SELFASSESSMENTREPORT
INTERMEDIATEEVALUATION
2023 OF THE
ETH DOMAIN
Adopted by the ETH Board at the meeting of 7/8 December 2022

Self-Assessment Report | Intermediate Evaluation 2023 of the ETH Domain| Adopted by the ETH Board at the meeting of 7/8 December 2022

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Table of Contents

Foreword by the President of the ETH Board

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Introduction
Evaluation Mandate
Self-Assessment Report
The ETH Domain in brief
VisionMission

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Retrospective
Introduction
State of implementation of the experts’recommendations from the 2019 Intermediate Evaluation
Appendix: Financial management

A

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Specific aspects of the core tasks education, research and KTT

A.1 Ensuring quality of education and associated challenges
Excerpt from the Mandate
Assessment by and considerations of the ETH Board
Evidence
Facts & Figures
Key points

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A.2 Sustainable international positioning
Excerpt from the Mandate
Assessment by and considerations of the ETH Board
Evidence
Facts & Figures
Key points

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61
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A.3 Good practices in knowledge and technology transfer
Excerpt from the Mandate
Assessment by and considerations of the ETH Board
Evidence
Facts & Figures
Key points

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Self-Assessment Report Intermediate Evaluation 2023 of the ETH Domain

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Table of Contents

B

Positioning of the ETH Domain in relation to future challenges

B.1 The ETH Domain’s structure, organisation, governance and associated locations
Excerpt from the Mandate
Assessment by and considerations of the ETH Board
B.1.1 The ETH Domain’s structure, organisation and governance
Evidence
Facts & Figures
Key points
B.1.2 The ETH Domain institutions’ associated locations
Evidence
Facts & Figures
Key points
Appendix: Strategy on associated locations

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B.2 Identifying the Strategic Areas for 2025–2028
Excerpt from the Mandate
Assessment by and considerations of the ETH Board
Evidence
Key points
Annex: List of persons interviewed in the context of the Foresight Process

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B.3 The potential of diversity and respectful working conditions
Excerpt from the Mandate
Assessment by and considerations of the ETH Board
Evidence
Facts & Figures
Key points

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B.4 Future requirements in education and research
Excerpt from the Mandate
Assessment by and considerations of the ETH Board
Evidence
Facts & Figures
Key points

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Bibliometric Study 2009–2020 of the Institutions of the ETH Domain
Introduction
Indicators and methodology
Main results

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Foreword by the Presidentof the ETH Board
Dear readers
The ETH Domain has been experiencing difficult times and continues to face major challenges
today. The coronavirus pandemic hit the ETH Domain hard. By March 16, 2020, the two Federal Institutes of Technology and the four research institutes had switched to emergency
mode or were operating with very limited capacity. Virtually overnight, all courses had to be
moved online, and working from home became the rule for employees. But the crisis also hadsome positive effects: home-working, virtual lectures and online events are here to stay. They
are influencing both the way we work and the future development of our real estate portfolio.
No sooner had the pandemic been brought under control than the next crisis hit theworld. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has seriously impacted the ETH Domain – through its
effects on our students and employees from Ukraine and Russia, on our research cooperation
with these countries and on our ability to access a reliable and affordable energy supply aswell as through the biggest surge in inflation for decades.
Despite these challenges, the ETH Domain is fully committed to its mission of delivering
excellence for Switzerland and the world. To this end, we will continue to invest heavily in the
education of future scientists and engineers, in research areas of strategic importance to
Switzerland, in knowledge and technology transfer both to industry and to the public sector,
and in research infrastructures of national and international importance.
So that the ETH Domain can maintain the excellence of its services and continue to operate successfully, three factors will be of crucial importance: international openness, autonomy, and stable and reliable funding.
Unfortunately, two of these success factors are now at risk.
First, Switzerland’s lack of association to Horizon Europe impairs the competitiveness of Swiss Education, Research andInnovation (ERI) actors and is gradually eroding their international networks. Second, the ETH Board is deeply concerned
about the federal government's dire financial outlook. From2024 onwards, funding deficits of several billion Swiss francs
per year are looming. Cuts in the ERI sector could inflict dramatic long-term damage on the ETH Domain institutions, so
it is vital that they be averted – because, as Benjamin Franklin famously said, “an investment in knowledge pays the bestinterest”.
On behalf of the ETH Board, I would like to thank theExpert Committee for its in-depth examination of theETH Domain and its institutions. We look forward to a productive exchange, stimulating discussions and the Committee's valued recommendations.

Prof. Michael O. Hengartner, President of the ETH Board

Self-Assessment Report Intermediate Evaluation 2023 of the ETH Domain

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Introduction

Evaluation Mandate
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
governing and supervisory body of the ETH Domain. The ETH Domain belongs to the Swiss
Confederation and is affiliated to the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education andResearch (EAER). In accordance with the Confederation's corporate governance guidelines,
the Federal Council (Swiss government) governs the ETH Domain through strategic objectives,
which it establishes for four years at a time in alignment with the funding framework approved by the Swiss Parliament. The achievement of the strategic objectives is assessedannually by the Federal Council, with Parliament being informed of the results. In addition,in the middle of each financing period, the EAER commissions an intermediate evaluation of
the ETH Domain with the primary focus on systemic and strategic issues.
The Federal Council mandates a group of national and international experts from academia
and the economy to perform the Intermediate Evaluation 2023 of the ETH Domain. This
Expert Committee is invited to primarily take a forward-looking approach and formulate
recommendations for managing future challenges, in addition to providing a critical assessment of the achievements. The mandate includes seven Terms of Reference (ToR), focussing
on specific aspects of the ETH Domain’s core tasks – education, research, and knowledge andtechnology transfer (ToR A.1-A.3) – and the ETH Domain’s positioning in relation to futurechallenges (ToR B.1-B.4). Furthermore, the mandate includes a review of the implementationof the recommendations and measures that emerged from the previous intermediate evaluation conducted in 2019 and a bibliometric study of the ETH Domain institutions.
Self-Assessment Report
The ETH Board prepared the Self-Assessment Report in close collaboration with theETH Domain institutions. It is structured along the Terms of Reference given in the mandate
and makes reference to – and draws on – existing documents (e.g. Strategic Plan 2025–2028
and Annual Reports of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain). The relevant information is presented in a concise form complemented by the self-reflected assessments by and considerations of the ETH Board. The Self-Assessment Report is intended to support the members of
the Expert Committee as a working tool in the fulfilment of their evaluation task. It comprises
the following chapters.
– Introduction– Retrospective: State of implementation of the experts’ recommendations from the 2019
Intermediate Evaluation– Terms of Reference A: Specific aspects of the core tasks education, research andknowledge and technology transfer– Assessment by and considerations of the ETH Board– Evidence, Facts & Figures substantiating the considerations of the ETH Board for each of
the ToR A.1-A.3– Terms of Reference B: Positioning of the ETH Domain in relation to future challenges– Assessment by and considerations of the ETH Board

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Introduction– Evidence, Facts & Figures substantiating the considerations of the ETH Board for each of
the ToR B.1-B.4– Bibliometric study– Summary of the reports on the bibliometric performance of the ETH Domain and theinstitutions
The Strategic Plan 2025–2028 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain1, published in 2022, ideally complements the Self-Assessment Report by providing the outlook for the next period.
The Annual Reports of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain provide detailed information on
the achievement of the Federal Council’s Strategic Objectives for the ETH Domain. The 2022
Annual Report will be made available to the Expert Committee shortly before their on-site
visit.
The ETH Domain in brief
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
governing and supervisory body of the ETH Domain (cf. figure 1). The locations of theETH Domain institutions in Switzerland are presented in figure 2 (cf. chapter B.1.2 for further
information about the national and international locations). The ETH Domain fulfils the mandate conferred on it by the ETH Act, based on its vision, mission and guiding principles, andthrough continuous investments into its unique strengths2.
Figure 1: The ETH Domain* Employment contracts including doctoral students, as of 31 December 2021

1

Strategic Plan 2025-2028 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain

2Strategic Plan 2025-2028 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain, pages 11-14

Self-Assessment Report Intermediate Evaluation 2023 of the ETH Domain

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Introduction

Figure 2: The ETH Domain’s locations in Switzerland

VisionThe ETH Domain strengthens Switzerland's prosperity and competitiveness and contributes
to the sustainable development of society through excellence in research and education as
well as in scientific knowledge and technology transfer.
Mission
The ETH Domain serves society through the pursuit and dissemination of knowledge andthe beneficial application of science. The ETH Domain institutions share responsibility foreducation and research, and for knowledge and technology transfer. They anticipate andcontribute to solving the most pressing national and global challenges through pioneering
fundamental and applied research and by maintaining a continuous dialogue with society.
Their research activities are supported by a portfolio of large-scale research infrastructuresand platforms that offer unique resources for research communities in Switzerland andabroad. They also provide science-based services for the benefit of Swiss society. As degreegranting universities of science and technology, ETH Zurich and EPFL play a leading role with adistinctive profile in Switzerland’s educational system. In line with their thematic mandates,
the research institutes PSI, WSL, Empa and Eawag provide specialised world-class researchand education as well as continuity of expertise for the benefit of Switzerland in particular.
Together with ETH Zurich and EPFL, they promote and curate the implementation of theirinsights and discoveries by the public and private sectors.

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Retrospective

Introduction
State of implementation of the experts’recommendations from the 2019 Intermediate Evaluation
Appendix: Financial management

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Retrospective

Introduction
As part of the evaluation mandate of the 2023 Intermediate Evaluation, the ETH Board
reports on the extent to which the recommendations made by the expert committee in the2019 Intermediate Evaluation were implemented. The ETH Board and the ETH Domain
institutions were eager to learn from the 2019 Intermediate Evaluation how the experts assessed the ETH Domain’s standing and role in the Swiss higher education and research systemand how they viewed its further development to maintain international competitivenesswhile also serving Switzerland’s needs3. The ETH Board greatly appreciated the forward-looking re-commendations and responded to them in a clustered manner with statements
organised into six strategic action fields (strategy and structure; cooperation and collaboration within and beyond the ETH Domain; education for the next generation; leadership andculture; stable financial framework; communication and impact). The ETH Board also decided
on specific measures to respond to each of the twenty-two recommendations separately.
Accordingly, the 2019 response of the ETH Board to the recommendations of the expert
committee was structured into two sections: (i) Response to the recommendations in six
strategic action fields, and (ii) Measures in response to each of the recommendations. This
document was adopted by the ETH Board at its meeting of 25/26 September 2019 andcommunicated to the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research andthe State Secretariat for Research, Education and Innovation4.
The ETH Board and the ETH Domain institutions jointly pursue the implementation of themeasures and carefully monitor the progress of implementation, also taking into accountnewly arising challenges. This chapter presents the state of implementation of the measures
defined in response to the experts’ recommendations of the 2019 Intermediate Evaluation.
As the measures generally contribute to equipping the ETH Domain for tackling future challenges, they are thus also interlinked with the Terms of Reference of the 2023 Intermediate
Evaluation. In order to keep the present chapter concise, only a limited number of examples
is provided to illustrate the state of implementation. If required and wherever appropriate,reference is made to further information contained in other chapters of the Self-Assessment
Report or other documents.
Of the twenty-two individual recommendations, most are being implemented. In three cases(recommendations #13, #14 and #22) the ETH Board only partially agreed with the recommendations of the Expert Committee, which is why the measures as defined in the
ETH Board’s response4 are also considered to be only partially implemented. As for anotherthree cases (recommendations #10, #17 and #20), the strategic focus, the framework conditions or the timeline has changed since the formulation of the measures and thus they are
only partially implemented so far. An explanation is given next to the corresponding recommendations. Further details can be found in the response of the ETH Board to the recommendations of the Expert Committee of 20194.

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Intermediate Evaluation of the ETH Domain 2019: Report of the Expert Committee

42019 Intermediate Evaluation: Response of the ETH Board to the Recommendations of theExpert Committee

Self-Assessment Report Intermediate Evaluation 2023 of the ETH Domain

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State of implementation of the experts’recommendations from the 2019 Intermediate Evaluation#1: Quality of Teaching
Beyond the efforts made sofar, and in consideration of theachievements that it acknowledges, the Expert Committee
strongly encourages that further steps be taken to measure and improve the quality ofteaching at ETHZ and EPFL.

Recommendation implemented
This topic is addressed in detail in chapter A.1.
Ensuring that the quality of teaching is maintained or improved requires assessment. Quality management of teaching has thus been developed further, making
full use of digital technologies in the evaluation of courses and examinations, ofinstitutional accreditation procedures and of graduate surveys. Results flow into
curricula development. Some of the criteria used to assess education quality arereported in chapter A.1.
At ETH Zurich, educational developers (Lehrspezialisten) were key in the suddentransition from face-to-face to online teaching during the coronavirus pandemic.
The future learning initiative reveals new evidence about teaching practices to beconsidered, such as computer-assisted virtual simulations in medical education. At
EPFL the development of numerical means is supported by the Digital Resources
for Instruction and Learning (DRIL) fund as well as other approaches and tools(MOOCs, Jupyter notebooks, tutorials, etc.).
Both ETH Zurich and EPFL carry out alumni surveys to receive feedback on teachingquality and labour market requirements. At ETH Zurich, surveys carried out in coordination with the Federal Statistical Office include feedback on teaching quality
focusing on multidisciplinary competencies (ETH Talent) and on the alignment
within curricula. At EPFL, the Career Center conducts an annual alumni survey,
documenting the entry of the new graduates into the jobs market and assessing
student satisfaction. The results of surveys performed at ETH Zurich and EPFL aresummarised in the Facts & Figures section of chapter A.1.
The compulsory institutional accreditations of ETH Zurich and EPFL according to
the Higher Education Act (HEdA) are an important element of quality assurance(cf. chapter B.4).
At ETH Zurich, the evaluation of teaching by students is a three-level procedure
involving semester feedback, evaluation of course units and evaluation of written
examinations. ETH Zurich has also developed a tool for quantifying teachingactivities at the level of professorships to ensure greater transparency and betteruse of teaching resources. At EPFL, all courses are evaluated every semester. Subsequently, the curricula are evaluated by former students – Bachelor’s courses byMaster students and Master’s courses by alumni. Internships in industry are also
evaluated. All these feedbacks are discussed every year by the Associate Vice President for Education, the deans and the section directors.
Maintaining the quality of education is a priority for the ETH Board. The ETH Board
together with the institutions of the ETH Domain is currently developing a strategy
aimed at safeguarding the quality of education (cf. chapter A.1).

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Retrospective#2: Continuing Education
The Expert Committee anticipates a substantial increase in
the demand for continuing
education; ETHZ and EPFL
should further their efforts inproviding continuing education of high quality.

Recommendation implemented
The ETH Domain offers a wide range of practice-oriented continuing education
courses, many of them combining technology with management and social sciences. Digital skills and digital transformation have received special attention in
the development of new courses.
The ETH Zurich School for Continuing Education has greatly expanded its continuing education courses. It now offers more than 60 courses (Certificate of Advanced
Studies CAS, Diploma of Advanced Studies DAS and Master of Advanced Studies
MAS) along with continuing education courses and e-learning offerings. The formats have become more diverse and new target groups have been addressed(e.g. MAS digital Clinical Research designed for physicians and healthcare or clinicalresearch professionals). One additional educational developer (Lehrspezialist) has
been appointed in the field of continuing education.
From 2021 onwards new joint continuing education courses at ETH Zurich include
the MAS in Urban and Territorial Design from ETH Zurich and EPFL, the MAS in
International Governance and Law at ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich andthe Executive MBA offered by ETH Zurich together with the University of St.Gallen.
The continuing education programme in the medical field has been expanded with
the new CAS in Digital Health as part of the new MAS in Digital Clinical Research.
The curriculum extends beyond the traditional scope of clinical research to include
new, innovative and digital approaches.
EPFL offers around 12 degree programmes and 27 short programmes in continuing
education and more than 150 Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). In 2021 and2022 a number of new programmes in different thematic fields, including a CAS in
Circular Value Networks expanded the offerings. In 2022 the CAS “Enseignement
de la science informatique au niveau secondaire” (teaching of computer science atsecondary school level) was introduced for training secondary school teachers
wishing to become involved in teaching Computer Science to pupils. In 2021, theEPFL Extension School awarded Certificates of Open Studies (COS) in machinelearning, communication and visualization and in web application development.
EPFL also founded the lifelong learning (L3) unit in 2021, to ensure the scaling of
the school’s continuing education offering in a holistic and agile portfolio thatmeets the growing needs of the economy and society.
The platform Swiss MOOC Service has been founded by EPFL and ETH Zurich andincludes collaboration with the research institutes. Eawag has delivered several
MOOCs as well, first in collaboration with EPFL, later at ETH Zurich and now in its
own studio in the new FLUX building.
The research institutes of the ETH Domain offer a diverse range of continuing
education courses. The project “Academy4Four” (cf. chapter B.1.1) even aims to
combine education and training as a joint venture of the four research institutes.
The Empa Academy began offering continuing education courses online in 2021.
At Eawag, between 8-10 new practice-oriented courses (PEAK) are given each year.
These courses are aimed at experts from business, administration and engineering
as well as environmental offices. Similarly, WSL and the Ecotox Centre of Eawagand EPFL are providing specialised courses.

Self-Assessment Report Intermediate Evaluation 2023 of the ETH Domain

13Retrospective#3: Teaching New Skills
Innovation in course offerings
should be continued, in order
to combine basic science andengineering courses with computational skills.

Recommendation implemented
ETH Zurich and EPFL are vigorously pursuing their efforts to promote the digitalskills of their graduates and of the future STEM (science, technology, engineeringand mathematics)5 labour force, and to apply computational thinking across all
disciplines.
ETH Zurich is expanding computational competencies as its third pillar of crossdisciplinary competencies (next to mathematics and basic science). Teaching andlearning of computational competencies are integrated as a common feature
through all curricula and are not restricted to offering individual courses in programming. A new doctoral school in the field of material sciences with a focus on
networking and acquirement of interdisciplinary competencies (planned for up to
700 doctoral students) has been established. The Student Project House is anotherinitiative to build a thriving creative community across disciplines including computational thinking.
At EPFL, all first year students attend a mandatory course in computational thinking, and many courses on the subject follow in the curriculum. In particular, there
are numerous programming courses as well as courses in machine learning. Basedon its translational research approach, the EPFL Centre for Learning Sciences
LEARN conducted various projects on innovative teaching in collaboration. To improve the development of transversal skills, a new optional course has been offered within the curriculum to train teaching assistants in charge of project-based
courses in how to teach transversal skills. In 2022, the third ‘discovery learning lab’(DLL) has been opened offering workshops where students and teachers have access to all the equipment required to realise disciplinary and interdisciplinary projects to complement their coursework.

#4: Research and Research
Infrastructures
The Expert Committee expects
substantial translational impact from multidisciplinary research; it therefore encourages the ETH Domain to maintain and further develop its effort in this type of research, including internationally competitive research infrastructures and technology platforms.

Recommendation implemented
The research infrastructures and the strategic focus areas (SFAs) bundle activities
and take advantage of the various competencies of the ETH Domain institutions topromote inter- and multidisciplinary research. Openly accessible research infrastructures, platforms and centres provide the basis for multidisciplinary research.
In the period 2021–2024 the SFAs Personalized Health and Related Technologies(PHRT), Data Science through the Swiss Data Science Center (SDSC), and Advanced
Manufacturing are continuing their activities from the previous period. An
additional hub of the Swiss Data Science Center was established at PSI in 2021,
dedicated to data of large research infrastructures and platforms. The SFA PHRT
has been developed further and now contains an imaging platform in addition to
the established proteomics and genomics technology platforms. About 50% of the2021–2024 funding for the SFA Advanced Manufacturing is dedicated to building
up additional capacities and to establish platforms to develop new manufacturing
technologies.

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Including computer and communication sciences, in analogy to the German
term MINT (Mathematik, Informatik, Naturwissenschaften, Technik).

Retrospective

Other examples for multidisciplinary networks and platforms involving theETH Domain are the Energy Science Center at ETH Zurich, the Center for Climate
Systems Modelling at ETH Zurich, the Agrovet Strickhof teaching and researchplatform of ETH Zurich, University and Canton Zurich, the Surgeon Enhancing
Technologies (SURGENT) project of the University of Zurich, ETH Zurich and the
Zurich-based University Hospitals, and the LéXPLORE platform of EPFL, Eawag andother partners.
In terms of research infrastructures, for the period 2021–2024 strategic priority isgiven to the Blue Brain Project (BBP) at EPFL, the substantial upgrade of the supercomputing infrastructure HPCN-24 at the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre(CSCS) of ETH Zurich, the substantial upgrade of the Swiss Light Source (SLS 2.0) at
PSI, and the realisation of the Catalysis Hub at ETH Zurich and EPFL.
Since 2019, Empa has further developed and expanded its research and technology transfer platforms (RTTPs) NEST, ehub and move in the construction, energy
and mobility sectors, respectively. In a next step, lessons learned from the RTTPs
are expanded to the scale of the campus in Dübendorf. A digital twin of the campus has been developed as the basis for devising a roadmap for a carbon-neutral
campus.
For the period 2025–2028, the ETH Board has identified five Strategic Areas ofparticular societal importance where the institutions of the ETH Domain are well
positioned to have a strong impact (cf. chapter B.2). The Joint Initiatives for two of
the Strategic Areas “Energy, Climate and Environmental Sustainability” and“Engagement and Dialogue with Society” have already been launched in 2022
in order to respond promptly to urgent challenges.
For information regarding the research infrastructures of the ETH Domain prioritised for the period 2025–2028 cf. chapter B.2.

#5: Communication
Communication remains of utmost importance, in particularwith the general public; efforts
should be continued to convince the general public of thesocietal value of investments
in science.

