La digitalizzazione, l’automazione e l’ingegneria di controllo sono campi affascinanti con un futuro brillante, che offrono diverse prospettive di carriera. Offriamo formazione continua e aggiornamento professionale, oltre a un sostegno mirato per scienziati motivati.
all levels
Per ricercatori a tutti i livelli

Circa 100 dottorandi e ricercatori post-dottorato collaborano all’interno di NCCR Automation. Le nostre conferenze (ad esempio lo Swiss CLOCK Summit), gli eventi di networking, i ritiri interni, i workshop e i corsi (nonché il supporto mirato del laboratorio REAL) contribuiscono a preparare i prossimi passi della loro carriera. 

I nostri membri possono inoltre beneficiare delle borse di mobilità del FNS e dei nostri fondi di ricerca interni per l’organizzazione di ritiri, workshop e visite di ricerca.

Offriamo anche un programma di borse di studio per gli studenti stranieri che consente di trascorrere fino a 6 mesi presso uno dei gruppi affiliati a NCCR Automation. 

Per gli studenti di Bachelor e Master, organizziamo lezioni e tutorial e offriamo progetti di tesi presso gli istituti partecipanti. 

Il programma di Master Ashesi-ETH in ingegneria meccatronica, erogato congiuntamente dall’Università di Ashesi in Ghana (dove ha sede) e dall’ETH di Zurigo, integra le aree fondamentali dell’ingegneria dell’automazione e della produzione, includendo al tempo stesso moduli di decision-making, economia e management per aiutare gli studenti a costruire una solida carriera in campo ingegneristico. 

for industry
Per gli esperti del settore

Progettiamo programmi di formazione continua per migliorare le competenze in materia di automazione all’interno dell’industria e favoriamo il trasferimento delle conoscenze attraverso incontri, conferenze ed eventi di settore. Organizziamo il workshop industria-università sui metodi di controllo e computazionali per facilitare lo scambio. 

Attraverso il nostro CAS in Automation, lanciato di recente, sosteniamo anche coloro che lavorano nel settore e che desiderano approfondire le proprie conoscenze in materia.

workshop
Per insegnanti e alunni

Collaboriamo con diverse organizzazioni per sostenere l’apprendimento. Consultate la nostra pagina dedicata alle scuole e ai bambini per vedere quali sono i corsi e le risorse che potrebbero aiutarvi.

diversity
Diversità

NCCR Automation si impegna a promuovere le pari opportunità per tutti, abbattendo le barriere legate al genere, al contesto culturale di provenienza e ad altri fattori, sia sul posto di lavoro sia altrove. Scoprite di più su come perseguiamo questi obiettivi, parte integrante della nostra missione, e su come sosteniamo tutti i nostri membri. 

in control podcast

Siamo orgogliosi di sponsorizzare il podcast inControl, il primo sulla teoria del controllo. Nato in NCCR Automation nel 2022 e sviluppatosi da lì, il podcast è condotto dall’ex studente Alberto Padoan, che intervista le personalità più influenti nel campo dell’automazione.

