News and events

A recently concluded research project funded by the Mobility Initiative and conducted by the Chair of Infrastructure Management led by Professor Bryan Adey together with SBB experts proposed methodologies to help asset managers plan future interventions more effectively and efficiently using digital tools.  

The Future Mobility program is a long-​​​term research program focusing on solutions that address decarbonization, digitalization and infrastructure development in the coming decades. Projects approved under this framework provide a unique opportunity for close collaboration with the Mobility Initiative industry partners which are AMAG, SBB and Siemens.

The team composed by Daniel Heimgartner, Aurore Sallard and Milos Balac from Kay W. Axhausen's chair investigated the mobility behavior in a new normal, characterized by a large population share adopting working from home.

The Center for Sustainable Future Mobility (CSFM) Symposium 2024 was hosted at ETH Zurich on May 29th. The event featured interesting presentations on Mobility Initiative projects as well as keynotes from Marta González, Professor of City and Regional Planning at the University of California, and Juho-Pekka Virtanen, Product Owner of the Digital Twin at the Forum Virium Helsinki.

Our colleague and CSFM member Marco Hutter, who is also actively working on Mobility Initiative projects, has been awarded the Rössler Prize, which is the most endowed research award at ETH Zurich.

The federal government has plans to tax electric vehicles to secure funding for road infrastructure. However, a new levy could delay the switch to electromobility. Alessio Levis and Professor Thomas Bernauer explain how this dilemma could be resolved.

The university's executive board approved the ETH Net Zero programme that will help further reduce greenhouse gas emissions. With this step, the university has officially entered a new phase of its endeavours towards net zero.

The team from the Centre for Energy Policy and Economics at ETH Zurich analyzed some of the most important psychological barriers towards increasing EV adoption within the framework of the Mobitiy Initiative program. Here are the main conclusions from the stated choice randomized control trial which have been also discussed also in the last CSFM Seminar.

The Swiss Center for Automotive Research (swiss CAR) at the University of Zurich presents their new study on the Swiss automotive and automotive supply industry, followed by further presentations on and from the industry.

Interested in the railway system? Engineers give students an insight into the railway industry. Register now!

Do you have an idea for a new product, service, process, or business model that may support the decarbonization of the transport system? Then this is for you! Join the recently launched Innovation Booster New Mobility Lab. The first call for ideas has recently opened. Submit your idea and connect with this growing ecosystem of experts and potential partners.

The CSFM annual report reviews and outlines all activites and measures from last year.

The 7th call for research projects is open now. ETH Zurich researchers can submit proposals until the deadline 31 May 2023.

Information on the impact that different segments of the population have on the climate is an essential ingredient in making climate policy measures fair and acceptable to the majority.

Railway wheels are safety-critical components that significantly impact performance and they are major cost drivers for maintenance. The condition of the wheels also influences the infrastructure. Furthermore, wheel defects cause noise and vibration emissions, impacting the environment and they significantly reduce customer comfort.

The ETH Board appointed Eva Heinen, currently Full Professor at the Technical University of Dortmund, Germany, as Full Professor of Transportation and Mobility Planning in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering.

Bridging research, education, and outreach across departments and research fields to answer the energy challenges of today and tomorrow. Join mobility related topics and events during the Energy Week 2023 at ETH Zurich and online.

Using a new 3D printing technique, researchers from the group of André Studart, Professor of Complex Materials, and the group of Aldo Steinfeld, Professor of Renewable Energy Carriers, at ETH Zurich have developed ceramic structures with complex pore geometries to transport solar radiation more efficiently into the solar reactor’s interior.

Without political measures for zero-​emission technologies, a significant proportion of heavy goods vehicles will still run on diesel in 2035. This result is shown in a new ETH Zurich study on the decarbonisation of truck traffic. The summary prepared by Christoph Elhardt for ETH News features CSFM researchers Professor Tobias Schmidt and Bessie Noll from the Energy and Technology Policy Group at ETH Zurich.

The Future Mobility program is a long-​​​term research program focusing on solutions that address decarbonization, digitalization, and infrastructure development in the coming decades. Projects approved under this framework provide a unique opportunity for close collaboration with the Mobility Initiative industry partners AMAG, SBB, and Siemens.

ETH Zurich, jointly with industrial partners Synhelion, SBB, and AMAG, recently completed a comprehensive technical, economic and environmental analysis of the solar thermochemical production of drop-in fuels.