Recommendation implemented
The ETH Board recognises the importance of communication with the generalpublic and the need to engage more proactively with stakeholders that support
the ETH Domain, i.e. the federal government as well as the parliamentary chambers and committees.
This became especially apparent during the coronavirus pandemic. The ETH
Domain researchers – together with researchers from other institutions – playeda key role in keeping the public and authorities informed with the most up-to-datescientific information concerning COVID-19 and its impact, and in supporting
evidence-based decision-making.
The Swiss National COVID-19 Science Task Force, which was operational between
March 2020 and March 2022, resulted in the most prominent collective communication effort from Swiss researchers during the coronavirus pandemic. The ETH
Domain played an important role in its creation, its operation and its communication activities. After the task force was disbanded, a final report was published thatreflects on the various aspects of crisis communication. It is important to use theSelf-Assessment Report Intermediate Evaluation 2023 of the ETH Domain

15Retrospective

experience gained for enhancing the interaction between science, politics and society in the future. Among other things, this should help politicians and scientists
to develop a greater mutual understanding and to define responsibilities and roles
more clearly. There is a need for them to cooperate more closely, not only in emergency situations but also in between the crises (see also “politicians and scientists
talk to each other”6 and the final report of the task force7). In November 2022, a
new scientific Advisory Panel COVID-19 was established to continue the cooperation on COVID-19 between the scientific community and the public authorities.8
In order to promote communication with the interested public (e.g. Education,
Research and Innovation (ERI) actors, politics), the ETH Board launched the news
portal Sciena in 20209. The portal centralises information coming from theETH Domain and helps to highlight the impact of the ETH Domain on society andthe economy.
Most of the communication about specific research results and activities is doneby the institutions of the ETH Domain themselves. Examples are platforms for public engagement such as “ETH Meets You”, “Scientifica – Zürcher Wissenschaftstage” or the newly started "wissen2go" hybrid event series at Empa and dedicatedevents such as the Energy Briefing Event on Net Zero in June 2022. Another example is the PSI visitor center, welcoming some 10,000 visitors per year, which has
been upgraded with a modern interactive exhibition in 2022. Platforms are constantly being developed and new ones established (for example, the ETH Global
Lecture Series that was established during the coronavirus pandemic or the Digital
Einstein). Dedicated communication via classical media, via electronic communication (web, social media, video, etc.), via personnel communication (events,
tours, etc.) and through social media is of the essence.
The WSL communication strategy 2021–2024 specifically addresses communication with the broader public and public relations as a strategic element. At
ETH Zurich two support positions (Public Affairs and Senior Policy Engagement
Manager) were created to coordinate and manage contacts with the parliament,
public authorities, and political parties at the federal, cantonal and local level.
Similarly, EPFL has an advisor for institutional relations. The institutions of theETH Domain also contribute to platforms and networks run by other organisations
such as the World Economic Forum, the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA) or Sustainable Switzerland. The activities linked to engagement anddialogue with society have also been prioritised by the ETH Board in its Strategic
Plan 2025–2028 for the ETH Domain through a dedicated Strategic Area and a firstcall for Joint Initiatives in spring 2022 (cf. chapter B.2).
The ETH Domain institutions pursue open science and are participating in the
Swiss National Open Research Data (ORD) Strategy and the action plan of swiss-

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Annual Report of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain 2021, pages 12-14

7Final report of the Swiss National COVID-19 Science Task Force

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Media release Federal Office of Public Health9

ScienaRetrospective

universities for the period 2021–2028 (cf. recommendation #12). Ease of access toscientific content will also benefit the communication of research results and theimpact on the public.

#6: Fostering Innovation
The ETH Domain should continue to drive world-class innovation. The policies andpractices to foster the creationand growth of start-ups10
require further consideration.

Recommendation implemented
This topic is addressed in detail in chapter A.3.
The ETH Domain institutions are actively promoting innovation via intense collaboration with SMEs and industry, via a strong involvement in the different locationsof Switzerland Innovation (the Swiss national network of innovation parks), via its
commitment to Technoparks and business incubators as well as via the creation of
spin-offs. The institutions of the ETH Domain support the exchange of best practices within and outside the ETH Domain (e.g. through the swiTT network, incl.
mutual visits to their respective offices, regular meetings of the TTO heads within
the ETH Domain). The ETH Domain Institutions are exploring partnershipprogrammes for Venture Capital (VC) funds.
Such an initiative was conceived between the universities of the IDEA League(Founding Partner Universities were TU Delft, RWTH Aachen, Politecnico di Milano,
and ETH Zurich). The goal was to build up a CHF 350m venture capital fund in order
to finance the pre-seed, seed and growth phases of spin-offs from the partner universities. The ETH Board supported ETH Zurich’s participation in this initiative andits financial involvement in creating the necessary management firm. Despite intensive search for investors, no anchor investor for an initial injection of CHF 100m
could be found. Thus the Founding Partner Universities finally decided to dissolve
the management firm. The ETH Board was informed accordingly on 21/22 September 2022.
Empa is an important partner to the newly established Switzerland Innovation Park
Ost in St. Gallen. ETH Zurich is engaged in the Switzerland Innovation Park Zurich.
Switzerland Innovation Park Network West EPFL comprises a network of six parks
in Western Switzerland covering all innovation areas. PSI actively supports the realisation of Switzerland Innovation Park Innovaare, including the attraction of new
firms to the site. In the TTO activities WSL is collaborating closely with Empa, and isbenefiting from its expertise.
The Swiss m4m Center (additive manufacturing center for medical applications)and ANAXAM (technology transfer center for advanced manufacturing) were
established as a result of the Advanced Manufacturing Technology Transfer Centers
AM-TTC, a public-private partnership initiative of the federal action plan for digitalisation to promote innovation. The business incubator of Empa and Eawag (glaTec)
supports spin-offs and high-tech start-ups by providing space, coaching, funding(loan or convertible loan) and access to research groups, experts and investors.
Specific sample activities to foster innovation (non-exhaustive list) are– ETH Zurich collaboration with capital funds Wingman, Übermorgen Ventures
and Venture Incubator Partners (VIP).

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The term ”start-ups” is used in the sense of ”spin-offs” of the ETH Domain.

Self-Assessment Report Intermediate Evaluation 2023 of the ETH Domain

17Retrospective– Increased promotion and presence of VCs at key EPFL events including EFPL
Startup Champions Seed Night and Student Entrepreneur Program Closing
Ceremony.
– Empa has started an Entrepreneur Fellowship-Program to support young entrepreneurs coming from a scientific career at Empa and an Entrepreneurshipcourse.
– The PSI Founder Fellowship (PSIFF) programme provides both ideation support
and preparatory support (business understanding, pitch training, etc.) as well as
ongoing support during the programme itself.

#7: Attracting Women to STEM
Disciplines
The ETH Domain should develop a teaching and research
program to inspire more
women to choose careers in
STEM disciplines.

Recommendation implemented
Developing teaching and research programmes to inspire more women will help
to increase the proportion of women in the ETH Domain. Linking science andengineering to societal needs in a meaningful way in course content and study
projects has been shown to increase the interest and engagement of womenstudents.
The Education Outreach Department of EPFL conducts various activities to attract
a broader range of students, e.g. through i) its pre-university weeks (example: the“Nature, in code11” week, shows how coding can be applied to biology and genetics and attracts every year 50 - 70% female participants), ii) its orientation tools toreach less traditional audiences and facilitate the study choice process, or iii) its
thematic conferences12 (sustainable development, music, energy, health, biomedical technologies) to get beyond silo thinking and promote cross-disciplinary approaches. These activities help to break down barriers, demonstrate the societal
relevance of science and engineering and inspire women to choose these disciplines. Also, the Education Outreach Department of EPFL works hand in hand withteachers at baccalaureate schools13 (Gymnasien / gymnases) and cantonal authorities to create awareness of this holistic approach to addressing societal challenges.
Another very important aspect is the outreach to young girls to encourage them tostudy STEM subjects. ETH Zurich and EPFL have been especially active in the latterand the list of initiatives for reaching out to schools and pupils (and especially girls)
is long. Some examples are given below.
ETH Zurich reaches out proactively to schools with initiatives like “ETH unterwegs”
or the “Maturandeninformationstage”. The Youth Academy of ETH Zurich has been
supporting the interests of successful pupils in STEM subjects since 2021. The Department of Mathematics at ETH Zurich, Kangaroo Switzerland and the local section of 500 Women Scientists Zurich organise the “Kangaroo goes Science” eventfor girls. In addition, ETH Zurich organises special seminars in cooperation with individual departments to draw the attention of lecturers at all levels to differencesin the average learning behaviour of female and male students. Gender is taken

18

11

Nature, in code

12

Journées thématiques

13

upper secondary level school

Retrospective

into consideration as a criterion for the assessment of research projects and in departmental evaluations (content-related consideration of gender aspects as well as
consideration of gender aspects in the composition of teams).
With the programme “Les sciences ça m’intéresse!”, which takes account of thegender dimension and is active in 13 cantons, EPFL aims to stimulate young pupils’interest in STEM studies. Within this general programme, EPFL has developed a
specific programme exclusively dedicated to girls aged 7 to 16. This includes workshops, semester-long classes, camps, mentoring and an introduction to role models for different age groups, plus information and awareness actions for parents
and teachers.

#8: Collaborations with other
Higher-Education Institutions
Institutions in the ETH Domainshould focus on creating value
for Switzerland. This should beachieved by identifying competencies in other Swiss
higher-education institutions,and by developing a strategy
that takes advantage of the
combined strengths.

Recommendation implemented
Partnerships in specific fields of technology seek to make use of complementary
expertise aimed at integrating and synthesising know-how so as to directly facilitate translation and implementation of new technologies and approaches generated by the ETH Domain. Examples include different consortia in the context of the“SWiss Energy research for the Energy Transition” (SWEET) programme of the
Swiss Federal Office of Energy, and the Swiss Polar Institute (which is maintainedby EPFL, ETH Zurich, WSL and the universities of Bern, Lausanne und Zurich).
ETH Zurich is engaged in 10 National Centres of Competence in Research (NCCR)
either as leading house or co-leading house. In the context of its competence
centers, ETH Zurich is collaborating with universities of Basel and Zurich (Citizen
Science, Clinical Imaging Technologies, Plant Science Center) as well as Empa, WSL
and MeteoSchweiz (Center for Climate Systems Modelling).
EPFL is engaged in the Joint Initiative BeLearn together with higher education institutions in the canton of Bern (University of Bern, University of Teacher Education
Bern, University of Applied Sciences Bern as well as the Swiss Federal University for
Vocational Education and Training).
Continuing education is an area in which complementarities and synergies areactively exploited with other universities (e.g. between EPFL and ETH Zurich, EPFL
and University of Lausanne or University of Geneva). Joint professorships are another way of sharing specialist expertise in the form of lectures, seminars andtraining courses that are closely linked to research and practice. PSI, WSL, Empa
and Eawag have a total of 40 joint professors with cantonal universities and universities of applied sciences beside those with ETH Zurich and EPFL (86) and international Universities (32) (cf. chapter B.1.1, figure 13).
Empa collaborates with several universities (e.g. University of St. Gallen, HSG) anduniversities of applied sciences (e.g. Bern University of Applied Sciences, Eastern
Switzerland University of Applied Sciences, University of Applied Sciences and Arts
Northwestern Switzerland) in the implementation of their CAS courses. It is also
engaged in the Research Alliance Advanced Manufacturing of the Swiss Academyof Engineering Sciences (SATW). The aim of this joint initiative is to foster collaboration between all Swiss research organisations that are active in advanced manufacturing.

Self-Assessment Report Intermediate Evaluation 2023 of the ETH Domain

19Retrospective#9: Collaborations in the
Healthcare Field
The ETH Domain, in collaboration with the medical facultiesof the universities and with industry, should focus on research and education that will
infuse multidisciplinary, digitaland technological competencies, necessary to sustain andimprove health outcomes for
Switzerland and the world.

Recommendation implemented
Considering economic and societal needs in healthcare, the ETH Domain institutions pursue close cooperation with medical faculties, hospitals and industry basedon their specific strengths in healthcare-related sciences, as well as in related technologies, in order to advance translational research.
ETH Zurich is part of Universitäre Medizin Zürich (UMZH) as well as The LOOP
Zurich and the Bioinformatic Platform, Hochschulmedizin Zürich (HMZ), Tumor
Profiler Center, Botnar Research Center for Child Health (BRCCH) with the Universities of Zurich and Basel.
Good practice examples in the field of teaching include the successful introduction
and consolidation of the Bachelor in Human Medicine by ETH Zurich, which combines medical and technical-scientific aspects of human health. The Bachelor programme is coordinated with the cantonal partner universities (University of Zurich,
University Basel and Università della Svizzera italiana USI) that offer the respective
Master programmes. As of 2022, ETH Zurich, together with the University of
Zurich, offers a Master’s course in brain research. The programme combines
biology, neuroscience and clinical methods. Teaching partnerships at ETH Zurich
have consolidated existing collaborations with university hospitals, hospitals at
cantonal level, private hospitals, universities of applied sciences (Zurich Universityof Applies Sciences, Bern University of Applied Sciences) and associations(currently 10 partnerships).
Further examples of collaboration in this area with a focus on digitalisation include
the Swiss Medical E-Learning initiative and the Digital Trial Intervention Platform,a new technology platform for clinical trials launched in 2021 by ETH Zurich with
Kantonsspital Baden and the Wellcome Trust.
Together with EPFL, le Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV) and theDefitech Foundation are continuing the activities of the “Defitech Center forinterventional neurotherapies - Neurorestore”. The “Passerelle” programme of
the University of Lausanne allows holders of a Bachelor’s degree in biology, life
sciences or equivalent to gain access to the Master’s programme in medicine. Thisapplies also to holders of a Bachelor's degree in Life Sciences Engineering at EPFL.
Similarly, the University of Geneva offers a ‘Passerelle Bio-Ingénierie – Médecine’for EPFL students with a Master’s, or exceptionally, a Bachelor’s degree to enrol in
the programme with the possibility of subsequently entering the Master’s programme in human medicine.
EPFL also offers a CAS on the Management of Biotech, Medtech & Pharma Ventures, which gives managers the knowledge and tools they need in the therapeutic
development process. EPFL is active in the Health 2030 initiative, which hosts the
Genome Center. This has played a central role in sequencing and monitoring Covid
variants. The Swiss Cancer Center Léman is an alliance between EPFL, the Universities of Lausanne and Geneva and the University Hospitals of Lausanne (CHUV) andGeneva (HUG) in partnership with Ludwig Cancer Research and supported by the
ISREC Foundation.

20

Retrospective

Examples in the field at PSI include the collaboration between the Center for
Proton Therapy, the only facility in ETH Domain that treats patients, and hospitals.
PSI has been involved in specific healthcare studies, together with Kantonsspital
Aarau, the hospital at Bad Berka (Germany) and the Center for Radiopharmaceutical Sciences (PSI, ETH Zurich, University Hospital Zurich).
At Empa St. Gallen, Switzerland Innovation Park Ost has been established witha focus on health technologies. There are collaborations between Empa andKantonsspital St.Gallen, Inselspital Bern, University Hospital Zurich, Kantonsspital
Winterthur, VetSuisse and Straumann.

#10: Structure of theETH Domain
The effort initiated by the ETH
Board to rethink the structureof the ETH Domain, currently
with two large technical universities and four research institutes of varying size, is fully
supported. The aim of this effort should be to enable flexibility and agility and to allow
the evolution of the Domain inorder to address the needs ofthe future.

Recommendation partially implemented
The ETH Board agrees with the recommendation to rethink the structure of theETH Domain to promote flexibility and agility and to allow the Domain to evolvein such a way that it can address the needs of the future. In 2019, the ETH Board
intended to integrate the research institutes WSL and Eawag into a transdisciplinary centre of excellence for environment and sustainability (cf. the measures in
response to the recommendation14). Following the mandatory ETH Domain internal consultation, the ETH Board decided at its meeting of 13/14 May 2020 tosuspend this approach and explore further options for strengthening environmental and sustainability-related activities. While the institutions agreed to strengthen
the area of environment and sustainability, the majority of the institutions expressed reservations about the creation of a new institute. The process is ongoing
and this recommendation could thus only be partially implemented so far. Pleasesee chapter B.1.1 regarding the work on the ETH Domain’s structure, organisationand governance and the initiative ENRICH by the four research institutes. Regarding the enhanced cooperation within the ETH Domain, please refer to recommendation #11.

#11: Cooperation within the
ETH Domain
Cooperation between the
ETHZ and EPFL should be emphasized. Budget mechanisms
should be considered that encourage multidisciplinary institutional cooperation within
the Domain.

Recommendation implemented
The six institutions have reinforced cooperation within the ETH Domain, driven byadded value in research and teaching and by the benefits that accrue from synergies in research infrastructure use and in administration. The Joint Initiatives in theStrategic Areas 2025–2028 provide a specific incentive in this respect. The first 3year Joint Initiatives were approved by the ETH Board at its Meeting of 13/14 July
2022 in two out of five Strategic Areas of the Strategic Plan 2025–2028: (i) six Joint
Initiatives in “Energy, Climate and Environmental Sustainability” and (ii) four Joint
Initiatives in “Engagement and Dialogue with Society”.
The complementarities and the close collaboration are also reflected in the joint
professors of the research institutes with ETH Zurich (63) and EPFL (23), (cf. chapter B.1.1, figure 13). The four research institutes (4 RI) seek to further strengthen
this complementarity through the bottom-up initiative ENRICH, which waslaunched at the beginning of 2021 (cf. chapter B.1.1). The collaboration of the six

142019 Intermediate Evaluation: Response of the ETH Board to the
Recommendations of the Expert Committee, pages 23-24

Self-Assessment Report Intermediate Evaluation 2023 of the ETH Domain

21Retrospective

institutions with each other also leads to many scientific co-publications. While all
the co-publications within the ETH Domain exhibit a Mean Normalised Citation
Score (MNCS) higher than the world average (i.e. MNCS >1), co-publications
between ETH Zurich and EPFL show the highest impact (MNCS 2.02) (cf. chapter C:
Bibliometric Study, figure 24 and recommendation #20 in this chapter).
Many of the collaborations mentioned under #8 Collaborations with other HigherEducation Institutions include involvement of multiple ETH Domain institutions.
Specific cooperations between ETH Zurich and EPFL include the consolidated
joint master’s programme Cyber Security (started in 2019) and MAS courses at
ETH Zurich and EPFL in urban and territorial design (started in 2020). The initiative“Engineering Humanitarian Action” is exemplary for the collaboration of bothFederal Institutes and harnesses their expertise to benefit humanitarian
programmes. It focuses on the areas of energy and environment, data sciencesand digital technologies, as well as personalised health and related technologies.
The newly launched ETH Zurich - EPFL Joint Doctoral Programme in the Learning
Sciences is educating a new generation of dual-discipline scientists who will bring
together knowledge and methods from multiple disciplines such as psychology, education, computer science and data science. This doctoral programme is directed
towards students from any field of science or engineering who are highly motivated to address the educational challenges arising from the digitalisation of society.
The Blue Green Biodiversity initiative focusing on biodiversity at the interface ofaquatic and terrestrial ecosystems is an example of a newly established collaboration between Eawag and WSL. The goal of the initiative, launched in 2020, is tostrengthen interdisciplinary biodiversity research within WSL and Eawag, but also
within the whole ETH Domain and beyond.

#12: Institutional Coordination
under the HEdA
The ETH Domain should seekan active participation in thecontext of the Higher Education Act (HEdA/HFKG/LEHE)
and contribute to the coordination and development of
the entire Swiss system ofhigher education.

22

Recommendation implemented
The Higher Education Act (HEdA) sets out, among other things, the basic principles
for the coordination in the higher education sector in Switzerland (HEdA, article 1).
The ETH Domain institutions have continued to participate in shaping the governance of high-cost areas of the Swiss higher education system in order to ensure optimal conditions for research and large-scale research infrastructures.
As the four ETH Domain research institutes are not among the institutions subject
to the HEdA, they are often not directly informed or consulted on science-policy
issues and are exempt from receiving project-tied contributions (“projectgebundene Beiträge”/“Contributions liées à des projets”) from the Confederation,
unlike ETH Zurich and EPFL. Therefore, the ETH Board decided that, as of 2021, it
would reserve a maximum of CHF 2m p.a. to co-finance the research institutes’
participation in coordination projects of swissuniversities according to the HEdA.
The research institutes have indeed participated in such projects and made use ofsuch funding.

Retrospective

The ETH Domain joined swissuniversities, the Swiss Academy of Arts and Sciences
and the SNSF in approving the Swiss National Open Research Data (ORD) Strategy
and action plan of swissuniversities for the period 2021–2028. This foresees close
collaboration, coordination and sharing – notably of existing and new researchdata services and infrastructure – between the ETH Domain, swissuniversities, theSNSF and cantonal universities. The presidents of ETH Zurich and EPFL are members of the new ORD Strategy Council that aims to drive this coordination at thestrategic, national level.
The measures of the ETH Domain to foster and improve ORD practices and thecorresponding measures of the project-tied contributions Open Science ofswissuniversities will be coordinated under the umbrella of a single national
funding scheme for ORD practices.
The President of ETH Zurich is a Vice-President of the Chamber of Universities andhas been a member of the Board of swissuniversities since 2020. The President of
EPFL is a member of the Chamber of Universities.

#13: Cooperation with Cantons
a. The ETH Domain should develop a strategic framework
for regional cooperation andnot mainly act opportunistically. This strategy must imply
a strong coordination.
b. While some cantons seevalue in diffusion of the ETH
Domain through decentralised
sites, other models of cooperation should be considered inorder to retain critical mass inthe main sites of the Domain.

