New IC Professors among 19 appointed at EPFL and ETH Zurich
L-R Mathias Payer and Kenneth Holstein © 2026 EPFL - CC-BY-SA 4.0
The ETH Board has announced the appointment of twelve male and seven female professors at EPFL and ETHZ, including two in the School of Computer and Communication Sciences.
Professor Kenneth Holstein, currently Assistant Professor at Carnegie Mellon University in the United States, has been named as Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Communication Systems. Holstein studies human-AI complementarity and explores how artificial intelligence can augment human abilities in a meaningful way, rather than replace them.
His research is strongly applied in learning sciences, covering topics of great societal and economic relevance. It aims to close the gaps between human and artificial intelligence, creating fundamental new forms of AI-assisted decision-making, and developing systems that respect human work, professional expertise and local knowledge.
With his interdisciplinary approach Holstein will greatly enrich the fields of AI, cognitive and educational science, statistics and machine learning at EPFL.
Professor Mathias Payer, currently Associate Professor at EPFL, has been appointed as Full Professor of Computer Science and Communication Systems. Payer is one of the most influential researchers of his generation in the area of information systems security.
The aim of his work is to identify, analyse and prevent large-scale software vulnerabilities. His contributions have a major impact on cybersecurity and help to define new methodological standards for research in this strategic area.
Payer has received an ERC Starting Grant and an ERC Advanced Grant, among other awards. The promotion of an expert of his calibre enables IC and EPFL to remain at the forefront of a discipline that is strategic and fundamental to society.