Offerte di lavoro

Trovate la vostra prossima opportunità professionale sulla pagina dedicata all…

Contact

Silvia Garbari

garbaris@control.ee.ethz.ch
Notizie e Informazioni Utili
Tutte le Notizie
21 Gennaio 2026
Probabilistic guarantees and academic validation: IfA partners with Google on carbon-aware computing
Sophie Hall, a doctoral student at D-ITET’s Automatic Control Laboratory (IfA) and NCCR Automation, has been researching carbon-aware computing within Google’s global data centre network. Alongside Ana Radovanovic, Technical Lead for Energy Analytics and Carbon-Aware Computing as well as project leader, she shares insights into this unique and mutually beneficial academic-industry collaboration.
Photo of chicken and eggs
12 Dicembre 2025
The Chicken-and-Egg problem of AI: How autonomous systems become trustworthy
From self-driving cars to drone swarms and air traffic control, machines that act without human oversight are becoming part of everyday life. But ensuring they operate safely in unpredictable environments is one of the biggest challenges in modern engineering. You can read an interview with our new professor Lars Lindemann where he explains how he tackles this problem.
Florian Dörfler receives the Rossler award
23 Giugno 2025
Florian Dörfler awarded this year’s Rössler Prize
Awards News sustainable automation Automation enablers
Florian Dörfler has been awarded this year’s Rössler Prize in recognition of his pioneering contributions to the fields of energy and control engineering. The award, worth CHF 200,000, is the most generous research prize at ETH Zurich and was presented to him at the ETH Foundation’s annual thanksgiving event.
Maitraya Desai
18 Giugno 2025
Cross-Forming Control: "Our algorithm could be a key enabler for integrating more renewable energy"
News sustainable automation
Maitraya Desai is a doctoral student in the Power Systems Laboratory, researching at the intersection of power systems, power electronics and control. In this interview, he explains a novel control approach for grid-forming converters that could enhance the stability of future power grids, especially with high penetration of renewable energy sources.
John von Neumann on a stamp
05 Maggio 2025
John von Neumann Lecture on "Privacy for the paranoid ones - the ultimate limits of secrecy" by Artur Ekert (Oxford and CQT Singapore)
events
Join us for the 2025 John von Neumann lecture as Artur Ekert (University of Oxford, Centre for Quantum Technologies) guides us through "Privacy for the paranoid ones - the ultimate limits of secrecy"
Participants
16 Aprile 2025
"It is great to leave your comfort zone and your normal working environment"
Outreach workshops events industry
What do Alpiq, GWF, Hamilton Medical, VAT, and Zurich Insurance have in common? A deep interest in control and optimisation! We were happy to host them at the third iteration of our Workshop on Control and Computational Methods together with researchers from ETH, EPFL, Empa, ZHAW, FHNW, OST, and Inspire AG.
Group picture
16 Aprile 2025
Swiss CLOCK Summit: Travel grants applications now being accepted
NCCR Automation offers travel grants for eligible researchers to attend and present their research at CLOCK 2025.