Recommendation partially implemented
This topic is addressed in detail in chapter B.1.2.
The ETH Board only partially agreed with the recommendation, as it felt that an
overarching strategy for cooperation has to allow for different cooperation models
due to the historical circumstances of their creation as well as specific regional
needs and opportunities. The ETH Domain elaborated such a strategy that takesthese aspects into account. Further information on the “Strategy for ETH Domain
institutions’ associated locations, working with cantonal or international partners”
adopted by the ETH Board at its meeting of 18/19 May 2022 is given in chapter
B.1.2.
In addition to the locations covered under the newly developed strategy, cooperation with cantons takes place in various ways without any formal structure.
One specific example is the Centre for Learning Sciences (LEARN) with EPFL.
In 2020, the LEARN Center and the Education Outreach Department of EPFL
continued their work on incorporating digital education into schools in the canton
of Vaud. The LEARN Center is responsible for developing digital education focus
areas in 12 pilot schools; in 2021, EPFL brought a further 17 pilot schools into thisinitiative. A total of 1,500 teachers had been trained by end-2021 (compared to
600 at end-2020).
Examples of cantonal cooperation by ETH Zurich include collaborations with the
cantons of Aargau (Kantonsspital Baden under the Digital Trial Intervention Platform, Quantum Computing Hub at PSI), Basel (BRCCH, Tumor Profiler, PH Alliance,
NMR Facility, GMP), Ticino (Bachelor/Master in Human Medicine) and Graubünden
(Climate Change, Extremes and Natural Hazards in Alpine Regions Research Centre
CERC at WSL, Center for Climate Systems Modeling at ETH Zurich).
Examples at Empa include scientific collaboration with the cantons of St. Gallen(Kantonsspital, University St.Gallen, HSG and Switzerland Innovation Park OST),

Self-Assessment Report Intermediate Evaluation 2023 of the ETH Domain

23Retrospective

Thurgau (Thurgauer Technologieforum), Zurich (cantonal hospitals and University
Hospital Zurich) and Bern (University of Bern and University of Applied Sciences
Bern).

#14: Autonomy of the Institutions
To take full advantage of autonomy, review governance toensure that the principle ofsubsidiarity is followed wherever possible, in order to empower the responsible functions to fulfil their role.

Recommendation partially implemented
The ETH Board supports the principle of subsidiarity as laid down in the ETH Act
and highlights the importance of properly balanced autonomy und accountability.
The Board does not agree with the recommendation to transfer responsibility forthe appointment of professors from the ETH Board to the Presidents of ETH Zurichand EPFL. The reasons behind this decision are set forth in the Response of theETH Board to the Recommendations of the Expert Committee15 and led to thepartial implementation of the recommendation.
The membership of the presidents of ETH Zurich and EPFL and the representationof the research institutes as well as of the school assemblies of ETH Zurich and
EPFL (so-called ”institutional members”) in the 11-member ETH Board may not
fully comply with the federal government's corporate governance requirements,
according to which the bodies of independent units must be independent of eachother in terms of personnel. However, experience has shown that the presence ofthe four institutional members at the meetings of the ETH Board is indispensablefor the proper functioning of the ETH Board and the ETH Domain. Therefore, aspart of the revision of the ETH Act in 2021, care was taken to ensure that the four
institutional members of the ETH Board continue to attend all meetings of theETH Board but no longer have voting rights in the allocation of funds and inelection proposals for the top management positions of the ETH Domain institutions. In addition, the presidents of the schools and the representative of the research institutes on the ETH Board do not participate in decisions on supervisory
matters or on matters relating to financial supervision. This means that no meeting
documents are sent to them and that they leave the meeting room while businessis being dealt with at ETH Board level. Cf. message on the amendment of the ETH
Act16.

24

15

2019 Intermediate Evaluation: Response of the ETH Board to the
Recommendations of the Expert Committee, pages 26-27

16

Botschaft zur Änderung des ETH-Gesetzes (German)/ Message concernant lamodification de la loi sur les epf (French)

Retrospective#15: Leadership and Human
Resources Management
The current efforts to develop
leadership skills at all levels
and to ensure adequate human resources management
within the ETH Domain should
be encouraged. The measures
proposed for this transition by
the management of the institutions should have the full
support of the ETH Board.

Recommendation implemented
This topic is addressed in detail in chapter B.3.
Good leadership and management in the ETH Domain are of prime importance,
as human resources are the key factor for the ETH Domain’s successful future development.
Pursuant to the Strategic Plan 2021–2024 and the 2019 Intermediate Evaluation,
the Federal Council has determined in the Strategic Objectives for the Domain that
the ETH Board should have its personnel management and development evaluatedexternally (in accordance with subsections 9.1-9.6. of the Strategic Objectives).
This evaluation is ongoing; preliminary results are expected during 2023 and thefinal report will be available in 2025.
ETH Zurich has expanded the Executive Board from five to seven members andhas introduced a new management structure, including two new vice presidencies,
one for Personnel Development and Leadership and one for Knowledge Transfer
and Corporate Relations. It has created new administrative units “Consulting forProfessors” as well as “Development and Leadership” which, among other tasks,
will support professors in their personal and leadership development. The Vice
Presidency for Personnel Development and Leadership launched the “Lifelong
Learning Hub (L3H)” project to develop new social and leadership competencies
and establish a lifelong learning mind-set at ETH Zurich on all levels.
EPFL has adjusted the structure of its Executive Board. The newly created Vice
Presidency for Responsible Transformation handles cross-campus issues such as
diversity and sustainability. Responsibility for teaching and research has been combined in a new Vice Presidency for Academic Affairs, based on the provost model
widely used at international universities. Responsibility for operations, human resources and information systems has been combined in a Vice Presidency for Operations. Among the initiatives led by the Vice Presidency for Responsible Transformation, a campaign took place in 2021–2022 to promote a culture of respect. In
this context, a new online course was developed that includes clear indications forteam leaders with regard to their specific role.
Based on an initiative by EPFL and PSI, all institutions of the ETH Domain partneredwith the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) to design a
specific high-level leadership programme to prepare professors and team leaders
for senior leadership positions.
For years, Empa has consistently pursued well-structured leadership training. The
emphasis in the coming years will be on communication, conflict management andnegotiation skills. At Empa new leaders are required to complete the basic coursein ‘Leadership in Science’ (in cooperation with the University of Applied Sciences
and Arts Northwestern Switzerland). At Empa, restart support was created to enable scientists to return to scientific work quickly after longer absences (e.g. forhealth reasons, maternity or paternity leave). In addition to annual personal
development planning, Empa offers specific courses to help doctoral students
and postdoctoral students plan their careers in industry.

Self-Assessment Report Intermediate Evaluation 2023 of the ETH Domain

25Retrospective

ETH Zurich proactively shares good HR management practices within the
ETH Domain. Examples include:– The 2021 respect campaign and related events;– the exchange between ETH Domain equal opportunities officers;– sharing of experiences and practices regarding conflict management with EPFL;– exchanges regarding leadership courses;– the revised ‘doctorate ordinance’;– directives for doctoral students employed at ETH Zurich;– policy and HR management issues throughout the coronavirus pandemic(e.g. time management, working from another country, return to the office,etc.).
The Education Center at PSI offers a wide range of subject-specific and interdisciplinary (incl. soft-skills) continuing education courses. PSI is continuing the CAS(Certificate of Advanced Studies) course in ‘Leadership in Science’ (see above),which is open to PSI, Empa, WSL and Eawag employees.
WSL continuously invests in the training and development of its unit and groupleaders, currently with a new leadership course for group leaders as well as
individual coaching and development measures.
Eawag continuously invests in and adapts its range of training and development
courses and actively improves its HR practices, e.g. courses for group leaders,equal opportunity and PhD support committee, a respect campaign with related
activities, management of the pandemic situation and related support for theemployees.

#16: Fundinga. Stable and reliable fundingis essential and should be protected from yearly budget
cuts. In view of the growing
challenges and the transition
to a knowledge society, thefunding of the ETH Domainshould steadily increase.
b. Like some other parts of thefederal budget, the ETH expense should be handled as
fixed contributions (“gebundene Ausgaben”).

Recommendation implemented
Stable funding from the Swiss Confederation is key for the successful execution of
the basic mandate and to fulfil the ETH Domain’s mission of best serving Switzerland. It facilitates the coverage of new and challenging scientific fields, the recruitment of outstanding academic staff, and high-quality, research-based education(cf. chapter A.1).
In the negotiations with the Department of Economic Affairs, Education andResearch (EAER) and the Federal Department of Finance (FDF), the ETH Board andits president have consistently advocated an increase in federal funding for the
ETH Domain. In addition, they have presented convincing underlying facts andevidence for the annual budget requested by the ETH Domain, which was thenapproved by the Federal Assembly. So far, the first three annual budget tranches of
the ERI period 2021–2024 have grown in line with the approved expenditureceiling despite the strain placed on federal finances by the coronavirus situation.
In 2022, inflation has risen to an unexpectedly high level due to the geopoliticaland economic situation. The inflation assumptions set by the Confederation andapplied in the annual budgets will therefore become a challenge. Once the Federal
Assembly has approved the budgets, uncommitted expenditures (ungebundene
Ausgaben/dépenses non liées) in particular (such as the annual budgets for the
ETH Domain) will no longer be adjusted to actual inflation according to the current

26Retrospective

inflation adjustment procedure. Real growth will therefore have to be financed
from the reserves or will be lower than expected, possibly placing the ETH Domain
at a disadvantage compared to other higher education institutions in Switzerland.

#17: Strategic Funds
The reserve funds of the ETH
Domain should be used forstrategic growth initiatives,and not diverted to the running budget as compensation.

Recommendation partially implemented
Sufficient strategic reserves give the institutions of the ETH Domain the necessaryfinancial flexibility to open up new scientific fields, promote entrepreneurial actionand enhance planning security. In a highly regulated environment with multi-year
budget periods and without the possibility of external debt financing, reserves canserve as a guarantee for continuous funding and provide strategic room for manoeuvre.
As part of its reserve policy, the ETH Board issued guidelines for the ETH Domain
in 2019 that define a range for “reserves without dedication” (formerly: “freereserves”) that are deemed necessary to provide both the strategic freedom tolaunch initiatives and the financial buffer to absorb fluctuations in revenues. In
addition, these guidelines ensure appropriate reporting at institutional level aswell as strategic controlling by the ETH Board. The institutions regulate operational
reserve management in internal directives and guidelines.
With these measures, an important basis for the strategically targeted use of thereserves had been created. However, the recommendation could only be partially
implemented, as the reserve categories and reference figure (new: other equity)
had been redesigned to accommodate the target-setting in the Federal Council's
Strategic Objectives for the ETH Domain for the period 2021–2024.
By the end of 2019, the other equity amounted to CHF 1,402m, at the end of 2021
to CHF 1,397m. In 2020, the ETH Domain reduced the figure by CHF 42m, and in
2021 it increased by CHF 37m. While the reserves were reduced by CHF 80m in
2021, mainly to cover operational funding gaps, this was more than offset by an increase in the accumulated surplus of CHF 117m. It is expected that the runningbudget will have to be partly covered with reserve funds in 2022 to 2024, due tothe inflation issue – see recommendation #16. Consequently, the formerly freereserves (reserves without dedication) will most probably settle at a lower level
than had originally been determined by the ETH Board. But to ensure that thetargets set by the Federal Council can be implemented and achieved by the
ETH Domain, pressure to reduce the reserves, i.e. the other equity, has increased.
Although reserves are also diverted to the running budget, as opposed to theoriginal recommendation, they are used strategically to a large extent. Thus, theETH Board and the institutions have initiated and promoted numerous strategic
programmes and activities with reserve funds. Among other things, these activities
are aimed at finding solutions to current global challenges such as climate change.
Their implementation has not yet led to large expenditures, but will result in a reduction of the reserves with internal dedication (2021: CHF 786m) in the coming
years. To name just a few of these initiatives:– Research projects within the framework of the ETH+/Open ETH programme;– Additional professorships, including at EPFL's new Cryo-EM Centre in collaboration with the University of Lausanne (also called the Dubochet Centre);

Self-Assessment Report Intermediate Evaluation 2023 of the ETH Domain

27Retrospective– ETH Zurich PSI Quantum Computing Hub;
– WSL's "Climate Change and Extremes Research Center (CERC)" with the Cantonof Graubünden;– Scientific equipment for the new building for the Department of Biosystems in
Basel;– Infrastructure projects at WSL (Davos building), Eawag (Flux building) and Empa
(Empa Eawag research campus);– Future Cities Laboratory (FCL) research programme of the Singapore-ETH
Centre.
Furthermore, projects fostering cooperation among ETH Domain institutions were
financed from the reserves of the ETH Board, e.g. SynFuels (Synthetic Fuels from
Renewable Resources, Empa and PSI) and Blue Green Biodiversity (Eawag and
WSL).

#18: International Openness
International openness is essential for global competitiveness. International multilateral
cooperation can be complemented, but not replaced, by
bilateral research collaborations.

Recommendation implemented
This topic is addressed in detail in chapter A.2.
The ETH Board agreed with the recommendation, the implementation of which is
the responsibility of the federal authorities, and sought to support the authorities
with their tasks. The ETH Domain’s challenges related to the non-association with
Horizon Europe and the manifold activities and efforts to sustain the ETH Domain
institutions’ strong international positioning are described in chapter A.2.

#19: Diversity
The ETH Domain should commit to goals for representationof women and develop evidence-based strategies for recruitment and career development to support achieving
these goals.

Recommendation implemented
This topic is addressed in detail in chapter B.3.
The ETH Domain aims to improve the gender balance among its members by increasing the proportion of women in education and research and specifically inleadership positions and decision-making bodies. The Gender Strategy for theperiod 2021–2024 was adopted at the ETH Board Meeting in March 2021.
Due to the efforts made, the measures taken and the strategies put in place,the institutions of the ETH Domain have been able to achieve an increase in the
proportion of women at the different academic levels and leadership positions inrecent years (cf. chapter B.3, figure 16). The ETH Domain institutions have set
targets for increasing the proportion of women and report on the status of target
achievement (cf. chapter B.3, figure 18).
ETH Zurich started to bring increased awareness and expertise on the topic ofunconscious biases to the selection process of faculty members by facilitating
several workshops. These include workshops aimed at the heads of the selection
committees, at all professors at ETH (in the context of “Leadership4Faculty”) andat student and scientific staff representatives in selection committees. By designating a gender and diversity advocate in each selection committee and updating its‘Gender strategy on the professorial level’, ETH Zurich seeks to raise awareness andsensitivity to stereotypes and unconscious biases, particularly in hiring processes.

28

Retrospective

The EPFL policy on equal opportunities in Faculty recruitment, adopted in 2017,
continues to be implemented and is enhanced by the target of 40% of faculty
position offers to women candidates. The implicit bias awareness training,organised by EPFL since 2018, has also been available as Massive Open Online
Course (MOOC) as of 2021. The Vice Presidency for Responsible Transformation
established at EPFL in 2021 (cf. recommendation #15) has greatly strengthened theinstitutional anchoring of equality at EPFL and has broadened the scope of action,
as reflected in EPFL’s Equal Opportunity and Diversity Action Plan 2021–2024.
Numerous measures in the area of diversity, recruitment and career development
have been implemented at the four research institutes, details of which can befound in chapter B.3.

#20: Measuring Impact
The recommendations of theExpert Committee related toTerm of Reference B.1 mention the most important success factors; for better assessment of impact in the future,
the Domain should consider
the further development of indicators of success.

Recommendation partially implemented
The ETH Board agrees that there is a need for representing the impact of theETH Domain institutions’ activities on the economy and society at both thenational and international levels. Meaningful indicators are required to assess
different dimensions of impact (including scientific, economic, societal impact)taking account of the ETH Domain’s core tasks in education, research and KTT as
well as further tasks (e.g. including national and international cooperation andcoordination plus transversal responsibilities). Impact evaluation is a long-term
task, which should complement the existing system of evaluations and include
both quantitative and qualitative aspects.
Various approaches applied by other institutions and organisations to evaluate
their impact were reviewed and assessed for their applicability to the institutionsof the ETH Domain17. The existing methods for evaluating scientific and economic
impact are to be further developed and adapted to the institutions to be evaluatedand the scope of the evaluation. The approaches for assessing societal impact posethe greatest challenge. The mostly qualitative methods, in particular the case studies, require an in-depth examination of feasibility and expectations.
The ETH Domain has extended the scope of the bibliometric study for the 2023
Intermediate Evaluation assessing the scientific performance and impact of theETH Domain institutions and has further developed the methodology used. As
such, shortcomings of previous studies were addressed and aspects that havesince gained importance were included (cf. chapter C: Bibliometric Study). Conference proceedings have been included in the current study, as this type of publication represents an important form of output in certain fields of science, e.g. computer science. Collaboration with industry is an important task of the ETH Domain
and was analysed through publications for which at least one co-author is affiliatedwith a company. Indicators related to the accessibility of the publications (openversus closed access) and to gender diversity of authors were also included. The
bibliometric study provides outcomes for each institution separately as well as for
the ETH Domain as a whole. The overview of the ETH Domain as a whole is a new

17

CAS-Arbeit I. Egli, 2019: Reflexion über Ansätze zur Erfassung der Wirkung(Impact) des ETH-Bereichs (German)

Self-Assessment Report Intermediate Evaluation 2023 of the ETH Domain

29Retrospective

feature provided in the current study. Among other things, it gives insights into theimpact of co-publications among the institutions (cf. chapter C: Bibliometric Study,
figure 24; and recommendation #11 in this chapter).
To complement the quantitative approaches and methodologies applied by the
ETH Domain institutions to assess their performance and their national and international positioning (cf. chapter B.4), the ETH Domain plans to apply a qualitative
approach to describe the impact of the ETH Domain based on specific examples
and considering the institutions’ dual mission, i.e. pursuit of excellence as well as
national impact. Such examples are to be selected to represent the different core
and transversal tasks of the institutions so as to demonstrate how long-term investments and engagements lead to impacts of societal relevance. Eawag adopted
a similar approach in the field of water research by describing the development of
separation techniques and its impact18.
As the outcomes of this approach, presumably in the form of a brochure, are not
yet available, the recommendation is considered to be partially implemented.

#21: Strategic Focus Areas
The Expert Committee
strongly supports the choice of
these strategic focus areas. Beyond that, the institutions of
the ETH Domain should develop the mechanisms to anticipate research needs and torespond quickly to major challenges.

Recommendation implemented
This topic is addressed in detail in chapter B.2.
The Strategic Plan 2025–2028 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain has been published in 2022. An important new element, the foresight process, has been added
to the development process of this strategic plan compared to previous ones. The
identification of the five Strategic Areas for 2025–2028 was supported by two parallel processes: (1) the identification of global challenges in the context of education, research and innovation through a foresight process (top-down approach);and (2) the identification of current and future activities of strategic importance inthe ETH Domain institutions (bottom-up approach). For more information on the
two approaches to identifying the Strategic Areas cf. chapter B.2, figure 14. In all
five Strategic Areas defined for 2025–2028, the institutions of the ETH Domain are
well positioned to have a particularly strong impact – on their own as well as
through cooperation within the Domain and beyond.
Important elements of selected strategic processes at the level of the institutions
are described below.
At ETH Zurich the Strategic Foresight Hub was established in the Office of the
President in 2021 to deep-dive into the territory of long-term trends and plausible
futures and develop a foresight culture at the institution. It provides the space,guidance, tools and methodologies to those interested in engaging with “whatcould be”. The ETH Zurich Strategy and Development Plan 2021–2024 includes
a strong alignment of ETH Zurich focus areas with the SFAs 2021–2024 of theETH Domain (and now also with the Strategic Areas for the period 2025–2028).
The review of the strategic planning processes for the next strategy horizon started
in 2021.

18

30

History of Source Separation Technology at Eawag "Flows of Science"Retrospective

In the field of strategic foresight, EPFL will be setting up an advisory body (Strategic
Academic Committee), which will aim to advise the Vice President for Academic
Affairs and the EPFL management on strategic and academic matters related to
EPFL’s core missions. In the EPFL 2021–2024 Strategic Plan, there is a close alignment of EPFL focus areas with the SFAs of the ETH Domain. The review of thestrategic planning processes for the EPFL Strategic Plan 2025–2028 commenced
in 2021.
At PSI the Strategic Plan 2021–2024 has been developed bottom-up at divisional
level based on ETH Domain priorities, including SFAs. The annual strategy retreatof the PSI leadership includes the directorate and the division and laboratory
heads. For overarching strategic priorities, working groups are established by the
director. User community workshops and scientific advisory boards for large-scale
research facilities are established and advise PSI on relevant strategic topics.
The development plan 2025–2028 of WSL will be based on inputs from the evaluation of WSL in 2022 and WSL research units´ strategic plans and will also takeaccount of the Strategic Plan 2025–2028 of the ETH Board for ETH Domain.
At Empa, strategic planning is done by a mix of bottom-up and top-down initiatives
and strategies. This permits conformity with the Empa development plan
2021–2024 and aligns future plans to the ETH Board’s Strategic Plan 2025–2028.
Strategic planning at Eawag has always been a collaborative process between
directorate and research departments. The 2025–2028 strategic plan of Eawag willagain be an inclusive process led by the new director (as of January 2023). Eawag
has established a strategy committee in which representatives from all departments are present, and which will support the directorate in developing the future
strategic plan.

#22: Digitalisation
The ETH Domain should develop a digitalisation strategy
that maximizes translational
impact, and organize researchand teaching to support diffusion of computational thinking
into science and engineering.

