Strategic Planning 2021–2024of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain

Cover photo
The Strategic Focus Area Data Science (cf. p. 25) is aiming to accelerate the adoption of data science and machine learning techniques within
the academic disciplines of the ETH Domain and throughout the scientific community and the industrial sector. (Image: Swiss Data Science Center)

Strategic Planning 2021–2024of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain

Swiss
Federal Institute for
Eidg. Forschungsanstalt
fürForest,
Wald,
Snow
and
LandscapeResearch
WSL
SchneeundLandschaft
WSL

Table of Contents

Foreword by the President of the ETH Board
Executive summaryI. Introduction			
Mission statement
The ETH Domain in a nutshellUnique features of the ETH DomainETH Domain personnel policy

II. Strategy – Core Tasks and further activities		
Core Task 1:
Research-based education of the highest quality
Core Task 2:
World-class researchCore Task 3:
State-of-the-art large-scale research infrastructures
Core Task 4:
Knowledge and technology transfer
Further activities: National tasks, contributions to the Swiss higher
education system and dialogue with society

5
6
9
10
11
12
13
15
16
20
28
31
34

III. Science policy – a key success factor		
Core prerequisites for international competitiveness
Specific requirements for 2021-2024

37
38
40

IV. Financial requirements 2021-2024 		

41

Foreword by the Presidentof the ETH Board
Dear readers,
The ETH Domain faces unprecedented calls to provide both a sound scientific basis and sustainable
solutions to increasingly complex environmental and technological challenges – which themselves reflectpressing societal needs. Public and political stakeholders’ expectations of rapid and straightforward
solutions are continually growing, as is the need to invest the funds provided to the ETH Domain efficiently and with the greatest possible impact for Switzerland.
With its Strategic Planning for 2021-2024, the ETH Board together with the six institutions sets out thestrategic initiatives and measures through which it intends to master these challenges. The ETH Board isconvinced that the core contribution of the ETH Domain institutions to innovation lies in their excellent
performance in terms of research and teaching. Therefore, innovative, research-based training with thehighest possible standard of supervision is an absolute priority. The growing number of students, doctoral
students and professors, coupled with the diversification of curricula and learning environments havecreated a need for more investment in teaching, training and learning infrastructure at the six institutions. To enable Switzerland to acquire the necessary know-how in pioneering fields of research(e.g. artificial intelligence) that are increasingly relevant to society, the economy and the environment,
the six institutions need to increase the number of professors and research groups. This will ensure strong
links between training and state-of-the-art research, create new opportunities in research and teaching,strengthen established areas of research and enable us to advance into new ones. In addition, thiscapacity-building and expansion of existing competencies will enhance the ETH Domains’ capacity toanticipate and respond to the country’s challenges – for example, to put forward adaptation andmitigation options for tackling climate change. It will also provide the necessary scientific and technicalbasis support for initiatives of its authorities, e.g. in energy research or digitalisation-related activities.
To continuously fulfil the ETH Domain’s mandate in the Swiss context, favourable framework conditions
must be created for the Domain’s institutions and the Swiss higher education and research system. This
will safeguard the three key success factors – namely i) internationality and openness, ii) the autonomy
of both the ETH Domain as a whole and of the Domain’s institutions, and iii) stable and reliable fundingby the Confederation. With respect to the 2021-2024 period, the ETH Board feels it is vital that scientists
working in Swiss research institutions should have access to international networks and international
competitive research funding, notably the 9th European Framework Programme for Research and Innovation 2021-2027 (“Horizon Europe”) and the Euratom research and training programme.
In order to implement its strategy with the related measures, the ETH Board is asking the Federal Council
and Parliament to approve a budget appropriation of CHF 11,053 million for the ETH Domain for the period2021-2024. On the basis of the current financial planning for the year 2020, this amount would represent
a mean annual growth rate of 3.1 % (including compensation for an assumed annual inflation rate of 1 %).

Dr Fritz Schiesser
President of the ETH Board

Strategic Planning 2021-2024 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain

5Executive summary
Challenges
The globalisation of science and the economy, the digital revolution and massively increased investment in science andeducation by certain large nations present major challenges for
the ETH Domain institutions, as do limitations in terms of bothhuman capital and financial resources. These factors challenge
the institutions’ ability to thrive, attract the world’s best talent,
perform high-impact research and provide first-class education
for future students.
In order to respond to an increasingly dynamic environment,
all institutions of the ETH Domain must be able to:–– push their already excellent performance to even higher
levels;–– maintain their excellence in teaching and internationallycompetitive research;–– become more agile and creative in their ability to embrace
new domains of science and technology;–– intensify collaboration and foster interdisciplinary projects
or centres to address complex problems;–– facilitate a rapid translation of research insights into
technological solutions to benefit industrial exploitation
and ultimately also society;–– enhance their reputation and visibility internationally inorder to attract, retain, train and foster the best scientifictalent as well as highly qualified administrative and technical staff, thus securing Switzerland’s competitiveness inincreasingly globalised scientific endeavours;–– gain more flexibility for raising and using third-party
funds from private sources in order to finance timely actionon unexpected or emerging topics;–– meet the highest international standards of scientificintegrity and ethical behaviour.
Strategic initiatives and measures
With its Strategic Planning for 2021-2024, the ETH Board together
with the six institutions sets out the strategic initiatives andmeasures through which it intends to master these challenges:

In order to respond to an increasingly
dynamic environment,
the ETH Domain institutions arechallenged to push theiralready excellent academic
performance to even higher levels.

6

Innovative, research-based education: Innovative, researchbased training with optimum supervision is an absolutepriority. The growing number of students, doctoral students
and professors, coupled with the diversification of curriculaand learning environments, have created a need for moreinvestment in teaching, training and learning infrastructure
at the six institutions. Specific efforts to maintain the qualityof the research-based education are also called for.
Capacity-building and expansion of competencies: The renewalof professorships at ETH Zurich and EPFL and of unit/group/laboratory heads at the research institutes is a continuous renewal
process allowing redirection of research areas and shifts into
new areas. To enable Switzerland to acquire the necessary knowhow in pioneering fields of research that are increasingly relevant to society, the economy and the environment, ETH Zurich,
EPFL and the research institutes need to increase the numberof professors and research groups in the period 2021-2024. Up to
80 additional professorships and research groups will make itpossible to guarantee strong links between training and stateof-the-art research, to create new opportunities in researchand teaching, and to strengthen already established areas ofresearch and advance into new ones. In addition, this capacity-building and expansion of competencies will enhance
the ETH Domains’ ability to anticipate and respond to thecountry’s challenges as well as to provide the scientific andtechnical support for initiatives taken by the respective authorities, e.g. in energy research or digitalisation-related activities.
Strategic focus areas: Strategic Focus Areas (SFAs) address key
societal challenges and boost essential strategic areas ofresearch in the ETH Domain’s portfolio. To this end, existing
expertise in the ETH Domain is pooled and new initiatives
across the institutions are supported in a coordinated manner.
For 2021-2024, the three SFAs initiated in the period 2017-2020 –“Personalized Health and Related Technologies”, “Data Science”,
and “Advanced Manufacturing” – will be continued so that
their full potential can be realised.
–– SFA Personalized Health and Related Technologies: in healthresearch, close cooperation of the natural and engineeringsciences with medicine has become indispensable forthe continued development of “Personalized Health andRelated Technologies” at the highest level.
–– SFA Data Science: this focus area will reinforce and expand
Switzerland’s capacity to exploit huge data volumes while
dealing with them safely. This SFA also reflects the increasing importance of data science for fundamental research.
–– SFA Advanced Manufacturing: in this focus area, state-ofthe-art production processes that can substantiallystrengthen Switzerland’s capacity for innovation and hence
also its competitiveness are developed together withindustrial partners.

Strategic Planning 2021-2024 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain

Executive summary

All three SFAs incorporate central aspects of digitalisation in
their respective fields. They are also models of successful
cooperation among the various institutions and with otherpartners of the Swiss higher education system such as universities or hospitals. Their research and outreach will put
Switzerland in a leadership position in these crucial areas.

Fundamental research as well
as state-of-the-art largescale research infrastructures
foster the country’s
long-term innovative capacity
for tackling societal challenges.

Large-scale research infrastructures: The ETH Domain has
long-standing expertise and a leading position in planning,
implementing and operating large-scale research infrastructures. With specific user and service labs, the institutions
provide access to research infrastructures for users fromacademia and industry. State-of-the-art infrastructures are
crucial to ensuring Switzerland’s international competitivenessas a centre of research and innovation. In the period 2021-2024,
the ETH Domain pursues the following projects of strategic priority:–– the continuation of the “Blue Brain Project” (EPFL),–– “HPCN-24”: substantial upgrade of the current IT infrastructure to build the next-generation supercomputing systemthat will replace CSCS’ current flagship supercomputer“Piz Daint” at the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre(CSCS) of ETH Zurich,–– “SLS 2.0” (major upgrade of the Swiss Light Source SLS at PSI)
and–– “Catalysis Hub” (a new research infrastructure co-based at
ETH Zurich and EPFL). The development of novel catalytic
processes and the use of renewable energy sources such ashydro, solar or wind power to drive chemical reactions are
key technologies for the production of fuels, feedstock, finechemicals and pharmaceuticals and hence for the transition
from an oil-based to a sustainable economy. The Catalysis
Hub will be crucial to the successful transition of Switzerland and Swiss industry to a sustainable and innovative
economy powered by catalysts of the future.

Favourable framework conditions
To continuously fulfil the ETH Domain’s mandate in the Swiss
societal and political context, it is crucial to ensure favourable
operating conditions for the ETH Domain institutions andthe Swiss higher education and research system. With respect to the period 2021-2024, the ETH Board:–– sees it as vital that scientists working in Swiss research
institutions have access to international networks andinternational competitive research funding (notably
the 9th European Framework Programme for Research andInnovation 2021-2027, “Horizon Europe”, as well as theEuratom research and training programme). For Switzerland
to have only a partial association with or even be excluded
from the 9th Framework Programme or from Euratom would
discriminate against Swiss-based researchers and thus
impair Switzerland’s scientific excellence.
–– believes it is essential to safeguard the three key successfactors, i.e. i) internationality and openness, ii) the autonomy of the ETH Domain as a whole and of the ETH Domain
institutions, and iii) stable and reliable funding by the
Confederation.
Financial requirements 2021-2024
In order to implement the measures, the ETH Board is asking
the Federal Council and Parliament to approve CHF 11,053 million
as the budget appropriation for the ETH Domain for the period2021-2024. Based on currently planned federal government
funding of the ETH Domain for 2020, the overall requirementfor 2021-2024 assumes an annual increase in funding of 3.1 %(including compensation for assumed annual inflation of 1 %).

Fostering an effective knowledge
and technology transfer, providing
high-quality scientific services
and fulfilling national tasks,
the institutions of the ETH Domain
create economic value and preserve
environmental and public goods.

Knowledge and technology transfer: The ETH Domain institutions promote the transfer of its findings and competencies tosociety and to the economy in diverse ways. They are continuing to expand their position as a key academic partner to private companies and public administration. They are actively involved in the continuing design and implementation of the“Switzerland Innovation” park.

Strategic Planning 2021-2024 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain

7

I. Introduction

Mission statement of the ETH Domain

10

The ETH Domain in a nutshell

11

The unique features of the ETH Domain

12

ETH Domain personnel policy

13

9

I. Introduction

Mission statement of the ETH Domain
The ETH Domain serves society through the pursuit of knowledge and the beneficial application of its science. The ETH
Domain institutions share responsibility for education, researchand knowledge and technology transfer. As degree-granting
institutions, the technical universities ETH Zurich and EPFL playa leading role in Switzerland’s educational system, andare supported in this role by the research institutes PSI, WSL,
Empa and Eawag. With their thematically based activities,
the research institutes offer continuity in knowledge and technology transfer.
In fulfilling this mission, the six institutions of the ETH Domain
are committed to the following principles:–– Innovative, research-based education of the highest
quality. The ETH Domain institutions educate students to
be independent thinkers who will be well equipped
to shape the future as responsible members of society.
Graduates of ETH Zurich and EPFL have the ability todevelop both subject-specific as well as interdisciplinary
and transferable skills, and to work on complex andsystem-oriented problems.
–– Excellence in research and freedom of inquiry. Researchthat pushes the frontier of human understanding is pursued
with the highest degrees of rigor and integrity. To promotepioneering research, the ETH Domain develops and maintains large-scale research infrastructures that are supported
by expert personnel and are available to both internal andexternal users. The ETH Domain engages the best-qualified
staff it can attract, and offers outstanding resources to ensure that scientific knowledge is conserved and transferred
to its students. The ETH Domain recognizes the limits topredicting the outcome of research, and therefore supports
a broad range of investigator-led activities. It fosters
creative individuals and teams driven by their own motivation and curiosity.

The Federal Act on the Federal Institutes ofTechnology (ETH Act)The Federal Act on the Federal Institutes of Technology(ETH Act) of 4 October 1991 defines the status, structure andmission of the ETH Domain (i.e. the six institutions and theETH Board as the strategic governing and supervisory body).
The ETH Act regulates the division of competencies between
Parliament, the Federal Council, the ETH Board and thesix institutions. According to the legislative provisions, theETH Domain is autonomous and the ETH Act stipulates that
it is affiliated to the responsible federal department. The
ETH Act also defines the autonomy of both Federal Institutesof Technology (ETH Zurich, EPFL) and the four research institutes (PSI, WSL, Empa, Eawag).

–– Ethical conduct and social responsibility. The ETH Domain
recognizes that scientific integrity underpins all progressin science. In addition, the ETH Domain accepts the responsibility for creating and maintaining work environmentsthat promote diversity and trust. All staff members andstudents are treated with respect, regardless of gender,
cultural and social background. The values of sustainability
and equity are promoted as the basis of a just and secure
future. The ETH Domain upholds the principles of social
responsibility respected by Switzerland as a whole andshares the global responsibility to tackle societal challenges
and ensure environmental sustainability.

–– Knowledge and technology transfer for the benefit ofsociety. The ETH Domain recognizes its obligation to workfor the benefit and well-being of society, to increase
national and international prosperity, to create economic
value as well as to preserve environmental and public
goods. All the ETH Domain institutions foster the uptake of
research results into technologies, practice and policymaking to strengthen the productivity, competitiveness andinnovative capacity of the Swiss economy. In this way,
the ETH Domain responds to the needs of Switzerland,
contributes to a sustainable economy and makes its talentavailable for projects of national priority.

10

Strategic Planning 2021-2024 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain

I. Introduction

The ETH Domain in a nutshell
The ETH Domain comprises the two Federal Institutes of Technology, ETH Zurich and EPFL, and the four research institutes PSI,WSL, Empa and Eawag. The ETH Board is the strategic governingand supervisory body of the ETH Domain (cf. Figure 1).

The ETH Domain is firmly anchored in Switzerland (cf. Figure 2)
and fulfils its basic mandate according to the principles laid out
in the Mission Statement.