We invite applications from master’s students, PhD candidates, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty members from Universities in geographical regions that are under-represented in the Control and Automation community. This is a fantastic chance to engage with experts in the field, present your work in the poster session, and gain insights into the latest research developments.
InControl Logo
24 Febbraio 2025
New episode of inControl Podcast
In this episode Manfred Morari traces his journey from chemical process control to IMC, robust and predictive control, MPC, and lessons from a career spanning ETH Zürich, University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Caltech and University of Pennsylvania. From theory to real-world impact, this episode is a must-listen for any control enthusiast!
The prize winners
13 Gennaio 2025
Ezzat Elokda wins Young Author Award at the 5th IFAC Workshop on Cyber-Physical and Human Systems (CPHS)
News Awards Responsible Automation Responsible automation
Congratulations to Ezzat Elokda who has been presented with the Young Author Award at the 5th IFAC Workshop on Cyber-Physical and Human Systems (CPHS) for his paper "To Travel Quickly or to Park Conveniently: Coupled Resource Allocations with Multi-Karma Economies"
Slide from Timothy and Goodnews' report
11 Dicembre 2024
Ashesi-ETH Mechatronics Students Visit NCCR Automation for their Master's Theses
News
Timothy Asare and Goodnews Iduku, who will be among the first students to graduate from the joint Ashesi-ETH Master's in Mechatronic Engineering, visited us for two weeks earlier this autumn. Together, they are setting up an optimisation framework for a renewable energy grid at the Ashesi University campus, supervised by Varsha Behrunani and John Lygeros.
Symbolic image of soil overlaid with nutrient elements
02 Settembre 2024
Terreno fertile: Come l'apprendimento per rinforzo può migliorare la sostenibilità alimentare 
Sustainability Researcher blogs
La tecnologia dei "gemelli digitali" non è solo per l'industria. Inserire in un'app dettagli come le condizioni del suolo e il meteo potrebbe presto aiutare gli agricoltori a ottenere consigli su misura per la gestione delle colture, riducendo le emissioni e aumentando la resa.
CGI representation of an engine alongside its digital twin
08 Luglio 2024
Lavoriamo insieme: Come l'industria e il mondo accademico possono unirsi per promuovere la sostenibilità
KTT Outreach sustainable automation Automation enablers
Per aumentare l'innovazione, dobbiamo avvicinare la ricerca alle esigenze industriali del mondo reale. Un nuovo libro dai ricercatori di NCCR Automation analizza come si può ottenere questo risultato e dove si registrano i progressi più interessanti in questo momento.
Presenting at the Sisslerfeld meeting
21 Maggio 2024
Il primo evento del laboratorio vivente di Sisslerfeld è un grande successo
News Energy moonshot
Il primo evento per i soci di Reallabor Sisslerfeld si è svolto di recente e ha riunito oltre 50 soggetti interessati provenienti dall'industria, dalla scienza, dalle organizzazioni regionali e sovraregionali e dai rappresentanti politici dei comuni e del Cantone di Argovia. Il workshop mirava a formulare obiettivi di collaborazione e innovazione nel campo dello sviluppo urbano sostenibile e a scambiare le prime idee concrete.
DSO Graphic
19 Marzo 2024
Visioni e tecnologie per le reti di distribuzione
Automation enablers Energy moonshot
Questa pubblicazione è frutto della collaborazione tra l’accademia svizzera delle scienze ingegneristiche (SATW) ed il Polo di Ricerca Nazionale automazione (NCCR Automation). Il suo obiettivo è quello di fornire alle aziende di approvvigionamento energetico, alle imprese di piccola e media dimensione, alle aziende fornitrici di energia e ai responsabili delle decisioni in Svizzera una panoramica dei prossimi cambiamenti nel sistema energetico. La pubblicazione intende inoltre evidenziare le opportunità che ne derivano, le tecnologie innovative, le possibili soluzioni e le nuove aree di business per garantire un approvvigionamento energetico affidabile e redditizio entro il 2050.
woman taking inventory
15 Febbraio 2024
In tempo e in linea con il budget: Come le reti neurali possono risolvere i problemi di inventario
Automation enablers
I problemi più quotidiani sono a volte i più resistenti alle soluzioni efficienti. Il controllo dell'inventario in dual sourcing ne è un esempio: è più difficile di quanto si possa pensare bilanciare la rapidità di consegna con i costi. Ma il Machine learning può aiutare.
Photo: Bundesamt für Energie
11 Gennaio 2024
NCCR Automation team win Watt d’Or for efficient and sustainable power supply with photovoltaics
sustainable automation
NCCR Automation researchers from the Automatic Control Laboratory, ETH Zurich and the electricity supplier AEW Energie AG have won the 2024 Watt d’Or award in the Energy Technologies category. Their algorithm, which was implemented at AEW Energie, makes it possible to optimise electricity grid operations.
Image of two researchers
24 Novembre 2023
New Grants for NCCR Automation Researchers
Congratulations to two NCCR Automation researchers who have won SNSF Swiss National Science Foundation grants this week. Niao He who won a starting grant for her project “Optimization for Modern Reinforcement Learning: from Principles to Scalability” and Mengshuo Jia who won for a project on rethinking power system computation from a fundamental and non-traditional perspective.
Sisslerfeld
24 Ottobre 2023
Founding the Sisslerfeld Living Lab Association
Sisslerfeld
On October 24, 2023, the founding meeting of the "Reallabor Sisslerfeld" took place in Münchwilen. The "Verein" (association) will concentrate on creating a living lab for energy and mobility topics. Among those present at the ceremony were Dieter Egli, Cantonal Government Councillor of Aargau and the President of ETH Zurich, Joël Mesot, as well as other high-ranking representatives from politics, administration, research and industry.
Traffic
12 Settembre 2023
"Join the workshop without second thought!" - Manos Barmpounakis on his experiences at bench2biz
bench2biz
Each year, NCCR Automation works with a number of our sister NCCRs to put on the bench2biz event, a two week workshop for pre-seed research ideas. Each year, carefully curated experts are invited to join to give advice and feedback, and as this initiative is run through the NCCRs, the organisers can give personalized, tailored feedback and coaching.

