SEPT 26—OCT 4, 2026
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ETH Zürich, Switzerland
Material shapes the ages — Designing a New Material Age
After the Stone, Bronze, Iron and Silicon Ages, the 21st century presents major technological challenges that we will be able to overcome only by developing sustainable materials. For example, plastics are used to such excess that they have now become a global environmental problem. This presents a challenge for materials science and has led to a worldwide change in thinking, making sustainability a key aspect of research. How can we develop new materials and processes that use fewer resources and are easier to recycle or – even better – are biodegradable? Our technology is only as smart as the materials on which it is based. It’s time for an upgrade.
The Vast Land of Properties
Imagine a material (aerogel) so light that a tablespoon of it weighs less than a redwood ant (approx. 3 mg or 0.0001 oz.) and yet has the surface area of three basketball courts (more than 1,200 m2 or 12,916 ft2) and converts CO2 and water into energy using sunlight. Or imagine a material that repairs itself when torn. Scratch-proof screens, longer-lasting batteries, extremely light bicycles or breathable contact lenses – almost all modern everyday products rely on materials with special properties. Which properties would you change in the materials around you?
About Materials Science at ETH Zurich
Materials science is an independent discipline at the interface of science and engineering. The Department of Materials at ETH Zurich, the Swiss university for science and technology, brings together students and leading scientists in a lively and interdisciplinary environment, focusing on high-level scientific and engineering education and technological challenges relevant to the future of our society. Ongoing research in the department includes hybrid and actively engineered materials, soft matter and polymers, nanostructured metals and magnetoelectronic materials.