Figure 1: The ETH Domain

11 members
Staff: 53 employees *ETH Board
Federal Institutes of Technology
20,607 students and doctoral students
12,151 employees*

11,134 students and doctoral students
6,053 employees *ETH Zurich

EPFL

Research institutes
2,080 employees *508 employees *994 employees *510 employees*

PSI

WSL

Empa

Eawag

* Employment contracts (including doctoral students) as of 31 December 2018

Figure 2: The ETH Domain’s presence in Switzerland

PSI
Villigen

EPFL
Neuchâtel

EPFL / WSL
Lausanne
EPFL
GenevaETH Zurich / ETH Board
ZurichETH Zurich
Basel
WSL
Birmensdorf
EPFL
Fribourg

ETH Board
Bern
Empa
Thun

EPFL / WSL/Empa
Sion

Strategic Planning 2021-2024 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain

Empa / Eawag
Dübendorf

Empa
St.Gallen

Eawag
Kastanienbaum

WSL
Davos

WSL
Cadenazzo
ETH Zurich
Lugano11

I. Introduction

The unique features of the ETH Domain
The ETH Domain has a number of unique features that allow an
excellent positioning of all the six institutions with their distinct
profiles. These unique features are thus important internal success factors:–– The combination of exact, natural and engineeringsciences and their link to social science and humanities:
The ETH Domain is the only actor in Switzerland offeringsuch a range of specialisation with the corresponding research and teaching activities. The resulting interdisciplinary
network of competencies is key for the ETH Domain’s capacity to provide solutions – in its areas of research – to thecomplex societal, political and economic challenges of ourtime.
–– The complementarity of ETH Zurich, EPFL and the research
institutes: The complementary character of the ETH Domain
institutions and their areas of specialisation yields powerfulinternal synergies, which are vital to the ETH Domain’s strong
current and future position. While ETH Zurich and EPFL areengaged in teaching based on the world-class (and mostly
fundamental) research they perform, as well as in intensive
knowledge and technology transfer activities, the four
research institutes – PSI, WSL, Empa and Eawag – specialise
in top-level thematic research as well as applied researchin their focal areas as well as in technology development.
Together, the six institutions cover the entire value chain
from basic research and teaching to applications of new
knowledge.
–– The internationally renowned research infrastructures ofnational importance designed, built and operated by the
ETH Domain institutions: The portfolio of the major researchfacilities in the ETH Domain is of utmost importance to theinnovative, solution-related advancement of cutting-edge
research. Many of its state-of-the-art (large-scale) research
infrastructures are operated as user labs, allowing researchers from Switzerland and abroad to use these uniqueinfrastructures, which the Confederation makes accessible
through the ETH Domain institutions.

12

Strategic Planning 2021-2024 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain

I. Introduction

ETH Domain personnel policy
The ETH Domain seeks to establish and maintain an inspirational
working environment based on the principles of respect, appreciation, equal opportunities, dialogue and trust. Transparent,
reliable structures as well as attractive employment and working conditions are designed to motivate employees, help themto maximise their performance and support their professional
development.
–– ETH Domain management philosophy: The ETH Domain
recognises that the demands of an academic environmentare best met by a participatory style of leadership. Employees must exercise a great deal of personal responsibility,
initiative and time management to accomplish tasks that
often cannot be fully defined in advance. Supervisors are
expected to demonstrate good leadership and management
capabilities and to establish a working environment basedon respect, appreciation, trust and transparency. Supervisors must be able to deal effectively with conflict situations.
Professional HR management is offered to support supervisors in fulfilling these responsibilities and in their capacity
as role models and leaders.
–– Diversity: The international positioning of the ETH Domain
institutions depends on their ability to recruit the besttalents worldwide, without regard to gender, cultural andsocial background. Different perspectives and experiencesof individual employees bring value to the institution,broaden the experience of students and employees andgenerate added value in the global competition for talents.
The ETH Domain institutions endeavour to provide a working environment that can capture this potential.
International employees are supported in integrating
into Swiss society. The ETH Domain recognises the challenges
associated with relocation to Switzerland and attempts
to support partners accompanying employees in positioning
themselves in the Swiss labour market and society.
Gender/Equal opportunities: The ETH Domain institutions
promote equal opportunity in all aspects of training andemployment. A culture of open communication is promoted
and measures are implemented to allow all employees toaccommodate their professional and personal commitments(work-life balance). Gender-specific differences are taken
into account for career planning. Both female and male
employees are offered help to return to work after a periodof family leave.
Recruitment includes measures to promote diversity. The
ETH Board and the ETH Domain institutions endeavour toachieve a good gender balance, especially in management
positions and decision-making bodies.

Strategic Planning 2021-2024 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain

As a socially responsible employer, the ETH Domain
promotes the continued employment and professional reintegration of people with disabilities.
–– Employment and working conditions: Working in a dynamic
academic environment calls for a high degree of flexibility,
a willingness to embrace change processes, and the ability
to communicate openly. A high level of commitment,
an effective and efficient way of working, team spirit andan ability to engage in dialogue with partners, as well as
integrity, respect for and tolerance with employees andsupervisors, are further prerequisites for successful collaboration in an international multicultural environment. The
ETH Board and the institutions of the ETH Domain promotethese values.
Compensation and benefits: The ETH Board and the ETH
Domain institutions offer compensation according totheir governing regulations. The PUBLICA pension scheme
is continually developed to ensure certainty and security
in keeping with demographic and socio-economic trends.
Tailored solutions are offered to accommodate the ETH
Domain’s international workforce.
Occupational health and safety at the workplace: To maintain employees’ performance, health and well-being,
the ETH Domain institutions make continuous investments
to improve health and safety at work. Diverse healthand safety training programmes are provided for employees.
–– Employee development: The ETH Domain supports employees in their career development with a range of targeted,needs-based opportunities for professional development.
Leadership and management courses support academics
and non-academics in the development of social skills andleadership and management competencies.
New scientific talents: To ensure future excellence inteaching and research, it is essential to identify new scientifictalents on the basis of their academic credentials, attract
them to the ETH Domain institutions and cultivate theirscientific potential. Doctoral students and postdoctoral
researchers are prepared for successful academic or professional careers.
To promote the next generation of academics, assistantprofessors are employed both on and off the tenure-track.
Increasing the proportion of female professors is an important objective of hiring at this level.

13

ETH Domain personnel policy

Permanent appointments as senior scientists offer an
additional career opportunity. Senior scientists help toensure continuity and quality by transferring academic
knowledge in teaching and research and by operating anddeveloping major research facilities and platforms.
Administrative and technical staff: Highly qualified administrative and technical staff make an important contribution
to excellence in research and teaching. These contributions
help to secure institutional knowledge and achieve
the optimal return on investment in major research infrastructure. The ETH Domain institutions provide opportunities
for on-going specialist training to their administrative andtechnical staff so that they can maintain their performanceand development of their competencies throughout theircareers.
Trainees: The ETH Domain institutions are fully committed
to Switzerland’s dual educational system and support itby providing apprenticeship opportunities in a wide varietyof specialisations. This also serves to increase the poolof potential applicants for administrative and technicalpositions.

14

Strategic Planning 2021-2024 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain

II. Strategy – Core Tasks
and further activities

Core Task 1:
Research-based education of
the highest quality

16

Core Task 2:
World-class research

20Core Task 3:
State-of-the-art large-scale research
infrastructures28
Core Task 4:
Knowledge and technology transfer

31

Further activities:
National tasks, contributions to
the Swiss higher education system anddialogue with society

34

15

II. Strategy – Core Tasks and further activities

Core Task 1:
Research-based education of the highest quality
The ETH Domain institutions provide research-based education that is of the highest quality on
an international level. The study programmes developed by ETH Zurich and EPFL educate students
using systemic and interdisciplinary approaches that are rooted in a profound knowledgeof exact and natural sciences and foster an innovative and entrepreneurial spirit. Students are
educated to be independent thinkers who will be well equipped to shape the future as responsible
members of society. Cooperation with the research institutes of the ETH Domain provides
complementary experiences for students at all levels. Innovation in the development of teachingis encouraged and quality is promoted to satisfy the high expectations of students, faculty,
staff and society. In addition, the institutions provide expanding options for life-long learning.

Both ETH Zurich and EPFL provide research-based education in
the exact and natural sciences, engineering sciences (including
computer sciences), architecture and management scienceswith links to social sciences and humanities. They offer courses
for Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctor’s degrees and in continuing
education that build on solid basic training in mathematics,
natural and computer sciences. The four research institutes contribute to course instruction at ETH Zurich and EPFL and provide
thesis supervision for students, especially at the doctoral level.
The research institutes offer students access to unique facilities
and expand their contact with partners in industry and practiceand also provide continuing education.
Research-based teaching is the cornerstone of education at ETH
Zurich and EPFL. Its focus lies on students learning through enquiry and discovery. Research-based education also means thatteaching at ETH Zurich and EPFL is informed by the latest breakthroughs in science and technology, and that students benefit
from being involved in the process of knowledge creation.
It allows students to carry out research in their courses, whichenables them to internalise and practice research methods andskills. It thus contributes to developing essential skills for
future leaders and decision-makers, allowing them to innovate,confidently explore new topics and take decisions in situationsof uncertainty.
Empowering students to shape their future“The digital transformation puts all knowledge at our disposal
unfiltered – not just high-quality information, but unfortunately unscientific knowledge as well. This means that forteaching at a university to be truly excellent, it must transcend
the purely subject-specific dimension. When they go out into
the world, graduates need to be not only experts in one
particular subject, but scientifically trained young people readyto take their place in their communities. Only then will firstclass universities be living up to their responsibility to society” 1.
1Antonio Loprenio (2018) Teaching and innovation. Guest article in:Innovative Teaching, ETH Zurich, pp. 33-37. https://www.ethz.ch/en/the-ethzurich/information-material/innovative-lehre.html (accessed on 18 June 2018)16

The ETH Domain institutions educate students to be independent
thinkers who will be well equipped to shape the future as responsible members of society. Graduates of ETH Zurich and EPFL
have the ability to develop both subject-specific as well as interdisciplinary and transferable skills (e.g. communication, teamwork), and to work on complex and system-oriented problems(e.g. major global challenges). In addition to acquiring methodological skills and disciplinary knowledge, they gain the capacity
for critical and self-critical thinking as the basis for responsible
behaviour and are able to assess the content of their studies fromvarious normative, historical and cultural perspectives.
Study programmes and curriculum development
Societal needs and progress in science and technology constantly
drive new developments and create new opportunities. Thisin turn requires ongoing curriculum development through discussions with faculty, students and industrial partners to meetsocietal needs and prepare students for new scientific andtechnological challenges.
At ETH Zurich and EPFL, students are educated using systematicand interdisciplinary approaches that are rooted in a profoundknowledge of key disciplines and that foster an innovativeand entrepreneurial spirit. The study programmes at ETH Zurichand EPFL, complemented by the option to conduct researchfor bachelor, master and doctoral theses at the research institutes, are very well suited to the requirements of the job
market in Switzerland. They are highly appropriate to the needsof companies, educational institutions, NGOs and public administration in Switzerland and to the Swiss economy as a whole.
The principle of complementarity among the partners in thehigher education area is important for the success of the sector
as a whole. Thus the ETH Domain institutions must retain
a study programme that uses interdisciplinary approaches tosolve fundamental scientific problems in their core andemerging research fields. Education in research labs and ininternational competitive fields helps to develop skills in
the management of complex multidisciplinary projects as wellas in innovation and entrepreneurship.

Strategic Planning 2021-2024 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain

Research-based education of the highest quality

Core Task 1:
Research-based education of the highest quality
The ETH Domain provides world-class, internationallycompetitive, research-based education.
Requirements and success factors––The ETH Domain institutions retain their capacity to shapeand continuously develop their curricula – including
offerings in continuing education. They must be able toaddress trends in cutting-edge science as well as theneeds of the economy and society. Retaining their autonomy helps the institutions to maintain the required
flexibility.
––ETH Zurich and EPFL must retain the ability to attract themost-talented students from around the world and educate them to become independent thinkers who will beequipped to shape the future as responsible experts andmembers of society.
––Further efforts are needed to ensure that the Matura
school-leaving qualification will continue to guaranteethat Swiss-educated students have a solid base inmathematics and other STEM disciplines, enabling themto succeed in the competitive environments of ETH Zurichand EPFL.
Challenges––The ETH Domain fully endorses and supports the current
joint efforts to tackle the skills shortage, i.e. specificallythe lack of qualified STEM personnel, in Switzerland.
Current and future growth in the number of students anddoctoral students needs to be accommodated to maintainand further develop the required spectrum and quality of
research-based education and training.
––While the primary focus of teaching is the transmissionof subject-specific knowledge and interdisciplinarycompetencies, the digital transformation is adding a
new dimension. By offering access to a seemingly endlessamount of knowledge, the digital world increasingly
requires students to analyse and manage different sourcesof knowledge. For students to navigate this new situation,
research-focused academic institution like those of theETH Domain are facing the challenge of providing students
with knowledge, skills and values that enable themto assess the scientific integrity, value and plausibility ofknowledge independently.

Innovation and quality management in teaching
Over the past 20 years, new technologies have significantly
changed teaching. Today new educational formats and methods(e.g., MOOCs, flipped classrooms, interdisciplinary projects,
Learning Companion) which take student’s individual learning
styles into account help them prepare for their professional
careers and their roles in society. These innovations also provide students with new skills and expertise that are increasingly
called for in the working world.

Strategic Planning 2021-2024 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain––Training, education and continuing education at all levels
are needed to prepare graduates, and members of society
in general, for the digital transformation and the labour
market of tomorrow (“digital fluency”). The ETH Domain
is challenged to respond to the needs of Switzerlandby contributing to a sustainable economy and preparing
its talents to take on societal challenges of national priority.
––The increasing numbers of students calls for major efforts
to ensure the high quality of teaching and education.
As a consequence, the attractiveness of the campuseswith their infrastructure (e.g. lecture rooms, student
housing, refectories) and support services for students
needs to be secured. The integration of international
talents in the institutions as well as in Swiss society needs
special attention.
Measures 2021-2024––Study programmes and curricula development: ETH Zurichand EPFL further develop existing study programmes andcreate new ones to educate students using systemic andinterdisciplinary approaches that are rooted in a profoundknowledge of fundamental disciplines and that foster aninnovative and entrepreneurial spirit.
––Innovation and quality management in teaching: The
ETH Domain institutions provide talented students fromaround the world with the best possible education toprepare them for their professional careers and their roles
in society. The quality of research-based education
is maintained and further developed. Teaching methods
are continuously improved and new educational formats
are offered.
––Mentoring doctoral students: The ETH Domain institutions
define and promote good mentoring practices; doctoral
students and their mentors share responsibility for ensuring productive and rewarding doctoral education andmentoring.
––Matura school-leaving qualification in mathematics, STEM
disciplines and computer science: The ETH Domain institutions provide training and continuing education for baccalaureate school teachers in the STEM subjects. This will
help to ensure that Swiss-educated students with a Matura
school-leaving qualification will continue to have a solid
grounding in mathematics and other STEM disciplines.
––Continuing education: The ETH Domain institutions shapeand develop their offering in the area of continuing education, addressing the trends set by cutting-edge science
as well as those arising from the economy and society.

