National Futures Day at ETH Zurich
Are you interested in finding out more about a particular career? ETH Zurich is offering exactly what you’re looking for: on the morning of 9 November 2023, Nationaler Zukunftstag, you can explore the great diversity of the professional world at ETH.
Who can take part?
Our main offering is tailored to 5th to 7th grade pupils keen to find out more about work and study at ETH Zurich.
The event is open to children whose parents are already ETH members, as well as those of non-ETH employees. This year a quota of tickets will be available at a discount to families with a KulturLegi card.
Basic programme: ETH members can invite children from their own family, or those of relatives and friends, to accompany them to work and give them a taste of everyday working life – as long as safety regulations permit. They are responsible for looking after the children on the day. Make sure you discuss your plans well in advance with your supervisor.
Main events on offer
Want to build a flashlight yourself? Watch exciting experiments and conduct one of your own? You can do so at this event. We show you how to construct a flashlight in four simple steps. While doing so, you experience four different varieties of vocational training.
First you sketch the design, then in the workshop you get the chance to drill and also solder. Finally, you assemble all the parts of your flashlight. Having worked through different physics experiments as well, now comes the crunch: will your flashlight actually work? Yes, of course it does!
A microscope lets you see minute objects otherwise invisible to the naked eye. At this event you will be able to build your own microscope or “foldscope”. Then we take a look at things on a microscopic scale, such as the wings and legs of flies, prehistoric crabs and onion skins. You will see them 160 times bigger than in real life.
We take photos of the objects with a smartphone. You also have the chance to look through even more powerful microscopes. We know you will be amazed at what you see!
How can puzzles give us a glimpse into the amazing world of information technology? Magic tricks provide an insight into the world of coding for error detection and correction, different encryption methods give us a brief insight into data protection, while a tree sudoku shows us how we can learn from environmental data. We find out about different sorting methods to optimise searching and ordering techniques, while the history of numbers takes us through the different number systems and a card game helps us describe and classify objects.
Books are fantastic, don’t you agree? Reading lets you go on an adventure, travel into the future, sail across the oceans or solve exciting criminal cases. And where do you find the most amazing stories? In your own dream library!
Working in small groups, we use wood, cardboard, plasticine and other materials to build your dream library. What should it contain? How is your library equipped? What do you want to be able to do there? Your imagination can run free. We are excited to see what you come up with!
Provider: ETH Library
Can you imagine robots capable of constructing walls or floors on building sites? Or 3D printers able to print entire houses at the push of a button? No?! Then come and visit the world’s largest robotics fabrication lab, where humans and robots work alongside each other on a daily basis. First the houses are designed by humans on the computer, then built by robots and printed in 3D.
You’ll be present to witness the robots come to life, and you can watch them as they build. And you can perform small tasks yourself with robots and 3D printers. Come with us on a journey into the futuristic world of construction!
Provider: external pageDepartment of Architecture, NCCR Digital Fabrication
Are you aware of all the incredible things our blood can do? It transports oxygen. It helps us maintain a steady body temperature. And it plays an important role in preventing disease. The white blood cells in our body can detect and remove bacteria, protecting us from illness.
Together we’ll take a close-up view of white blood cells under the microscope. And we’ll find out if everyone has the same number of white blood cells in their blood. Finally, we’ll train a computer to identify the various blood cells. Will you give us a hand?
Provider: Department of Biology, Institute for Molecular Systems Biology
Water is an incredibly powerful force. It displaces river banks, cuts deep valleys in mountains and can generate electricity. What’s more, water is essential for life. To find out more about the capabilities of water, scientists are building giant models that allow us to observe exactly what happens, and when.
We describe the questions we are tackling and how we search for answers. And we demonstrate our models in action! Later, you will be allowed to conduct your own experiment using the hydraulics model. Discover the immense power of water!
It’s a bit like a knights’ duel: if we get a cold or flu, it’s because viruses or bacteria have attacked our immune system, which fights against them. Fortunately the body has several ways of defending itself against these invaders.
Do you want to find out more about the body’s white knights? We look at what they do. You will also learn the difference between healthy and sick mice, and those that have fully recovered from a disease. And you can conduct your own experiment to measure the defensive power of different “groups of white knights”. Are you with us?
Can you imagine a world with no bridges? Zurich without a bridge over the Limmat? Since time immemorial, humans have been building bridges to span deep gorges, rivers or even oceans. Although there have been many modifications, the same basic principles still apply to bridge construction. Astounding, don’t you think?
Visit us to learn about the principles of bridge construction and become a bridge builder yourself. We’ll help you plan your own bridge. We’re looking for the best bridge builders at National Futures Day 2023!