Recommendation partially implemented
Digitalisation and diffusion of computational thinking in all fields of science andengineering of the ETH Domain is a priority of the ETH Board for the current
period 2021–2024 and also in the period 2025–2028. Specifically with the Strategic
Area Responsible Digital Transformation, the ETH Domain emphasises the importance of digitalisation and addresses the “transversal” topic in its technologicaland societal context in its Strategic Plan 2025–2028 (cf. chapter B.2). Digitalisation
developments already benefit from strong and continued coordination at theETH Domain level, but also come under the responsibility of the institutions. Thus,
the ETH Board does not see the need for an overarching strategy, resulting in only
a partial implementation of the recommendation.
Specific activities at ETH Zurich to promote computational thinking and digitalisation include embedding student-related administrative processes and learning environments in a Digital Campus, the Strategy for the Digitalisation of the ETH Zurich
Administration, teaching of concept computational competencies, capacity-building in the fields of responsible digital transformations and dialogue with society, as
well as the establishment of the ETH AI Center.

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31Retrospective

EPFL supports the development of computational thinking in science and engineering disciplines. The Digital resources for Instruction and Learning (DRIL) fundsupports the creation of digital resources for teaching and learning. The Jupyter
Notebooks in Education service allow classes of more than 200 students to run
simulations simultaneously without prior installation. The Campus Analytics initiative uses data science to benefit education.
At PSI a new research division on Scientific Computing, Theory and Data wasestablished in 2021 in close cooperation with EPFL. The same year, the new 3rd Hubof the Swiss Data Science Center (SDSC) was established at PSI along with EPFL andETH Zurich.

32

Retrospective

Appendix: Financial management
Stable and sufficient financial resources are an important prerequisite for strengthening thenational research landscape and positioning the ETH Domain institutions at the forefront ofinternational competition. Financial flexibility and security allow for long-term planning andthe anticipation and implementation of strategic developments over multiple years. In thiscontext, targeted diversification and responsible, economical handling of the entrusted financial resources are of central importance.
In 2021, direct federal contributions amounted to 69% and third party revenues to 31% of
ETH Domain funding. Third party revenues consist largely of research contributions, which
are funded by the private sector and other contributors as well as by the Federal Government
and the EU (15%) (cf. figures 3 and 4). By considering these indirect federal contributions, thefederal funding amounts to 84% of the ETH Domain total revenues. Adequate funding by the
Confederation is thus key to the proper functioning of the ETH Domain and enables it to fulfil
the ambitious strategic objectives set by the Federal Council. The federal contributions makea vital contribution to the institutions’ strategic freedom of action and the independence ofteaching and research.
Figure 3: Table of consolidated revenues and expenses 2021 of the ETH Domain

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33Retrospective

Figure 4: Illustration of consolidated revenues and expenses 2021 of the ETH Domain* The total federal contribution in the figures 3 and 4 above refers to the summary as accounted for in the consolidated statement of financial performance. On the other hand,
the total federal contribution summarised from the two credits approved by the parliament(federal financial contribution and investment credit), which are counted towards theexpenditure ceiling, amount to CHF 2,600m.
In its ERI Dispatch, the Federal Council formulates future priorities, objectives and measuresand requests the funding required for a four-year period. In this context, and for the
2021–2024 ERI period, the expenditure ceiling approved by the Federal Assembly for the
ETH Domain amounts to CHF 10,810.7m.
The ETH Board allocates funds from federal funding to the institutions of the ETH Domain in
accordance with Art. 33a of the ETH Act and Art. 12 of the Ordinance on the ETH Domain.
Conforming to the Federal Council's Strategic Objectives for the ETH Domain for the Period
2021–2024, the ETH Board takes account of the institutions’ achievement of the strategic
objectives, their academic performance and the financial obligations arising from their teaching, research and KTT activities, as well as from the tasks assigned to them by the Swiss Confederation, when allocating funds. The funding effectively available to the ETH Board is thendecided by the Parliament at the end of each year. In 2020, the Federal Assembly had approved a total of CHF 2,600m (credits counted towards the expenditure ceiling) for the 2021
budget of the ETH Domain. Figures for 2022 will be published in the first quartile of 2023.
An expenditure surplus, as in 2021, which had led to a reduction in the cash balances, is usually covered with funds from the reserves. Hence, the sum of both reserve positions (onewith internal dedication, one without dedication) was reduced by CHF 80m in 2021. It should
be noted, that this is not the same key figure as other equity, which was defined as a reserve
reference figure in the strategic objectives by the Federal Council’s Strategic Objectives for
the ETH-Domain (cf. chapter “Retrospective”, recommendation #17).

34

Retrospective

Strategic and proactive financial management is one of the key transversal tasks of theETH Domain defined in the Strategic Plan 2025–2028 of the ETH Board19. In this context, theETH Board and the institutions of the ETH Domain will continue to exercise sustainable financial management. This includes ensuring that funds are used appropriately and that reserves
are actively managed at all levels of the organisation and in accordance with the establisheddirectives and regulations (cf. chapter ”Retrospective”, recommendation #17). Synergies will
be exploited further to share expertise – and, where possible, to save resources – by cooperating in administration, education and research and by sharing facilities.

19

Strategic Plan 2025–2028 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain, pages 44-45

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35

A
Specific aspects ofthe core tasks education,
research and KTT

A.1 Ensuring quality of education and associated challenges
Excerpt from the Mandate
Assessment by and considerations of the ETH Board
Evidence
Facts & Figures
Key points

39
39
41
43
47
52

A.2 Sustainable international positioning
Excerpt from the Mandate
Assessment by and considerations of the ETH Board
Evidence
Facts & Figures
Key points

53
53
55
56
61
61

A.3 Good practices in knowledge and technology transfer
Excerpt from the Mandate
Assessment by and considerations of the ETH Board
Evidence
Facts & Figures
Key points

63
63
65
67
72
76

A.1
Ensuring quality of education
and associated challenges

Excerpt from the Mandate“The ETH Domain's mandate is to educate its students and doctoral students
so that they are equipped to meet the current requirements of science, theeconomy and society. To what extent can the ETH Domain ensure that it offers high quality education and that its objectives and modalities are aligned
to this challenge while also guaranteeing equal opportunities? Moreover, thenumber of students and doctoral students in the ETH Domain is increasing
substantially; this trend is likely to continue, especially to meet domestic demand for highly qualified professionals. In these circumstances, is the ETH Domain deploying the right strategies and instruments for fulfilling its educational mandate, particularly given the possibility that the Confederation’s financial scope may decrease in the years to come (see financial scenarios in
the EAER/SERI mandate dated 15 June 2021 and strategic objective to increase the share of third-party funding in its financial resources)? Are there
indications that the rising number of students and doctoral students is severely jeopardising teaching quality? If this is the case, what would the best
countermeasures be?”Specific aspects of the core tasks education, research and KTT

Assessment by and considerations of the ETH Board
Assessment: The strong growth in student numbers increasingly jeopardises the qualityof research-based education in the ETH Domain. The ETH Board considers that urgent
action is needed here. Based on an overall strategy regarding the growth of student
numbers that is currently being developed by the ETH Board for the ETH Domain,
ETH Zurich and EPFL are therefore working on measures to safeguard the quality ofeducation at their establishments. For the ETH Board, high-quality education is the top
priority.

Considerations: It is the core task of the ETH Domain’s educational mandate to train qualified
professionals so that they meet the needs of science, the economy and society. The demandfor STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics)20 graduates from industry andthe public sector is very high.
– Maintaining a high quality of education is a priority for the ETH Board. However, this goal
is jeopardised by growing student numbers. Thus, while the ETH Board welcomes thegrowing interest in STEM fields, mainly in engineering and ICT, it recognises the enormous
challenge that this growth is presenting. It is becoming especially difficult to respond to
the substantial demand for highly qualified professionals while upholding the quality ofeducation with limited resources.
– While ETH Zurich and EPFL have to make full use of digital technologies and ensure innovative and high-quality education, they should first and foremost remain in-person universities (Präsenzuniversität/université présentielle). Classroom teaching and practical courses
remain important, as direct contacts between professors and students and between
students – as well as social networking – are crucial for well-being and study success.
– Limits on student admissions may compromise the efforts made by the ETH Domain
institutions to counteract the shortage of experts needed in Switzerland. Thus, this option
should only be considered if the quality of education cannot be maintained or if capacity
thresholds are exceeded, which may become the case if the trends of strongly increasing
student numbers and much lower financial growth continue.
– Limiting admissions would require selection procedures before the actual start of thestudy programme. This could thus impair equality of access to studies at ETH Zurich or at
EPFL and should be taken into consideration when devising strategies. Further, this could
have implications on the quality of the Swiss Matura if it no longer allowed entry without
exams and instead selection procedures would become the instruments to ensure quality(see also next point).
– The ETH Domain has a strong interest in upholding the quality of the Swiss Matura by closeinteractions with baccalaureate schools21 (Gymnasien/gymnases) (e.g., by offering specifictraining for teachers) and therefore promotes measures for the successful transition frombaccalaureate schools to ETH Zurich and EPFL (self-assessment tools, bridging courses,
Centre Propédeutique EPFL, etc.).
– Admitting foreign-educated foreign students (Bildungsausländerinnen und –ausländer/personnes de nationalité étrangère scolarisées à l’étranger) helps to counteract the shortage

20

Including computer and communication sciences, in analogy to the German term MINT
(Mathematik, Informatik, Naturwissenschaften, Technik).

21

upper secondary level school

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41Specific aspects of the core tasks education, research and KTTof experts in Switzerland but presupposes that the majority stay in the country after
graduation and thus contribute to Switzerland’s economy and society.
– Promotion of STEM fields at university level must start by getting potential students
interested in these fields at a young age. The ETH Domain institutions continuously
support activities in this area. They especially target girls and children/pupils fromunderrepresented groups.

42

Specific aspects of the core tasks education, research and KTT

Evidence
Assessing education quality
Ensuring excellence means understanding the elements that influence the quality of education, and performing regular assessments. ETH Domain institutions assess the quality ofeducation through a broad range of coordinated processes and with different instruments.
These include institutional accreditations, unit evaluations (at the level of the departments,
schools, divisions or laboratories, or across the whole institution, depending on its size),
examinations, student surveys, evaluation of teaching by students and evaluation of professors’ teaching performance upon appointment or during promotion procedures (cf. chapter“Retrospective”, recommendation #1). The ETH Domain’s commitment to fulfilling the mandate granted by the ETH Act – i.e. to educate students in scientific and technical fields, andenable them to become the experts needed by the economy, research and the public administration – is key in the development of curricula. In that regard, the institutions consider theadequacy between the education they provide and the demands of the Swiss labour market
as an important indicator of quality (cf. figures 7 and 8).
The attractiveness of the ETH Domain is a mark of education quality. Between 2012 and 2021,
the overall student and doctoral student population22 at ETH Zurich and EPFL increased by+33% (+25% at the Bachelor’s level, +68.2% at the Master’s level and +18% at the doctorallevel).23 According to national data from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), the increase in
student and doctoral student numbers between the academic years 2015/2016 and2021/2022 is higher at ETH Zurich and at EPFL than the Swiss national average.24 Similarly, thenumbers of Bachelor’s and Master’s theses as well as doctoral theses co-supervised by thefour ETH Domain research institutes increased by 36% and 8% between 2012 and 2021,
respectively.25 The international recognition and attractiveness of ETH Zurich and EPFL havealso led to an increase in the proportion of foreign-educated foreign students (26.6% at the
Bachelor’s level and 45.2% at the Master’s level in 2021, compared to 23.4% and 39.5%
respectively in 2012). Since the increase in faculty positions has not been as fast as the increase in student numbers, the ratio of students to professors has increased continuously
over the last ten years thus posing a risk to the quality of teaching and learning. Other
teaching staff (incl. postdoctoral fellows, doctoral students, senior scientists, Maîtres d’enseignement et de recherche, as well as professors or researchers from other institutions, especially from the four research institutes) play an important role in the supervision of students,
and allow to compensate for this trend to a certain extend and to maintain a high quality ofteaching. Caution should be taken to avoid overloading the intermediate-level staff withteaching activities, especially doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows. Furthermore, their
numbers may not increase at strongly as the numbers of students.

22

The term “student” encompasses the Bachelor’s and Master’s levels, as well as the Masterof Advanced Studies and Master of Business Administration (MAS/MBA). Since 2021,
exchange students are no longer included in the total number of students. In themonitoring of the ETH Board on the ETH Domain, doctoral students form a separate
category of students.

23

Annual Report of the ETH Board on the ETH Domain 2021, page 93

24

Basis Table 1990–2021 on students of Swiss universities (OFS)25

Annual Report of the ETH Board on the ETH Domain 2021, page 96

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43Specific aspects of the core tasks education, research and KTT

The satisfaction of students and doctoral students is an important indication of the qualityof teaching provided by the ETH Domain institutions. Thus, the institutions perform regularsurveys to assess the situation of their students or graduates. Some results of these surveys
can be found in the Facts & Figures section of this chapter. The satisfaction of doctoral
students is also assessed in the context of the surveys for employees since they are acategory of employees as well. Such surveys are also performed by the research institutes.
Understanding the elements that influence the quality of education and assessing them is
a complex task. The same goes for identifying capacity thresholds, whether they relate tospace, infrastructure, supervision or funding. In the context of the strategy that is currently
being developed regarding the trend in student and doctoral student numbers, the plan isfor ETH Zurich and EPFL to evaluate the indicators and criteria used to assess the quality ofeducation and adjust them if necessary. Furthermore, they shall determine capacity thresholds for their own institution. These may be specific to each study programme and level.
Maintaining/improving education quality in the long-term
Maintaining – and possibly improving – education quality requires, among other factors,
innovative approaches and a favourable learning environment, as well as good teaching,mentoring and supervision skills of lecturers and supervisors. It also depends on the framework conditions, especially in terms of human resources and infrastructure – and, byextension, in terms of financial resources too (see “Strategies” section below).
Innovative approaches to teaching are continuously being developed by the ETH Domain
institutions to improve education quality on the one hand and to increase the capacity of
study programmes wherever possible and relevant on the other. Examples of innovativeeducation methods and strategies are numerous and have been flourishing during thecoronavirus pandemic to accommodate remote learning and practical work. They include
the creation of short informative video tutorials instead of lectures, lab experiments at homeand lecture recordings to organise flipped classrooms. For example, simulations allow
students to test scientific models by exploring how variations of parameters change thesimulated phenomenon. The institutions are already using and will continue to use the insights from the coronavirus pandemic as learnings for developing their education offers. It is
worth noting that innovation in education requires more time investment from supervisors,and possibly more funding, as well as flexibility in the use of real estate and workspace.
In addition to subject- and method-specific competencies, students develop various skills setsduring their studies so that they are well equipped to help actively shape the future of Switzerland and of society in general26. With the "ETH talent" initiative, the Rectorate and the departments of ETH Zurich have agreed on a clear competency grid (covering social competencies such as cooperation and teamwork, but also personal competencies such as creative andcritical thinking). On the one hand, the competency grid enables those responsible for the
study programmes to discover gaps in their curriculum and close them. On the other hand, it
offers students the opportunity to search for specific courses in the course catalogue withwhich they can fill any gaps in their personal profile. The Student Project House27 is anotherinitiative of ETH Zurich for developing creative thinking and promoting transdisciplinarity. This

44

26

Strategic Plan 2025–2028 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain, pages 26-29

27

Student Project House | ETH Zurich

Specific aspects of the core tasks education, research and KTT

initiative adds to the many existing and developing offers within departments that aim to encourage project-based learning. ETH Zurich also ensures that the teaching of computational
competencies/modelling runs like a thread through every Bachelor’s and Master’s programme.
Discovery Learning Laboratories (DLLs)28 are an initiative of EPFL to encourage students totake a cross-disciplinary approach to research projects. Similarly, EPFL’s MAKE interdisciplinary projects29 allow students to acquire solid team-working and project management skills
and get initial hands-on experience in a real-world project at the same time. Two examples ofsuccessful MAKE projects are the EPFL Rocket Team, which was crowned European Champion
in the EuRoC 2021 rocket competition, and the Xplore team, which won the bronze medal for
its space robot during the European Rover Challenge. EPFL is also establishing a new Center
for Transversal and Career Skills, which will coordinate and further develop training in transversal skills for all EPFL students, primarily through integration of explicit skill development incurriculum courses.
Through the education and continuing education programmes offered by the research
institutes, students and doctoral students also have access to complementary teaching offers– often integrated into broader, multidisciplinary research – and to various state-of-the-art
large-scale research infrastructures and technology platforms, as well as to a wide range ofapplied research opportunities. Finally, students have opportunities to gather experience ininteracting with external stakeholders and hence to also develop their network and networking competencies. For example, engineers and architects at EPFL have to do a mandatoryinternship in industry. ETH Zurich has study programmes with a compulsory internship as
well, and some for which an internship is strongly recommended. This close contact with thereal world helps the students to develop concrete competencies and transversal skills fortheir future life. In addition, they receive direct feedback about industry’s needs and its
satisfaction regarding students trained in the ETH Domain.
The fundamental principles of diversity, equal opportunities and inclusion are recognised asa premise for a creative and qualitative learning and working environment, and thus aprerequisite for academic excellence. Gender balance remains an issue in most of the study
programmes, and the institutions thus continue to increase and diversify their efforts to
attract women in the different disciplines. Most of the measures proposed to ensure equity
are not directed only towards women, but also towards other underrepresented groups andminorities, as well as foreign nationals. These include outreach activities, financial support
with social scholarships, language courses at reasonable prices, counselling for students anddoctoral students with disabilities or chronic illnesses, associative activities, compensation for
disadvantages in performance assessments, etc. Initiatives are also in place to support
prospective students and enable them to succeed in their studies and to strengthen theircompetencies in basic science. This includes the preparatory year (CMS) at EPFL, which enables students who do not fulfil the admission requirements to acquire the necessary basis tobe admitted into one of EPFL’s Bachelor’s programmes. It is also open to holders of a Swiss
Matura on a voluntary basis before beginning their Bachelor’s studies. ETH Zurich proposed
two approaches to refresh basic mathematical knowledge: (i) a self-assessment in mathematics in the form of a test available online and (ii) an online and free-of-charge bridging course

28

Discovery Learning Laboratories (DLLs)

29

MAKE interdisciplinary projects

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45Specific aspects of the core tasks education, research and KTT

in mathematics. At EPFL, the newly created Centre Propédeutique (CePro) is in charge ofthe polytechnic courses (maths, physics) of the first year. The Centre coordinates the content,
exercises, tutors and assistants. Specific exercise sessions are also organised and new
pedagogical methods are introduced and analysed. The goals are to facilitate the adaptationfrom baccalaureate school to EPFL and to improve background sciences at the first year level.
Overall success rates at the Bachelor and Master levels have been relatively stable over the
past decade and foreign-educated foreign students perform similarly to students with a Swiss
Matura.
Strategies (to mitigate the risks that an increase in student numbers may pose to thequality of education)
The growth of the ETH Domain student and doctoral student population echoes Switzerland’shigh demand for professionals in scientific and technical fields, especially in engineeringsciences and in information and communication technologies (cf. figures 7 and 8). The continuous – and anticipated further – increase in student and doctoral student numbers can also
to a certain extent be seen as a consequence of this demand. According to the Strategic Plan
2025–2028 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain30, ETH Zurich and EPFL predict an increasein the numbers of Bachelor’s and Master’s students by approximately +3.5% per year
between 2025 and 2028.
The expected growth in student and doctoral student numbers, as well as developments inteaching and research, is generating increasing demand for human resources, space, infrastructure and support resources that may be difficult to meet in the medium to long-term.
This is especially true if there is only a limited budget increase. The ETH Board is thus developing, together with the institutions of the ETH Domain, a strategy to provide guidance tomitigate the risks that such an increase in student numbers could pose to the quality ofeducation in the long-term. This strategy shall also fulfil the mandate granted by the Federal
Council in its Strategic Objectives for the ETH Domain 2021–2024 (Objective 1.6)31. The Strategy regarding the development of student and doctoral student numbers is foreseen to be
published in 2023. While the development of the student and doctoral student population
concerns the entire ETH Domain, the individual ETH Domain institutions – given their autonomy – take the actions that best match their respective situations and plans for strategic development. To this end, ETH Zurich and EPFL further develop their own measures to manage
the student population growth and to integrate the growing student population into higher
education planning while upholding quality in education.
The ETH Domain considers that limits on student admissions may compromise the efforts
made by the ETH Domain institutions to counteract the shortage of experts needed for
Switzerland’s society, economy and administration, as well as their efforts to attract more
women. Thus, limits should only be foreseen if the quality of education cannot be ensured
because capacity thresholds are exceeded.

46

30

Strategic Plan 2025–2028 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain, page 58

31

Strategic Objectives of the Federal Council for the ETH Domain 2021–2024

Specific aspects of the core tasks education, research and KTT

Facts & Figures
Disciplines offered at ETH Zurich and EPFL
The ETH Domain’s unique contribution to the Swiss higher education sector lies in its focus on
the STEM fields. Some of these fields are provided exclusively or predominantly by ETH Zurichand EPFL at university level in Switzerland (cf. figures 5 and 6).
Figure 5: Distribution of students and doctoral students at ETH Zurich and EPFL between thevarious disciplines in 2021

Box areas are proportional to the number of students and doctoral students enrolled in thecorresponding discipline. Note that the disciplines are not categorised in the same way by the
ETH Board as by the FSO (figure 6) and cannot be compared directly.
Source: Annual Report of the ETH Board on the ETH Domain 2021

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47

Specific aspects of the core tasks education, research and KTT

Figure 6: Proportion of STEM-field graduates of Swiss universities trained at ETH Zurich and
EPFL (2021)* incl. given programmes in health sciences
Source: FSO 2021 (statistics on university degrees)

Adequacy of educational offering in relation to Swiss labour market demand
According to the Swiss Skill Shortage Index 2021 (cf. figure 7), demand in the Swiss labour
market is greatest for engineering and information§ technology occupations. Even though it isdifficult to compare the ETH Domain disciplines and occupations as categorised by the Swiss
Skills Shortage Index one to one, ETH Zurich and EPFL were especially successful in attracting
an increasing number of students and doctoral students in these areas over the past decade(cf. figure 8). The growth of the student and doctoral student population in these fields – andto a lesser extent in Exact and Natural Sciences– is the main cause for the overall increase in
student and doctoral student numbers (cf. figure 8).

