Modern times
Foundation of the Department of Mathematics
Until the 1960s, the small group of mathematics professors had no need for a formal framework to guide their activities and decisions within ETH Zurich. With the group's growing complexity in the 1970s, however, the necessity for such a framework increased. As a result, the Department of Mathematics was founded in 1976 as a part of the Department of Mathematics and Physics.
Thanks to favourable financial and political conditions, the Department of Mathematics took on additional tasks without compromising classical mathematics such as algebra, number theory, analysis, differential geometry and topology. These were even greatly expanded in the 1970s and 1980s.
FIM - Institute for Mathematical Research
The positive development in the fields of classical mathematics was largely due to the Institute for Mathematical Research (FIM). Under a series of far-sighted directors, the FIM became a research institute of high international standing. After Beno Eckmann, the post of FIM director was taken up by the following professors: Jürgen Moser, Armand Borel, Alain-Sol Sznitman, Marc Burger, Tristan Rivière and Alessio Figalli.
RiskLab
With the appointment of Paul Embrechts in 1989, financial mathematics has become an established field at ETH Zurich, leading to the founding of the external page RiskLab Switzerland in 1994.
ICM for the third time in Zurich
It is a testimony to the international significance of mathematics at ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich that the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) was held in Zurich for the third time in 1994. Jürgen Moser was at that time president of the International Mathematical Union, and Beno Eckmann was elected honorary president of the Congress.
Zurich Graduate School in Mathematics
In 2003 the Department of Mathematics and the Institute of Mathematics of the University of Zurich decided to found the external page Zurich Graduate School in Mathematics (ZGSM). Since the first applications in 2005, the number of excellent applications from all over the world has steadily increased. The ZGSM offers internationally recognized education on doctoral degree level in all major areas of mathematics and aims to extend and enrich the sense of community of its students.
ETH Institute for Theoretical Studies
The Institute for Theoretical Studies (ETH-ITS) was set up in 2013. It is an interdisciplinary research centre for the fields of mathematics, theoretical physics and theoretical computer science.