Innovation is an important element in the development ofteaching. Improving didactics (deeper understanding, better
achievement of learning objectives, greater competence) is central and needs to be focussed on the students. New teachingforms and procedures rely on the innovative strength of faculty
and lecturers and are responsive to student feedback. ETH
Zurich and EPFL promote these developments and support newteaching forms and procedures with targeted programmes supported by guidance from professional educational developers.

17

Research-based education of the highest quality

In the spotlight:
Computational thinking
Computational thinking is increasingly perceived by educators, policymakers and researchers as a core element ofmodern education. It is applicable across disciplines
beyond science, technology, engineering, and mathematics(STEM) and including the social sciences. The essence ofcomputational thinking is to address problems from any
discipline with a coherent process of problem formulation,
data representation and the creation of algorithms to
produce generic solutions. It includes tools that produce
models and visualise data.
At ETH Zurich, the innovative E-Tutorials system allows
students to select a level of detail that matches their needs
and to practise programming using sample cases. The
E-Tutorials project plays a key role in digital skills training
at the undergraduate level: it enables over 800 first-yearbachelor students from five departments to master the
principles of programming. Lecturers from the Departmentof Computer Science send their students to a virtual programming laboratory, where they solve practical problems
from their area of study using real data. In 2018 the project
was awarded the KITE award for teaching innovations at
ETH Zurich.
EPFL has embarked on a major curriculum reform in which
computational thinking will be introduced as a foundation
course across science and engineering disciplines, supplemented by the development of disciplinary-specific computational thinking content. In the propaedeutic year, students
will learn basic programming skills and be introduced
to computational thinking by means of concrete examples.
During the rest of their Bachelor and Master studies, courses
with disciplinary-specific computational thinking content
will be offered. The current courses in statistics, optimisation, numerical analysis and artificial intelligence will
be further improved, taking the needs of the individual
disciplines into account.

At EPFL, Discovery Learning Labs (DLL) are developed to promote
the conceptualisation of basic knowledge through interdisciplinary projects.
The institutions of the ETH Domain promote quality in teachingat all levels in order to satisfy the high expectations of students,
faculty and society. Teaching is evaluated on the basis of
student semester feedback and student assessments, as well as
by graduate surveys and evaluation of ETH Zurich departments
or EPFL schools by an international team of experts (peers) in asix- to eight-year cycle.

18

Horizontal (i.e. geographic) and vertical mobility of students
Successful students in all disciplines have the opportunity tospend one or two semesters at another university in Switzerland or abroad. ETH Zurich and EPFL profit from this transfer ofexperiences and ideas and also welcome qualified mobility
students from Swiss and foreign universities. Since the highly
structured Bologna System places limits on semesters spentabroad without a corresponding extension of the study time,
ETH Zurich and EPFL do not rely solely on horizontal mobility.
Rather, they create a thematically diverse and international
environment, which promotes intellectual flexibility as well as
understanding and respect for other cultures. Students arethus exposed to international competition and cooperation in
their familiar teaching environment.
ETH Zurich and EPFL support student transfer from Universities
of Applied Sciences (vertical mobility). Appropriate transfer
regulations avoid any compromise in the profile, level or qualityof their master’s degree courses.
Doctoral training and mentoring
Doctoral students at ETH Zurich and EPFL are required to workon an independent scientific thesis and to take the initiativein pursuing continuing specialist and interdisciplinary development. Thesis research is usually undertaken as a member ofa research group at the doctoral student’s home institution orat one of the ETH Domain’s four research institutes. Doctoral
qualifications are earned either under an individually customised study programme or a doctoral programme, or withina doctoral school. Doctoral students have the opportunity toacquire additional skills by assisting in teaching. They thus
acquire a valuable additional qualification (for example didactic
skills) and expand their set of competencies for subsequent
professional roles. As members of well-connected researchgroups, doctoral students also enjoy access to the international
research community and can begin to build up their own
scientific network.
Mentoring by faculty plays a crucial role in the success of doctoral
students, and the importance of mentoring is emphasised
within the ETH Domain. Styles of advising and mentoring varyacross the disciplines and according to personal inclination,
but some fundamental principles apply throughout doctoral
education. Both doctoral students and their mentors share
responsibility for ensuring productive and rewarding mentoring.
Training and continuing development of lecturers, assistants
and baccalaureate school teachers
ETH Zurich and EPFL offer their lecturers and assistants a broad
didactic training and continuing development programme
and provide professional support in the creation and introduction of new teaching and learning forms.
Both ETH Zurich and EPFL are highly aware of the importanceof high-quality teaching at baccalaureate schools that foster
strong mathematics skills and an appreciation of natural sciences
and technology. This preparation largely determines the successof students entering ETH Zurich and EPFL. By providing training
and continuing education for baccalaureate school teachers
in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics)

Strategic Planning 2021-2024 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain

Research-based education of the highest quality

subjects, the institutions of the ETH Domain make an investment in their future students and contribute to knowledgetransfer.
Continuing education
Continuing education is an effective instrument for the transfer
of knowledge and technology between academia and society
at large. Through their continuing education programmes, theETH Domain institutions contribute to the long-term development of society and the economy and help strengthen thecompetitiveness of Switzerland as a business location. A wide
range of practice-oriented courses are offered on topics thatreflect the respective institutional core areas and that combine
technology with management and social sciences. Continuing
education courses take account of the participants’ individual
needs and prior knowledge and give them the opportunity
to build up their specialist and personal networks. Often, thesecourses are developed in close cooperation with professional
associations, groups of companies or other universities. Suchcourses provide valuable life-long learning opportunities forthe practitioners who are responsible for promoting innovation
within industry and society or for the commercialisation ofscientific findings.

Projections of numbers of students,
doctoral students and professors for 2021-2024
Addressing the needs and creating new opportunities
in research and teaching
The renewal of professorships at ETH Zurich and EPFL andof unit/group/laboratory heads at the research institutes
is a continuous process allowing redirection of researchareas and shifts into new areas. In order to remain a driving
force in contributing to Switzerland and its innovative
capacity and to maintain their international reputation for
excellence, both ETH Zurich and EPFL intend to invest morein talents and student supervision. Increasing the numberof professors is necessary to sustain high quality in research-based education and will also create new teaching
opportunities. Accommodating the estimated student
growth for the period 2021-2024 would require increasing
the number of professorships to around 600 (+50) by 2024
at ETH Zurich and to around 360 (+30) by 2024 at EPFL, including adjunct professors appointed at the research institutes.
ETH Zurich: In the period 2021-2024 the number of students
and doctoral students is estimated to increase by 4 % to22,300 (basis 2020). This corresponds to a 2 % rise in student
numbers to 17,500 and a 9 % increase in doctoral students
to 4,800 by 2024.
EPFL: For the period 2021-2024 the number of students anddoctoral students is estimated to increase by 3 % to almost
11,600 (basis 2020). This corresponds to a 3 % rise in student
numbersto 9,100 and a 5 % increase in doctoral students toalmost 2,500 by 2024.

Strategic Planning 2021-2024 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain

19II. Strategy – Core Tasks and further activities

Core Task 2:
World-class research
The ETH Domain institutions perform research at a world-class level. This capacity is essential for the
ETH Domain’s contribution to Switzerland’s innovative power, as fundamental research has always
been the most important source of groundbreaking innovation and is therefore crucial for fostering
the country’s innovative capacity in the long term. International collaboration in research projects
is of growing importance and key for the quality of science and research in the ETH Domain. As partof their mission, the six institutions anticipate and respond to the country’s challenges.

As demonstrated by academic indicators (e.g. rankings, bibliometric analyses) and by the regular evaluations of individual
institutions and units thereof, the ETH Domain institutions perform research at a world-class level.
Long-term fundamental research
The goal of fundamental research is to generate new knowledge. This knowledge in turn is essential to further scientificwork and provides the starting point for innovations. ETH Zurichand EPFL carry out fundamental research of the highest quality.
Since fundamental advances in science are inherently unpredictable and often take many years, the institutions provide
their researchers with sufficient scope and resources for exploratory long-term research. Major scientific and technologicalbreakthroughs often come about as a result of fundamental
scientific findings made much earlier. Investing in fundamental
research is thus an investment in future innovations. This
innovation pipeline must be maintained and cannot been substituted by R&D in industry.
Besides fundamental research, the institutions of the ETH Domain
conduct applied research, which frequently means first establishing fundamental and methodological knowledge. Fundamental research and applied research go hand in hand within
the ETH Domain. They stimulate each other, and are often
carried out together with academic partners as well as partners
from industry and the public sector.
International collaboration
International collaboration is crucial for the quality of scienceand research at the ETH Domain institutions and research infrastructure (see also Core Task 3). Working with scientists outside
Switzerland provides access to valuable additional expertise.
It also opens up new ways of sharing costs, and makes it
possible to tap into alternative funding sources (e.g. European
funding). International collaboration in research projects isof growing importance, and scientific publications from international collaboration achieve greater impact. As a scientificlocation, Switzerland has always enjoyed a culture of openness and accessibility, enabling scientists from Switzerland, inturn, to gain research experience abroad, to compete in theinternational academic environment, to obtain access to major
research infrastructures worldwide and to participate in international networks.

20

In the spotlight:
The Singapore-ETH Centre
The Singapore-ETH Centre for Global Environmental Sustainability (SEC) in Singapore was established in 2010 as acollaboration between ETH Zurich and the National Research
Foundation of Singapore as part of its CREATE campus.
The SEC aims to strengthen the capacity of Singapore andSwitzerland to research, understand and actively respondto the challenges of global environmental sustainability
through its programmes - Future Cities Laboratory and Future
Resilient Systems.

Promotion of young academics, doctoral students and postdocs
The ETH Domain institutions must maintain and further develop
their ability to attract (young) academics from Switzerland,
Europe and around the world and to offer them attractive development opportunities both within and outside academia.
This calls for a continuation of current strategies to develop theskills of young academics (“talent promotion”). As excellence
attracts excellence, Switzerland as a scientific and an economic
location, as well as young Swiss academics themselves, benefit
from this approach.
In addition to established scientists, doctoral students and postdocs also play a key role in research. They are crucial to promoting the international reputation of the ETH Domain institutionsin the science community. When selecting doctoral and postdoctoral candidates, all institutions in the ETH Domain give top
priority to academic achievements and scientific potential.
The institutions offer doctoral students and postdocs attractive
employment conditions as well as intellectually challenging
and stimulating research environments. Where necessary, theETH Domain institutions will optimise support and career advancement opportunities under both research group-centred
doctorates and the structured doctoral programmes.
The six institutions provide doctoral students and postdocs withan environment (e.g. research infrastructures, libraries, discussion forums) that meets the highest international standards.

Strategic Planning 2021-2024 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain

World-class researchCore Task 2:
World-class research
The ETH Domain institutions further extend their globallyleading positions in research.
Requirements and success factors––To realise their research strategies and to be able to invest
in fundamental and long-term-oriented research, it isof crucial importance that the ETH Domain institutions cancontinue to autonomously allocate and manage theirglobal budgets.
––The renewal of professorships at ETH Zurich and EPFL andof unit/group/laboratory heads at the research institutes
is a continuous process allowing redirection of researchareas and shifts into new areas.
––The ETH Domain institutions must maintain and further
develop their ability to attract (young) academics from
Switzerland, Europe and around the world and to offer
them attractive development opportunities both within
and outside academia.
––The full association of Switzerland with the 9th EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation – Horizon
Europe 2021-2027 – is a key success factor for Switzerland’s
innovative capacity and for the Swiss science community.
––Adhering to good scientific practice and respecting theprinciples of research integrity are prerequisites for excellent science.
––Subsidiary, bottom-up organisation of research, setting ofresearch priorities, and budgeting of resources that allows
for the recruitment and retention of talents.
Challenges––It is vital that scientists working in Swiss research institutions have access to international networks and international competitive research funding (notably the European
Framework Programmes for Research and Innovation as
well as the Euratom research and training programme).
For Switzerland to have only a partial association withor even be excluded from the Framework or Euratom programmes would discriminate against Swiss-based researchers and thus impair Switzerland’s scientific excellence.
––Strengthening and communicating the overriding importance of long-term orientation and continuity in fundamental research remains a challenge. Preserving continuity
and allowing for flexibility at the same time in orderto swiftly invest in upcoming areas of research is essential
but challenging.
––Massive investments in science and higher education byother countries seeking to become world leaders in specificfields pose a challenge for Swiss academic institutionsin terms of keeping ahead and maintaining their international standing.
––To be able to develop new research fields and meet teaching needs, to continue making a vital contribution to
Switzerland and its innovative capacity, to address urgent
societal challenges and to maintain their international

Strategic Planning 2021-2024 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain

reputation for excellence, both ETH Zurich and EPFL needto constantly review and re-direct the scope of professorships and to increase their number of professorships.
Measures for 2021-2024––Long-term fundamental research: the ETH Domain institutions provide their researchers with sufficient scopeand resources to conduct exploratory fundamental research over the long term.
––Capacity-building: in order to engage in new fields ofresearch and teaching, ETH Zurich, EPFL and the research
institutes will redirect existing professorships andincrease the number of professors and research groups
according to the available budget.
––Attracting national and international talents: the ETH
Domain institutions are attractive for talented students
and academics from Switzerland, Europe and aroundthe world and offer them attractive employment conditions as well as intellectually challenging and stimulating
research environments.
––Addressing societal challenges: the ETH Domain institutions contribute to tackling current and future nationaland global societal challenges. To increase impact, existing
expertise in the ETH Domain is thematically focusedand new or recently established initiatives of the institutions are given coordinated support (e.g. as Strategic
Focus Areas).
––International cooperation and networks: the ETH Domain
institutions autonomously participate in international
cooperations and networks. In line with the Federal
Council’s international strategy on Education, Researchand Innovation, the institutions play an active role inresearch cooperation ventures with priority countries(e.g. serving as the “leading house”) and operate international subsidiaries.
––Research integrity and responsibility: the ETH Domain
institutions create an environment designed to promoterespect for, and compliance with, the ethical principles
and values for ethical issues in research and science,in good scientific practice and in responsible mentoring
and fair awarding. They continuously sensitise theiremployees and students to these requirements. The institutions issue directives on research integrity and goodscientific practice and ensure that these are made known
to all members of the institution by appropriate educationand training.