48

Specific aspects of the core tasks education, research and KTT

Figure 7: List of the seven occupations with skill shortage in Switzerland in 2021
(in order of skill shortage ranking)Source: Swiss Skills Shortage Index 2021

Figure 8: Growth in student and doctoral student numbers between 2012 and 2021
(for disciplines with more than 1,000 students)

Source: Annual Report of the ETH Board on the ETH Domain 2021
The professional prospects for ETH Zurich and EPFL graduates are excellent and reflect thehigh demand in the labour market (cf. figure 9). The employment rate of the ETH Domain’s
graduates is very high and has been relatively stable over the years.
Figure 9: Employment rate of ETH Zurich and EPFL graduates by degree level(situation one year after graduation)* Revision of the questions concerning the status on the labour market
Source: FSO Graduate Survey (German and French)

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49Specific aspects of the core tasks education, research and KTT

Educating foreign-educated foreign students helps to counteract the shortage of experts in
Switzerland and requires a majority of them to stay in the country after their graduation.
Surveys from the FSO show that a large number of these graduates actively contribute to
Switzerland’s economy and society after completing their studies (figure 10), and that they
are indeed needed in the Swiss labour market.
Figure 10: Proportion of graduates of ETH Zurich and EPFL residing in Switzerland after
graduation, by degree level (situation one year after graduation)

Source: FSO Graduate Survey (German and French)Student, doctoral student and graduate surveys
Different surveys are based on different sets of questions and cannot be compared with eachother, and even less between schools. Comparisons are only made with surveys performed
with similar or the same questions years apart.
ETH Zurich: A survey performed in 202132 found that just 62% of the students were satisfied
or even very satisfied with their studies, down from 82% in 2015. Another 27% were undecided and 12% were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied. The survey showed that students had
suffered in the pandemic, and that for many it interfered with their academic work. Indeed,
only 57% agreed with the statement that they could devote themselves adequately to theirstudies despite the pandemic. Reasons ranged from lack of motivation to missing the interaction with other students or suffering from temporary psychological stress. These results
demonstrate the limitation of remote learning. However, most of the students rate the teaching at ETH positively: despite remote learning, 79% said that they did attend the lectures they
were enrolled in. 78% said that lecturers were available to answer questions outside of class,and 74% agreed with the statement that studying at ETH Zurich hones their abilities to thinkcritically and to consider various viewpoints. Agreement with that last point had increased
since 2015. The survey showed also that students are still struggling with time management.
Finally, a large majority of respondents experienced respectful treatment at ETH and say that
their study environment is “free of discrimination that diminishes a person’s dignity”.
Preceding the coronavirus pandemic, the Swiss Economic Institute KOF conducted a survey
amongst ETH Alumni between November 2019 and January 202033. The survey indicated thatmost survey participants were satisﬁed with their position. On a scale of 1 to 5, more than
80% of the respondents rated their overall job satisfaction with a 4 or 5 while only about 5%of the respondents gave a score of 1 or 2.
EPFL: Students can provide feedback on all courses, each semester. In the academic year
2020–2021 student feedback indicated that the quality was satisfactory for 87.6% of courses
at Bachelor’s and Master’s levels. This rate had changed little over the previous five years.

50

32

Survey 2021 on ETH Zurich students’ satisfaction

33

Results of the ETH Alumni survey, 2019, KOF, 2020

Specific aspects of the core tasks education, research and KTT

EPFL also carries out periodic surveys on the campus climate. The 2019 Doctoral Survey34
asked students about the quality of their doctoral experience. Overall, 71.1% of students
responded to the question on overall satisfaction positively (either ‘completely agree’ or‘agree’). 12.3% responded negatively (either ‘disagree’ or ‘completely disagree’). Since thequestion asked in 2012 had a slightly different format it is not possible to directly compare
the results between the two surveys. Satisfaction in 2012 was 85% (also greater than in2019). Broadly speaking, given the change in question format, this indicates that the overallsatisfaction/dissatisfaction levels appear similar between 2012 and 2019.
The 2021 Culture of Respect survey35 asked a number of questions related to student satisfaction at EPFL. Students were broadly satisfied with the climate on campus in general (83.2%
satisfied, 6.8% dissatisfied), and with their sense of belonging to a community at EPFL (63.1%
satisfied, 12.9% dissatisfied). Students were, however, less satisfied with some aspects ofcampus life. Only 34.7% were satisfied with equality between men and women with respect
to scientific careers and administrative and technical roles (45.1% dissatisfied). 53% of
students were dissatisfied with measures designed to foster a healthy work-life or study-lifebalance (24.2% were satisfied). 66.4% of students agreed that academic staff help to shape apositive and enabling environment (while 9.3% disagree with this view). For sections of thissurvey related to discrimination, harassment and violence, please refer to chapter B.3.
In the academic year 2021–2022, EPFL conducted a survey of alumni who had graduatedduring the period 2014–2019. Almost all of the respondents indicated that they had sufficientknowledge and skills in basic sciences (mathematics and physics) for their job at the end of
their studies. Over 90% indicated that they had sufficient skills in computer science andchemistry for their job at the time of graduation. Similarly high percentages indicated that
their proficiency in communication in English, in French, and in oral and written forms was
sufficient for their job. However, satisfaction was somewhat lower with transversal skills; over
30% indicated that the curriculum did not prepare them for what their job required in termsof team-working or in taking and giving feedback, while between 20% and 30% indicated thatit did not prepare them for what their job required in terms of environmental sustainability
and in complying with legal and ethical requirements.
Feedback received by students on specific courses (course evaluation) varies too much overtime to be compared and to extract information on individual quality trends. However,viewed at an institutional level, the individual variations level out, and the indicative feedback
gives a reasonable indication of overall quality and trends. The students’ overall satisfaction
with EPFL courses has been stable for the past 5 years, increasing gradually from 84% in 2017
to 90% in 2021.

34

Doctoral Surveys EPFL

35

EPFL Culture of Respect Survey 2021

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Specific aspects of the core tasks education, research and KTT

Key points– ETH Domain institutions assess the quality of education through diverse processes andwith different instruments. This includes monitoring the adequacy of their programmes
in relation to labour market demand, the level of satisfaction among students and theattractiveness of the ETH Domain.
– Measures and tools are continuously developed to maintain and/or improve the education
offered in the ETH Domain institutions.
– Education programmes allow students to develop the various skills required to help
actively shape the future of Switzerland and society in general.
– ETH Domain institutions continue to ensure equity in education with adequate measures.
Initiatives are also in place to support prospective students.
– The expected growth in student numbers, as well as developments in teaching andresearch, is generating an increasing demand for human resources, space, infrastructureand support resources that may be difficult to meet in the medium to long-term. The
ETH Domain – and especially its institutions – is actively developing strategies to provide
measures and solutions to mitigate the risks that such an increase in student numbers
could pose to the quality of education in the long-term.

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A.2
Sustainable international
positioning

Excerpt from the Mandate“The ETH Domain aims to maintain its strong international positioning and its
close links within the European Research Area even though Switzerland is nota member of the EU and therefore cannot always be guaranteed unrestricted
participation in EU research programmes. Does the ETH Domain have thenecessary preconditions in place and does it take suitable measures to beable to defend its international position sustainably, to maintain and build
partnerships with the best foreign universities and research institutions, andto attract and retain the most talented scientists? Which other strategies
could also help to achieve the desired objective?”

Specific aspects of the core tasks education, research and KTT

Assessment by and considerations of the ETH Board
Assessment: Non-association with Horizon Europe damages the Swiss Higher Education
System as well as the ETH Domain's competitiveness. This non-association is alreadyhaving an impact. Moreover, the ETH Board fears that this will gradually erode theappeal and strong positioning of the ETH Domain's institutions. The ETH Board is
supporting the institutions in their efforts to compensate as best as possible for the lackof opportunities for cooperation in the EU Framework Programme for Research andInnovation and to extend their activities to non-European countries.

Considerations: The ETH Domain is very well positioned and integrated in the international
research and education landscape. These assets are being challenged by various geopoliticaldevelopments. The greatest challenges at the moment lie in securing cooperation with theEuropean Union and preserving the ETH Domain institutions’ strong position and close collaboration within the European research and higher education area.
– Switzerland's full association with the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon Europe, Digital Europe, Euratom Research and Training Programme and ITER
is central and remains the goal to be pursued.
– Strengthening national measures (transitional and complementary measures) and bilateraland multilateral research cooperation can only partially compensate for the lack of full
association with Horizon Europe.
– The ETH Board and the institutions of the ETH Domain continue to emphasise the importance of full association with Horizon Europe in their communications with Federal andEuropean authorities, stakeholders and the public, in outreach activities and actions(see e.g. “Stick-to-science” Initiative, resolution passed jointly with scienceindustries andswissuniversities) and by making use of practical examples demonstrating the consequences of the exclusion.
– Meanwhile, the ETH Board and the institutions encourage their researchers to continue
participating as intensively as possible in the Horizon Europe Calls for Collaborative
Projects in order to maintain and actively promote the existing networks and, if possible,
to establish new ones. The continuation of active participation in European affiliations,forums and panels for science-policy making is important but is increasingly limited.
– The institutions of the ETH Domain continue to foster the following measures to keep
themselves internationally attractive within and beyond Europe despite the non-association with Horizon Europe:– emphasis on excellence in research and education to achieve impact;– attracting and retaining talents (through participation in international networks andby ensuring a critical mass of excellent students, researchers and support staff);– continuous upgrades of and investments in national research infrastructures to offer
unique resources and services to the national and international scientific communities,
as well as significant contributions to international research infrastructures;– promotion of initiatives in key areas of international interest (e.g. cybersecurity, space,quantum, AI, energy).

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Specific aspects of the core tasks education, research and KTT

Evidence
Reinforcing the ETH Domain’s international presence and collaborations
The ETH Domain institutions’ footprint is global, making them an important asset for Switzerland. They are engaged worldwide through many of their activities, from education toresearch to knowledge and technology transfer. The ETH Domain institutions’ global network
consists of academic institutions, industry partners, international organisations, NGOs, andmedia. The institutions continuously reinforce existing alliances, networks and communities
and pursue relevant new opportunities, guided by strategic considerations. These include thealignment with their mandate, specific research interests, complementarities and funding
prospects while ensuring the reputation of excellence enjoyed by the ETH Domain and
Switzerland. In particular, participation in alliances and networks enable the institutions of
the ETH Domain to maintain and cultivate international institutional ties with peer institutions with similar visions or in areas of complementary strategic interests. For example, bothETH Zurich and EPFL are affiliated to several university alliances, such as CESAER (Conferenceof European Schools for Advanced Engineering Education and Research), International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU), IDEA League or EuroTech. ETH Zurich and EPFL are bothcurrently exploring the opportunity offered by the 2021–2027 programme generation of Erasmus+ to become associate partners of new networks within the European Universities Initiative. ETH Zurich joined the Enhance Alliance of ten European technical universities in November 2022. Memberships in alliances are also crucial and of strategic importance to safeguard
Switzerland’s interest vis-à-vis the EU.
The institutions of the ETH Domain are crucial partners in research infrastructures and networks in the European landscape. Switzerland is involved in all main intergovernmental
research organisations in Europe and invests approximately EUR 100m each year36. The
ETH Domain institutions participate in most of these organisations. PSI, for example, has aleading role in major European research infrastructure partnerships, such as the League ofEuropean Accelerator-based Photon Sources (LEAPS) and the League of advanced European
Neutron Sources (LENS). This engagement directly benefits Swiss researchers by representing
their interests and competencies in the use of these infrastructures, and complementing
what is available in Switzerland. Another example is the European Long-Term Ecosystem Research Infrastructure (eLTER RI) in which WSL participates. Since 2022, Empa has been amember of the Boreal Alliance, a transnational research collaboration network for bio-basedmaterials innovations utilising boreal forest resources. With the non-association of Switzerland to EU programmes, Switzerland cannot continue its participation in the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) which will hinder the research infrastructure
coordination at European level.
Bottom-up activities of individual researchers and units are crucial for the international positioning of the ETH Domain institutions and strengthen their respective global research networks. According to the bibliometric study 2022 of the ETH Domain, 67% of the ETH Domain’s
publication output between 2009 and 2020 involved international collaborations (cf. chapter
C: Bibliometric Study). Researchers from the ETH Domain institutions participate in international research projects, which are often funded by international grants. In the past decade,the EU Framework Programmes for Research and Innovation have been an important sourceof funding for the ETH Domain institutions (cf. figure 11) allowing their researchers to lead or

36

56

Swiss Participation in International Research Infrastructures

Specific aspects of the core tasks education, research and KTT

participate in large international projects. The possibility to secure prestigious international
research grants is an important factor in attracting global talents. Other funding sources forinternational projects include national agencies, in particular the Swiss National Science
Foundation (SNSF) with targeted international programmes, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and other Federal Offices. In addition to their research activities,
the ETH Domain institutions’ researchers are active and valued members of the international
scientific community. For example, they serve as editors or on editorial boards of international journals, as members and officers of international professional societies or as peer
reviewers for international organisations, or hold faculty positions at universities abroad (cf.
figure 13). Finally, professors, staff and students of the ETH Domain institutions are great
global ambassadors, serving as board members in industry and international organisations
and hence increasing the visibility of their institutions, of the ETH Domain and of Switzerland.
International cooperation is driven by the further development and strengthening of networks, in particular in Europe, North America and Asia, but also with a view to developmentson the African continent. ETH Zurich, for example, is strengthening its commitment on the
Asian continent, by leveraging its already strong presence in Singapore (see also chapter
B.1.2) and as Leading House Asia37. The institutions of the ETH Domain are also engaged incooperation on the African continent, in particular in low- and middle-income countries, withinitiatives such as Excellence in Africa38 from EPFL or ETH4D39 at ETH Zurich. The institutionsof the ETH Domain are likewise active in South Asia through several projects supported, forexample, by the SDC. Among other things, this helps the ETH Domain institutions to increase
their global visibility, to strengthen intercultural knowledge and to facilitate collaborations aswell as to attract the best talents. Within the European Union, ETH Zurich and EPFL recently
supported the establishment of the Institute for Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence andTechnology (INSAIT) in Bulgaria in collaboration with Sofia University, underscoring Switzerland’s commitment to strengthening the European Research Area as an active and reliable
partner.
The ETH Domain in the European Research Area
Switzerland and the EU share a long-standing and successful cooperation in the areas of education, research and innovation. Swiss participation in the EU Framework Programmes (FP)for Research and Innovation increases the programme impact and strengthens the European
research and innovation landscape. Indeed, projects with Swiss coordination had one of thehighest success rates in the context of Horizon 2020 calls for proposals40 and thus not only
benefited Swiss researchers, but also their project partners. The ETH Domain provides e.g.
key technologies for the development of ITER: the Swiss Plasma Center at EPFL operates oneof only three Medium-Sized Tokamaks used by EUROfusion. Furthermore, the SULTAN facility
at PSI is the only facility able to test the superconducting elements of ITER under real-world
conditions. The EU-FP’s promotion instruments, in particular ERC grants and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) grants, are crucial for the positioning of the ETH Domain institutions, and of Switzerland in general. In Switzerland’s current situation of non-association to
Horizon Europe, the Swiss Government has established replacement and transitional

37

Leading House Asia

38

Excellence in Africa

39

ETH4D

40

Forschung und Innovation in der Schweiz, (German) pages 77 et seq.; Recherche etinnovation en Suisse 2020, (French) pages 77 et seq.

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Specific aspects of the core tasks education, research and KTT

measures for ERC and MSCA grants. These are important, but may not be sufficient in themid- to long-term to retain or attract top-notch researchers striving to collaborate and compete with the best in the respective fields and aiming to contribute to shaping the programmes.
The ETH Domain, together with other institutions of the Swiss higher education landscape,strives to reinforce Switzerland’s relationships with international and European institutions
and is a driving force in national efforts in key areas affected by the non-association to
Horizon Europe and Digital Europe (e.g. cybersecurity, space, quantum, AI, energy). In May
2022 for example, Switzerland signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the European
Space Agency (ESA) for the establishment of a joint Centre of Excellence at PSI (European
Space Deep-Tech Innovation Centre, ESDI). The Centre will play a coordinating role andfacilitate projects by leveraging existing infrastructures with a network of partners in universities and industry across Europe. Since 2016, EPFL has been coordinating the Swiss researchcommunity involved in the Square Kilometer Array (SKA), the largest telescope ever built.
Since 2022, Switzerland has been a full member of the SKA Organisation (SKAO). Finally, theinstitutions of the ETH Domain are helping to ensure continuing access to key international
facilities, in particular in Europe. This is for example the case for the Swiss-Norwegian beamline at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF). Here EPFL took over the coordination of the Swiss participation, thereby guaranteeing access to the facility for Swiss researchers despite discontinuation of financial support at the national level for this endeavour.
The ETH Board, together with other actors in the Education, Research and Innovation (ERI)
Domain and the economy, are making major outreach efforts to demonstrate to the public
and to politicians how important it is for Switzerland to be associated with Horizon Europe.
Together with scienceindustries and swissuniversities, the ETH Board passed a resolution41 at
the beginning of 2022 calling on the Federal Council to renew Switzerland’s full association to
Horizon Europe and to launch an innovation offensive to preserve the excellence and competitiveness of the Swiss research and innovation cluster. Jointly with ETH Zurich, EPFL, Universities UK, the Wellcome Trust and the Royal Society, the ETH Board launched an online signature campaign42 in February 2022 that calls for an open and inclusive European Research Area
as an active response to the delayed progression of association agreements with Switzerland
and the UK due to political barriers. This “Stick to Science” initiative has been widely supported by the European research community, which is calling for a rapid association of
Switzerland and the UK to Horizon Europe.
Attracting and retaining talent and top researchers
Today top researchers and talents in general are solicited globally by universities, private andpublic research institutions, and increasingly also by industry. The attractiveness of theETH Domain is the result of the strong emphasis put on academic excellence and academic
freedom as well as the unique ecosystem of research infrastructures and platforms provided
to its researchers. ETH Zurich and EPFL are ranked regularly amongst the best universities in
the world (cf. chapter B.4, figures 19 and 20), and the scholarly impact of the ETH Domain’s
publications have remained high in the last decade (cf. chapter C: Bibliometric Study).
Academic excellence, as well as the presence of top researchers who already study and work

58

41

Horizon Europe Resolution

42

Stick to Science online signature campaign

Specific aspects of the core tasks education, research and KTT

at institutions of the ETH Domain, are strong assets attracting additional top researchers andtalents to Switzerland.
To remain globally competitive and secure its appeal for top researchers and talent, theETH Domain and its institutions set mid- to long-term strategies in relevant areas of researchand education. These are defined using a bottom-up approach with top-down incentives. This
includes Strategic Areas (cf. chapter B.2), as well as participation in various national initiatives
such as the National Centres of Competence in Research (NCCR) and National Research
Programmes (NRP). It also entails the development and continuation of large collaborative
initiatives and centres at the national and international level around key topics such as healthand personalised medicine, quantum sciences and engineering, artificial intelligence and data
science, climate change and the environment, and cybersecurity. These centres and initiatives
help to attract the best researchers and provide excellent platforms for the pursuit of fundamental discovery science, the deployment of new, future-oriented study programmes andhence the training of specialists needed in the future for cooperation with business and administration and for interaction with society.
Examples include:– ETH Zurich’s Quantum Center, ETH Zurich-PSI Quantum Computing Hub and EPFL’s Centerfor Quantum Science and Engineering; PSI’s Quantum Matter and Materials Discovery
Centre (QMMC)– ETH AI Center, Swiss Data Science Center (with hubs at ETH Zurich, EPFL, PSI), Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS) of ETH Zurich, EPFL’s Center for Intelligent Systems;– Strategic Focus Area (SFA) Personalized Health and Related Technologies (PHRT)– ETH Zurich’s Center for Climate Systems Modelling (C2SM) and EPFL’s Climate Center for
Impact and Action (CLIMACT);– Swiss Support Center for Cyber Security, Cyber-Defense Campus and the Zurich
Information Security and Privacy Center (ZISC);– ETH Zurich’s Center for the Origin and Prevalence of Life.
The ETH Domain also provides a unique ecosystem with state-of-the-art infrastructure forresearch and teaching, giving scientists from Switzerland and abroad access to unique research opportunities and training and promoting technology transfer through numerous
collaborations with industry. The institutions of the ETH Domain play a leading role internationally with regard to the conceptualisation, development and operation of world-classlarge-scale research infrastructures and platforms, and also ensure their open access forresearch communities, based on scientific excellence and transparent selection processes.
Open access to infrastructures for researchers from around the world is particularly important as it is a reciprocal process and the access to and development of facilities abroad
are of great benefit to Swiss researchers. For the period 2025–2028, the ETH Board gives
strategic priority to four substantial upgrades of existing large-scale infrastructure projects
as well as two new projects, which have been selected for inclusion in the Swiss Roadmap
for Research Infrastructure 2025–2028, the Confederation’s central planning instrument forlarge-scale research infrastructure (cf. chapter B.2). By setting these priorities, the ETH
Domain aims to remain relevant and attractive in the national and international researchcontext. Furthermore, the institutions of the ETH Domain play an important role at theEuropean and global level by contributing to international research infrastructures, such as
the European-wide greenhouse gas research infrastructure ICOS (Integrated Carbon Observatory System) or the European Spallation Source (ESS) in Lund. Several institutions of theETH Domain are also participating in other infrastructure projects listed on the Roadmapof the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI).

