FAQ

Have a look at our introductory workshops. They can help you to get an idea of the possibilities. Check out our lunchtime talks to get some inspiration. Then consider your research question and data. Is there a spatial component in your data? In case you feel unsure, please contact us, we are happy to help you.

Furthermore, there are introductory QGIS courses organised by other providers i.e., Zentrale Informatik.

There must be a spatial component in your data to do a GIS analysis or visualisation. For instance, a GPS track of an animal, historical ship routes, the spread of a disease, the spatial evolution of a language, the distribution of precipitation etc.  

For the format of the data there are many possibilities as long as the data is georeferenced. You can start with a csv table for instance. Please contact us if you have any questions, we are happy to help you!

The Hub offers three principal services:  

•  a service hub responding to requests for advice 
•  regular practical workshops to develop skills and promote GIS use; and 
•  a free to use web-mapping server, allowing you to publish project results quickly and easily to the web

All the services are free during the duration of the project.

The city of Zurich offers a wide range of open data and so-called showcases if you need some inspiration.

opendata.swiss offers Swiss open governmental data, sorted according to categories.

With your Switch edu-ID you can access Swiss topographic raster and vector maps, digital elevation models and orthophotos provided by GeoVITe.

There are all kinds of open data sources. In case you look for specific open data, get in touch with us.

• You could start with QGIS, an open-source GIS software. It runs on the most common operating systems (Linux, Unix, Mac OSX, Windows, and Android) and supports numerous vector, raster, and database formats and functionalities. 
• You could start with ArcGIS Online, which is a cloud-based mapping platform. No need to install, update or maintain anything. As a student or researcher at UZH, you can register here for free. ArcGIS Online comes with additional apps. You will find more information on ArcGIS Online on our Tutorials site.
• Or you could also start with ArcGIS Pro, for which a license is needed.

We work with different GIS softwares. If you don’t have any licence, you might try QGIS, an open-source GIS software. It runs on the most common operating systems (Linux, Unix, Mac OSX, Windows, and Android) and supports numerous vector, raster, and database formats and functionalities.  

The city of Zurich offers a wide range of open data and so-called showcases if you need some inspiration.

opendata.swiss offers Swiss open governmental data, sorted according to categories.

With your Switch edu-ID you can access Swiss topographic raster and vector maps, digital elevation models and orthophotos provided by GeoVITe.

There are all kinds of open data sources. In case you look for specific open data, get in touch with us.