Further increase in popularity in D-USYS degree programmes

It is not at all easy for an «Ersti» to find his or her way around such a large department as D-USYS. This is why the new students met on Friday and Saturday of the first week of the semester for the Bachelor's First Semester Days (BEST from the German abbreviation) in environmental sciences or the Agro-weekend in agricultural sciences. There they have had ample opportunity to make contacts and get to know their studies, working methods and career opportunities better.

With a total of 1,252 students, D-USYS is a rather large department in terms of numbers. At the reporting date on 13 September, 142 Bachelor’s degree students enrolled in environmental sciences, and 68 in agricultural sciences. By comparison, 441 new students opted for mechanical engineering, 376 for computer science and 295 for architecture. ETH-wide, the number of students rose to over 21,000 (previous year: around 20,000), including 3,080 new students at undergraduate level at ETH Zurich, spread over 24 different degree courses (previous year: 3,016).

Majority of female students

The degree courses in agricultural sciences and environmental sciences are particularly popular with women. Almost two thirds (61.5%) of undergraduate students in the agricultural sciences courses are women, or just over half (54.8%) in environmental sciences. Seen ETH-wide, this is well above the average: although the proportion of women in a large proportion of ETH degree programmes rose overall, 36% of students at Bachelor level at ETH Zurich are female (previous year 33.7%).

Origin of the new students at D-USYS

Generally speaking, the new students of agricultural and environmental sciences come from all over Switzerland. This year the cantons of Glarus and Jura were the only ones of which no students found their way into the lecture halls of the D-USYS courses. Most of them have their roots in the Canton of Zurich and the Mittelland.  

Rather few external Master's degree students

ETH-wide, more than 95 percent of ETH graduates decide to continue their studies at ETH Zurich. This year, for the first time, there will also be more than 1,000 students who have obtained their Bachelor's degree at another university in Switzerland or abroad.

A total of 104 students with a Bachelor's degree from a university other than ETH applied for admission to the Master's programme in environmental sciences this Autumn Semester. Just over half (58) were admitted. In the end, 43 Master's students enrolled. There were 22 applications in the agricultural sciences degree course, 12 of which were accepted. However, only 7 students finally enrolled. This is rather low compared to the total number of new graduate students (108 in environmental sciences, 31 in agricultural sciences). Similar to the ETH-wide trend, most undergraduates at D-USYS have opted for a consecutive Master's degree directly following their Bachelor's degree.

Exchange opportunities used differently

As every year, exchange students and guest students attend ETH Zurich this Autumn Semester to study for one or two semesters. While only one student took advantage of the possibility to study agricultural sciences at D-USYS, twelve visiting students are on exchange within the environmental sciences programme. ETH Zurich maintains contracts with around 150 universities in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia. In return, these partner universities also offer ETH students the opportunity to do an exchange semester or taking part in an international exchange programme.