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59Specific aspects of the core tasks education, research and KTT

In addition, the ETH Domain institutions provide their researchers with adequate basic funding and resources to pursue their goals in research, education, and knowledge and technology transfer. They support the best researchers, and especially early-career academics, by
putting in place a variety of instruments. Examples include the following:– Competitive funding programmes to promote innovative research such as ETH Research
Grants, the ETH Career Seed Award, the ETH Fellowships, the Branco Weiss Fellowships at
ETH Zurich or research awards and prices at EPFL. At PSI, the MSCA COFUND Programme
PSI Fellow III-3i enables individual postdoctoral researchers from all over the world to pursue their research career at PSI for two years. At Empa two distinct fellowships for doctoral
students and postdoctoral researchers are awarded twice a year: Empa Young Scientist
Fellowship and Empa Entrepreneur Fellowship (EEF). With the PSI Research Grants, PSI
promotes interdisciplinary, collaborative and transformative research projects involving
one early career researcher as principal investigator and at least one more senior coapplicant with complementary skills. Each year, WSL issues an internal call for innovative
research and implementation projects that cannot be funded through other channels. This
call is open to permanent staff members and staff members employed with a fixed-term
contract of at least two years at WSL, which thus also allows early-career scientists tosubmit proposals. Eawag awards one postdoc scholarship per year for two-year research
residencies.
– Support for researchers competing for international funding, for example through the EU
Grants Access advisory service jointly run by ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich or the
Research Office EPFL;– The institutions of the ETH Domain offer various mentoring and coaching programmes, inparticular for early career scientists.

60

Specific aspects of the core tasks education, research and KTT

Facts & Figures
Figure 11: Research contributions SNSF/Innosuisse/EU for the ETH Domain for the period
2017–2021

Source: Annual Report of the ETH Board on the ETH Domain 2020, page 87 andAnnual Report of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain 2021, page 91

Key points– The institutions of the ETH Domain are engaged worldwide through many of their activities, from education to research to knowledge and technology transfer.
– Participation in alliances and networks enable the institutions of the ETH Domain to maintain and cultivate international institutional ties with peer institutions with similar visions
or in areas of complementary strategic interests. Memberships in alliances are also crucial
and of strategic importance to safeguard Switzerland’s interests vis-à-vis the European
Union (EU).
– The institutions of the ETH Domain are key partners in research infrastructures and networks in the European landscape.
– To remain internationally attractive, it is vital to invest in and continue establishing andexpanding cross-disciplinary initiatives and centres in promising areas as well as state-ofthe-art research infrastructures that bring together a critical mass of relevant expertise(top researchers and talents).
– The ETH Domain strives to reinforce Switzerland’s relationships with international andEuropean institutions. It is a driving force in national efforts in key areas affected by the
non-association to Horizon Europe and Digital Europe.

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A.3
Good practices in knowledge
and technology transfer

Excerpt from the Mandate“Are the ETH Domain’s institutions making best use of their potential as regards to knowledge and technology transfer for the benefit of Switzerland’s
economy and society? Which of the ETH Domain’s current approaches areachieving this aim, and which are capable of improvement? How efficient andeffective is the ETH Domain in this area overall? Are there international bestpractices that could be adopted?”Specific aspects of the core tasks education, research and KTT

Assessment by and considerations of the ETH Board
Assessment: The ETH Domain plays a key role in knowledge and technology transfer(KTT) to the benefit of the Swiss economy and society. The ETH Board is of the opinion
that the instruments for KTT are comprehensive and of good quality. They need to be
steadily developed further in line with external partners' needs. ETH Domain graduates
make one of the biggest contributions to the transfer of knowledge and know-how to
Swiss industry and society. Although the ETH Domain is training a growing number ofpeople in STEM fields, it cannot meet the Swiss labour market's rising demand for theseskills. Given the limits on growth in funding, this is presenting the ETH Domain withmajor challenges (cf. chapter A.1).

Considerations: The ETH Domain strives to serve Switzerland’s society and economy in thebest possible way. Knowledge and technology transfer (KTT) is a core element, in addition to
excellence in education and research, to strengthen Switzerland’s prosperity and competitiveness and to contribute to the sustainable development of society.
The ETH Domain has a wide set of instruments for KTT – including collaboration with industry,the creation of spin-offs, knowledge transfer to the public sector at federal, cantonal and local
level, education and continuous education, engagement and dialogue with society – that arestrongly supported by the institutions.
– Fundamental discovery science is the cornerstone of all the ETH Domain institutions’ activities and forms the indispensable basis for KTT.
– KTT through people is further encouraged and remains the most important way to transfer
knowledge (e.g. graduates and interns are important players in KTT by bringing their latest
knowledge to the private or public sector they work for).
– Continuing education and retraining of the workforce further contribute to transferringknowledge and technology between academia and practice.
– Entrepreneurial thinking is an important element in education to provide graduates withthe skills required to become actors of knowledge transfer between academia and society.
– The ETH Domain institutions support innovation through close collaboration with Swissbased industries in numerous direct mandates and projects funded by Innosuisse.
– The ETH Domain is successful in creating spin-offs. They have a high survival rate andgenerate jobs in future-oriented fields. The ETH Board supports initiatives and measures
to secure their funding in the particularly challenging scale-up phase.
– The ETH Domain institutions contribute significantly to KTT to the public sector as reliable
partners in joint activities and by providing expert opinions and other services in various
fields (energy, environment, transportation, public health, security policy, etc.).
– The ETH Board emphasises the dialogue with society through the Strategic Area “Engagement and Dialogue with Society” of its Strategic Plan 2025–2028. Corresponding Joint
Initiatives have already been launched in 2022 to strengthen cooperation and coordination
between the institutions of the ETH Domain in this most relevant field (cf. chapter B.2).
– The ETH Domain fulfils numerous specific tasks assigned to it by the Swiss Confederation
as well as many other services. The transfer of findings from research into applications iscontinually improving the quality and value of these tasks (e.g. national avalanche warning
service, Swiss seismological service, proton therapy, measurement of COVID virus load in
waste water), which benefit the economy, society and the environment.
– The ETH Board supports the institutions’ active role in the innovation parks of Switzerland
Innovation (e.g. Switzerland Innovation Park Innovaare, Switzerland Innovation Park

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65Specific aspects of the core tasks education, research and KTT

Zurich, Switzerland Innovation Park Ost, Switzerland Innovation Park Network West EPFL)
as well as in the Advanced Manufacturing Technology Transfer Centers (AM-TTC).
– The set of instruments for KTT is continuously adapted through the exchange of goodpractices in national and international networks and efforts to improve the performance ofspecific processes.

66Specific aspects of the core tasks education, research and KTT

Evidence
KTT potential of the ETH Domain for the Swiss economy and society
Knowledge and technology transfer (KTT) from the ETH Domain are key factors for innovationand economic growth in Switzerland. The ETH Domain plays a key role in knowledge creationin Switzerland and as such carries great responsibility for the management of its knowledge.
Knowledge is a public good and its responsible management covers two important features.
First, to distribute knowledge to the greatest possible extent in order to allow a continuous
flow and creation of further knowledge. Second, to put knowledge to practical use by industry, public administration and society at large in the form of innovation and expertise. Knowhow, patents, licensing and the creation of spin-off companies are key elements in this continuous flow of knowledge and innovation43.
The ETH Domain’s graduates make one of the biggest contributions to the transfer ofknowledge and know-how to Swiss society when they take on professional activities in theprivate or public sector. In 2021, ETH Zurich and EPFL awarded 3,898 Master’s and 1,257
doctoral degrees and 304 MAS/MBA degrees44. Specifically in STEM fields, ETH Zurich and
EPFL train a large proportion of the graduates of Swiss universities and these graduates arein high demand on the labour market (cf. chapter A.1, figures 6, 7 and 8). Various continuing
education programmes and courses to retrain the workforce further contribute to transferring knowledge and technology between academia and practice (cf. chapter “Retrospective”,
recommendation #2). In addition, members of the ETH Domain institutions share their expertise and knowledge by consulting and participating in advisory and scientific boards, as well
as serving on national task forces.
Manifold good practice examples in the field of knowledge and technology transfer can befound at all ETH Domain institutions. A selection of such examples from collaborations withindustry, as well as spin-offs, knowledge transfer to the public sector and tasks assigned to
the ETH Domain serving the economy, society and the protection of the environment arelisted in the Facts & Figures section. A synthesis deriving from these examples is presented in
the following.
Collaboration with industry
Collaboration with industry is one important element of knowledge and technology transfer.
In such collaboration, the institutions of the ETH Domain rely on a set of good practices,which include the following activities and services:– Long-term framework agreements with large enterprises (e.g. the ETH Zurich agreementswith Roche in the areas of translational bioengineering and translational models andtherapies, the Disney Research Zurich, the Microsoft Mixed Reality & AI Lab Zurich, orthe strategic partnership with Clariant for catalysis).
– Management of industry relationships under the responsibility of senior management staff
representatives (e.g. the responsibilities of the EPFL Vice President of Innovation).

43

The recent numbers for patents, licenses and spin-offs for the ETH Domain are presented
in figure 12. These and further data on technology transfer activities from the two schools
and three of the ETH Domain’s four research institutes are also included in the swiTT
annual report.

44

Annual Report of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain 2021, page 95

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67Specific aspects of the core tasks education, research and KTT– Establishment of public-private partnerships and special committees to facilitate industry
collaboration (e.g. Empa’s engagement for Innosuisse with the “Remask” project in thecontext of the COVID pandemic and its partnership with swissM4M PPP, ETH's engagement
at Innovationpark Zürich for new ways of technology transfer, or the Binnig and Rohrer
Nanotechnology Center research facility jointly operated with IBM).
– Technology transfer centers with embedded peer level services to facilitate transfer ofscientific know-how to industry (e.g. ANAXAM within Switzerland Innovation Park
Innovaare by PSI).
– Organisation of joint events with industry leaders and researchers (e.g. the ETH Zurich
Industry Day, ETH Meets Davos).
– Flexibility in the focus of research according to market expectations, societal needs andglobal challenges (e.g. all COVID pandemic-related research activities).
Spin-offs
Innovative product ideas and the resulting companies that bring these ideas to the market
are an important factor in Switzerland’s economic development that strengthens its innovative capacity. According to the definition applied in the ETH Domain, a spin-off is a company
that emerges based on the intellectual property of an institution in the ETH Domain and thatis founded by employees or students as part of their work at this institution45. A prerequisite
for such companies is a solid and sustainable business idea or business plan. Spin-off companies are a key instrument when it comes to translating research results into business practice.
The ETH Domain has a successful track record of spinning off new ventures from researchfindings that were generated within the ETH Domain (cf. e.g. the ETH Zurich spin-off study46).
Regarding the creation of spin-offs, a number of specific programmes and centers have been
established to promote awareness of entrepreneurship and to support new spin-offs:– Translational centres dedicated to research in a specific field (e.g. the Wyss Zurich Translational Center, a joint accelerator of the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich).
– Support programmes for incubating innovative ideas (e.g. the glatec business incubatorwith Empa and Eawag or the European Space Agency - Business Incubation Center Switzerland at ETH Zurich, open to Swiss start-ups).
– Business accelerators for fast deployment and successful market launch (e.g. the Blaze
accelerator with EPFL).
– Dedicated spin-off licensing, equity and compliance support (e.g. the spin-off licensing,equity, and compliance group (SLEC) with ETH Zurich).
– Dedicated support for entrepreneurship, including finance and coaching (e.g. under the
Pioneer Fellowship programme at ETH Zurich and the PSI Founder Fellowship programme).
– Business training programmes for potential entrepreneurs and assistance on the path tofunding (e.g. the Changemakers programme with EPFL or the CAS Entrepreneurship at
ETH Zurich as part of the offering for Pioneer Fellowships and other interested people).
– Promoting entrepreneurship among students (ETH Entrepreneurclub, ETH Student ProjectHouse, ETH juniors).
– Dedicated lab and office space for entrepreneurs and spin-offs (ETH Innovation and
Entrepreneurship Labs, ieLabs).

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45

Contrary to spin-off companies, start-up companies are those companies that work withor are supported by institutions in the ETH Domain but have not emerged from them inthe form of IP of an ETH Domain institution.

46

The Performance of Spin-Off Companies at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
ZurichSpecific aspects of the core tasks education, research and KTT

Knowledge transfer to the public sector
The institutions of the ETH Domain contribute significantly to knowledge transfer to the
public sector (with federal, cantonal, local authorities and international organisations). The
ETH Domain institutions are important partners for the Federal Offices and for the cantons(e.g. in the areas of energy, environment, transportation, public health, security policy, etc.).
As reliable partners in joint activities, experienced staff of the ETH Domain institutions provide expert opinions and other services in exchanges with public sector institutions.
Knowledge transfer to the public sector occurs through a diverse set of good practices, manyof which are strongly stakeholder-centered:– Policy hubs for inquiries and support of researchers engaging with policymakers(e.g. ETH Zurich’s Science-Policy Interface, coordinating activities and supporting researchers in their engagement with policymakers).
– Thematic centres for knowledge and technology transfer and continuing education as aform of technology transfer to the public sector (e.g. the Institute of Science, Technology
and Policy at ETH Zurich, the Center for Digital Trust with EPFL).
– Engaging in or hosting consortia including partners from the public sector in order to fulfil
policy-driven mandates from the Swiss Confederation (like the Empa engagement with
“Verein zur Dekarbonisierung der Industrie”).
– Building a long-term relationship of trust with stakeholders and engaging with the public
sector at different government levels together with the private sector in order to develop
best practice solutions for the protection of public goods (like in the case of Empa
Academy).
– Establishment of demonstrators to make research findings more tangible and visible tosociety (like NEST at Empa and Eawag, move at Empa or the Energy System Integration
Platform at PSI).
Tasks assigned to the ETH Domain by the Swiss Confederation and other tasks serving the
economy, society and the protection of the environment
The ETH Domain fulfils numerous tasks serving the economy, society and the protection of
the environment. Tasks assigned to the ETH Domain by the Swiss Confederation meet specificcriteria and are listed in the Appendix to the Strategic Objectives of the Federal Council for
the ETH Domain for the period 2021–2024. In addition, the ETH Domain fulfils other tasks byproviding scientific services and research infrastructures of national interest. These tasks, services and research infrastructures benefit from proximity to research in the ETH Domain that
ensures their quality and science-based continuous development. Knowledge and technology
transfer is one important feature that takes place in different ways:– Providing suitable access models for industrial users of large research infrastructures of theETH Domain (e.g. the research infrastructures SLS, SwissFEL and SINQ with PSI).
– Operation of national competence centres providing advisory services to Swiss stakeholders (e.g.: WSL fulfils several societal tasks in the fields of forest protection, plant health in
the forest and avalanche warning).
– Providing scientific services in fulfilling legal mandates conferred upon individual institutions of the ETH Domain (e.g. the Center of Security Studies at ETH Zurich).
– Science-based development of quality and technology standards in the public interest(e.g. Empa testing standards for masks during the COVID pandemic).
International good practices
The ETH Domain institutions are engaged in various national and international KTT networks
where they contribute to, exchange, and learn about new good practices in tech transfer.

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Such organisations include e.g. the Swiss Technology Transfer Association (swiTT), the Association of Science and Technology Professionals (ASTP), the European Community Joint
Research Centers Tech Transfer Office Circle (EC-JRC-TTO Circle) or the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM). These dynamic networks cover the exchange of goodpractices in the full spectrum of technology transfer from research collaborations to intellectual property protection, licensing, spin-offs and equity.
At ETH Zurich several good practices have been adopted, including the establishment of aprofessional expert team for export control of technological goods, the clear separation of
support activities for spin-offs and licensing activities to such spin-offs, the establishment ofclear regulations and the implementation of a strict process for the management of potential
conflicts of interest, as well as conflicts of commitment and reputational risks of professors
engaging in the foundation of spin-offs.
Exchange of good practices leads to institutional principles or standardised rules for collaborations with industry or licenses. Empa, for example, has elaborated collaboration models tofacilitate collaboration with industry. Intellectual property principles for funded research47
projects as well as general terms and conditions for research are published on the internet.
Possible improvements
The performance of the ETH Domain institutions in the field of knowledge and technology
transfer is exemplary and their expertise is in high demand, as shown by the many visits fromother universities, research institutions and governments. The proposals for possible improvements mentioned here do not derive from practical shortcomings but are the expression of a continuous effort to enhance performance for specific KTT processes.
A standard (default) inter-institutional agreement across the ETH Domain for the sharing of IP
ownership and IP protection and exploration, as well as use rights to cover the ‘default’ situation could be valuable to avoid situations where there is no clear agreement. An alternative
would be an ETH Domain template. This would still allow the institutions to create inter-institutional agreements to fit their needs. Another option would be the establishment of acommon template for Non Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) for the ETH Domain.
In a recent position paper, the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education andResearch (‘Umsetzung Prüfauftrag zur Beschleunigung der Wissensnutzung’, June 2022)
proposes the development of nationwide guidelines for the handling of intellectual property
by universities and research institutes (maximum and minimum values for licence fees, profit
sharing, role of stakeholders, options for patent transfer, etc.).
The ETH Domain institutions, like most public research entities, are in a weak position when it
comes to defending their patent portfolios against infringement. The institutions typicallysolve infringements by seeking amenable agreements. However, in case the infringing party is
not interested there are only limited resources available for legal action. With small companies, this is typically not a problem, but with larger international companies that have the potential to litigate, the resistance to reaching an agreement is much greater. A credible publicstatement of the ETH Domain’s readiness to defend its IP rights would be of great value.

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70Intellectual property principles for funded research

Specific aspects of the core tasks education, research and KTT

Credibility might be supported by a litigation fund or an umbrella insurance for patent litigation at the ETH Domain level.
The licensing principles of the US Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM)(‘nine points to consider in licensing university technology’) may serve as a further model forinternational good practice.
The loss of potential spin-offs due to international entrepreneurial minds leaving Switzerland
because of the difficulties in obtaining a residence permit is an economic loss for Switzerland.
International students could be given an interim status that would allow them a grace period
for starting up companies within Switzerland.

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71Specific aspects of the core tasks education, research and KTT

Facts & Figures
Figure 12: Knowledge and technology transfer in the ETH Domain

12Open Source Software not included.
The definition of licences was revised in 2021. This category no longer includes contracts
with prior IP transfer and contracts for software licences of less than CHF 1,000. This should
be taken into account when comparing with the figures for previous years. Without thischange, the total number of licences would have been 406 in 2021.

Source: Annual Report of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain 2021, page 97

Examples of collaboration with industry
ETH Zurich– The Vice Presidency for Knowledge Transfer and Corporate Relations (since 2021) is
responsible for strategic guidance and forging links between ETH Zurich and technology
transfer partners.
– 2022 signing of two agreements with Roche in the areas of translational bioengineeringand translational models and therapies.
– The Industry Day held every year at ETH Zurich connects more than 500 industry leadersand ETH Zurich researchers.
– Partnership agreement between ETH Zurich and UBS in the area of Entrepreneurship and
STEM support.

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Specific aspects of the core tasks education, research and KTT

EPFL– Vice President of Innovation (VPI) manages the relationship with industry, start-ups, NGOs
and the government.
– Launch of the ‘Key Account Management’ service for companies installed at the EPFL Innovation Park to help them develop new research collaboration ventures with EPFL's laboratories and EPFL spin-offs.
– Swiss Data Science Center, a joint venture between EPFL, ETH Zurich and PSI, collaborates
successfully with 17 leading Swiss companies, such as Swisscom, Romande Energie, Bühler,
Roche, Logitech, Firmenich and Richemont.
PSI– The dedicated peer-level service offered by ANAXAM, the recently founded technology
transfer centre within the new Switzerland Innovation Park Innovaare, has opened thedoor to making PSI’s capabilities more accessible to SMEs.
– Examples include neutron diffraction and synchrotron-CT for CondenZero GmbH and manufacturing process for electric motors for Leister Technologies. The pilot plants ‘Ganymeth’
for methanation and ‘HydroPilot’ for hydrothermal gasification have achieved sufficienttechnology maturity to allow industrial partners to take the next step.
Empa
Formation of clusters, public private partnerships and consortia to collaborate with partners
from science and industry. Examples include:– ‘Verein zur Dekarbonisierung der Industrie’ and collaboration in hydrogen energy with theTech Cluster Zug AG.
– Empa is the leading house in Advanced Manufacturing, a strategic initiative of theETH Domain which supports and co-funds the establishment of Advanced Manufacturing
Technology Transfer Centers (AM-TTC) as public-private partnerships in Switzerland.
Eawag– Development of a modern urine separation toilet (Save!) with Laufen.
Examples spin-offs
ETH Zurich– As of May 2022, procedures for licensing intellectual property to spin-offs have beenstreamlined; a dedicated Spin-Off Licensing, Equity, and Compliance (SLEC) group takes
care of the specific needs.
– In 2022, establishment of the new ETH Entrepreneurship unit dedicated uniquely to coordinating and supporting all aspects of community entrepreneurship.
– As the joint accelerator of the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, the Wyss Zurich Translational Center fosters translational research in the fields of regenerative medicine, robotics
and hybrid technologies and aims to establish world class spin-offs in these fields.
EPFL– Support for new ventures specifically addressing the student community and recent
engineering graduates, in addition to the researcher community. The Changemakers
programme incubates innovative ideas and the Blaze Accelerator forwards fast-deploying
spin-offs to incorporation and successful market launch.
– The “Enable” programme offers a dedicated platform for collaboration between researchers and entrepreneurs.