Provider: Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, Institute of Structural Engineering
Humans, animals and plants are all made from the same building blocks. But what determines whether you’re a person, a banana or a cat? It’s your DNA. DNA is like a giant cookbook: it contains millions of recipes for producing all the different parts of a living being.
Do you want to find out more about DNA? In our “DNA kitchen”, we’ll extract some DNA from various fruits and examine their different cells under the microscope. You can study the smallest building blocks of life in minute detail!
So you love playing video games and would like to have a go at programming one yourself? You’ve come to the right place. We show you how to build your own small 2D programme. You are free to decide whether it should be an adventure or animal game, for example. Next you choose a character and decide whether it’s good or evil. You can take home your new game on a memory stick and carry on playing it, and show it to friends and family.
If you like, tell your teachers you are attending an “Introduction to object-oriented programming using Greenfoot”.
Provider: IT Services department
Is the universe shaped like a giant doughnut? How does a mathematician determine the shape of our universe? To get a better understanding, we venture with you into the world of the lowlanders, who want to know what their world looks like. We create our own lowlander universes and eventually come back to the key question: What form does the universe take?
Do you want to find out? We’ll help you find the answer!
Provider: Department of Mathematics, mathematics and training
How do I make a computer do what I want it to? You can try it out at this event, where you can programme a computer small enough to fit into your trouser pocket. It’s called micro:bit and is so easy to use that it’s instant fun.
Then you develop and test a programme to expertly park a toy car. Alternatively, programme your own code for the game “Rock, scissors, paper” and depict the three symbols with LED lights. Come and be surprised!
Provider: Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, external pagemint & pepper
Have you ever tried tying a shoelace with just one hand? Or using pegs to hang up a T-shirt with just one arm? How do people with a prosthetic arm cope?
In our workshop you will discover how people with this type of disability deal with such difficulties and what aids are available to assist them.
Then we plan, build and design a gripper arm together and try to hang up washing with it. Can we make it work? Come along and find out! Someone with a prosthetic arm will be on site and will be keen to see what you come up with.
Provider: Cybathlon
A bank robber has disappeared without a trace. But wait – there are a few black marks left behind from a felt-tip pen. That’s a stroke of luck for young detectives, as a black felt-tip pen comprises many different colours, and this knowledge can help us track down the robber. Hard to believe? Then visit our laboratory to discover which colours actually make up black. You will also learn what this has to do with chocolate, wine gums, salad and M&M’s. Are you curious to know more? Then we’re looking forward to seeing you!
Provider: Department of Health Science and Technology, Laboratory for Food Biochemistry
Have you ever asked yourself what’s actually happening with the weather, environment and climate change? Do you want to know about CO2 and its effects? And why people need to do something urgently – and exactly what? We want to give you some answers to these important questions.
We have set up two exciting experiments to explain how clouds are formed and why CO2 is causing global warming. You will learn how a climate model works and where we make our weather forecasts and climate calculations. And you can take a look at the massive computers that crunch the data for our predictions. We are looking forward to inquisitive minds ready to ask a lot of questions!
Provider: Center for Climate Systems Modeling
What do you think of when you picture a robot – a metal machine that assembles cars? If this type of robot was moving around your room, you’d have to be very careful. What happens if it steps on your foot? Robots are only really helpful if they are safe and cannot harm anyone. So they should be soft, like humans, not hard like metal. There are already robotic hands capable of lifting things very gently. Will they soon be able to fold clothes and clean your room? Be surprised to discover the ‘soft’ robots that already exist. Perhaps they’ll be sharing your house before too long?
Provider: Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, Soft Robotics Lab
The programming language Python lets you write your own mini programmes very quickly. We show you how to do it. Then we dive into the fascinating world of pixels. These tiny coloured dots are the building blocks of every screen image.
Learn how to control, edit and change individual pixels, so you can turn a standard image into your own personal work of art!
Provider: external pageGirlsCodeToo
Have you long dreamt of building your own robot and telling it what to do? With LEGO® MINDSTORMS® construction sets, that’s a simple task.
Once you’ve built your robot, you can programme it. Together we discover which commands you can give it. Do you want it to throw a ball? Lift something up? Or move in a certain direction? You’ll be amazed to see the many things your robot can do!
Provider: external pageGirlsCodeToo
Registration
Registration is expected to start on 7 September. We do not accept registration via e-mail.
Please only register your child for one event.
Schedule
Important information
Children must be collected from the event by an adult. If that’s not possible, the child must bring along a custody release form to the event.
School children attend the events organised by ETH Zurich at their own risk. They must follow the instructions of ETH Zurich’s responsible group leaders at all times. Parents are responsible for arranging insurance cover for the event and are liable for their children.
Children should wear suitable clothing for the autumnal weather, as they will be outside for some of the time.