing
contact with any of the … and many more!
VMB board members at the
following address: Check our website for more infor-
mation:
vmb@bsse.ethz.ch
www.vmb.ethz.ch
VMB board members and Mittelbau representatives
35D-CHAB PSA
The Pharmaceutical Scientists’
Association (PSA) represents all
non-faculty academic staff of
the Institute of Pharmaceutical
Sciences (IPW).
Membership is open to doctoral PSA represents its members in
students, research assistants, post- various decision-making bodies
docs and all other scientific em- such as the Teaching Committee or
ployees of the institute. All AVETH the Department Conference.
members of the institute are auto- Thinking about your life after
matically members of the PSA. PSA ETH? The Career Opportunity
was established in early 2006, when committee of PSA is working hard
we became independent from the to organize workshops, seminars
general D-CHAB association and or information posts from various
became an official sub-organization life science companies inside and
of AVETH. outside of Switzerland. Don’t know
where to meet other people outside
your lab? In an effort to promote
exchange, PSA organizes events
such as aperos, barbecues, and
sports tournaments.
Upcoming events 2018
01 - PSA Skiing Day
02 - Career Event, Bowling
03 - Spring Break Party, Newbie
Event
PSA Board 2017 05 - Career Symposium
06 - PSA Beachvolley tournament
07 - Bocce tournament
What we do 09 - Newbie Event, Soccer tour-
nament
• Representation of our members 10 - Halloween party
• Career opportunity events 11 - Company visit
• PSA social events
TGIF every last Friday of the
month
36D-CHAB VAC
The VAC officially represents -
together with our sister associati-
on PSA- the scientific staff at the
Department of Chemistry and
Applied Biosciences (D-CHAB).
Currently the VAC represents
more than 200 doctoral students se contact with the head of the de-
and postdocs as well as senior scien- partment, the administrative staff,
tists. Our board reflects the diversi- the safety-and-environment group
ty of D-CHAB with representatives (SGU), and the student organization
from four different institutes (orga- (VCS).
nic, inorganic, physical chemistry,
chemical and bio-engineering). In addition to our political en-
gagement, we organize a wide va-
What we do riety of events. These range from
scientific exchange through our
The VAC is involved in the admi- Open Labs to career events inclu-
nistrative decision process, which ding our Career Beer series and or-
impacts all students and staff at the ganization of a yearly two-day com-
D-CHAB. We represent the scien- pany fair Chemtogether (with VCS).
tific staff in the departmental and
teaching commission and keep clo- Moreover, we provide important
D-CHAB community development
opportunities for our members
to meet and socialize. Both our
traditional St. Patrick’s Day Party
and the Burger Event (with PSA)
are very popular. We also mainta-
in close contact to the alumni of
our department (VECS) by hosting
each year VECS on the Grill (with
VCS). On a more regular basis, our
weekly lunch roulette Lunchmates
matches up random groups of four
to meet and enjoy lunch together
CV training as kick-off event to every Thursday – thereby fostering
our two-day company fair Chem- a diverse and social lunchtime com-
together munity.
37VAC welcomes new doctoral stu- In case you would like to
dents and postdocs at D-CHAB by join our board, help orga-
personally handing over AVETH nizing an event or just get
Welcome Bags and inviting them to to know us, feel free to
our biannual Newbie event. There, contact us. We always en-
representatives of D-CHAB adminis- joy getting in touch with
tration, HR, SGU, doctoral adminis- new people!
tration and Infozentrum provide all
necessary information for a smooth To find out about our upcoming
start at D-CHAB. events, visit our website and/or
follow us on Facebook:
We also aim to get more post- www.facebook.com/VACETHZ
docs involved in our activities. As of
this year, we have a postdoc repre-
sentative on our board, who will or- Upcoming events 2018
ganize e.g. regular Postdocs Lunch
meetings. 01 - VAC Skiing Day
02 - Mulled Wine & Waffles
All of VAC’s efforts are intended 03 - St. Patrick’s Day Party, New-
to help you getting in touch with bie Event
people from other research groups 04 - Burger Event, Open Lab
and to create an enjoyable and 05 - D-CHAB Sommerfest
inspiring working atmosphere at 06/08 - VAC Lounge (every
D-CHAB. Our VAC lounge, particu- other Friday), VAC Hike, Höngger-
larly during the summer, is a great games
place to do exactly this. It is located 09 - Newbie Event
on top of the second finger of the 10 - VECS on the Grill
HCI building and offers a beautiful 11 - General Assembly, Chemto-
view over Zurich, where we offer gether
beers and cider biweekly. 12 - Open Lab
Our lounge is also available for
rent, both for official and personal
events via mail:
webmaster@vac.ethz.ch.
Beside the lounge, it is also pos-
sible to rent ten caquelons (for 6
people each) from VAC.
VAC Board 2017
38D-ERDW VAME
The association of scientific
staff at the Department of Earth
Sciences (VAME) represents all
non-professorial scientific em-
ployees in D-ERDW, including
doctoral students, post-docs,
Oberassistants and senior scien- The Help!desk can be confidenti-
tists. ally contacted at:
vame-helpdesk@erdw.ethz.ch
VAME was officially founded in
2012 after a long period of unof- The Welcome Committee is a
ficial representation of the scientific self-organised group of volunteer
staff within the D-ERDW. PhDs and post-docs who greet
new Mittelbau members within one
week of their new employment in
VAME’s main goals are: D-ERDW.
The aim of this committee is to
(a) representing its members’ in- provide newcomers with all the info
terests within the department they need to start out straight away
feeling knowledgeable regarding
(b) contributing to a positive in- what D-ERDW has to offer, what the
terpersonal and social environment Mittelbau is and how scientific and
at D-ERDW. social events work.
We do this through a variety of Every first Monday of the month,
forums led by volunteers within the the EqualiTea group meets in an in-
department. formal tea-break setting aimed at
creating an open and comfortable
2017 saw the founding of the environment within the department
VAME Help!desk, an internal and to converse, share experiences,
strictly confidential mediation ser- address issues, seek suggestions
vice offered to both students and and actively discuss matters of gen-
supervisors at D-ERDW, with the aim der equality, work equality, and fa-
of providing support and helping to mily-work management. Together
resolve conflicts at an early stage. with D-USYS, volunteers in D-ERDW
organize the series ETHics Dia-
logues, an interactive discussion
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