Professor Emilio Frazzoli is the new chairperson of the center and takes over from Professor Kay Axhausen. Professor Martin Raubal will be his deputy in this role.

The Center for Sustainable Future Mobility (CSFM) Symposium 2023 was hosted at ETH Zurich on June 6th. The event featured exciting presentations on three Mobility Initiative projects and keynotes from Volkswagen AG, Synhelion SA and SBB.

Annual call for innovative research proposals open now to leading universites. This is an opportunity for your funding and collaboration of future mobility research projects.

In order to further improve the mobility infrastructure at ETH, we need your feedback. Please take part in a short survey.

The ETH News for Industry feature a new video on one of our Mobility Initiative projects called SUNFUELS.

ETH Zurich together with SBB addressed the issue in a project funded by the ETH Mobility Initiative.

Post-doc positions on the Open Digital Twin Platform with a focus on data acquisition and data visualisation in Switzerland.

The Federal Office of Transport organized in collaboration with the CSFM last February an event to inform about Switzerland's participation in Europe's Rail Joint Undertaking (EU-​Rail).

The Mobility research programme promotes research directed towards a smart and sustainable transformation of the transport system in line with the SFOE climate targets and energy strategy.  

The 6th call for research projects is open now. ETH Zurich researchers can submit proposals until the deadline 9 June 2023.

ETH Zurich's Robotic Systems Lab created the Swiss Mile robot, who is to be believed to be key to automating our cities. Professor Marco Hutter is working on automated machines within a MI project from the CSFM.

Significant technical contributions to research and development activities relative to the sustainability of products, processes, or the environment.

ETH Zurich together with SBB addressed the issue in a project funded by the ETH Mobility Initiative.

The Future Mobility program is a long-​​​term research program focusing on solutions that address decarbonization, digitalization, and infrastructure development in the coming decades. Projects approved under this framework provide a unique opportunity for close collaboration with the Mobility Initiative industry partners which are AMAG, SBB, and Siemens. The following projects were approved and will be starting soon.

Concentrated sunlight can be used to produce syngas which is a raw material for fuel production.

What is the design for a sustainable and safe mobility system for all road users? Our CSFM faculty member Dr Miriam Elser is looking for answers.

Investigations have shown that the potential of photovoltaics along the national roads sums about 55 GWh per year, This is roughly the consumption of 11,000 4-person households.

The production of kerosene directly from carbon dioxide and water promises to be a game-changer in the energy field.

Professor Steinfeld's research team, jointly with EU partners, demonstrate the thermochemical production of kerosene from water and CO₂ in a solar tower fuel plant.

Professor Tobias Schmidt explains economic advantages, power consumption and security of energy supplies.

The electromobility roadmap, which has been running successfully since 2018, will be strengthened and extended until 2025.

Interview with Anthony Patt on climate policy measures, new technologies and the energy transition.

We have got the knowledge and the solutions. But what are the politicians waiting for? Professor Anthony Patt and Professor Reto Knutti in the Science talk from Radio SRF 2 KULTUR.

In the race to combat climate change, sustainable transport systems can play a key role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. As well as focusing on the technological issues at stake, current research also investigates whether there is public acceptance for the changes.

Professor Tobias Schmidt on the taskforce and the fossil fuel phase-out.

Professor Anthony Patt on the energy strategy and possible solutions.

Road traffic is currently responsible for more than 30% of Switzerland's greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing these emissions is not easy.

Let Professor Anthony Patt highlight three remarkably positive trends in the third section of the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Interview with Professor Anthony Patt who is co-author of the Assessment Report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and member of the CSFM steering committee.

Swiss startup Synhelion is launching production of a carbon-neutral and sustainable aviation fuel in 2023 that can potentially be mass produced.

Many existing studies cannot be replicated because the respective data is unavailable, neither publicly accessible nor on request. This is only one of the few problems. From a scientific point of view, we do not seem to know much about BEV acceptance.

The CSFM project lead by Gioele Zardini received the best paper award at the 24^th IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems.

SBB wins the Watt d’Or 2022 in the category of Energy Technologies.

D-​BAUG Science Talk by Professor Francesco Corman from the Transport Systems research group (TS) at the Institute for Transport Planning and Systems (IVT).

Gioele Zardini's presentation at the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS).