Guided tours & workshops
Public Relations regularly offers guided tours of the Chemical and Pharmacognostic Collection, through the D-CHAB and associated institutes, usually in cooperation with Public Tours ETH Zurich, often with experts and researchers providing particularly exciting insights.
June 18, 2024 - Chemie des Glücks
Chocolate-coffee-tea tour with tasting (tour in German language!)
Humans have always and in all cultures strived for feelings of happiness - and found them in natural stimulants such as cocoa, tea and coffee. They are still widely used around the world today. But how exactly does the chemistry of happiness work? Can it be controlled and can you even get too much of it? Come with us on an enjoyable (molecular) journey around the world and find out!
18.15 - 19.15, HCI building Hönggerberg
March 26, 2024 - Von Beschleunigern und Radioaktivität
Visiting the Paul Scherrer Institute (German tour!)
The Radiochemistry Laboratory focuses on radioactive particles. Researchers at D-CHAB and the Paul Scherrer Institute are investigating various aspects of radioactivity: How can it be produced in a targeted manner? How can it be used in the future? And how threatening are the associated dangers? During a visit to the impressive facility in Villigen PSI (AG), you will learn about the potential of radioactivity in medicine and energy production. Follow the proton beam on its way!
18.15 - 19.15, PSI, Villigen. Suitable for participants aged 14 and over.
March 12, 2024 - Virtuelle Molekülwelten
Experience chemistry with augmented reality (German tour!)
Recognizing molecules with the naked eye and feeling how they react is not really possible. But the augmented reality app "Molegram" developed at the Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences at ETH Zurich and a special haptic device make chemistry visible and tangible. On this public tour, you can immerse yourself in the world of molecules and get to know chemistry from a whole new perspective.
18.15 - 19.15, HCI building Hönggerberg
Feb 6, 2024 - Keine heisse Luft
What your breath reveals about diseases (German tour!)
When we exhale, we not only blow air into the environment, but also a part of ourselves. Volatile substances in the air we breathe reveal what we have eaten and what illnesses we are suffering from. The ETH Zurich Exhalomics consortium is researching how asthma and lung cancer, for example, can be diagnosed with a single whiff. At the Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, you will learn how many invasive tests could be saved in the future by using a single device to test breath.
18.15 - 19.15, HCI building, Hönggerberg. Suitable for participants aged 15 and over.
Nov. 14, 2023 – Chemie aus der Maschine
An exclusive look inside the ETH chemistry labs (tour in German!)
Chemistry is much more than smoke, explosions and colorful liquids. To discover the composition of materials, how reactions take place, how medicines work, or how cells behave, chemists use complicated apparatuses that can make hidden things visible. On a guided tour of the HCI building, researchers open their laboratories and talk about their research with state-of-the-art machines.
18.15 – 19.15 , HCI building Hönggerberg.
March 28, 2023 – Die Chemie der Düfte
An interactive tour with olfactory stations (tour in German)
Fragrances, whether natural or artificial, evoke memories and emotions, and are daily companions as well as means of communication. But how are they created? What do we actually smell when we sniff perfumes, deodorants, and creams? What made the scent of a special deer and the sperm whale so popular? And what are olfactory chemists researching? You and your nose will learn all this and more on this interactive public tour with a special olfactory note and a professional perfumer as a guest.
Find more information about the topic in this article.
18.15 – 19.15 Uhr, HCI building ETH Zurich Hönggerberg
Sept. 20, 2022 – Chemie ex machina
Behind the scenes of chemistry labs & its machines (tour in German)
Looking at the atomic level to see the structure of materials, studying how drugs work or reactions take place, requires a lot of devices in chemistry – some of them weighing tons. These tools make hidden worlds visible. On a guided tour through the HCI, researchers open the doors to some of the most exciting lab equipment and offer the visitor an exclusive look at some state-of-the-art machines.
Maschines: X-Ray X-Ray Diffractometer, Laser, Microfluidic-Diagnostics with smartphone
18.15 – 19.15, HCI building, ETH Zürich Hönggerberg
May 3, 2022 – Farbgeschichten
A Levi's story and fuchsin thriller (tour in German!)
A coincidence and a dye, red like a fuchsia, helped Switzerland to a flourishing chemical and pharmaceutical industry. On the H floor of the HCI building, we follow the chemical and almost criminalistic traces of this substance, learn how street lamps became dyes, how dyes advanced to become antibacterial agents, and how a dye for aristocrats turned a pair of workers' trousers into a global cult.
Find more information about this topic in this article.
18.15 – 19.15, HCI building, ETH Zürich Hönggerberg
Oct, 21 2021 – Chemistry ex machina
An exclusive look behind the scenes of the HCI & its machinery
Looking at the atomic level to see the structure of materials and studying how drugs work or how reactions take place requires advanced scientific equipment – some of which weigh tons. These tools make hidden worlds visible. On a guided tour through the HCI, researchers open the doors to some of the most exciting labs, showing their equipment and offering visitors an exclusive look at some state-of-the-art machines.
Machine: Flame spray reactor, FACS, 1.2 GHz NMR magnet, exhaled breath analysis, synthesis robot
18.15 – 19.15, Zürich Hönggerberg HCI G
May 11, 2021 – Rausch und Gift
The chemistry behind opium, poisoned arrows & Harry Potter's mandragora
Pleasure, addiction, and cure all in one: some substances are multi-faceted, but there is a fine line between harm and benefit. During our foray through the Hartwich collection, we take a look behind the scenes of opium, hashish & co. together with Dr. Dominik Stämpfli. At the end, we venture into the world of poisons and encounter Harry Potter's Mandragora.
18.15 – 19.15 Uhr, Live Stream virtual event (see YouTube video below - please note: the video is only available in german language).
Public Tours ETH Zurich
Experience the many sides of ETH Zurich first-hand. To the program
Every Tuesday evening, we offer insights into the past and present-day ETH Zurich during our one-hour public tours. Come and visit our collections and archives or get in touch with current research topics in the institutes. It’s worth being curious – the tours are free of charge.