21World-class research

As a result, the institutions ensure that their doctoral students
and postdocs are optimally prepared for a future career in the
global labour market in science, business, public administrationor academia. Doctoral students also have the option of completing a doctoral thesis at one of the research institutes of theETH Domain in cooperation with one of the Federal Institutesof Technology or another degree-granting university. Since suchthesis projects are frequently carried out with an implementation partner, doctoral students can gain hands-on experienceand additional skills.
Academic freedom and ethical responsibility
Freedom of research is a central and fundamental value ofacademic research. Freedom in the choice, development andrealisation of research topics and in the publication of research
results is essential to the impartial pursuit of knowledge forthe good of the economy and society. This is the basis for theinternational standing and competitiveness of researchers
in the ETH Domain. The ETH Board and the executive boards/
directorships of the institutions recognise that successful research is motivated from the bottom up, reflecting and taking

In the spotlight:
The ETH Domain - a major force for the digitaltransformation of Switzerland
The ongoing digital transformation is an opportunity for
Switzerland to strengthen its general welfare and worldwide
economic and reputational position by setting trends anddeveloping innovative products and applications. In a highlyinterconnected world, the global infrastructure faces many
challenges and threats that are beyond the control of a single
nation. A key challenge in digitalisation is that technology
has outrun and eroded existing trust models. The recent
emergence of decentralised ledger systems (i.e., blockchains)raises the possibility that currencies, insurance, land
registries and even voting can be distributed, changing andreconfiguring the trust placed in centralised institutions andprivate entities. Switzerland must take a leading role inthis digital transformation, not least because it will have far
greater opportunities to assert Swiss values and priorities as
a leader in the development and deployment of technology
than as a consumer. Therefore, Switzerland too should seize
this opportunity and have the ambition to be a leader indeveloping and shaping the next stage of the digitalisationof the economy and society.
The leading role of the ETH Domain in digitalisation
Switzerland has a leading international position in core technologies such as cryptography, blockchain, security and cybersecurity due to long-term investments by the ETH Domain
institutions and traditionally by Swiss industry. These institutions are well positioned on an international scale to significantly support the digital transformation of Switzerland.
Their excellent reputations are reflected in their top positions in various university rankings. The ETH Domain institutions collectively not only have a long tradition of worldclass research and teaching in the foundational areas of

22

advantage of the interests, curiosity and enthusiasm of membersof the research community. A flourishing scientific community
and research promotion can only be built on trust. The freedom
given to science and research by society and politicians calls forresearchers to accept the principle of, and the values associatedwith, research integrity as well as a sense of ethical responsibility
towards science, society and the environment. Research integrity
and good scientific practice therefore have the utmost priority
for the ETH Domain institutions. The institutions create an environment designed to promote respect for and compliance withthe principle of, and the values associated with, research integrity and good scientific practice as well as the assumption of
ethical accountability. The institutions have issued directives on
search integrity and good scientific practice and on measures
to address violations. They ensure that such directives are kept
up-to-date and made known to all members of the institution.
Addressing societal challenges
As the main federal institutions for research, education andinnovation, the ETH Domain institutions have a unique positionin the Swiss academic landscape. Their mission includes antici-

digitalisation, but they also are actively applying the technology to areas of societal interest. Besides individual efforts,
the institutions are closely cooperating in joint andcoordinated research and technology transfer activities andare working closely with society, government and industry
on many aspects of the challenges that digitalisation
poses for society. This collaboration involves all the various
strata of the institutions, including administration, scientificpersonnel, group leaders and professors.
Digitalisation-related activities of the ETH Domain
2021-2024
Appropriate measures are necessary in order to retain oreven expand the traditional strengths of the Swiss economy
and society as digitalisation reshapes virtually all aspectsof our society. Based on an analysis of the current situationin research, education and transfer to society, industry andgovernment, the following six areas exhibit a substantial
need for a joint effort. Some of these areas can be addressedin close collaboration between the ETH Domain institutions
and industrial partners, for example in wireless technologies, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, machinelearning, and high‐volume data management. Owingin particular to their large‐scale research infrastructure,
the research institutes may act as a challenging test environment for new technologies and concepts in data processing
and management which can later be used by industry.
––Capacity building and expansion of competencies: BothETH Zurich and EPFL have been expanding their activities
for many years in areas of strategic importance. Accordingly,
a significant number of professorships has been thematically oriented towards strategically important topics
and a significant number of new professorships has been
established in the past, particularly in the area of ICT/
computer science. Under the Federal Action Plan on Digi-

Strategic Planning 2021-2024 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain

World-class researchpating and responding to the country’s challenges, as well as
providing the scientific and technical basis to support the initiatives of its authorities.
To enable Switzerland to acquire the necessary know-how
in pioneering fields of research that are increasingly relevant
to society, economy and the environment, and to boost its
competitiveness, the ETH Domain has identified Strategic Focus
Areas (SFAs) for targeted funding. These address key societal
challenges and boost essential strategic areas of research in the
ETH Domain’s portfolio. To this end, existing expertise in the
ETH Domain is pooled and new initiatives across the institutions
are supported in a coordinated manner.

on the other has become indispensable for the continued
development of Personalized Health and Related Technologies at the highest level.
–– SFA Data Science: this Focus Area will reinforce and expand
Switzerland’s capacity to exploit huge data volumes while
dealing with them safely. This SFA also reflects the increasing importance of data science for fundamental research.
–– SFA Advanced Manufacturing: in this Focus Area, stateof-the-art production processes that can substantiallystrengthen Switzerland’s capacity for innovation and hence
also its competitiveness are developed together withindustrial partners.

The three SFAs “Personalized Health and Related Technologies(PHRT)”, “Data Science”, and “Advanced Manufacturing”
initiated in the period 2017-2020 will be continued during theperiod 2021-2024 in order to realise their full potential.

All three SFAs incorporate central aspects of digitalisation in
their respective fields. They are also (or will be) models of
successful cooperation among the various institutions andwith other partners of the Swiss higher education system, suchas universities or hospitals. Their research and outreach will
put Switzerland in a leadership position in these crucial areas.

–– SFA Personalized Health and Related Technologies (PHRT):
in health research, close cooperation between the naturaland engineering sciences on the one hand and medicine

talisation, ETH Zurich and EPFL have intensified and expanded their ongoing efforts to increase the number ofprofessorships in ICT/computer science and have established additional seven new professorships, four at ETH
Zurich and three at EPFL. Switzerland’s scientific andinnovative capacity in the fields underpinning digitalisation and cyber technologies will be increased by the ETH
Domain institutions through further investments in joint
efforts and capacity-building.
––Education: Continuous efforts are necessary to establish
high-quality education programmes in areas that are
relevant to the digital society on all levels. The existing
expertise of the ETH Domain institutions will be expanded
and new study programs will be set up. The goals should
be to offer high-quality continuing education programmes
for people in the labour force, courses to aid industrial
rehabilitation, and support for education in computerscience, programming and computational thinking at all
school levels, from primary school up to baccalaureate
schools. Teacher training is a primary concern, in conjunction with the development of new teaching materials aswell as novel approaches to science and technology education. The corresponding political processes and close
integration with efforts at the universities, the Universities
of Applied Science and the Swiss Conference of Cantonal
Ministers of Education (EDK) will be crucial for success.
––Cyberphysical systems and Internet of Things: Cyberphysicalsystems and the Internet of Things comprise the observation of environmental, biological, financial or industrial
processes using sensors, the extraction of information andknowledge from the collected data, and the influencingof these processes via autonomous decisions. It is widely
held that this area will drive the next wave of digitalisation. Despite many excellent efforts in this area, acritical mass of research across Switzerland still needs tobe reached to compete with other nation-scale efforts.

Strategic Planning 2021-2024 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain––Cybersecurity: Switzerland needs to be at the forefront ofcybersecurity technology to maintain and expand its
industrial position, particularly in finance. Institutions in
the ETH Domain play a leading international role already,but they need to expand their existing capacity in cybersecurity, privacy and digital trust education as well as
research and knowledge transfer to reflect their vastly increasing importance in society, industry and politics.
The ETH Domain should also exploit its foundational strength
in software engineering and formal-methods research
to launch a new programme to develop a Swiss-verified
software industry. This new programme on verified software will address a fundamental cyber-security challenge,
since many attacks start with software defects. Verified
software is also a way in which Switzerland can build on
its reputation for quality and its engineering culture to
move from being a consumer of software to a major producer of high-value software products.
––In addition, the ETH Domain should be an integral part ofthe intended Cyberdefence (CYD) Campus and play a crucialrole in technological monitoring and risk assessment.
Successful blueprints of such a programme can be foundin other countries such as Israel, where they also yieldlarge benefits for research, start-ups, and the security ofnational infrastructure.
––Digital Society: Digitalisation will raise new questions inclassically regulated areas such as security and privacy,
freedom of information, protection of property, andresponsibility of autonomic systems. These questions posedifficult legal, ethical, and political challenges. Beyond
the currently existing individual efforts, the ETH Domain
institutions are well-positioned to jointly take on thechallenges as part of an interdisciplinary effort to understand and manage these challenges for the good of society.

23World-class research

Strategic Focus Area Personalized Health and Related Technologies (PHRT)

Context and scientific rationale
Advances in the life sciences and information technology (IT)allow the collection and analysis of large amounts of healthrelated data: clinical data, genomics and other -omics data,
data from biobanks and health data collected by individuals
themselves. Making use of such data for optimising the medicalcare of each individual, and not groups of patients per se,is the ultimate objective of personalised medicine (PM). While
PM focusses on individual patients, so-called “personalised
health” (PH) aims at using the data and their analysis for the
benefit of the population at large, as it will become possible
to identify and tackle health risks at early stages and to apply
appropriate measures and strategies in response. Research
into PM/PH is complex and internationally highly competitive,
for reasons of societal importance and economic potential.
Making PM/PH programmes possible requires a high level ofinnovative science and technology as well as sustained intensive collaboration between natural sciences, engineering,data science – and, of course, medicine. In this realm, the ETH
Domain institutions are well positioned to make significant
contributions, specifically through the development of newtechnologies that, for example, determine the precise molecular
makeup of patients, the translation of innovative technologies
into clinically relevant platforms or devices and the development and application of sensors that determine the phenotypic state of persons, and also through the training of clinicalscientists and practitioners. In combining and necessarily requiring the various disciplines mentioned above, PM/PH reveals
its outstanding position for harvesting the unique potential of
the ETH Domain’s interdisciplinary setup.
What SFA PHRT is about
The overarching goal of PHRT is to establish and sustain the
ETH Domain in a worldwide leading position in PM/PH:
in essence, a person’s unique biological makeup will guidedecisions on how to maintain and restore health.
The PHRT initiative is complementary to and operates in close
cooperation with the efforts undertaken by other initiatives in
Switzerland, in particular the Swiss Data Science Center (SDSC),
and the Swiss Personalized Health Network (SPHN). In addition,
it is linked to international research efforts, including The
Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the Cancer Moonshot initiative,
both at the National Institutes of Health (NIH, USA).

24

Benefits for science and society
PHRT aims to foster the development, implementation of PM/
PH-relevant technologies and their translation to clinical practice. This is achieved in close cooperation with the SDSC. The
establishment of close collaborations between ETH Domain
institutions and different types of hospitals is essential for thetranslation into practice of PHRT technologies and for generating
benefits from the cooperation with SPHN, particularly for thedefinition and implementation of ethical and legal policies.
Achievement of the PHRT goals will lead to a healthier society
by preventing the onset of disease, providing the precise
molecular diagnosis of disease and facilitating the selection of
the optimal drug or radiation-based “precision” treatment
when disease occurs, or through behavioural changes that prevent the onset of disease. In addition to the direct benefits
to the population’s health, the programme will advance society
through the development of new technologies and knowledge
that will form the basis for new economic activities, the generation of intellectual property and the definition of healthierlifestyles.
Current state of implementation
During the 2017-2020 period, four programmes (an educational
programme on the doctoral and postdoc level; translational
technology projects; technology platforms; personalised healthresearch projects with direct relevance for the patient) are being
set up to (a) position the ETH Domain in the Swiss Personalized
Health research and education environment, (b) provide researchand technology results on a “proof of concept” level and (c)develop infrastructure platforms.
Activities 2021-2024
The extension of the PHRT through the 2021-2024 period will
make it possible to (i) consolidate and implement achievementsof the first phase and, in particular, to achieve closer collaboration within the ETH Domain and institutions outside theETH Domain playing a critical role in personalised health; (ii)initiate interactions of, for example, different technologicalplatforms, or with the SDSC; and (iii) set up next-generation
platforms emerging from the innovative ETH Domain technologies developed to full maturity in the first phase of theinitiative.

www.sfa-phrt.ch

Strategic Planning 2021-2024 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain

World-class research

Strategic Focus Area Data Science

Context and scientific rationale
The “fourth industrial revolution” is driven by the convergenceof smart, connected systems with breakthroughs in areas
ranging from gene sequencing to nanotechnologies. In this new
era where data is the “new oil”, crude data is of little value.
But if this data can be extracted and then refined and supplied
to where it can impact decisions its value will soar.
Data science is the new research paradigm concerned with executing this vision. It sits at the intersection of several academic
disciplines, including data management and engineering,statistics, machine learning, algorithms, optimisation andvisualisation. It offers a new tool to social sciences, economics,
medicine, environmental sciences (among others) for understanding and influencing complex, real-world systems and fortackling some of the most challenging problems of our time.
Unfortunately, as things stand today, the available data andanalytics methods and systems are highly fragmented. They
are difficult to use for non-experts and the results are oftenvery difficult to interpret. In other words, there is a gap between
those who create data, those who develop data analytics andsystems, and those who could potentially extract value from it.
This gap is deepened by the inherent sensitivity of much data:trust through legal compliance, privacy preservation andsecure storage and processing are essential for exploiting thefull potential of data science.
In the past few years, data science has become extremely important internationally, with the majority of top-tier international research and teaching institutions investing significantly
in dedicated centres and programmes.
What SFA Data Science is about
The ETH Domain has launched the Initiative for Data Sciencein Switzerland to accelerate data science through education
and research and the provision of infrastructure. The Initiative
created the Swiss Data Science Center (SDSC), a joint venture
between EPFL and ETH Zurich whose mission is to accelerate
the use of data science and machine learning techniques
broadly within academic disciplines of the ETH Domain, theSwiss academic community at large and industry.
The vision is to unlock actionable insights from diverse sourcesof data. The SDSC aims to federate data providers, data andcomputer scientists and subject-matter experts around a
cutting-edge analytics platform offering domain-specific “insights as a service” while addressing security and privacy issues
inherent to the field of data science. Rather than building its
own infrastructure, the online services of the SDSC are backed
by existing infrastructures of the ETH Domain (in particular
by leveraging resources at the Swiss National Supercomputing
Centre CSCS), SWITCH, as well as those of cloud providers.

Strategic Planning 2021-2024 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain

Digital technologies and health care
Digital technologies fundamentally shape the future ofhealthcare. They offer patients convenient access totherapies and interaction with medical professionals.
Moreover, pharmaceutical companies, physicians and healthinsurance firms gain access to valuable data, increasing
drug development effectiveness, individualising treatments
and assisting patients during therapy. Yet, considerable
uncertainty exists as to how health can be enhanced by
optimally leveraging these new opportunities, and as towhat effects digital applications such as machine learningin drug discovery or the MobileCoach have on designing
therapies and treatments.

