ETH Zurich in the context of "Hermann Minkowski"

In science, a formula is a concise way of expressing information symbolically, as in a mathematical formula or a chemical formula. The informal use of the term formula in science refers to the general construct of a relationship between given quantities.

The plural of formula can be either formulas (from the most common English plural noun form) or, under the influence of scientific Latin, formulae (from the original Latin).

Albert Einstein (14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum theory. His mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc, which arises from special relativity, has been called "the world's most famous equation". He received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics for "his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect".

Born in the German Empire, Einstein moved to Switzerland in 1895, forsaking his German citizenship (as a subject of the Kingdom of Württemberg) the following year. In 1897, at the age of seventeen, he enrolled in the mathematics and physics teaching diploma program at the Swiss federal polytechnic school in Zurich, graduating in 1900. He acquired Swiss citizenship a year later, which he kept for the rest of his life, and afterwards secured a permanent position at the Swiss Patent Office in Bern. In 1905, he submitted a successful PhD dissertation to the University of Zurich. In 1914, he moved to Berlin to join the Prussian Academy of Sciences and the Humboldt University of Berlin, becoming director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics in 1917; he also became a German citizen again, this time as a subject of the Kingdom of Prussia. In 1933, while Einstein was visiting the United States, Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany. Horrified by the Nazi persecution of his fellow Jews, he decided to remain in the US, and was granted American citizenship in 1940. On the eve of World War II, he endorsed a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt alerting him to the potential German nuclear weapons program and recommending that the US begin similar research, later carried out as the Manhattan Project.

The École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (French: [ekɔl pɔlitɛknik fedeʁal də lɔzan]; abbreviated EPFL; English: Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne) is a public research university in Lausanne, Switzerland, founded in 1969 with the mission to "train talented engineers in Switzerland".

Like its sister institution ETH Zurich, EPFL is part of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain which groups several universities and research institutes under the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research. As of 2024, EPFL enrolled 14,012 students from over 130 countries.

The Domain of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology (ETH Domain, German: ETH-Bereich, French: Domaine des Écoles polytechniques fédérales) is a union of Swiss governmental universities and research institutions. It primarily consists of the following institutions:

• Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ)
• Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL)

• Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI)
• Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa)
• Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag)
• Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL)

• CCEM (Energy & Mobility)
• CCES (Environment & Sustainability)
• CCMX (Materials Science & Technology)
• NCCBI (Biomedical Imaging)

Nikola Pašić (Serbian Cyrillic: Никола Пашић, pronounced [nǐkola pǎʃitɕ]; 18 December 1845 – 10 December 1926) was a Serbian and Yugoslav politician and diplomat. During his political career, which spanned almost five decades, he served five times as prime minister of Serbia and three times as prime minister of Yugoslavia, leading 22 governments in total. He played an instrumental role in the founding of Yugoslavia and is considered one of the most influential figures in Serbian twentieth-century history. With 12 years in office, Pašić was the longest-serving prime minister of Serbia.

Born in Zaječar, in eastern Serbia, Pašić studied engineering in Switzerland and embraced radical politics as a student at the Polytechnical School in Zürich. On his return to Serbia, he was elected to the National Assembly in 1878 as a member of the People's Radical Party, which was formally organised three years later. After the failed Timok Rebellion against the government of King Milan I, he was sentenced to death but narrowly avoided capture and execution. He spent the next six years exiled in Bulgaria. Following Milan's abdication in 1889, Pašić returned to Serbia and was elected president of the National Assembly. A year later he also became mayor of Belgrade. In 1891, Pašić became prime minister for the first time, but was forced to resign the following year.

Eidgenossenschaft (Swiss Standard German pronunciation: [ˈaɪdɡəˌnɔsn̩ʃaft] ) is a German word specific to the political history of Switzerland. It means "oath commonwealth" or "oath alliance", in reference to the "eternal pacts" formed between the Eight Cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy of the late medieval period. In Swiss historiography, this relates most notably to the Rütlischwur (Rütli Oath) between the three founding cantons Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden, which traditionally dates to 1307. In modern usage, Eidgenossenschaft is the German term used as an equivalent to "Confederation" in the official name of Switzerland, Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft (rendered, respectively, as Confédération suisse and Confederazione svizzera in French and Italian). Its corresponding adjective, eidgenössisch—officially translated as "Swiss federal"—is used in the name of organisations such as the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, or Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.The term Eidgenosse (literally: comrade by oath) refers to individual members of the Eidgenossenschaft. It is attested as early as 1315 in the Pact of Brunnen (as Eitgenoze), referring to thecantons of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden. The abstract noun Eidgenossenschaft (mostly contracted to eidgnoszschaft or eidgnoschaft) is attested in the 15th century.In modern usage, Eidgenosse is sometimes used in archaic or ironic usage for "Swiss citizen", especially for those citizens of purely Swiss origin and not from immigration.

In a historical context, Eidgenossenschaft refers to the medieval Swiss Confederacy, which grew from the 13th to the 16th century in central Europe, persisted until 1798 and then evolved into a federal state in the 19th century. When used in this sense, the eternal nature of the pact is necessary—the members of the Dreizehn Orte (Thirteen Cantons), frequently made time-limited alliances sworn by oath with other partners, but such pacts were not considered an Eidgenossenschaft.