Hopo-Blog

Here we present current topics in university politics.

  • ETH Board Decision on Tuition Fee Increase
    by Sophie Schulz
    It feels like we are back in March of this year: During the last ETH Board meeting on July 10-11, it was decided to triple the tuition fees for international students and to adjust all tuition fees according to inflation. This issue had already been discussed and rejected in March,… Read more: ETH Board Decision on Tuition Fee Increase
  • A Glimpse of Hope
    by Klara Sasse
    Dear all, Today the WBK-S (the Committee for Science, Education and Culture of the Council of States) met and discussed our tuition fee increase. They voted 6 to 5 in favour of at least doubling (instead of tripling) the tuition fees for foreign students. There is still a lot of… Read more: A Glimpse of Hope
  • VSETH goes Federal Palace
    by Klara Sasse
    Now that the semester is over, things seem to have quietened down around the tuition fees. The posters have been taken down, the petition is only getting a few signatures a day and the campus is returning to its quiet state at the beginning of the learning phase. Or is… Read more: VSETH goes Federal Palace
  • Update Tuition Fees
    by Jana Fuchs
    The dreaded decision has been felled: The Nationalrat (big council of the Swiss parliament) decided today to grant ETH a budget growth of 1.7%, but also to change the ETH law and to define an at least three times higher tuition fee for newly incoming foreign students. You can find… Read more: Update Tuition Fees
  • 101 tuition fees
    by Sophie Schulz
    Everything you need to know about the current tuition fee discussions… Feeling confused or downright overwhelmed? Curious about the (very) vibrant purple and orange VSETH campaign posters? Looking for explanations on the upcoming Swiss parliament vote that proposes tripling tuition fees for foreign students under the ETH Law? Well, you’re… Read more: 101 tuition fees
  • What is PAKETH?
    by Jana Fuchs
    PAKETH stands for “Prüfungen und Akademischer Kalender an der ETH” which translates to Exams and Academic Calender at ETH. The project was initiated by Günther Dissertori and has the goal to reform teaching at ETH in a sustainable manner. The main ideas of PAKETH are a week of vacation during… Read more: What is PAKETH?
  • We’re back!
    by Jana Fuchs
    We’re back! After we had forgotten this blog for two years, we decided to bring it back to life. We plan on posting short blog entries regarding topics in university politics and updates regarding everything that’s going on in VSETH here.
  • Christmas Time
    by Leah Mönkemöller
    The quietness on the blog here is a consequence of the very busy Christmas period at VSETH. Apart from appointments such as ETH Day, IDEALiStiC, the Budget MR or the VSS DV (blog articles will hopefully follow in January), Christmas means that we, as the board, say thank you to… Read more: Christmas Time
  • Looking back on the Hopo roundtable of 4.11.2021
    by Mara Bless
    Last Thursday evening, on November 4th, we met with 35 other students interested in university politics in the HG. After a short round of introductions with name, study program and expectations for the evening, we gave a short introduction to our daily life as Hopo board members. In order to… Read more: Looking back on the Hopo roundtable of 4.11.2021
  • Looking back on the FR on 02.11.2021
    by Leah Mönkemöller
    This Tuesday (02.11.) the third meeting of the Associations’ Council (Fachvereinsrat – FR) this semester took place. Unlike other FRs, this time the joint program started with a guided tour of the site development on the Hönggerberg, where we were introduced to the new construction projects, in particular the upcoming… Read more: Looking back on the FR on 02.11.2021
  • FR – Small legislature of the VSETH
    by Leah Mönkemöller
    In the Associations’ Council (FR – Fachvereinsrat) 1-2 people (delegates) of the 17 student associations of VSETH meet, having one voting right per student association. In addition, the VSETH board has 1 voting right and is represented most of the time by at least one person per office. We will… Read more: FR – Small legislature of the VSETH
  • ++ 04.11. Upcoming university politics roundtable ++
    by Leah Mönkemöller
    We are pleased to announce the first university politics roundtable of this semester on November 4th, starting at 7:00pm in Zentrum. You’ll have the opportunity to meet other like-minded and unlike-minded people and discuss current university politics issues. Food (minor spoiler, there will be vegan sushi) and drink will be… Read more: ++ 04.11. Upcoming university politics roundtable ++
  • Looking back on the university politics weekend
    by Leah Mönkemöller
    From the 22nd to the 24th of October, we were in Pizol, St. Gallen, with 33 motivated and university-politically interested students from different student associations and committees for a weekend full of workshops, games and good food. Maybe some of you still know the old name, FRUKDuK, which is an… Read more: Looking back on the university politics weekend
  • VSS – Student representation for the whole of Switzerland
    by Leah Mönkemöller
    The VSS (Association of Swiss Student Bodies) is the voice of the students in Federal Bern. Various sections (student bodies) from all over Switzerland are part of it, including us as VSETH. Once a month, one delegate from each section meets in the small legislature, the Section Council, in Bern… Read more: VSS – Student representation for the whole of Switzerland
  • IDEALiStiC Conference in Zurich
    by Leah Mönkemöller
    This morning we met with Stella, the Co-Secretary General of IDEALiStiC, to discuss the program of the upcoming conference. The acronym IDEALiStiC stands for IDEA League Students in Conference and brings together students from all IDEA League universities – namely TU Delft, RWTH Aachen, Chalmers Tekniska Högskola, Politecnico Milano and… Read more: IDEALiStiC Conference in Zurich
  • Your new university politics board members are introducing themselves
    by Leah Mönkemöller
    Hello and welcome to this website which for the next year we are filling with current topics regarding university politics. We, that is Mara and Leah. We both study Interdisciplinary Sciences (Bio-N) in the 7th semester and will advocate your topics during the next year. Be it involvement of international… Read more: Your new university politics board members are introducing themselves
  • #wiegETHs?/#howsETHgoing? final report is here!
    by Kolja Frahm
    The final report of the Spring 2019 Equal Opportunity and Mental Health Survey has finally been completed this week. Want to know how students in your department regard their own equality and mental health? Then take a look!
  • Exams during a Pandemic
    by Manuel Hässig
    It has been the main topic of conversation in the past weeks: the session exams of the upcoming winter session 2021. For more than a half a year, VSETH has been advocating for fair and safe exam conditions in the current pandemic. In the following blog post, we would like to share with you the latest information regarding this topic, give you an insight into our work and try to clarify the processes involved. In particular, we would like to address the situation for students in quarantine as this is one of the biggest challenges in this issue. These students could in the worst case miss an exam due to the quarantine and then, in the worst case, they will be forced to take it a year later.
  • The Beginnings of a Blog
    by Manuel Hässig
    VSETH is the student representation at ETH Zurich. But how is this representation performed and where exactly does the VSETH have a say? This and much more will be explained here in the future.