Benefits for science and society
The SFA Data Science fosters collaboration with top institutions
and entails exchanging best practices in curriculum development and joint data science research projects, thus advancing
the state-of-the-art in data science. It will ensure that theETH Domain and Switzerland possess the necessary expertise toremain globally competitive.
The unique synergy that the SFA Data Science unlocks among
the institutions of the ETH Domain and between academic
and industrial stakeholders in data science, as well as acrossa number of carefully selected areas, is expected to foster
scientific breakthroughs with significant societal impact.
Current state of implementation
The SDSC has been fully operational since January 2017, with
offices at EPFL and at ETH Zurich. The SDSC set up is well on
track with the launch of the SDSC analytics platform, with thesuccessful first call for Data Science projects, and with ongoingacademic and industrial collaborations. The second call for
proposals was launched in May 2018. The SDSC is also part of
EPFL and ETH Zurich teaching programs.
Activities 2021-2024
In the period 2021-2024, the SFA Data Science will:a) extend the adoption of the SDSC platform to national
and international academic institutions and to industry;b) accelerate the adoption of data science by industry
through collaborative research;c) contribute to the education and dissemination ofknowledge in data science.

www.datascience.ch25World-class research

Strategic Focus Area Advanced Manufacturing (AM)Context and scientific rationale
Industry is a key factor for wealth and prosperity and generates
28 % of the GDP in Switzerland. It is a catalyst for progress
and a driver for our future. The world of manufacturing
is undergoing rapid change due to the higher level of digital
control, which is in turn driving radical innovations in theways products are designed, manufactured and used.
The development of such new technologies, as well as theirtransfer and introduction into an industrial application, is often
challenging and requires competencies and expertise acrossdifferent fields. Therefore, various partners with complementarycompetencies from science and industry need to join forces
and collaborate to enable technology innovations in advanced
manufacturing.
The international scientific and technical community is developing advanced manufacturing technologies using the potentialof today’s very powerful digital technologies. Swiss industry
must keep pace with these changes, often described as theso-called fourth industrial revolution, and it must strive for aleading position at the cutting edge of these novel technologies. The institutions of the ETH Domain, in particular ETH
Zurich, EPFL, Empa and PSI, are predestined to take a leadingrole in developing such novel technologies.
What SFA AM is about
The programme of the SFA AM aims to enable Switzerland’s
scientific and technical community to contribute at the mostadvanced level to these developments. It will encourage theETH Domain institutions to team up with further scientific andindustrial partners, collaborate in exploratory research projects, and build the knowledge and infrastructure needed toposition Switzerland as a leader in this field. The programmeof the SFA AM includes funds for research projects as well as
for capacity build-up and technology platforms. Both areas
include translational activities and contribute to technology
and knowledge transfer into Swiss industry.
Benefits for science and society
The SFA AM benefits industry in Switzerland through precompetitive technology development and by giving access tothe new technology and characterisation platforms for26

collaborative research activities. By way of technology transfer,the SFA AM will thereby help Swiss industry to maintain its
capacity for the local production of high value-added goods,
and its strength as an exporter of innovative production
processes and machines.
Current state of implementation
Advanced Manufacturing is a very broad technical field. The
participating ETH Domain institutions defined five Technical
Focus Areas (TFA) – Precision Free Form Manufacturing, Printed
Electronics, Sustainable Digital Manufacturing and Design,
Sensing Technologies, and Intelligent Systems and Advanced
Automation – for which exploratory research projects andthe build-up of infrastructure have been launched. These TFA
are highly relevant to Switzerland’s economy and in line with
the involved ETH Domain institutions’ strategies for the future.
Activities 2021-2024
The SFA AM aims to cover a broader scope in Advanced Manufacturing by integrating the infrastructure that has beendeveloped in the period 2017–2020 and by adding further andcomplementary Technical Focus Areas, in particular those mostheavily impacted by a higher level of digitalisation and where
there are great opportunities for new technologies and innovations that are relevant to Switzerland.
At the same time, the research activities, the capacity-building,the technology platforms and the educational activities of
the SFA AM will raise young engineers’ awareness of the topic
of Advanced Manufacturing and be conducive to their educationin this field and associated aspects of materials science.
This will help the ETH Domain to maintain its excellent position
and international reputation in engineering education andwill additionally benefit Swiss industry, as employers of theseengineers, to master the new challenges of this fourth industrial revolution.

www.sfa-am.ch

Strategic Planning 2021-2024 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain

World-class research

In the spotlight:
Continuing activities of the ETH Domain inenergy research
The Swiss Energy Strategy 2050 is addressing, beside othergoals, the reduction of CO2 emissions according to the Swiss
COP21 implementation plan, the replacement of nuclear
power by (new) renewable technologies, and focusedmeasures to increase the efficiency of our energy system.
In this context, the ETH Domain institutions play a major rolein advancing science and technology to enable the transition
to a new, renewable and sustainable energy system andthereby assist Swiss industry and society. Within the ETH
Domain, research questions are addressed in a multidisciplinary way which cannot be provided by industry.
Under the Action Plan on “Coordinated Energy Research
Switzerland”, the Swiss authorities allocated additional
funding to Innosuisse, the SNSF and the ETH Domain for theperiod 2013–2016. The institutions of the ETH Domain haveprofited from this both directly and indirectly. For the period
2017-2020, the ETH Board decided to group together the ETH
Domain’s broader energy research activities in the “Energy”
SFA and allocated a total of CHF 60m to the base budgetsof the participating institutions. Energy research will continue
to be pursued as part of the regular activities of the ETH
Domain institutions in the period 2021-2024, though nolonger under the umbrella of an SFA.
Areas of work include energy-efficiency, smart networks,
harvesting and storage of energy from renewables (ETH
Zurich, EPFL, Empa), chemicals and hydropower (EPFL, PSI,ETH Zurich), as well as catalysis (ETH Zurich, EPFL, PSI) andcatalytic biomass conversion (PSI, EPFL). ETH Zurich launcheda cross-departmental initiative for an integrated Energy
System Modelling Platform (Nexus). Furthermore, an Energy
System Integration Platform (ESI) was set up on the PSI site
in close collaboration with the Empa research and technology transfer platforms NEST (Next Evolution in Sustainable
Building Technologies) and “move, Empa’s Future Mobility
Demonstrator” as well as the Smart Living Lab (EPFL Fribourg).

Strategic Planning 2021-2024 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain

Among other things, Empa stepped up interdisciplinary
research into thin-film solar cells with a strong focus onelectrodes and manufacturing processes; some of the funds
were used for the joint venture between EPFL and Empa
on the “Laboratoire des matériaux pour les energies renouvelables” (LMER) at the EPFL campus in Sion. In the Energy
Change Impact research programme, WSL and Eawag joined
forces to investigate the environmental and societal impactsof the intended energy transition and hence the related
measures to mitigate the anticipated effects. Funding fromthe SCCER Supply of Energy, the NRPs “Energy Turnaround”
and “Managing Energy Consumption” and other sources wascomplemented with internal funding to advance research,e.g. in the field of bioenergy potential assessment, hydrological forecasts for hydropower production (both WSL) andthe related risks of extended small-scale hydropower
production - e.g. positioning and acceptance (both Eawag).
Within cross-cutting activities at different institutions (PSI,
Empa, ETH Zurich, EPFL), new and advanced Power-toProduct concepts for the specific needs of seasonal energy
storage have been developed. Some of them are alreadytransitioning to industrial-scale production. Furthermore,
PSI implemented the Swiss Center of Excellence for Nuclear
Energy and Safety, which provides scientific support to the
Swiss nuclear regulatory authority and industry, and hosts
the sole Swiss “hot laboratory” with its unique infrastructure
for the investigation of highly radioactive materials. EPFL,
with its Swiss Plasma Center and the TCV (Tokamak à Configuration Variable), owns one of the world’s leading fusion
research laboratories, where our understanding of the physics of plasmas and the development of fusion as an energy
source are being advanced. ETH Zurich, EPFL and PSI are
successfully training engineers within their joint Master’s
programme in Nuclear Engineering and make an important
contribution to the retention of nuclear competencies in
Switzerland. In parallel, the ETH Zurich Master’s programme
in Energy Science and Technology and the new Master’sin Integrated Building Systems continue to contribute to theeducation of engineers and architects in the energy domain.

27

II. Strategy – Core Tasks and further activities

Core Task 3:
State-of-the-art large-scale research infrastructures
The ETH Domain’s portfolio of large-scale research infrastructures is especially important for ensuring
innovative, solution-focused advancement of cutting-edge research in Switzerland and elsewhere.
The institutions operate and maintain state-of-the-art research infrastructures, many of which
are available as user facilities to support research nationally and internationally. The ETH Board
coordinates planning and provides funding for the further development of such infrastructures andthe research associated with them.

Large-scale research infrastructures link excellence in science,technology and education. These infrastructures offer unique
opportunities for the education and training of young scientists.
Countries that host large-scale national research infrastructures
have a distinct competitive advantage in accessing internationallarge-scale research infrastructures abroad. Swiss researchers
have a proven track record of being highly successful at international infrastructures, such as CERN at Geneva, the InstituteLaue-Langevin (ILL) and the European Synchrotron Radiation
Facility (ESRF), both at Grenoble, France – to give a few examples.

in Switzerland (cf. Figure 3), but also contribute decisively tothe development of such infrastructures within international
consortia. In such endeavours (e.g. European Spallation Source
ESS, ITER, Large Hadron Collider LHC, European XFEL), representatives of ETH Domain institutions are sought-after experts.
The embedding of the ETH Domain institutions in international
networks allows for an efficient distribution of tasks andprofiles among the international infrastructures, for instancein the field of high-performance computing, which enhances
their effective use.

The development of large research infrastructures boosts technology transfer through intensified collaboration with industry
partners during the development and construction phases
and through spin-offs. Furthermore, research infrastructures
have a direct market impact in several areas: as suppliersof cutting-edge research, as buyers and co-developers of hightech products and high-end services, as providers of scientificadvice, and as sellers of state-of-the-art services both to academia and to industry.

Efforts to continuously upgrade the instrumentation together
with the development of new infrastructures guarantee
state-of-the-art research opportunities for the national andinternational research community and ensure that the ETH
Domain institutions will remain trendsetters in the coming
years.

The leading role of the ETH Domain
According to the Strategic Goals of the Federal Council for the
ETH Domain as well as the “Swiss Roadmap for Research Infrastructures”, the ETH Domain has a specific responsibility todevelop new and improve existing research infrastructures ofnational importance, thereby ensuring open access for researchcommunities. It is through the ETH Domain institutions that
the Confederation puts world-class research infrastructuresat the disposal of the scientific community in Switzerland.
Therefore, most of the large-scale research infrastructures of
the ETH Domain are operated as User labs and are coordinatedthrough the Swiss Roadmap process.
The institutions of the ETH Domain play a leading role internationally with regard to the conceptualisation, development
and operation of world-class research infrastructures. They
not only host and develop large-scale research infrastructures

28

Figure 3: Examples of large-scale research infrastructuresin the ETH Domain
Full name (acronym)

Lead institution(s)Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS)ETH ZurichBlue Brain Project (BBP)

EPFL

Swiss Plasma Center (SPC)

EPFL

Swiss Data Science Center (SDSC)

EPFL/ETH Zurich

X-Ray Free-Electron Laser (SwissFEL)

PSI

Swiss Light Source (SLS)PSI

Swiss Spallation Neutron Source (SINQ)

PSI

Swiss Muon Source (SµS)

PSI

Next Evolution in Sustainable Building
Technologies (NEST)

Empa/Eawag

Strategic Planning 2021-2024 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain

State-of-the-art large-scale research infrastructures

Core Task 3:
State-of-the-art large-scale research
infrastructures
The ETH Domain operates and develops large-scale research
infrastructures of national and international significance.
Requirements and success factors––The institutions must be enabled to guarantee continuous
reinvestment to keep the existing large-scale facilities
competitive at the international level and to allow scientificagenda-setting in strategically important areas by acquiring or designing new large-scale research infrastructures.
––Coordination on the national level through the Roadmap
process – including among ETH Domain institutions – mustensure that existing strengths are most effectively used
and are well balanced against the autonomy of the institutions to set their academic and infrastructural priorities.
––Protecting internationality and academic openness is acore requirement for the ETH Domain’s role and contributions regarding large-scale research infrastructures inparticular.
––Open and transparent access for researchers worldwide
should continue to be granted, a principle which has
always been applied in a reciprocal manner, benefiting
Swiss researchers at infrastructures abroad as well.
––Additional success factors are the possibility to contributeunder international law to research infrastructure projects
abroad (e.g. through in-kind contributions); thepossibility to join ERIC (European Research Infrastructure
Consortia) as a full partner; and the exchange of staff
between research facilities.

Strategic initiatives for 2021-2024
For the period 2021-2024, four research infrastructure projects
have strategic priority for the ETH Domain:–– Blue Brain Project (BBP): Since its inception in 2005, theBlue Brain Project (BBP) at EPFL has pioneered the new fieldof simulation neuroscience and has developed a uniqueworld-leading simulation-based platform that enables
neuroscience to leverage mathematical, computer andcomputational sciences to advance our fundamental understanding of the brain. The aim of the BBP is to build
accurate, biologically-detailed digital reconstructions andsimulations of the rodent, and ultimately the human brain,
and to use simulation to probe and understand the chainsof events responsible for the brain’s emergent behaviour
at different levels of organisation, up to and including
cognition. The BBP created the first large-scale science collaboration in neuroscience, namely the European Human
Brain Project (HBP) – one of the first two European Commission-funded Future Emergent Technology (FET) FlagshipProjects, which in turn triggered a world-wide race for large
national-scale brain initiatives.

Strategic Planning 2021-2024 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain

Challenges––The current and planned large-scale research infrastructures of national importance based in the ETH Domainneed to be financed, operated and periodically upgradedin a way that guarantees academia and industry accessto these state-of-the-art infrastructures.
––Given the complexity and the increasing costs for thedesign, construction and operation of new large-scale
research infrastructure projects of international importance, such endeavours require increasingly international
consortia and transnational funding.
Measures for 2021-2024––Open access to large-scale research infrastructures: theETH Domain operates, develops and builds large-scale
research infrastructures of national and international
importance which they make available, for example in
the form of user labs, to the scientific community and –in return for adequate compensation – to industry too.
––Strategic initiatives: The ETH Board gives strategic priority
to the following projects: the continuation of the Blue
Brain Project (BBP), the upgrades of the computing infrastructures (HPCN-24) at the CSCS and the Swiss Light
Source (SLS 2.0), and the realisation of the Catalysis Hub
as a contribution to catalysis-driven, sustainable chemical
processes (incl. provision of fuels and feedstock for agreen economy).
––Contributions to international research infrastructures:the ETH Domain institutions autonomously participate inor contribute to international consortia for the realisationof large-scale research infrastructures.