For 2022’s edition, NCCR Automation member Manos Barmpounakis took part and was coached by KTT officer Ben Sawicki. We asked Manos for his thoughts on the experience.
Yurii Nesterov
15 Agosto 2023
“This is an unprecedented overflow”: Why the progress of his field alarms Yurii Nesterov
Interview gradient descent
Mathematician Yurii Nesterov is one of the main actors in the field of Convex Optimization, which is crucial for many applications in Automation. Thanks in part to his breakthroughs, that field is expanding to touch many other disciplines. He’s not as happy with that as you might think.
Gradient Descent
14 Agosto 2023
What is gradient descent and why should I care?
Explainers gradient descent
Humans have been trying to do more with less for a very long time. We’d like cars and planes that go further but use less fuel and have a smaller carbon footprint. We’d like food that is optimally nutritious but also affordable, and we’d like energy solutions for our house, cities and countries that are effective but also green and affordable.
Mingzhou Yin collects his award
07 Luglio 2023
Congratulations to Mingzhou Yin for winning IEEE CSS Swiss Chapter Young Author Best Journal Paper Award 2023
Awards
The jury gave the following motivation: "The paper is being recognized for making a timely contribution to address noise-corrupted datasets in data-driven modeling and control through a principled statistical approach. The paper stands out for its completeness and high-impact potential in applications including predictive control and system identification".
Schematic of power grid optimization
24 Aprile 2023
Smart grid solution powers Swiss energy future
At a time when countries around the world are threatened with energy shortages, ETH Zurich and NCCR Automation researchers have developed a high-impact, low-cost software solution to improve resilience and efficiency. This innovative approach enables providers to make the most of decentralized energy resources such as photovoltaic systems through flexible, responsive, and data-driven operation.
neural network
27 Marzo 2023
Going back to what we know: Injecting physical insights into neural networks
Researcher blogs Technology explainer Explainers
While neural networks often achieve impressive performance, they sometimes fail to capture simple concepts that humans understand intuitively – a gap that may even put lives at risk. But can we transfer our human knowledge to neural networks to help them learn more meaningful solutions? NCCR Automation researcher Loris Di Natale has a plan to make sure automated machines don’t freeze us out.
Photo of Alisa
17 Marzo 2023
#NCCRWomen: Alisa Rupenyan
#NCCRWomen
Alisa Rupenyan is a senior scientist at the Automatic Control Lab at ETH Zurich and Head of the Advanced Control and IoT group at Inspire, the technology transfer organization at ETH Zurich. She leads research projects in the intersection between process optimization, industrial control, and machine learning for applications strongly connected to manufacturing.
team work
15 Febbraio 2023
10 new projects funded
We are thrilled to announce that after a highly competitive round of financing calls for industry-academia projects, NCCR Automation has invested CHF 2.1 million in research into ten new, collaborative research projects. Projects will be hosted within an NCCR Automation lab and will continue with this funding for approximately two years, before being spun out in other formats.
Picture of Loris and Muhammad
25 Gennaio 2023
The benefit of interdisciplinarity: the example of Loris Di Natale and Muhammad Zakwan
Loris Di Natale and Muhammad Zakwan are the perfect example of the interdisciplinarity fostered within NCCR Automation. They met during a project meeting and, after many months of exchange dedicated two full weeks of their time to drive their idea forward and to publish a paper. Several extensions of the initial idea are in the works so stay tuned for updates!
CPU
01 Settembre 2022
Making computer memory secure again
Last year, researchers discovered vulnerabilities in commonly used memory devices that potentially put users of any kind of computer at risk. So far, the efforts of vendors to implement security mechanisms inside the chips have been unsuccessful. Scientists of ETH Zurich and the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) Automation have now developed a mechanism by which the security risks are mitigated.
processor
14 Luglio 2022
Speculative calculations open a backdoor to information theft
ETH Zurich and NCCR Automation researchers have discovered a serious security vulnerability in computer hardware. The vulnerability, called "Retbleed," affects microprocessors from market leaders Intel and AMD. All commercially available operating systems worldwide that use these processors are affected. When computers execute special calculation steps to compute faster, they leave traces that hackers could abuse.
Forian Dörfler ETH Unterwegs
06 Luglio 2022
Inspiring future control engineers and automation researchers
For years, there has been an imbalance at Swiss universities: students are comparatively less interested in mathematics, computer science, technical disciplines and natural sciences than in the humanities and social sciences. Various efforts have been made to counteract this development. The members of the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) Automation also contribute to this. For example, by visiting schools to introduce their research topics to pupils and to awaken their fascination for them.
