Eidgenössiche Technische Hochschule Zürich

...also known as the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) is where I am doing my masters in Umweltnaturwissenschafte (Environmental Science). Within the environmental sciences master there are a number of focus areas, mine is biology.  All courses are in English, as are most of the masters programs at ETH.  I was quite nervous about going back to school, mostly because ETH has such a good reputation (it is ranked as one of the top schools in the world). I reassured myself that they wouldn't have let me in if I couldn't do it. 

View of Zurich from Campus.

View of the main building at the Central Campus.

So what's it like...I am taking:

Physics I, Population Biology, Ecological Assessment and Evaluation, Ecosystems Management, Environmental Governance, and a Term Paper class.  All of these courses are part of my required core curriculum and add up to 22 credits, however I do not get credit for Physics which is 5 credits.  I am required to take physics as they determined I didn't have enough Physics in my undergraduate (2 semesters wasn't good enough for ETH). I am also required to take Population Biology, I am taking this in lieu of Evolutionary Biology which they originally required me to take, which is only offered in German. 

Physics is, so far, the most time consuming; but fortunately, I am finding it easier than I expected. I have also just started my Term Paper, no lectures I just write a scientific review paper. Which means I need to read (and understand) a large number of scientific papers, summarize their key findings but also make conclusions from the sum a works, ideally provide new insight. My topic (which I will have to narrow down) is "Thermal Adaption in Aquatic Organisms".  This is due the first day of next semester (February 20th) which basically means I will be writing most of it during the "break" between semesters.

Ecological Assessment and Ecosystems Management are very similar and quite easy, I'm suprised they are both core courses. They are also similar to courses I took at UVIC and some of the content is like my previous work.  I am a bit disappointed with these two classes, as I'm not really learning anything new but I don't think I could manage them if they were also difficult or time consuming. However, the professors are interesting and we got to go on a field trip to a wetland. 


My classmates are all quite friendly, most of them are Swiss or German with a few other International students, but not many and none in my exact program. I am definitely older than most of the students, there is one other guy in one of my classes who looks older than me.  The students are curious about me and I have been asked why I'm here (in Switzerland), did I have to do my masters degree (for work), and various other similar questions. My favorite question so far was "had I ever seen a bear?".  In fact yes I have seen many! :)  
As no blog post is complete without pictures here's some from my "Masters Weekend" organized by Umwelt- und Forstfachverein "UFO" which is the student group for Environment and Forestry.  

On the train Saturday morning.

Hiking in a canyon, it is somewhere near where Sherlock Holmes was famously killed (in the book). It rain hard the entire day. 

Fondue for dinner at the hut. 

These pictures look hazy because of all the steam from the fondue and a large number of people in a small room. 

Waiting for the train in Brienz.

Brienz, the rain from Saturday made the air very clear on Sunday.