For the 2021-2024 period, the scientific goal of the BBP
is to implement strategies and tools to reconstruct andsimulate an entire mouse brain, together with individual
brain regions and multiple interconnected regions of thehuman brain. It will further expand its translational goalthat builds on Blue Brain’s research strengths, with a focus
on applications for neurological disorders, neurotechnologies and machine learning. The project’s dissemination goal
is to deliver open-sourced models and tools to the HBP and
the world, and to leverage the HBP platforms to catalyse
community collaboration on reconstructing and simulating
biologically-detailed models of the brain. These efforts
are complementary to other efforts in the Human Brain Project, to which BBP furthermore contributes in designingand building common research platforms and in providing
several of the key building blocks of modern brain simulation science.
The ETH Board decided to upgrade two existing research infrastructures and to create a new one. In the context of the updateof the Swiss Roadmap for Research Infrastructures, a scientificreview of all planned new or substantial upgrades of existing29

State-of-the-art large-scale research infrastructures

research infrastructure projects was conducted by the Swiss
National Science Foundation (SNSF). The ETH Board evaluatedthese projects in terms of implementation and funding.
Based on the principles of scientific excellence, the ETH Board
decided to include the following three research infrastructuresin the 2019 Swiss Roadmap and as a strategic priority in the
ETH Board’s Strategic Planning 2021-2024 for the ETH Domain:–– HPCN-24 (substantial upgrade of the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS) of ETH Zurich): In 2009, the Swiss
Federal Parliament approved the High-Performance
Computing and Networking (HPCN) initiative and charged
the ETH Domain and ETH Zurich in particular with its implementation at the Swiss National Supercomputing Center(CSCS; www.cscs.ch) in Lugano. Today, the CSCS User
Lab is among the leading research infrastructures of its
kind globally. For this to be still true in five to ten years,
the supercomputing systems have to be renewed regularly. HPCN-24 is the continuation of the HPCN initiative
for the ERI period 2021-2024.
Specifically, in order to build the next generation supercomputing systems that will replace CSCS’ current flagshipsupercomputer “Piz Daint” in the 2020-2021 timeframe, as
well as to fund an upgrade of this system in the 2023-2024
timeframe, the User Lab at CSCS will necessitate systematicinvestments from 2018-2024.
–– SLS 2.0 (substantial upgrade of the Swiss Light Source SLS
at PSI): The Swiss Light Source (SLS) at the PSI is a thirdgeneration synchrotron light source. With an energy of
2.4 GeV, it provides photon beams of high brightness forresearch in materials science, biology, chemistry andenvironmental science. The SLS started operation in 2001.
Since then, it has spearheaded much groundbreaking
research in biomedicine, engineering and the naturalsciences, thanks in large part to the excellent performanceof the underpinning electron accelerator and storage ring
complex. In addition, it has led the world in industrial
exploitation, particularly by the pharmaceutical sector, andspawned numerous new companies, including one of themost successful Swiss technology spinoffs, Dectris. For muchof this time, the SLS was a benchmark with regard to how
closely its performance matched the theoretical limits defined by its machine parameters. However, with the adventof the next generation of quasi-continuous short-wavelength light sources (“diffraction-limited storage-rings”)
that yield an emittance and brightness improved by up
to two orders of magnitude, it has become imperative to
upgrade the SLS in like manner (to “SLS 2.0”).
The SLS 2.0 upgrade requires a comprehensive rebuildof the storage ring and magnet lattice, resulting in an
improvement in emittance and an associated increase inbrightness by a factor of forty compared to the existing
performance in the most commonly used hard X-ray regime.

30

This, combined with advanced instrumentation, will enablemuch faster imaging of extended objects than is presently
feasible and will bridge the so-called “imaging gap” between
the macroscopic and the nano world – which is wheremuch of modern science, engineering and medicine reside.
In this manner SLS 2.0 will maintain the competitive edgeof PSI, the ETH Domain and Switzerland for the next
two decades in the most multidisciplinary and sought-after
category of large-scale research facilities.
–– Catalysis Hub (a new research infrastructure co-based at
ETH Zurich and EPFL): Switzerland is one of the world leadersin the transformation of petrochemical-based building
blocks into high-value added complex molecules. Irrespective of their target function, these compounds mostly originate from crude oil, a limited natural resource not available
in Switzerland. Moreover, their combustion leads to anincrease in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and thereby
contributes to global warming. The use of natural resources
available in Switzerland – including plentiful carbon in theatmosphere (CO2) and in unused (inedible) waste biomass,hydrogen in water, and abundant renewable electricity –as well as alternative lower-footprint carbon sources suchas methane could allow Switzerland to reduce its useof fossil-based petrochemical feedstocks with the ultimate
goal of becoming carbon neutral.
The development of novel catalytic processes and theuse of renewable energy sources such as hydro, solar orwind power to drive chemical reactions are key technologies
to move from an oil-based economy to a sustainable economy for the production of fuels, feedstocks, fine chemicals
and pharmaceuticals. The Catalysis Process Discovery Hub(Catalysis Hub) will be a cornerstone in the successful transition of Switzerland and Swiss industry to a sustainable
and innovative economy powered by catalysts of the future.
To be successful, the Catalysis Hub will set up an openaccess facility for catalysis research beyond the current stateof-the-art that will be devoted to the discovery, characterisation and testing of large numbers of homogeneousand heterogeneous catalysts and catalytic processes. A highthroughput machine-guided approach will allow the rapid
discovery and evaluation of leads and parameter space.
This requires an integrated workflow, with the fully
automated synthesis, characterisation and evaluation ofmolecular and solid catalysts, and including integrated
computational and machine learning (artificial intelligence)
approaches.

Strategic Planning 2021-2024 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain

II. Strategy – Core Tasks and further activities

Core Task 4:
Knowledge and technology transfer (KTT)The institutions’ activities in the field of KTT are a crucial element in fostering Switzerland’s
innovation capacities. Knowledge and know-how are transferred into the economy as well as
into public administration by the highly qualified graduates who leave the ETH Domain
institutions every year (“KTT through people”). The ETH Domain institutions also foster direct
collaboration with the economy and a wide range of KTT activities, including knowledge exchangewith public and private actors about public goods, and are actively involved in the continuing
design and implementation of the “Switzerland Innovation” park.
Exploiting research findings for the creation of economic value isthe fourth Core Task of the ETH Domain institutions. It contributes
directly to enhancing Switzerland’s innovative capacity. The ETH
Domain institutions produce a wealth of know-how, softwareand technologies in almost all fields of engineering, natural science and life sciences, as well as in the medtech domain. The
most important aspect is that the know-how and the technologies generated within the ETH Domain find their way into industrial applications. It is of great importance that the institutions’scientific work should manifest itself in a wealth of products on
the market in terms of both numbers and breadth of application.
The ETH Domain institutions’ overall KTT philosophy is that KTT is
not profit-oriented, but rather aims at making as many technologies as possible available for the Swiss economy and for society
at large. Although commercial and financial aspects are considered, maximisation of the socio-economic benefit, contributions
to the strength of the economy in Switzerland and worldwide
and continuous improvement in the quality of life are far more
important objectives. Therefore, the institutions have launchedvarious initiatives to set up a seamless innovation value chain
which allows for an efficient and effective KTT. Activities can be
broken down into collaboration with industry, knowledge transfer to the public sector and in-house innovation, fostering ofentrepreneurship and the foundation of spin-offs, and continuing education (cf. chap. Core Task 1).
KTT through people
Knowledge and know-how are transferred into the economy aswell as into public administration by the highly-qualified graduates who leave the ETH Domain institutions every year to takeon jobs in the respective areas (“KTT through people”). In addition, representatives of the ETH Domain frequently participate
in bodies such as advisory boards, boards of directors, etc. bothin the private and in the public sector – an important aspect ofknow-how transfer. Both of these KTT-through-people routes
are important drivers for innovation.
Collaboration with industry and the public sector
The ETH Domain aims to be the main academic partner for Swiss
enterprises and public authorities. The six institutions provide
access to current research results and in turn benefit from internships for students and from collaboration on the practical com-

Strategic Planning 2021-2024 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain

ponent of dissertations. Together with their partners from business, they translate their scientific findings into successful
marketable solutions and so make a further contribution to KTT.
By creating innovative resource-efficient technologies, in particular for Switzerland and developing countries, the institutionsof the ETH Domain engage in international KTT and support
the humanitarian goals set out in the federal government’s
foreign policy. The ETH Domain also employs KTT to find solutions
to challenges facing public institutions and organisations.
The institutions cultivate efficient KTT with the business and public sector through diverse joint projects, through patents andthe issue of licences, through partnerships and spin-offs, as well
as via the shared development and use of large-scale research
infrastructures, demonstration installations and pilot plants.
Expanding their solid basis for strategic cooperation with big
companies as well as for collaboration with SMEs allows theinstitutions to maintain their independence in terms of researchand training. They strengthen their partnerships with firms byparticipating in joint research programmes and infrastructures orin corporate activities at their institutions.
To be able to exploit opportunities to implement research results
most effectively and rapidly, the institutions operate topic-specific competence centres either alone or as cooperative ventures
within the scope of their autonomy. This form of collaboration
is attractive for the institutions of the ETH Domain, companies andother participating higher education institutions.
The ETH Domain institutions have been able to engage in fruitfuland trust-based relationships with actors from the private sector.
This has enabled them to attract companies to campus and toincrease their outreach in terms of KTT. It also serves to attract
funding and in-kind contributions from these partners, bothwith regard to scientific projects (funding of research activities
and kick-starting professorships) and for real estate investment.
And, most importantly, they can mutually benefit from theexchange between industry and academia. Encouraged by the
Confederation’s wish for the ETH Domain to diversify its income
sources, these third-party funds have become an importantsource of income for the ETH Domain and a valuable means ofenhancing the institutions’ capacity to seek further inspirationand to accelerate the implementation of research priorities.

31

State-of-the-art large-scale research infrastructures

Core Task 4:
Knowledge and technology transfer
The ETH Domain institutions promote the transfer of its
findings and competencies to society and to the economy indiverse ways. They are continuing to expand their position
as a key academic partner to private companies and public
administration. They are actively involved in the continuing
design and implementation of the Swiss Innovation Park’s“Switzerland Innovation” strategy.
Requirements and success factors––The ETH Domain institutions must maintain diverse formsof technology transfer and entrepreneurship to fit thevarious needs of the private sector or of public institutions.
––In collaborating with the private and the public sector,
the unrestricted autonomy of the institutions for personnel
decisions as well as their freedom in the choice of research
topics and in their treatment and publication of researchfindings must be granted by all parties involved.
Challenges––Translating research results into new and sustainable technologies, into practice and into policies is of growing
importance for the competitiveness and innovative capacityof the Swiss economy and the public sector.
––The ETH Domain institutions must further raise the awareness of their students, faculty and staff of the socioeconomic value of research results, and strengthen thevarious instruments and programmes to stimulate
the generation of inventions and novel business ideas.
––Collaboration between the ETH Domain institutions andprivate companies is encouraged by the Federal Council
but is increasingly subject to critical scrutiny.

Due to their particular role and specific mandates, the institutions of the ETH Domain also contribute significantly to knowledge transfer to the public sector (federal, cantonal and local
authorities) or to (professional) associations. This also stimulates innovation, for instance with regard to practical solutions
in environmental management or the development of new
construction standards. In these cases, innovation often comes
directly from the projects in which the ETH Domain institutions
are involved and are thus examples of “in-house innovation”.
Given their specific roles, some of the research institutes contribute mostly in this way to innovation in Switzerland. They areimportant partners for the Federal Offices (e.g. in the fields
of energy, the environment, transportation, public health, etc.),
and also for the cantons. The experienced research staff ofthe ETH Domain’s research institutes also act as reliable partners
for practitioners and stakeholders, providing independent
expert services. The avalanche forecasts by WSL are a typicalexample: in mountainous regions, it is essential that avalanchehazard information reaches as many people as possible (bothpublic and private actors). Therefore, selling this information
on a market is not appropriate. It indirectly supports economic
welfare and directly benefits society as a whole.

32

Measures for 2021-2024––Strengthening collaboration with industry and the public
sector: The ETH Domain institutions employ a range ofactivities and instruments to exploit and commercialise
their research findings and to transfer knowledge andtechnology to both the private and the public sector.
These include patenting, licensing, creating spin-offs,
consulting and continuous education.
––Responsible partnering: In collaborating with the private
and the public sector, the unrestricted autonomy of
the institutions for personnel decisions as well as theirfreedom in the choice of research topics, in their treatment and in the publication of research findings must be
granted by all parties involved.
––Fostering of entrepreneurship and creation of spin-offs:
The ETH Domain institutions continue to develop various
instruments and programmes to raise the awarenessof their students, faculty and employees of the socioeconomic value of research results and to stimulate
the generation of inventions and business ideas. The
institutions foster the entrepreneurial thinking of theirstudents and staff and provide support for successful
spin-off creations.
––“Switzerland Innovation” park: With various contributions
on different sites, the institutions of the ETH Domain
actively contribute to the “Switzerland Innovation” parkwith the aim of forging even better links between
academia and business and offering companies andresearchers innovation-friendly conditions.
––Strategic initiative: The ETH Domain institutions are actively involved in the ongoing design and implementationof the network of Advanced Manufacturing Technology
Transfer Centers (AM-TTC).

Fostering of entrepreneurship and the foundation of spin-offs
The ETH Domain institutions have established and continue
to develop various instruments and programmes to raise theawareness of their students, faculty and employees of thesocio-economic value of research results and to stimulate thegeneration of inventions and business ideas. Due to the novel
nature of technologies resulting from fundamental research,
the successful transfer of such technologies to existing
industrial players has proven to be particularly challenging.
Therefore, spin-offs are an increasingly important vehicle for
fostering innovation. Such spin-off companies are founded anddeveloped by scientific talents with an entrepreneurial mindset. In order to stimulate the creation of spin-offs and tosupport their entrepreneurs from the very beginning, the ETH
Domain institutions offer a comprehensive set of instruments
to identify, foster, promote and mature the entrepreneurial aptitudes of their students and staff members.
ETH Domain spin-offs have started to have a noticeable impact
on the Swiss economy and are an important vehicle for making
novel technologies available to society. Widespread spin-off
support at the ETH Domain institutions has steadily increased

Strategic Planning 2021-2024 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain

II. Strategy – Core Tasks and further activities

awareness among students of the economic value of their research and created an entrepreneurial mindset. This represents
an important contribution to innovation in Switzerland.
In the context of the ETH Domain’s institutions’ role in the fieldof innovation and entrepreneurship, seed or venture funds
are of great importance with regard to supporting spin-offs andstart-ups in all fields of activities of these institutions. Therefore, ETH Zurich, EPFL and PSI have already created programmes,
funds and initiatives aimed at giving such companies accessIn the spotlight:
Network of Advanced Manufacturing Technology
Transfer Centers (AM-TTC)
Advancing digitalisation is having a huge impact on Swiss
industry. The international scientific and technical community is developing new manufacturing technologies using thepotential of today’s very powerful digital technologies. These
new manufacturing technologies will have a higher flexibility, performance and efficiency. At the same time, they willoften be more complex in the sense of integration depth –or at least different or even disruptive to the manufacturing
technologies that have been used in industry so far. The
transfer and the introduction of such new technologies into
an industrial application is often challenging and requires
competencies and expertise in various fields.
New materials, processes, equipment or products whose feasibility have been proven by lab-scale prototypes and demonstrators must still take further steps and clear additional
hurdles before they can be applied by industrial companies.
For these important steps towards a successful technology
transfer, specific platforms as well as knowledge of how to
operate such platforms are needed. Today such technology
transfer platforms often do not exist or are not available tothe scientific and technical community in Switzerland.
Establishing a network of Advanced Manufacturing Technology Transfer Centers (AM-TTC) will make it possible to successfully execute the later phases of technology development
and translate cutting-edge research results into applicablemanufacturing technologies that can be transferred into industrial companies. This will help to turn innovative ideas
into real innovations that boost the competitiveness andsuccess of Swiss industry. Currently, Empa, ETH Zurich, EPFL
and PSI are preparing the setup (i.e. organisation and governance) of the AM-TTC network in accordance with the Action Plan on Digitalisation. These TTC will be established andmanaged in close collaboration with other scientific partners
as well as with industrial partners. The TTC facilities and services will be available for the whole Swiss scientific andtechnical community. For the period 2021-2024, the TTC in the
network will be financed by the collaborating scientific andindustrial partners with financial support under Art. 15 of theFederal Act on the Promotion of Research and Innovation(RIPA).