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PSI– The PSI Founder Fellowship (PSIFF) programme provides dedicated support for entrepreneurship and the creation of spin-offs.
Empa– The business incubator glatec supports spin-offs and high-tech start-ups by providing
space, coaching, funding (loan or convertible loan) and access to research groups, experts
and investors. An impressive number of companies was successfully incubated in the last
few years. Examples include Compliant Concept AG, IRsweep AG, Carbo-Link AG, MIRO
Analytical AG, Sympheny AG, and Viboo AG. Many have become established companies or
have been sold to larger corporations. Since 2021, Empa has been partner of Switzerland
Innovation Park Ost.
Eawag
– With support from glatec (joint business incubator with Empa), various spin-off companies
were founded in the areas of sanitation, behavioural change and analytics (biological,
toxicological and gas).
Examples of knowledge transfer to the public sector
ETH Zurich– More than 400 exchanges per year between ETH community members and cantonal,
federal and international policymakers, including support by ETH Zurich scientists for the
Swiss National COVID-19 Science Task Force and the Center for Security Studies (CSS) foranalysis of the war in Ukraine.
– September 2022: establishment of a Science-Policy Interface at ETH Zurich as central pointof contact for inquiries, coordinating activities and supporting researchers in their engagement with policymakers.
EPFL– The Center for Digital Trust (C4DT)48 brings together 20 partners, 37 laboratories, civil society, and policy actors. C4DT is supporting the public sector by acting as an expert and facilitating technology transfer in domains such as privacy protection and security, democracy
and humanitarian assistance and critical infrastructures. EPFL and the Cyber-Defence (CYD)
Campus of Armasuisse have jointly launched the ‘CYD Fellowships – A Talent Program for
Cyber-Defence Research’.
PSI– Support in understanding the mechanisms involved in the spread of COVID-19 throughaerosol dispersion and with accelerating the development of vaccines through the sharingof knowledge about the Sars-CoV-2 pathogen.
– Support with the energy transition via participation in several new project networks (SFOE
SWEET and Innosuisse Flagship).
WSL– Many of WSL’s activities target practitioners in Switzerland at different levels, from the federal to the cantonal and community level, as well as those in the private sector. WSL has
established a relationship of trust with its stakeholders over many years.

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Center for Digital Trust (C4DT)

Specific aspects of the core tasks education, research and KTT

Empa– Demonstrators such as NEST and move enable Empa to attract a large number of visitors(some 12,000 per year).
– During the COVID pandemic, Empa facilitated the development of non-pharmaceuticalmeasures such as textile-based face masks and interlinking industry with academia andregulators to set the European standard for the novel ‘community masks': the Swiss guidance document SNR30000 defining minimum specifications for community masks.
– Empa Academy49 is an established technology transfer platform, also including public
sector representatives.
Eawag– Eawag has long-established collaborations with practitioners in governmentalorganisations and cantonal authorities.
Examples of tasks assigned to the ETH Domain by the Swiss Confederation serving the
economy, society and the protection of the environment 50
ETH Zurich– The Swiss Seismological Service (SED)51 at ETH Zurich is the federal agency for earthquakes.
Its activities are integrated in the federal action plan for earthquake mitigation.
– The Atlas of Switzerland (AdS), developed at ETH Zurich’s Institute of Cartography andGeoinformation, has been the official Swiss national atlas since the Federal Council
decision of 1961. It shows phenomena and structures, as well as processes and changes,
relating to all the various aspects and gives readers access to topics such as society, theeconomy, history, nature and the environment.
– ETH Zurich's Swiss Economic Institute (KOF) provides forecasts and a broad portfolio of indicators which are used to monitor the Swiss economy. In addition, KOF analyses the innovation activities of Swiss companies, publishes studies on the labour market andhealthcare spending, and comments on the latest economic developments.
EPFL– Coordination of several projects financed by the Federal Roads Office to improve theresistance and safety of road structures in Switzerland.
– Launch of several research projects funded by the Federal Office for the Environment on
air and water contamination or climate change policy in Switzerland.
PSI– The Center for Proton Therapy (CPT), together with hospital partners, continuously is
steadily advancing spot-scanning technology. CPT treats over 300 cancer patients per year.
– The Center for Radiopharmaceutical Sciences (CRS), as a joint endeavour between PSI andETH Zurich and in close collaboration with the University Hospital in Zurich, develops radiopharmaceutical agents for targeted cancer diagnosis and therapy.

49

Empa Academy

50

In addition to those already mentioned in the annex to the Strategic Objectives of theFederal Council for the ETH Domain 2021–2024.

51

Swiss Seismological Service (SED)

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WSL– WSL performs several societal tasks in the fields of forest protection, plant health in theforest and avalanche warning.
Empa– Empa supports the Noise Abatement Division of the Federal Office for the Environment invarious research and development projects and service contracts.
Eawag– The Swiss Centre for Applied Ecotoxicology (Ecotox Centre) of Eawag and EPFL detects andassesses the environmental effects of chemicals and develops strategies for minimising theassociated risks.

Key points– Collaboration with industry – through long-term framework agreements, public-private
partnerships, technology transfer centres and dedicated events – is one important elementin knowledge and technology transfer at all institutions of the ETH Domain.
– The ETH Domain institutions partner closely with Swiss-based industries for performing
research in strategically relevant fields. The ETH Domain has a successful track record in
spinning off new ventures from research findings.
– The institutions of the ETH Domain contribute significantly to knowledge transfer to the
public sector at federal, cantonal and local level in Switzerland.
– Serving the economy, society and the protection of the environment, the ETH Domain
performs numerous tasks assigned to it by the Swiss Confederation as well as further tasksof national interest.
– The ETH Domain institutions are (pro)active in communication with stakeholders andsociety, delivering immense know-how and educating large numbers of highly qualified
graduates.

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B
Positioning of the ETH Domain
in relation to future challenges

B.1 The ETH Domain’s structure, organisation, governance and associated locations
Excerpt from the Mandate
Assessment by and considerations of the ETH Board
B.1.1 The ETH Domain’s structure, organisation and governance
Evidence
Facts & Figures
Key points
B.1.2 The ETH Domain institutions’ associated locations
Evidence
Facts & Figures
Key points
Appendix: Strategy on associated locations

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B.2 Identifying the Strategic Areas for 2025–2028
Excerpt from the Mandate
Assessment by and considerations of the ETH Board
Evidence
Key points
Annex: List of persons interviewed in the context of the Foresight Process

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99
104
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B.3 The potential of diversity and respectful working conditions
Excerpt from the Mandate
Assessment by and considerations of the ETH Board
Evidence
Facts & Figures
Key points

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113
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B.4 Future requirements in education and research
Excerpt from the Mandate
Assessment by and considerations of the ETH Board
Evidence
Facts & Figures
Key points

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B.1
The ETH Domain’s structure,organisation, governanceand associated locations
Excerpt from the Mandate“To what extent do its current structure, organisation and governance assist
the ETH Domain to fulfil its mandate effectively and efficiently and to position
itself optimally for the future while still being able to react agilely to changing
conditions and future challenges? Could changes to its structure, organisationand governance bring about improvements from an overall perspective (ETH
Domain, owner)? Are there international examples that – adapted where appropriate – could serve as role models for the ETH Domain? Moreover, is it
clear that the ETH Board strategically plans the national and international locations of the ETH Domain rather than making decisions based on opportunities?”

The chapter is divided into two subchapters: B.1.1 – The ETH Domain’s structure, organisationand governance, and B.1.2 – The ETH Domain institutions’ associated locations.

Positioning of the ETH Domain in relation to future challenges

Assessment by and considerations of the ETH Board
B.1.1 The ETH Domain’s structure, organisation and governance
Assessment: The ETH Domain needs to improve flexibility to respond swiftly to newchallenges. The ETH Board strives to ensure that the ETH Domain is an organisation thatmeets future needs, promotes complementarity as well as collaboration, and benefits
from synergies. The ETH Board is therefore examining whether this objective can be
met with the present structure, or whether an alternative structure would be a better
fit for purpose.

Considerations: The structure, organisation and governance of the ETH Domain has evolved
historically and in line with the needs and developments of education, research andknowledge and technology transfer in order to best serve society and the economy.
– The ETH Domain has shown in the past that it functions well. In view of increasing global
competition and scientific and societal challenges, the higher education sector operates inan environment of continuous change. Thus, the question arises as to what extent thestructure of the ETH Domain is flexible enough to align itself in a timely and optimal manner. The considerations regarding the optimal organisational structure of the ETH Domainbuild on the following key principles:– best serve Switzerland, responding to the needs of society– remain/become highly agile and responsive– be able to adapt quickly to changing environments, new challenges and opportunities,
and increasing complexities– promote synergies and bundle competencies, especially in the Strategic Areas asdefined in the Strategic Plan 2025–2028, and in the development and operation ofresearch infrastructures of the ETH Domain– In the course of reviewing the ETH Domain’s structure in the light of increasing global
competition and scientific and societal challenges, the ETH Board has set out the various
available options. The first step in this process is to develop a common view and evaluate
the initial situation, taking account of the ETH Domain institutions' own priorities.
– The progress of the structural review process for the ETH Domain will be presented to theExpert Committee in March 2023.
B.1.2 The ETH Domain institutions’ associated locations
Assessment: The ETH Board welcomes the fact that the institutions maintain associatedlocations and thereby contribute to regional development and generating synergies. In
the strategy it has developed, it has defined criteria for the establishment, evaluation,
renewal or closure of the locations less than fifteen years old. Not all of these locations
meet the newly defined criteria; decisions regarding the future of these sites will need
to be made.

Considerations: The Strategy for the ETH Domain institutions’ associated locations working
with cantonal or international partners responds to the experts’ recommendation of the 2019
Intermediate Evaluation and the corresponding Strategic Objective 2021–2024 of the Federal
Council for the ETH Domain.
– The Strategy provides the ETH Board and the ETH Domain institutions with guiding principles for strategic decision-making related to associated locations by defining such locations

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Positioning of the ETH Domain in relation to future challenges

and the criteria for opening and closing locations, including approval by the ETH Board,and evaluation processes, as well as internal and external communication.
– The ETH Board expects the institutions to implement the Strategy both for the locations
less than fifteen years old and the potential future associated locations.

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Positioning of the ETH Domain in relation to future challenges

B.1.1

The ETH Domain’s structure, organisationand governance
Evidence
The ETH Domain’s structure
The ETH Domain currently consists of the two Federal Institutes of Technology – ETH Zurichand EPFL – as well as the four research institutes, namely PSI, WSL, Empa and Eawag. Under
the ETH Act, these six institutions are autonomous federal institutions with a legal personality. The Federal Assembly can decide on the creation and abolition of research institutes bymeans of an ordinance. The current structure of the ETH Domain is the result of developments over the past decades. In 1960, the research institutes were an integral part ofETH Zurich. In 1970, they became subsidiary institutes of ETH Zurich. Then finally, in 1992,
the owner decided to make them independent research institutes. This complex system
whereby the six institutions are woven into the ETH Domain has proven very successful; theETH Domain has shown in the past that it functions efficiently and that it is effective. At thesame time, the higher education sector operates in an environment of continuous change
and the ETH Domain’s structure must allow for flexibility in order to align itself in a timely andoptimal manner with changing requirements. Only then will the ETH Domain be able to maintain its very high standards in education, research and innovation for the benefit of Switzerland.
In its strategic objectives for the ETH Domain for the period 2021–2024, the Federal Council
expects the ETH Board to review the ETH Domain’s structure in view of increasing global competition as well as economic and societal challenges. Over the last decades, the ETH Domain
has made organisational adjustments whenever they promised to facilitate and improve its
ability to deliver on its stated mission. It shall continue to do so as necessary and in order toalign with its strategy. Accordingly, the organisational development of the ETH Domain is acentral pillar of the Strategic Plan 2025–2028 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain52.
In the course of reviewing the ETH Domain’s structure in the light of increasing global competition and of scientific and societal challenges, the ETH Board has set out the various available
options. The first step in this process is to develop a common view and evaluation of the initial situation, taking account of the ETH Domain's own priorities. The progress of the structural review process for the ETH Domain will be presented to the Expert Committee in March2023.
In parallel, the ETH Domain is evaluating the future of the strategic initiatives and research
infrastructures that were supported in the past ERI periods. Whether consolidation of suchactivities should take place within the existing Domain structure or whether adjustments tothe current organisation are needed must be determined on a case-by-case basis. Finally, theETH Domain needs to remain responsive to possible initiatives and developments emanatingfrom other parts of the Swiss ERI system, to requests and needs raised by the Swiss Confederation, and to strategic developments that emerge “bottom-up” from within the ETH Domain
and its institutions themselves (such as Joint Initiatives within Strategic Areas, cf. chapter B.2,
or the initiative “ENRICH – Engagement 4RI for Switzerland”, see below).

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Strategic Plan 2025–2028 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain, pages 46-48

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ENRICH – Engagement 4RI for Switzerland
The four ETH Domain research institutes (4 RI) complement ETH Zurich and EPFL and seek tofurther strengthen this complementarity through the bottom-up ENRICH initiative launchedat the beginning of 2021.
ENRICH aims to strengthen the dynamic, mission-oriented collaboration of the 4 RI in the
ETH Domain and with partners from academia, industry, public authorities and society. The
4 RI develop and operate research infrastructures, sensor networks and technology as well as
data and information platforms for this collaboration and for the benefit of Switzerland. The
strengths of the 4 RI are complementary and synergetic to ETH Zurich and EPFL, the cantonal
universities and the universities of applied sciences.
Based on the complementarities of the 4 RI to the outside world and the commonalities
between them, the following concrete collaboration projects have been identified.
"Academy4Four" aims to combine continuing education and training as a joint venture of the
4 RI (as with the joint library service Lib4RI) for both staff and external customers. The scientists of the 4 RI would benefit from a wide range of in-house training in leadership, management, science organisation, scientific integrity, safety, radiation protection, etc. A common
platform of the 4 RI (working title “Lead Campus”, roll-out 2023) will provide customer-oriented, high-quality topic-specific continuing education and training in a highly efficient manner. Employees of the 4 RI as well as external customers will be able to expand their competencies and create added-value both for themselves and for their institute or company.
"Swiss Sensor Net" aims to strengthen the joint position of the 4 RI in the field of sensor application and development and to increase the corresponding visibility of the 4 RI in this field.
It enables faster progress in sensor application through joint projects and promotes the development of advanced sensor technologies by bringing sensor developers and sensor users
directly together. Activities include a "marketplace" where developers (mainly PSI and Empa)
and users (Eawag and WSL) meet, and two subgroups on data management and low-power
sensor networks.
"Net Zero" aims to combine the skills and capacities of the 4 RI to develop solutions for transforming our society towards net zero CO2 emissions. It facilitates a common vision and provides additional momentum for research and technology transfer. "Net Zero" enables the 4 RI
to efficiently exchange knowledge and to pool competencies and common interests, includingin their offer to collaborate with partners outside the ETH Domain or with the two Federal Institutes of Technology (especially, but not exclusively, in the framework of the Strategic Areas"Energy, Climate and Environmental Sustainability " and "Engagement and Dialogue with Society").
ENRICH is an important strategic collaboration initiative at top management level and has
also led to common positions of the 4 RI on topics such as "Data", "Health", "Strategic Staffing", which are relevant not only for the 4 RI, but for the entire ETH Domain.

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Positioning of the ETH Domain in relation to future challenges

Facts & Figures
The strong ties within and beyond the ETH Domain in education and research are reflected,
among other things, in the joint professors and senior lecturers between the institutions(cf. figure 13).
Figure 13: Joint professors and senior lecturers between the research institutes andETH Zurich or EPFL and other Swiss and international universities

Figure 13 presents all joint professors (full, associate, assistant, adjunct) and senior lecturers(including only Privatdocents at Empa) between the research institutes and ETH Zurich and
EPFL and other Swiss and international universities as of December 2021 (in headcounts). The
directors of the research institutes are joint professors at ETH Zurich and EPFL and thus
counted at each school.
There are 86 joint professors and 17 senior lecturers between the research institutes andETH Zurich and EPFL. Between the research institutes and other Swiss universities, universities of applied sciences and international universities, there are 72 professors and 11 seniorlecturers.

Key points– The structure, organisation and governance of the ETH Domain evolved historically andwas shown to function efficiently and be effective.
– This structure is reviewed in the light of increasing global competition and of scientific andsocietal challenges.
– The progress of the structural review process will be presented to the Expert Committee inMarch 2023.
– The bottom-up ENRICH initiative launched by the four research institutes (4 RI) in 2021
strengthens the dynamic, mission-oriented collaboration of the 4 RI in the ETH Domain
and with partners from academia, industry, public authorities and society.

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B.1.2 The ETH Domain institutions’ associated locations
Evidence
Over the past fifteen years, the ETH Domain – mainly EPFL and ETH Zurich – has developed
long-term partnerships with several Cantons and with government authorities abroad. In thiscontext, ETH Zurich and EPFL have established a durable and sizeable academic presence andactivity at the respective sites. These associated cantonal or international locations are an integral part of the academic strategy of their parent institution, namely the six institutions of
the ETH Domain, and contribute to the strength and positioning of the ETH Domain.
Based on the recommendations of the experts of the 2019 Intermediate Evaluation, the Federal Council formulated a mandate to develop a strategy for cooperation and locations of theentire ETH Domain in its Strategic Objectives for the ETH Domain for the period 2021–2024,
specifically “the Federal Council expects the ETH Domain to develop a strategy for brancheswith cantonal or international partners, and to evaluate the existing facilities periodically”(sub-objective 5.6).
Mandate of the ETH Board for a strategy
To achieve the objective of the Federal Council, at its meeting of 19/20 May 2021 theETH Board mandated the institutions to constitute a working group charged to develop a
coherent strategy for the cantonal/regional and international presence of the ETH Domain.
The working group submitted the “Strategy for ETH Domain institutions’ associated locations,working with cantonal or international partners” (thereafter: “strategy on associated locations”) for a first reading at the ETH Board meeting of 8/9 December 2021 and – after an internal consultation in the ETH Domain – for a second reading at the ETH Board meeting of
18/19 May 2022 at which the ETH Board adopted the strategy53.
Main outcomes and conclusions of the strategy on associated locations
The strategy on associated locations responds to the Strategic Objectives of the Federal
Council for the ERI period 2021–2024 and also provides an exhaustive response to the respective recommendation of the 2019 Intermediate Evaluation. The contributions of the strategy
on associated locations are multiple.
The strategy defines the “associated locations” within and outside Switzerland.
Within Switzerland, a location of the ETH Domain has the following characteristics:– a durable physical representation of the parent institution in addition to its main location;– the need and existence of a local operational management;– full academic and administrative subordination to the parent institution;– a separate financial management for reporting purposes, consolidated with that of theparent institution;– the operation under the name and brand of the parent institution.
Outside Switzerland, an (international) location also presents the following aspects:– a legal structure compatible with the Swiss legislation and approved by the ETH Board;– the possibility to enter into contracts locally (regarding employment, insurance, etc.).

53

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Strategy for ETH Domain institutions’ associated locations working with cantonal orinternational partners

Positioning of the ETH Domain in relation to future challenges

The strategy on associated locations indicates the processes and criteria for the opening(and closing) of associated locations, which refer to:– academic considerations;– the structure (name, agreement, and duration of a location);– the management (own management and management in relation with the parent
institution);– finance and infrastructure (ownership, financial plan, infrastructure costs);– the environment and partners (legal and standard aspects).
As a corollary to these criteria, the strategy aims to systematically provide advance information at the Domain-level for strategic discussions at the ETH Board level to ensure timely
decisions before opening (and closing) an associated location.
The processes for periodic evaluations are also defined by the strategy. The latter recommends 2-3 evaluations over the first 6-year initial phase, followed by evaluations of thelocation by the parent institution at regular intervals and with reporting to the ETH Board.
The strategy also includes specific evaluations of the location, e.g. in the context of contract
renewal and including analysis of real estate or risk analysis when needed.
The strategy on associated locations emphasises the importance of good communication
both internally, i.e. within the institutions and by the ETH Board, as well as externally, i.e.
to a broad public.
Further information is available in the Executive Summary of the strategy on associatedlocations drawn up by the working group (updated June 2022) (cf. Appendix B.1.2).
Development after the publication of the strategy
The associated location EPFL Middle East was closed as of 30 September 202254. The
ETH Board was informed in advance at its meeting of 18/19 May 2022 of the planned closureof EPFL Middle East due to the fact that no new partnership agreement between the United
Arab Emirates and EPFL could be concluded.

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EPFL news 30 September 2022: EPFL center in Ras Al Khaimah closes after a successful 13
years

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Positioning of the ETH Domain in relation to future challenges

Facts & Figures
The ETH Domain institutions are present in thirteen cantons and currently operate twelve associated locations in Switzerland, in addition to the main location of the parent institutions(cf. chapter “Introduction”, figure 2). The strategy on associated locations focuses on the fivecantonal associated locations which are less than fifteen years old as well as the international
associated location(s) listed below55.
Cantonal associated locations:– Basel (ETH Zurich, Basel Campus)– Geneva (EPFL Geneva)– Neuchâtel (EPFL Neuchâtel)– Fribourg (EPFL Fribourg)– Sion (EPFL Valais-Wallis, which includes Empa-Sion)
International associated locations:– Singapore (ETH Zurich, Singapore-ETH Centre (SEC))– United Arab Emirates (EPFL Middle East) (closed as of 30 September 2022)

Key points
The strategy on associated locations led to five key outcomes:– a definition of associated locations;– clear criteria for opening (and closing) associated locations;– the duty of pre-information at the ETH Domain level and approval by the ETH Board before
opening (and closing) an associated location;– a process for periodic evaluations of each associated location, with an adjustablefrequency according to the need;– the need to improve internal and external communication about the associated locations.

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The other cantonal associated locations were established earlier; i.e. Eawag
Kastanienbaum (1960), the WSL locations Davos, Cadenazzo, Lausanne, Sion, and ETH
Zurich Lugano (CSCS) were established between 1989 and 1995.