Group picture NCCR Automation retreat 2022
30 Giugno 2022
Annual Retreat 2022 in Caux
At the end of June, the members and associates of the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) Automation met in Caux for their annual retreat. High above Lac Léman, participants from all seven institutions used the time to plan the future of the NCCR, develop educational programmes and to catch up with each other after last year's virtual event.
swissnex 1
10 Giugno 2022
A visit from Swissnex
Swissnex is the Swiss global network connecting Switzerland and the world in education, research and innovation. In May, a team of delegates from various worldwide locations visited the NCCR Automation at ETH Zurich to learn about its research areas and goals.
Kaveh
10 Giugno 2022
Kaveh Razavi receives federally funded ERC Starting Grant
Prof. Kaveh Razavi, head of the Computer Security group and Principal Investigator at the NCCR Automation, wants to increase the security of computer hardware and microprocessors with a new approach. To this end, he has subsequently received an ERC Starting Grant. Due to Switzerland's exclusion from funding by the European Research Council ERC, the project is now being funded by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation SERI.
Carlo and Michele
23 Dicembre 2021
How an idea for traffic control could become a commercial reality 
News Technology Transfer Education & Career
As part of the Bench2Biz workshops, a team led by Carlo Cenedese explored his research results for commercialization potential. There, Carlo gained insights from various different viewpoints and benefitted from honest feedback within a safe environment from which he could potentially launch his entrepreneurial career.
Discussions among researchers in the hotel garden
17 Dicembre 2021
Junior Retreat
News
The first Junior Retreat was organised in October 2021 in the Congress Hotel Seepark in Thun. It was the occasion for most of our PhD students and Postdocs to meet physically for the first time. This was a successful event organised by their peers. All researchers are looking forward next year!
Group picture NCCR Automation site visit
26 Novembre 2021
First Site Visit
News
In the last week of November, the first Site Visit of the NCCR Automation by the SNSF and the external Review Panel took place. Overall it was a very successful and fruitful event, resulting in plenty of food for thought for us.
101010
15 Ottobre 2021
An important step in self-learning control schemes
News
Traditional control schemes rely on mathematical knowledge of the system they control. Yet this knowledge is not always available – for example, when the system is very complex. Researchers of the EPFL and the NCCR Automation have developed a novel scheme that effectively controls systems based on measured data alone – even when the data is inaccurate.
Cars in traffic.
14 Ottobre 2021
Urban Driving Games
News Research
Researchers of the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) Automation, led by Alessandro Zanardi of ETH Zurich, have investigated how autonomous vehicles could become better road users in an urban environment. The result is both surprisingly simple and complex at the same time.
Naomi working in her lab.
14 Ottobre 2021
“Being part of the NCCR Automation has helped me gain a big picture view”
News Equal Opoortunities Education & Career
Naomi Stricker is in the third year of her PhD at the Computer Engineering Group at ETH Zurich, in which she focuses on making energy harvesting systems more robust and able to communicate and collaborate. Her research could help do anything from heating buildings more efficiently to monitoring air quality.
Mahsa working in her office.
14 Ottobre 2021
“Dependable automation requires considering uncertainty”
News Research Equal Opoortunities Education & Career
Mahsa Rahimi-Siegrist is a doctoral student and research assistant at the Institute for Transport Planning and Systems at ETH Zurich and a member of the NCCR Automation. She is interested in the behavior of public transport passengers and works on improving information strategies to increase the quality of transport services.
A chimney emits a thick cloud of gas at sunset.
14 Ottobre 2021
How electric cars could reduce Swiss energy sector greenhouse gas emissions
News Research
Swiss electricity generation has a very low carbon footprint. However, this is often not the case for imports. Researchers from the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) Automation, led by Loris di Natale from EMPA, investigated how electric cars could help reduce the need for energy imports from fossil fuels.
Pengbo Zhu filmstill
10 Giugno 2021
“At NCCR Automation, I can work on a project that I think will help people”
News Research Equal Opoortunities Education & Career
Pengbo Zhu is a first year PhD researcher who joined the National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) Automation last October. With the help of intelligent systems, she works on improving the spatial distribution of shared vehicles. In doing so, Zhu hopes to positively impact quality of life in cities around the world.
Tutte le Notizie