to venture funds. Empa promotes start-ups and entrepreneurship through the business incubator glatec in Dübendorf and
its involvement in Startfeld and the technology and innovation
centre Feld3 in St. Gallen. Strengthening such instruments andencouraging their use are thus important facets of entrepreneurship support within the ETH Domain. Moreover, knowledgesharing among the institutions of the ETH Domain is alreadyintensively practiced and is an important element in fostering
capacities and instruments in the field of technology transfer.
The ETH Domain institutions have played pioneering roles inpromoting technology transfer in Switzerland. Both ETH Zurichand EPFL, for instance, have been co-founders and, together
with Empa and PSI, are main drivers behind the swiTT network,whose primary purpose is the exchange of best practices.
The institutions of the ETH Domain are set to continue playing
an important role in this regard. For the ETH Domain institutions as such, an important channel for sharing practices
and expertise is the informal exchange associated with joint
appointments of staff and joint supervision of students at
all levels. For instance, this is considered to be an effective
channel between individual research institutes of the ETH
Domain and specific Departments/Schools at ETH Zurich or EPFL.
Furthermore, collaborative research projects provide a channel
for informal exchange between the four research institutes.
Exchange of best practices is also an important element in termsof benchmarking activities in the field of KTT and fostering
entrepreneurship.
Contributions to the “Switzerland Innovation” park
The “Switzerland Innovation” park 2 is a “project of a generation” aimed at sustainably strengthening and boosting Switzerland as a competitive international location over the long term.
It is being jointly supported by the federal government, thecantons and the scientific and business communities. The aim
is to forge even better links between academia and business,offer local companies and researchers the best possible innovation-friendly conditions, and involve new participants. The
innovation park began operations in early 2016, with two hub
sites centred on the two Federal Institutes of Technology in
Zurich (Park Zurich) and Lausanne (Park Network West EPFL)
plus three network locations in Aargau (Park INNOVAARE), Northwest Switzerland (Park Basel Area) and Biel (Park Biel/Bienne).
At these locations, the infrastructure will be upgraded andenergies will be pooled to create focal centres for industrial
research and development.
The ETH Domain institutions’ role has from the outset been defined as key for the ongoing establishment of the “Switzerland
Innovation” park. The ETH Domain institutions have always
contributed in a productive manner to this project, having respected the distribution of responsibilities among the politicalauthorities involved: ETH Zurich and Empa are participants at
Park Zurich located on the Dübendorf airfield site, EPFL has aleading role in Park Network West EPFL – a network of six parks
in Western Switzerland covering all innovation areas – and PSI
plays a central role in Park INNOVAARE at Villigen in the Cantonof Aargau.
2

Strategic Planning 2021-2024 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domainwww.switzerland-innovation.com/

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II. Strategy – Core Tasks and further activities

Further activities:
National tasks, contributions to the Swiss higher
education system and dialogue with society
In parallel with its Core Tasks, the ETH Domain also performs numerous national tasks.
In its efforts to contribute to implementing the Federal Act on Funding and Coordination of
the Swiss Higher Education Sector (HEdA), the ETH Domain is actively engaged in shaping
Switzerland’s higher education sector, while protecting institutional autonomy.
Last but not least, the institutions of the ETH Domain investigate societally relevant topics
and are committed to raising public awareness of research and technological developments.

National tasks
The ETH Domain performs numerous national tasks (cf. Figure 4)
in the interests of society and on behalf of the Swiss Confederation: Often the sole expert in Switzerland at the university level,
the ETH Domain meets its responsibility by providing scientificservices and research infrastructures with a nationwide reach.
These important services for Switzerland often derive their highquality from their close proximity to research. In turn, theyshow the students specific areas in which their fields of activity
are applied, thus conveying a valuable perspective.

Abb. 4: Examples of national tasks of the ETH Domain
Lead institution(s)National task

ETH Zurich

Swiss Economic Institute (KOF)
Swiss Seismological Service (SED)
Atlas of Switzerland / Swiss World Atlas
ETH library, incl. collections and archives
Conference centres Congressi Stefano Franscini
and Villa Garbald
National Centre for Climate Services (NCCS)

PSI

Center for Proton Therapy (CPT)
Center for Radiopharmaceutical Sciences (CRS)
National Competence Center for Nuclear Energy
and Safety

WSL

Plant Protection Lab (Biosecurity levels 1-3)
National forest inventory (LFI)
Swiss Forest Protection (WSS)Long-term Forest Ecosystem Research (LWF)
Avalanche warning service (avalanche bulletin SLF)

Empa

National Air Pollution Monitoring Network (NABEL)

Eawag/EPFL

Swiss Centre for Applied Ecotoxicology(Ecotox centre)

Eawag

Monitoring of radioactivity in aquatic systems(gamma-ray laboratory)

Eawag/WSLNational Surface Water Quality Monitoring
Programme (NAWA)

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Many of these national tasks are either based on requirements
set by legislation, or have been integrated into the ETH Domain
in the past and contribute to the fulfilment of international
obligations. These national tasks tie up a substantial share of
the federal funding received. Since the respective objects andtheir long-term preservation (e.g. collections of Swiss cultural
assets) fall under the public sector, these tasks do not normallygenerate revenue, but they create considerable added value.
Given that Switzerland’s only national experts at the university
level are sometimes to be found within the ETH Domain, thelatter is aware of the particular responsibility it bears. It aims
to continue delivering high-quality, science-based services forthe good of the country.
Contributions to Swiss higher education system
All ETH Domain institutions hold the deeply rooted convictionthat only teaching and research which is competitive with otherworld-leading institutions can yield sustainable benefit forthe country (e.g. in terms of highly qualified graduates trainedfor private and public actors in Switzerland, technologicalapplications at the service of society, jobs created in R&D, etc.).
Accordingly, the ETH Board is convinced that their world-classpositioning and the dynamic to which this contributes within
the Swiss academic community represent their core contribution
to the Swiss higher education system. The benefit this generates
can be illustrated by the following aspects:–– Given that science and technology are clearly among themost important resources on which Switzerland’s welfare
depends, the fact that both ETH Zurich and EPFL rank
among the top universities worldwide and are even leaders
in continental Europe is a vital element in strengthening
Switzerland as a scientific location. Moreover, all institutionsof the ETH Domain rank well above the world average interms of bibliometric data.
–– Students – undergraduates and graduates as well as thosein continuing education – have the opportunity to learn
from the best researchers worldwide from the very beginning and are exposed to stimulating competition in termsof ideas and performance that trains them for their careers
in private industry, in academia or the public sector.

Strategic Planning 2021-2024 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain

II. Strategy – Core Tasks and further activities–– Researchers, both from higher education and research institutes and from the private sector, have access to knowledge
and world-class infrastructure benefiting their own work;
this is evident, for instance, from the fact that during thepast years several large and multinational companies have
set up or entirely moved their R&D divisions as close as
possible to one of the ETH Domain’s institutions.
Switzerland’s dual education system, with vocational andacademic tracks, is designed to cater for students according totheir specific talents and interests. The complementarity ofthese two tracks produces a balanced pool of highly trained,
sought-after professionals at various levels and with different
skills profiles. This promotes the sustainable developmentof the Swiss economy and represents a competitive advantage
for Switzerland. As part of Swiss-wide higher education policy
coordination, the ETH Board works towards consolidating thevery strong position of ETH Zurich and EPFL in the international
competitive arena. It is committed to ensuring the continued
and complementary division of tasks between universities
of applied sciences and cantonal universities, and ensuringthat the different groups of students have access to moreclearly defined educational and research profiles. Therefore,
the profiles of ETH Zurich and EPFL should remain distinct fromthose of the Universities of Applied Sciences, which havethe mandate to educate students exclusively in a practiceoriented manner in close collaboration with industry. Ideally,
outstanding students from the Universities of Applied Sciences
are able to enter study programmes at ETH Zurich or EPFL, expanding options for students within the Swiss dual education
system while upholding the quality-based transfer criteria.
This preserves, and therefore strengthens, the distinct profilesof each of the higher education institutions in Switzerland.
The ETH Domain cultivates academic cooperation with other
Swiss higher education institutions and builds on this tobenefit from complementary expertise and curricula. Cooperative projects at the individual and institutional level havein the past proven to be sustainable and efficient when theycame about at the initiative of the actors involved. The
ETH Board thus attaches importance to the autonomy of theinstitutions, allowing them to enter into or terminate
institutional collaborative ventures as required.
In its efforts to implement the Federal Act on Funding and
Coordination of the Swiss Higher Education Sector (HEdA), theETH Domain is actively engaged in shaping Switzerland’s higher
education sector. The ETH Domain’s large and costly research
infrastructures, which are of Swiss-wide significance, are one
crucial contributory factor and its contributions to the medical
education are another. Furthermore, the ETH Domain contributes to the operationalisation of recent developments inthe scientific community in Switzerland and beyond – such as
the principle of open data in science.

Strategic Planning 2021-2024 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain

Further activities:
National tasks, contributions to the Swiss higher
education system and dialogue with society
Measures for 2021-2024––National tasks: The ETH Domain meets its responsibility
by providing high-quality scientific services and research
infrastructures with a nationwide reach.
––Cooperation and coordination within the Swiss higher education system: The ETH Domain is actively engaged in
shaping Switzerland’s higher education sector, while
protecting institutional autonomy. In particular, the ETH
Domain supports the efforts led by swissuniversities
to gain a systematic overview of “open research data”.
For its field of research, the ETH Domain is ready to playa leading role and to define conditions and elaborate
suitable measures to make suitable research data available.
––Dialogue with society: The institutions of the ETH Domain
investigate socially relevant topics and are committed toraising public awareness of research and technologicaldevelopments. They maintain a dialogue with society ingeneral and specifically with high schools.

Dialogue with society
Diverse technologies and research applications feature prominently in everyday life today. The institutions of the ETH Domain
investigate socially relevant topics and are committed to raisingpublic awareness of research and technological developments.
They advise government authorities, encourage public dialogue
and provide well-founded scientific contributions to support
the best political framework conditions for a future-oriented
society (evidence-based policy-making). In addition, they create
national and international platforms for the scientific scrutinyof current issues (e.g. urban planning, healthcare policy andclimate research). They coordinate with other actors in the fieldof education and research and strengthen dialogue and factbased communication with society. This is their reaction to thechanges in the media landscape and the emergence of social
media. By doing so, the institutions of the ETH Domain playa key role for the benefit of society as well as making concrete
contributions to sustainable development.
Maintaining a dialogue with baccalaureate schools and teacher
training providers, ETH Zurich and EPFL are committed toensuring the quality and appeal of baccalaureate school mathematics and natural sciences curricula. They visit and invite
school classes, support students working on ambitious highschool diploma projects and organise events to inform final
year baccalaureate school students about their diverse course
offering and specific entrance requirements. Furthermore, theinstitutions of the ETH Domain have created special programmes
designed to arouse students’ interest in the MINT subjects, including the MINT Learning Center at ETH Zurich, the EPFL programme"Les Sciences, ça m’interesse” and the iLab student laboratory
at PSI, as well as various initiatives. In particular, they promote
the programming skills of children and young people.

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III. Science policy –a key success factor

Core prerequisites for international
competitiveness38
Specific requirements
for the period 2021-2024

40

37

III. Science policy – a key success factor

Core prerequisites for international competitivenessSwitzerland’s internationality and openness are prerequisites enabling the ETH Domain to generatesocial and economic benefit for our country. So that ETH Domain institutions can operate flexibly andsustainably in this highly dynamic global environment, the institutions depend, in turn, on a highdegree of autonomy. Such autonomy is fundamental to the definition and implementation of new
strategic developments which will be relevant tomorrow for the ETH Domain and for Switzerland as
an academic and economic focal point in Europe. Such dynamic and independent action on the partof the institutions hinges on basic funding from the Confederation that is stable, reliable and canbe used with the greatest possible flexibility.

As stipulated in the Federal Council’s Strategic Objectives
2017-2020 for the ETH Domain, the Domain’s institutions aspire
to highest quality in all their areas of research, in teaching,and in all other fields in which they are active. To continuously
fulfil the ETH Domain’s mandate in the Swiss context, favourable framework conditions for the ETH Domain institutions
and the Swiss higher education and research system areof crucial importance. The ETH Board confirms the three key
success factors, i.e.
–– internationality and openness;–– autonomy of the ETH Domain as a whole and of
the ETH Domain institutions;–– stable and reliable funding by the Confederation.
Internationality and openness
Switzerland’s internationality and openness as a centre of
education and research are a vital prerequisite for the ETH
Domain to create benefit for society and the economy.
The ETH Domain institutions use their excellent international
position for the benefit of Switzerland, its economy, its public
administration and private enterprises, its universities, andits educational system. This benefit derives primarily fromthe ETH Domain’s standing and from its internationally embedded research and teaching activities.
Attractiveness: Global competition among higher education
and research institutions entails competition for the best
students, young academics, experienced researchers andpromising research projects worldwide, but also for participation in research alliances, for promoting and deploying
novel educational technologies and for attracting research
activities of large international companies to Switzerland.
The openness and the attractiveness of Switzerland andits economy must therefore receive the utmost attention,
while the internationality of higher education and researchmust be strengthened as a central thrust of science policy.
Recruiting talents: The international embedding of the ETH
Domain’s activities makes it possible to attract world-leading
scientists and talented students from around the world withwhom both academic and economic actors can collaborate.

