About the Anniversary

For further historical information please visit the website of the Department of Computer Sciene and ETHistory.

In October, the Department of Computer Science celebrates the 25th anniversary of the inception of the computer science curriculum: in the fall of 1981 133 students enrolled at the newly established division for computer science IIIC. It was the first time in 46 years that a new division had been created at ETH. Today, this former division constitutes one of the 15 departments of ETH and counts about 800 students, 300 employees and 29 professorships.

Computer science has always played an important role in ETH research. Decades before the curriculum was created, ETH had brought forth pioneering work in this discipline:

In 1950, ETH was the first university on the European continent to own a programmable computer. The Institute for Applied Mathematics built its first own computer, the ERMETH, in 1955. And from 1978 to 1980, the Institute for Computer Science developed Lilith, the first computer equipped with a graphics-enabled monitor, windows technology and a mouse; innovations that came five years before the first Macintosh was even on the market.

Nowadays, computer science permeates our lives and a world without it is difficult to fathom. The world is being continuously digitized and computer science gains in importance in all aspects of life.

We invite you to unveil what lies beneath and to come and explore the World Between 0 and 1.