Awards and prizes
A selection of awards and distinctions presented to members of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at ETH Zurich. Many congratulations!
2026
Dr. Julian Rogger
Recipient of the external page Prix Schläfli 2026 of the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT) for the best dissertation (Geosciences).
Prof. Dr. Max W. Schmidt
Awarded the honorary title of external page Geochemistry Fellow of the European Association of Geochemistry.
Prof. Dr. Olivier Bachmann
Recognised with the Impact Award of the Geneva Tourism & Conventions Foundation as part of the organisation committee for the 2025 General Assembly of the International Association of Volcanology & Chemistry of the Earth's Interior (IAVCEI).
Gerald Haug appointed to the German Council for Sustainable Development
Gerald Haug, Professor of Climate Geochemistry at the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and former President of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, has been appointed to the German Federal Government’s Council for Sustainable Development.
Prof. Dr. Andrew Jackson
Winner of the external page Gold Medal in Geophysics of the Royal Astronomical Society for his work in the field of geomagnetism which led to the creation of a model which has been used by "virtually every study of the historical magnetic field of the last 20 years".
2025
Prof. Dr. Taras Gerya
Recipient of the 2025 Award for Best Teaching for his outstanding commitment to teaching excellence. The award is presented by VSETH and donated by the ETH Alumni Association.
Dr. Gregory De Souza
“Goldene Eule” of VSETH: The Golden Owl is awarded by the students and honours lecturers who have provided exceptional teaching.
Prof. Dr. Cindy De Jonge
Recipient of the early career scientist Pieter Schenck Award 2025 of the European Association of Organic Geochemists (EAOG) for her major contribution in organic geochemistry.
Dr. Thomas Hudson
ERC Starting Grant “Illuminating Ice Dynamics with Emerging Seismic Technology (IceDEST)”, European Research Council, Belgium. Article in ETH News
D-EAPS does the double at sga2025
At its 2025 meeting in Golden Colorado, the Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits (SGA) has awarded its two biennial scientific career prizes to ETH professors. Cyril Chelle-Michou received the Young Scientist Award and Christoph A. Heinrich was awarded the Newmount Gold Medal.
Award for space researcher Thomas Zurbuchen
The ETH professor has received one of the most prestigious awards in space research. According to the laudation, Thomas Zurbuchen has distinguished himself by his contributions to the aerospace community.
Dr. Xavier Dupla
Recipient of the Peter Wade Early Career Scientist Award at the 2025 Enhanced Rock Weathering Conference, University of Antwerp,
Belgium
Prof. Dr. Maria Schönbächler
Awarded the honorary title of external page Geochemistry Fellow of the European Association of Geochemistry.
Prof. Dr. Timothy Eglinton
Awarded the honorary title of external page Geochemistry Fellow of the European Association of Geochemistry.
Prof. Dr. Heather Stoll
Recipient of the external page Hans Oeschger Medal 2025 of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) Climate: Past, Present & Future Division.
Prof. Dr. Paul Tackley
Recipient of the external page Arthur Holmes Medal 2025 and Honorary Membership of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) .
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2024
Prof. em. Dr. Susan Ivy Ochs
“Goldene Eule” of VSETH: The Golden Owl is awarded by the students and honours lecturers who have provided exceptional teaching.
Dr. Dawid Szymanowski
Recipient of the external page Paul Niggli Medal 2024, awarded by the Swiss Geological Society (SGS), in recognition of his outstanding research to understand the processes leading to giant volcanic eruptions and ore deposits.
Dr. Maggie Thompson
Recipient of the external page Robert J. Trumpler Award 2024, awarded by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP), for her PhD thesis considered unusually important to astronomy.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen
Departmental winner of the Dandelion Entrepreneurship Award 2024, which recognises professors for their outstanding efforts to promote entrepreneurship at ETH Zurich.
Dr. Alberto Ceccato
Recipient of the external page Premio Giorgio Dal Piaz 2023/2024 of the Società Geologica Italiana (SGI), awarded to young Italian researchers in the field of Geosciences.
Prof. Dr. Timothy Eglinton
Recipient of the external page Alfred Treibs Award 2024, presented by the Geochemical Society's Organic Geochemistry Division.
Prof. Dr. Taras Gerya
Recipient of the external page Augustus Love Medal 2024 of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) Geodynamics Division.
2023
Prof. Dr. Taras Gerya
“Goldene Eule” of VSETH: The Golden Owl is awarded by the students and honours lecturers who have provided exceptional teaching.
Prof. Dr. Andreas Fichtner
Departmental winner of the Dandelion Entrepreneurship Award 2023, which recognises professors for their outstanding efforts to promote entrepreneurship at ETH Zurich.
Luca Dal Zilio receives Jason Morgan Early Career Award
Luca Dal Zilio will be presented with the AGU Jason Morgan Early Career Award. The award is presented annually to an early career scientist for outstanding and significant contributions to tectonophysics through a combination of research, education, and outreach activities.
focusTerra
For the upcoming exhibition “Keep It CO2OL”, a team around focusTerra receives the prize external page Optimus Agora 2023 by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).
Prof. Dr. Derek Vance and Prof. Dr. Gerald Haug
Elected as external page Fellow and Foreign Member of the Royal Society for their outstanding contributions to the advancement of science.
Dr. Vincenzo Picotti
The ETH Board awarded the title of Professor to Senior Lecturer Vincenzo Picotti. Article in ETH News
Simon Stähler awarded the 2023 AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize
ETH Zurich Earthquake scientist, Simon Stähler and colleagues were presented with the 2023 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Newcomb Cleveland Prize for their paper on "Seismic Detection of the Martian Core" published in the prestigious journal, Science.
2022
Dr. Andrea Galli
“Goldene Eule” of VSETH: The Golden Owl is awarded by the students and honours lecturers who have provided exceptional teaching.
Dr. Cindy De Jonge
SNSF Starting Grant “ROOTS: Reconstructing soil fertility across time and space”, Swiss National Science Foundation
Prof. Dr. Donat Fäh
Departmental winner of the Dandelion Entrepreneurship Award 2022, which recognises professors for their outstanding efforts to promote entrepreneurship at ETH Zurich.
Prof. Dr. Susan Ivy Ochs
Recipient of the external page DEUQUA Honorary-Medal of the German Quaternary Association for her outstanding scientific merits in the field of Quaternary sciences, particularly regarding geochronology.
Prof. Dr. Peter Ulmer
Recipient of the external page Norman L. Bowen Award from the Volcanology, Geochemistry, and Petrology section of the American Geophysical Union (AGU).
focusTerra
The participative online exhibition "TRAVEL STONES" won the external page "Open Box Special" award in the multimedia competition "Fast Forward Science".
Dr. Nathalie Dubois
The ETH Board awarded the title of Professor to Nathalie Dubois, Lecturer in the Departments of Earth Sciences and Environmental Systems Science. Article in ETH News
Dr. Luca Dal Zilio
Recipient of the external page Prix Schläfli 2022 of the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT) for the best dissertation (Geosciences).
Dr. Paolo Sossi
ERC Starting Grant “Production of Secondary Atmospheres”, European Research Council, Belgium. Article in ETH News