38

They bring their knowledge and skills to the Swiss job market
or act as ambassadors abroad as alumni of the ETH Domain
institutions. As excellence attracts excellence, Switzerland as alocation for science and business as well as the young Swiss
academics themselves benefit from this approach.
Teaching: The international reputation of Switzerland as a hub
for higher education and the diverse experience and backgrounds of scientists working in Switzerland form an excellent
foundation for research-based teaching. In an educational
environment characterised by internationality, Swiss students
are effectively prepared for competition in business andindustry as well as in academia in a global labour market. The
increasing proportion of international students at bachelors
or master’s and then doctoral level ensures a stepwise exposure
to the international environment.
Research: International collaboration is crucial for the qualityof science and research at the ETH Domain institutions. Working
with scientists outside Switzerland provides access to valuableadditional expertise. It also opens new ways of sharing costs,
and makes it possible to tap into alternative funding sources(e.g. European funding). International collaboration in research
projects is of growing importance, and scientific publications
from international collaboration have been shown to achieve
the greatest impact. As a scientific location, Switzerland
has always enjoyed a culture of openness and accessibility,
enabling scientists from Switzerland, in turn, to gain researchexperience abroad, to compete in the international academic
environment, and to participate in international networks.
Large-scale research infrastructures: The conceptualisation,
construction, operation and exploitation of large-scale research
infrastructures are increasingly taking place in international
networks. Their embedding in international networks allows
the ETH Domain institutions to optimally profile their contributions and facilitates an efficient distribution of tasks among
the international infrastructures, thus also enhancing theireffective use. Switzerland as an academic and business location
benefits from the ETH Domain institutions’ close involvementin such networks, both in the development of scientific expertise

Strategic Planning 2021-2024 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain

Core prerequisites for international competitivenessand the promotion of innovation. Free and non-bureaucratic
access for researchers worldwide based on competitive calls
must continue to be granted – a principle which has always
been applied in a reciprocal manner, benefiting Swiss researchers at infrastructures abroad as well.
Science diplomacy: Benefits of internationalisation in science
go beyond academia. International science collaboration also
yields diplomatic benefits, helping to maintain good relations
between countries even in the face of disagreements on otherissues. International organisations such as CERN offer a powerful rationale for international scientific collaboration.
Autonomy
Autonomy is one of the core prerequisites for the successful
positioning of the ETH Domain and its institutions for futurechallenges. Robust and well-balanced governance of the ETH
Domain must therefore serve the objective of maintaining
or extending the high degree of autonomy currently granted to
the Domain and its institutions. The fundamental value ofautonomy emerges from the “dual autonomy” conferred by
the Federal Act on the Federal Institutes of Technology (ETH Act)
upon the ETH Domain institutions and on the Domain as awhole. This “dual autonomy” is a cornerstone of the ETH Act
and was a major achievement of the last revision of the Act in2003. Such autonomy is central to the definition and timely
implementation of new strategic initiatives, which will be evenmore relevant for the future of the ETH Domain and of Switzerland as an academic and economic focal point in Europe andworldwide.
a) Autonomy of the ETH Domain
The ETH Domain enjoys the freedom to act within the framework of the ETH Act and the strategic objectives conferred upon
the Domain by the Federal Council. Strategic decisions thatare of relevance for the ETH Domain as well as the ensuingallocation of the Domain’s global budget to the individual
institutions, to strategic projects and to other system-relevant
initiatives or tasks are thus the responsibility of the ETH Board.
This strategic role of the ETH Board ensures effective use of thefederal budget allocated to the ETH Domain.
One particular challenge to of the ETH Domain’s autonomy concerns the implementation of the Higher Education Act (HEdA) 3.
In this regard, the ETH Board must make sure that the autonomy of the Domain is not restricted by the overarching coordination processes set out in the HEdA, even though the ETH
Domain remains under the auspices of the ETH Act (in relation
to aspects such as governance, financial commitments anddecision-making processes).
b) Academic and financial autonomy of the institutions
The autonomy granted to the institutions of the ETH Domain
gives them the freedom to explore novel and innovative
scientific fields and to allocate their resources independently.

3

Federal Act on Funding and Coordination of the Swiss Higher Education Sector,of September 2011 (status as at 1 January 2018)

Strategic Planning 2021-2024 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain

Their capacity to act autonomously in a strategic and entrepreneurial spirit is a recognised strength of the ETH Domain
institutions and must be preserved for the future. It allows
them to invest heavily and primarily in fundamental,
disruptive and long-term research as well as in thematic andapplied research, which in turn makes them attractive for cooperation with the private sector.
Stable and reliable funding
Stable and reliable funding by the Confederation is indispensable to enable the institutions to play their key role in education, research and innovation. Thus the ETH Board considers it
part of its mission to continue striving for political support
to secure funding. Despite strong support from Parliament in
the past debates concerning the four-year payment framework(Zahlungsrahmen), considerable doubts remain with regard to
the ETH Domain’s yearly budgets, as these are not exempt fromthe budget cuts which the Confederation may decide on as apart of its austerity programme.
As the basic tasks of the ETH Domain institutions bind most of
the resources, budget cuts force the institutions to cancel
or postpone investments in research infrastructure or selected
research topics, as a precautionary measure. Moreover, spending cuts primarily affect resources that the institutions needfor exploring novel areas of potentially high strategic importance and thus particularly impact the institutions’ strategic
development. Hence, the ETH Domain institutions and theETH Board see an increased need to adapt the legislation insuch a way that the ETH Domain’s budget can be “ring-fenced”,
i.e. exempted from budget cuts in future (gebundene Ausgaben).
Such protective measures are all the more necessary as from2020 onwards the federal subsidies for the cantonal universities
and universities of applied sciences will enjoy stronger protection than the global budget of the ETH Domain. Otherwise,planning insecurity will continue to jeopardise the timely
implementation of innovative activities or large-scale projectsof the institutions and the ETH Domain.
Given the poor prospects of any substantial increase in thefederal budget for the ETH Domain in the coming years (overand above fee increases), the diversification of income sources
becomes more relevant for the ETH Domain, but needs to be
optimised with regard to a number of competing aspects. Thishas been recognised in the past, and several instruments havebeen developed or made greater use of to further exploit current income sources, identify new sources and seek to benefit
from new collaboration and financing models for research
projects and teaching. These instruments include increased
third-party funding from the SNSF and the EU plus donations
and cantonal contributions. However, the ETH Board would
like to point out that diversified income sources should only
represent complementary funding, as they are also associatedwith challenges such as an incomplete coverage of overhead
costs or limited flexibility of use. It must be borne in mind
that all forms of third-party funding are highly unpredictable,
also with regard the amounts actually received. Therefore,
stable funding by the Confederation still provides a crucial andindispensable foundation.

39

III. Science policy – a key success factor

Specific requirements for 2021-2024
The full association of Switzerland with the 9th EU Framework Programme for Researchand Innovation – Horizon Europe 2021-2027 – is a key success factor for Switzerland’s innovative
capacity and for the Swiss science community.

International collaboration is crucial for the quality of scienceand research at the ETH Domain institutions, because cuttingedge research today is often the result of several researchgroups working together, often from different countries.
Working with scientists outside Switzerland provides accessto valuable additional expertise. It also opens up new ways ofsharing costs, and makes it possible to tap into alternative
funding sources. International collaboration in research projects
is of growing importance, and scientific publications frominternational collaboration achieve greater impact. As a scientific location, Switzerland has always enjoyed a culture of
openness and accessibility, enabling scientists from Switzerland, in turn, to gain research experience abroad, to compete
in the international academic environment, to obtain accessto major research infrastructures worldwide and to participate
in international networks.
The next European Framework programme for Research andInnovation, “Horizon Europe”, is due to start in 2021 and will
run for seven years. Like the ongoing “Horizon 2020” programme, the upcoming programme will promote European
integration and collaboration on global challenges such as
health or climate change. But it will also focus on innovation,
which will be of great interest to Swiss SMEs in particular.
The selection process in itself is beneficial for researchers in
Switzerland: they compete for grants with the best researchers
in the same field from all over Europe. This drives quality
standards up. Another key aspect is mobility within Europe,
which will be promoted under specific Horizon Europe schemes.

40

Science in Switzerland is dependent on the country’s strong
reputation as a reliable partner and on stable international
relations, particularly with the EU. When collaborating internationally becomes difficult, research quality suffers. Therefore,
it is vital that scientists working in Swiss research institutions
have unhampered access to international networks and international competitive research funding, notably to the 9th European Framework Programme for Research and Innovation as
well as the Euratom research and training programme. This
would also benefit Europe - because of Switzerland’s strength
in research and the substantial financial contribution it canmake. If Europe is to compete with North America and Asia inthe scientific and business spheres, all the continent’s countries
must work together.
For Switzerland to have only a partial association with, or evenbe excluded from, the 9th Framework Programme or Euratom
would discriminate against Swiss-based researchers and thus
impair Switzerland’s scientific excellence. Such a scenario would
harm our country because research and innovation are thedrivers of economic and social prosperity and change: national
funding schemes are no replacement for European cooperationand competition.

Strategic Planning 2021-2024 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain

IV. Financial requirements
2021-2024

Strategic Planning 2021-2024 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain

41

IV. Financial requirements 2021-2024
In order to implement its strategy with the related measures, the ETH Board is asking the Federal
Council and Parliament to approve a budget appropriation of CHF 11,053 million for the ETH
Domain for the period 2021-2024. On the basis of the current financial planning for the year 2020,
this amount would represent a mean annual growth rate of 3.1 % (including compensation for
an assumed annual inflation rate of 1 %).

I. Financial requirements of the institutions
The ETH Board allocates the lion’s share (approximately 95 %)of the annual federal funding to the six institutions to enable
them to fulfil their basic mandate. The basic mandate of theETH Domain institutions entails teaching, research (including
research infrastructures), and knowledge and technology transfer, plus their role in society and in Switzerland as a whole.
Innovative, reasearch-based education: The growing numberof students, doctoral students and professors, coupled with thediversification of curricula and of the learning environment,
have created a need for more investment in teaching, training
and learning infrastructure at the six institutions. Specificefforts to maintain the quality of the research-based education
are also called for.
Research: To enable Switzerland to acquire the necessary knowhow in pioneering fields of research that are increasingly
relevant to society, the economy and the environment, theETH Domain institutions need to increase the number of professors and research groups in the period 2021-2024. Up to
80 additional professorships and research groups will makeit possible to guarantee strong links between training andstate-of-the-art research, to create new opportunities in research and teaching, to strengthen already established areasof research and to advance into new ones. In addition, thiscapacity-building and expansion of competencies will foster
the ETH Domains’ capacity for anticipating and responding
to the country’s challenges, as well as for providing thescientific and technical basis to support the initiatives of
the respective authorities, e.g. in energy research or digitalisation-related activities.

Operation of existing research infrastructures: The ETH Domain
has long-standing expertise and a leading position inplanning, implementing and operating large-scale research
infrastructures. The institutions rely on continuous reinvestment
to keep the existing large-scale facilities competitive at theinternational level and to allow scientific agenda-setting instrategically important areas by acquiring or designing newlarge-scale research infrastructures. The current and plannedlarge-scale research infrastructures, with specific user andservice labs of national importance based in the ETH Domain,need to be financed, operated and developed in such a waythat academia and industry have access to these state-of-theart research infrastructures.
National tasks: Since they are often the only experts in a given
field in Switzerland, scientists and institutions of the ETH
Domain exercise their particular responsibility by providing
high-quality scientific services and infrastructures andby fulfilling numerous tasks for the benefit of the country.
Real estate management: The ETH Domain coordinates property
and real estate management and is responsible for maintaining
their value and function.The ETH Domain plans and develops
its real estate portfolio in the medium and long term so as totake account of research and teaching needs as well as therequirements of the Swiss Confederation as the owner of thereal estate.
Working conditions: Attractive, internationally competitive
working conditions are designed and implemented to motivate
employees, help them to maximise their performance and support their professional development. The PUBLICA pension
scheme needs to be continually developed to ensure certainty
and security in keeping with demographic and socio-economic
trends.
Compensation of inflation: The indicated financial needfor the institutional base budgets includes compensation forassumed annual inflation of 1 %.

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Strategic Planning 2021-2024 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain

IV. Financial requirements 2021-2024

II. Financial requirement for strategic initiatives

III. Financial requirement for the implementationof federal strategies and decisions

1. Strategic Focus Areas
Strategic Focus Areas (SFAs) address key societal challenges andboost essential strategic areas of research in the ETH Domain’s
portfolio. To this end, existing expertise in the ETH Domain
is pooled and new initiatives across the institutions are supported in a coordinated manner. The three SFAs “Personalized Health and Related Technologies (PHRT)”, “Data Science”
and “Advanced Manufacturing” initiated in the period
2017-2020 will be continued during the period 2021-2024 inorder to realise their full potential. The ETH Board plans toallocate a total of CHF 115m to these three SFAs.

1. Accelerator facilities at PSI
Provisions for the decommissioning and disposal of theaccelerator facilities at PSI amount to CHF 44m for the period2021-2024.

2. Large-scale research infrastructureState-of-the-art infrastructure is of utmost importance to theinnovative, solution-related advancement of cutting-edge
research that is crucial to ensuring Switzerland’s international
competitiveness as a centre of research and innovation.
In the period 2021-2024, the ETH Domain is planning to realise
the following projects of strategic priority: continuation of
the “Blue Brain Project” (EPFL), upgrades to IT infrastructure(HPCN-24) at the CSCS and at the Swiss Light Source (SLS 2.0),
and realisation of the Catalysis Hub as a contribution to catalysis-driven, sustainable chemical processes (incl. provision offuels and feedstock for a green economy). The requested funding for these four projects amounts to CHF 304m.

Strategic Planning 2021-2024 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain

2. Implementation of the Action Plan on Digitalisation
The federal Action Plan on Digitalisation is designed to support
society in coping with the opportunities, risks and challenges
arising in this area. The Action Plan entails two measures tobe implemented by the ETH Domain, namely capacity-building
and the expansion of competencies in ICT/computer scienceat ETH Zurich and EPFL, and setting up a national network of
Advanced Manufacturing Technology Transfer Centers (AM-TTC).
For the period 2021-2024, the resulting costs of the sevenadditional professorships established in 2019 and 2020 total
CHF 42m (i.e. CHF 1.5m per year per research group). For
the period 2021-2024, the TTC in the network will be financedby the collaborating scientific and industrial partners withfinancial support under Art. 15 of the Federal Act on the Promotion of Research and Innovation (RIPA).

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IV. Financial requirements 2021-2024

Figure 5: Financial requirements of the ETH Domain for the period 2021-2024
In million CHF									 Financial requirements 2021-2024

I. Financial requirements of the institutions (base budgets) for fulfilling their basic mandate

10,548

These include (non-exhaustive list):- strategic development of the institutions in educational (innovative, research-based education),
research and KTT activities- measures to tackle the increasing numbers of students and doctoral students anduphold high standards of teaching and supervision- creation of up to 80 additional professorships and research groups- continuing activities within the scope of the Action Plan on “Coordinated Energy Research Switzerland”
and digitalisation-related activities (e.g. capacity-building and expansion of competencies)- operation of existing research infrastructures with specific user and service labs
- performance of national tasks- further development and management of real estate- maintaining attractive and internationally competitive working conditions- compensation for assumed annual inflation of 1 %II. Financial requirement for strategic initiatives419

1. Strategic Focus Areas (SFA)115

SFA Personalized Health and Related Technologies (PHRT)50

SFA Data Science40

SFA Advanced Manufacturing25

2. Large-scale research infrastructures

304

Blue Brain Project88

HPCN-24

92

SLS 2.0

99

Catalysis Hub

25

III. Financial requirement for the implementation of federal strategies and decisions

86

Provisions for the decommissioning and disposal of the accelerator facilities at PSI

44

Implementation of specific measures under the Action Plan on Digitalisationa) Capacity-building and expansion of competencies in digitalisation(costs arising from additional professorships in the area of computer science)42__4b) Network of Advanced Manufacturing Technology Transfer Centers (AM-TTC)
Total

11,053

Corresponding annual growth rate of federal funds 5

3,1 %

4

For the period 2021-2024, the TTC in the network will be financed by the collaborating scientific and industrial partners with financial support
under Art. 15 of the Federal Act on the Promotion of Research and Innovation (RIPA).

5

Basis: planned financial contribution of the Federal Council to the ETH Domain for 2020 (finance plan as at December 2018, i.e. CHF 2,558,729,900).

44

Strategic Planning 2021-2024 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain

Publication Data

Publisher:
ETH Board, Zurich and Bern, www.ethboard.ch
Project management and editorial office:ETH Board Science Section
in collaboration with the ETH Domain institutions,
supported by the ETH Board Communication Section
Translation and proofreading:
ETH Board Translation Services, BMP Translations AG, Basel
Layout:atelier MUY, Zurich© ETH Board, February 2019

ETH Board, Zurich and Bernwww.ethboard.ch