Positioning of the ETH Domain in relation to future challenges

Appendix: Strategy on associated locations
Executive summary (updated Version, June 2022)
Strategy for ETH Domain institutions’ associated locations, working with cantonal or international partners
Over the past fifteen years, the ETH Domain — mainly EPFL and ETH Zurich — has developed
long-term partnerships with several Cantons and with government authorities abroad. In thiscontext, ETH Zurich and EPFL have established a durable and sizeable academic presence andactivity at the respective sites. Although geographically remote, these associated cantonal orinternational locations are an integral part of the academic strategy of their parent institution
and contribute to the strength and positioning of the ETH Domain.
A distinction is made between associated locations that have emerged in the past fifteen
years and have a “campus-like” form and other locations not included in this mandate,
which have been designed with specific missions. Under this mandate and unless specified
differently in the text, an associated location (hereafter simply referred to as location — orlocations) is a durable local presence of an institution outside of its headquarters that hosts
academic units consisting of professors, scientists, doctoral students, technical and administrative staff. These units carry out research, education and innovation activities on site and incoordination with the parent institution. With its own local operational and financial management, each location acts under the name, academic supervision and administrative authorityof its parent institution. Experience has shown that such a location should at least achieve thecritical mass of an institute with 10 or more research laboratories (around 200 people ormore) to enable a material and intellectual community on site. Achieving critical mass is a
key-factor to ensure the long-term success of the location and to reduce the risk of isolationthat might otherwise exist due to the geographical distance from the headquarters of theparent institution.
The rationale for the existence of a location is based on the alignment with the parent institution’s academic missions and goals. It rests on expected and confirmed long-term opportunities for all the partners involved, with a research focus on global and national challenges thatcan be better addressed locally. There are currently seven main locations, all of which present
academic complementarity within the ETH Domain activities at the national or international
level respectively 56,57. They play a key role in positioning the ETH Domain nationally and globally, in enhancing technology transfer, in attracting and nurturing talent and in the transfer ofknowledge. These locations operate mainly in facilities provided by the local partners, which
will represent over 61,000 m2 by 2024. This enables the parent institutions to concentrate theuse of federal resources efficiently on their core academic missions. Moreover, the two international locations operate predominantly or entirely with local resources including government and third-party funds, both in terms of infrastructure (3,100 m2) and operating costs(CHF 273m over the years 2009–2024).

56

Cantonal locations are: Basel (ETH Zurich, Basel Campus), Geneva (EPFL Geneva),
Neuchâtel (EPFL Neuchâtel), Fribourg (EPFL Fribourg), Sion (EPFL Valais-Wallis,
which includes Empa-Sion)

57

International locations are: Singapore-ETH Zurich Centre (SEC), United Arab Emirates(EPFL Middle East)

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Positioning of the ETH Domain in relation to future challenges

Currently, the seven locations are home to more than 1,200 researchers and staff from theETH Domain, soon to grow to nearly 1600, and have already produced a significant body ofresearch outcomes and numerous technology transfers. They represent a global investmentof about CHF 2.8bn, with contributions from the respective local partners (22%), third-party
competitive funds (23%) and the ETH Domain (55%). In general, the locations do not represent an additional investment for the parent institutions, rather a delocalization of activities
that are amplified by local investments. Federal budget invested in the locations since theirrespective inceptions, between 2007 and 2024, amounts to CHF 1.55bn. This number is estimated to be on the order of 4% of the total ETH Domain funds (CHF 40 bn) for that same
period. An input-output review of the locations shows that the impact of the locations is substantial in terms of scientific outcomes, innovation and economic development.
A location can be set up on the basis of a federal mandate or a decision by the parent institution based on an opportunity identified with the local partners and the ETH Domain. Basedon the definition, a common set of criteria is put forward that qualifies a location and guides
the assessment of the feasibility, viability and sustainability of a location. Thereby, cantonal
and international locations are dealt within a single strategy as they are both constituted
according to the same criteria, with adjustments where needed. These criteria cover all the
aspects of the planned activity and include:– academic strategy and complementarity;– scope and opportunities;– local environment and partners;– intellectual property;– structure;– management principles;– political, legal, financial and infrastructure conditions.
An opportunity-risk analysis is an integral part of the decision-making process at the institutional, ETH-Board and federal level. At the end of this executive summary the definitions,
governance processes and criteria that qualify a location are presented.
The seven locations included in this mandate were examined alongside a review of previous
proceedings of the ETH Board on locations. Although not always formalized at the level of theETH Board, the criteria and good practices summarized in this document were generally
found to be already in place and implemented by the parent institutions when planning thecreation of a new location. The review also shows that opportunities and challenges wereappropriately identified prior to inception as the development of these locations has alreadystarted to produce the expected long-term benefits in strategic areas of national and global
importance. Examples of such areas are energy, sustainability, smart living and urban environments, systems biology, neuro- and brain sciences, and microengineering.
The review further shows that the existing risk management plans are effective and that thefinancial and infrastructure risks at the locations are under control, a common scenario when
the local partners are responsible for the infrastructure. The current locations have reachedor will soon reach a mature stage, and their respective renewals are all supported by the local
partners and by the respective parent institutions. This is a sign that their inceptions haveseized relevant development opportunities for all parties involved and were not just opportunistic in nature. Finally, it should be noted that locations may take different forms, both intheir organization and in their relationship with their respective parent institutions. For example, an entire institute or department (like ETH Zurich Basel campus, home to the D-BSSE), an90

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extension of a department or school (like EPFL Fribourg or EPFL Neuchâtel), or a thematicallycoordinated or multidisciplinary emanation of several departments or schools (like EPFL
Valais-Wallis, EPFL Geneva or the two international locations).
These different forms are governed by institutional strategy and build on the strengths of theparent institutions. They also offer the ETH Domain the agility needed to optimize the collaborations with the local partners.
This review also results in three recommendations for improving governance at the institutional and ETH Board level:– it is in the autonomy of the parent institutions to incept, renew or close locations, andlead the process. But they need to systematically provide advance information for strategic
discussions at the ETH Board level to ensure timely decisions;– two to three formal evaluations should take place during the initial six years of existence ofa location; after this initial phase, the ETH Board and the parent institution should decide
on a regular evaluation schedule, commensurable with the size, scope and age of the location;– the parent institutions and the ETH Board should enhance their internal, public and political communication with respect to the benefits and impact of the locations for the
ETH Domain and for Switzerland.
Definition of a location

Definition
Within Switzerland, a location of the ETH Domain has these characteristics:– a durable physical representation of the parent institution outside of its headquarters;– the need (and existence) of a local operational management;– full academic and administrative subordination to the parent institution;– a separate financial management for reporting purposes, consolidated with that of theparent institution;– the location operates under the name and brand of its parent institution.
Outside Switzerland, a location (international) also verifies the following:– a legal structure compatible with the Swiss legislation and approved by the ETH Board;– the possibility to enter contracts locally (employment, insurance, other).

Governance

Governance and decision-making process
The location can be established or maintained based on and/or as a result of– a federal decision, in consultation with the parent institution and the ETH Board;-ora decision by the parent institution, with the prior approval of the ETH Board;– a necessary positive multidimensional opportunity/risk analysis;– compliance with federal regulations (ETH Board, Bundesamt für Bauten und Logistik
BBL/Office fédéral des constructions et de la logistique OFCL) for real estate, where
needed.
Formal contracts proposals and revisions for approvals by the ETH Board are– submitted in their final form by the parent institution 3 months before the date ofdecision;– reviewed by the Owner of the ETH Domain at the request of the ETH Board.

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Positioning of the ETH Domain in relation to future challenges

Communication– Regular communication by the ETH Board and the parent institutions to the involved
governments and to the general public on the benefits, impact and resources invested.
Evaluations
Ongoing evaluations of the location by the parent institution– comprise 2-3 evaluations over the first 6-year initial phase, extendable by the ETH Board;– follow a regular calendar and mode of evaluation after the initial phase, according to aschedule agreed upon between the ETH Board and the parent institution;– are regularly communicated to the ETH Board for information.
Specific evaluations of the location (e.g., in the context of contract renewal)– take place at the time of the review to decide on the renewing of a contract;– take place as ad hoc evaluations, if necessary or as required by the contract;– take the form of reports and peer-review evaluations;– include an analysis of the value of the location to the parent institution, and of its
management;– include an analysis of the real estate when a new building is needed;– present updated opportunity and risk analyses.
Criteria

Academics
The location presents– a distinct contribution to the missions and goals of the parent institution;– coherence with the parent institution’s strategy;– a focus on global and national challenges that are better addressed at the location;– complementarity within the parent institution and the ETH Domain;– complementarity in the local/regional context (academic, economic);– improved positioning of the parent institution, the ETH Domain, and Switzerland;– a critical mass that ensures success, national and international competitiveness.
Structure
The location exists– under the parent institution’s own name and brand;– by means of a renewable long-term agreement if the location is in Switzerland;– by an agreement of 5+ years, renewable if it is an international location;– for a duration commensurable with the activity (e.g. full-chair lifetime in cantonallocations).
Management
The location operates– within the autonomy and under the management authority of the parent institution;– with full academic independence from local partners;– with its own local management, organized and steered by the parent institution;– with regular performance reviews by the parent institution, discussed at the ETH Board;– with transparency and full disclosure (academic, financial, operational) to the ETH Board.
Finance and infrastructure
The parent institution must– document the total cost of ownership over the planned lifetime of the location;– provide a financial plan that includes all contributions over the lifetime of the location;

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Positioning of the ETH Domain in relation to future challenges– preferably not carry the infrastructure costs at the location (CAPEX or OPEX);– preserve the institutional budgets to fulfil its core mission;– make commitments commensurate with the expected lifetime of the location;– establish a contingency plan in the event that the location has to reduce or cease its
activity;– have a fall-back strategy that includes financial and infrastructure aspects.
Environment and partners
In general, the environment at the location presents– reputable local partners who participate operationally;– positive long-term relationships with local government, academia and industry;– standards for ethics, academic integrity and IP practices compatible with theETH Domain’s.
Particularly for international locations, the environment presents– a general context of societal and human values compatible with those of Switzerland;– the required stability (geopolitics, security and context, access to healthcare);– a legal framework compatible with the operations of the parent institution at the location;– an official representation of Switzerland in that country;– a history of positive bilateral relations with Switzerland (political and economic).
Main observations andrecommendations

Main observations
The review of all the locations in the scope of this mandate indicates that– the strategy of the institutions does drive the existence of their respective locations;– opportunities identified earlier fulfil their expected potential;– strategic decisions were well-guided;– governance processes at institutional and ETH Board levels were adequate in termsof criteria, planning, risk management, implementation;– critical mass for a (campus-like) location is at least 10+ laboratories/200+ people,
to create a local intellectual and material community.
Recommendations
The document puts forward the following main recommendations:– the parent institutions are autonomous and lead the process, but should systematicallyprovide advance information to the ETH Board to ensure timely decisions;– evaluations should follow the schedule defined under Governance (see above);– enhanced communication is needed by the parent institutions and the ETH Board internally as well as to government(s) and to the general public, regarding resources, benefit
and impact for society.

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B.2
Identifying the Strategic Areasfor 2025–2028

Excerpt from the Mandate“To what extent has the ETH Board correctly set the focus in its Strategic Planfor the ETH Domain 2025–2028, so that the ETH Domain can continue tomake significant contributions to managing the most urgent challenges facing
science, the economy and society? Have any important developments notbeen taken into account? Does the ETH Board’s strategic planning fulfil thecorresponding EAER/SERI mandate dated 15 June 2021 (including planning in
scenarios with prioritisations)?”

Positioning of the ETH Domain in relation to future challenges

Assessment by and considerations of the ETH Board
Assessment: The five Strategic Areas defined by the ETH Board for the period 2025–
2028 respond to global challenges of particular societal importance and fit well withthe strengths of the ETH Domain institutions. They will require increased cooperation
with other institutions inside and outside of academia. Basic research and technologicaldevelopment are crucial not only for the Strategic Areas but for the long-term successof all the ETH Domain's activities. The ETH Domain’s strength in fundamental discovery
science must therefore be upheld.

Considerations: The following five Strategic Areas identified in the strategic planning processof the ETH Board together with the ETH Domain institutions aim to respond to global
challenges which are of particular societal importance.
– Human Health– Energy, Climate and Environmental Sustainability– Responsible Digital Transformation– Advanced Materials and Key Technologies– Engagement and Dialogue with Society– The institutions of the ETH Domain are well positioned to have a particularly strong
impact in all five Strategic Areas – on their own as well as through cooperation within
the ETH Domain and beyond.
– Two complementary processes have helped the ETH Board to identify these Strategic
Areas: on one hand, a foresight process to identify a set of global challenges based on inputs from internal and external stakeholders; and, on the other hand, bottom-up inputs
from the ETH Domain institutions.
– The ETH Board emphasises the importance of fundamental discovery science as a cornerstone of all institutions’ activities and as an essential element spanning all five Strategic
Areas. Scientific advances and solutions are able to address global challenges thanks toknowledge previously acquired through fundamental and applied research as well as thedevelopment of novel methodologies and technologies.
– The Strategic Areas are addressed through existing or new activities at the level of the individual institutions and with Joint Initiatives at the ETH Domain level to promote collaboration within the ETH Domain. Further information about the concretisation of the Strategic
Areas will be available in March 2023.
– The ETH Domain continues to devote adequate resources to conceptualising, developing,
operating and upgrading large-scale research infrastructures and platforms of national andinternational importance.
– The ETH Domain actively participates and contributes to the coordination of research infrastructures through the process of the Swiss Roadmap for Research Infrastructures 2023
(in view of the ERI Dispatch 2025–2028).
– The ETH Board accords priority to selected large-scale research infrastructures basedon strategic considerations and on an evaluation of their scientific quality, feasibility andfinancing. The ETH Board decided to support six large-scale research infrastructures forthe period 2025–2028.

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Positioning of the ETH Domain in relation to future challenges– In its Strategic Plan 2025–2028 for the ETH Domain, the ETH Board has taken into
account the transversal themes that are foreseen for the ERI Dispatch 2025–2028,
the core challenges identified for the entire ERI sector and the three financial scenarios
as mandated by the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research(EAER) and the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).
– The ETH Board is convinced that the focus of the Strategic Plan 2025–2028 provided
a good basis for the corresponding section of the ERI Dispatch 2025–2028.

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Positioning of the ETH Domain in relation to future challenges

Evidence
The ETH Domain aims to be internationally competitive and to serve Switzerland by addressing important challenges in the context of education, research and innovation. In its Strategic
Plan 2025–2028 for the ETH Domain, the ETH Board identified a set of measures in thecontext of its core and its key transversal tasks as the basis for achieving excellence ineducation, research, and knowledge and technology transfer (KTT). The Strategic Plan also
addresses the long-term organisational development of the ETH Domain as a whole. For theperiod 2025–2028, the ETH Board has prioritised five Strategic Areas to respond to the mostpressing global challenges. This chapter focuses on the processes adopted to identify the five
Strategic Areas of the ETH Domain and the large-scale research infrastructures included in theStrategic Plan 2025–2028 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain.
Strategic Areas
For the period 2025–2028, the ETH Board used a selection process (see below) to identify five
Strategic Areas of particular societal importance where the institutions of the ETH Domain
are well positioned to have a strong scientific – and also political and economic – impact on
their own, as well as through cooperation within the ETH Domain and beyond58:– Human Health– Energy, Climate and Environmental Sustainability– Responsible Digital Transformation– Advanced Materials and Key Technologies– Engagement and Dialogue with Society
These Strategic Areas relate to the Strategic Focus Areas (SFAs)59 and the Thematic Focus60
that the ETH Board specified in its Strategic Planning 2021–2024 for the ETH Domain. The
Strategic Areas go well beyond the SFAs and the Thematic Focus as they may encompass
educational, research and innovation activities with a focus on the needs of society. Besidethese Strategic Areas, the ETH Board and the ETH Domain institutions emphasise the generalimportance of Fundamental Discovery Science as the cornerstone of all the ETH Domain
institutions’ research activities.
The five Strategic Areas of the ETH Domain 2025–2028 aim to respond to some of the mostpressing global challenges facing Swiss society in particular and for which the ETH Domain
institutions are well positioned to have a strong impact – on their own as well as through cooperation with the ETH Domain and beyond. They are implemented either through existing or
new teaching, research and KTT activities at the level of the institutions, or through Joint Initiatives between institutions at the level of the ETH Domain. Joint Initiatives are large, timelimited collaborative initiatives that include at least two ETH Domain institutions (and external partners if appropriate). The activities and the Joint Initiatives cover the whole spectrumof the ETH Domain’s tasks according to the ETH Act – from education to research to KTT – andmay span several Strategic Areas. With the Joint Initiatives, the ETH Board has thus createdthe possibility of swiftly addressing upcoming issues and challenges in and between theidentified Strategic Areas.

58

For the detailed description of the Strategic Areas, see Strategic Plan 2025–2028 of theETH Board for the ETH Domain, pages 16-25

59

Personalized Health and Related Technologies (PHRT), Data Science, and Advanced
Manufacturing (AM)60

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Positioning of the ETH Domain in relation to future challenges

While the ETH Board decided to finance the SFAs for two ERI periods (2017–2020 and
2021–2024) but not beyond — consideration on their future have also been included in theStrategic Plan 2025–202861 — it decided to adopt a new process for identifying its strategicorientations for the ERI period 2025–2028. The new process also aims to ensure that theStrategic Areas receive the necessary institutional, political and financial support.
More specifically, the Strategic Areas for the period 2025–2028 differ from the SFAs for theperiod 2021–2024 on two central points: (i) in their funding scheme and (ii) in their governance. In the case of SFAs, the ETH Board reserved four years of funding for each of the threefocus areas in its Strategic Planning 2021–2024. Distinct committees manage each SFA anddecide how to attribute funding to projects and activities. On the other hand, activities andinitiatives within the Strategic Areas for the period 2025–2028 are funded through the basebudget of the institutions for initiatives carried out individually by ETH Domain institutions.
The ETH Board also reserved funds to finance Joint Initiatives (see above) to encourage synergies between the institutions within Strategic Areas. In this case, funds are allocated on acompetitive basis through specific calls for each Strategic Area. To maximise efficiency, asingle Steering Committee manages the Joint Initiatives in the five Strategic Areas.
The identification of the five Strategic Areas for 2025–2028 was supported by two parallel
processes: (1) the identification of global challenges in the context of education, research andinnovation through a foresight process (top-down approach); and (2) the identification ofcurrent and future activities of strategic importance in the ETH Domain institutions (bottomup approach). The diagram below (figure 14) depicts the two approaches for the definition ofStrategic Areas.

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Strategic Plan 2025–2028 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain, pages 47-48

Positioning of the ETH Domain in relation to future challenges

Figure 14: Framework for Strategic Areas and Joint Initiatives(1) Foresight Process: Identification of global challenges
In order to identify global challenges of particular importance for society in the context of
education, research and innovation in the period leading up to 2030, a foresight process was
carried out. In the first phase of the process, the outside view of national and international
stakeholders external to the ETH Domain was collected through individual interviews. Stakeholders were chosen based on their backgrounds and expertise spanning the areas of science, technology, economy, environment and politics62, 63.
In a second phase, the main results of the interviews served as a basis for the ETH Board andthe directors of the research institutes to formulate the main global societal challenges forthe period to 2030 where the ETH Domain is particularly well positioned to contribute tosolutions. Six global challenges were identified64:– Encouraging and ensuring scientific excellence in an increasingly complex world– Strengthening the dialogue between science and society for more inclusive and ethicaldecision-making– Generating comprehensive environmental and societal knowledge and working towards
a positive environmental impact– Enabling access to a global and inclusive education– Accelerating technology for the benefit of people and the planet

62

The stakeholders are listed in the annex to this chapter,

63

For more details about the foresight process, please see document “Summary report ofstrategic foresight project to identify key contextual challenges for the ETH Domain andinform the Strategic Planning 2025–2028 of the ETH Board”, Arup + Future Impacts, June
2021.

64

For the definition of the six identified challenges, see Strategic Plan 2025–2028 of the ETH
Board for the ETH Domain, pages 9-10

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Positioning of the ETH Domain in relation to future challenges– Promoting, enabling and practising new forms of employment(2) Bottom-up approach: Inputs from the institutions
Parallel to the foresight process, the institutions of the ETH Domain were asked to identify
Strategic Areas that are or will be of high societal importance and address challenges where
they can have a particularly strong impact, either on their own or jointly. The proposition ofStrategic Areas by the institutions had to go beyond their development plans 2021–2024 inaddressing challenges. To support their propositions, the institutions drafted 24 potential
Joint Initiatives, serving as non-binding examples illustrating their common strategic interests.
Based on these drafts, the institutions proposed and further consolidated five Strategic Areas.
In light of the global challenges identified through the foresight process and the aforementioned Strategic Area propositions, the ETH Board defined the five Strategic Areas for the ERI
period 2025–2028. To ensure the conceptual link between the Strategic Plan 2025–2028 of
the ETH Board for the ETH Domain and its implementation in their Development Plans 2025–
2028, the institutions jointly develop “Action Plans” for each Strategic Areas that include (butare not limited to) the Joint Initiatives. They also develop a “Foundation” document whichfeatures Fundamental Discovery Science and addresses the foundational, transversal role ofdiscovery science. One aspect is the importance and role of building and maintaining largescale research infrastructure to enable cutting-edge research.
Large-scale research infrastructures
Similar to the Strategic Areas, large-scale research infrastructures represent an importantfocus of the Strategic Plan 2025–2028 of the ETH Board. The ETH Domain conceptualises,
develops and operates a portfolio of large-scale research infrastructures and platforms thatoffer unique resources and services for research communities within the higher education
sector in Switzerland and abroad, and for industry users.
The ETH Domain contributes to the coordination of large-scale research infrastructures at thenational level by participating to the Swiss Roadmap 2023 process led by the State Secretariat
for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI)65.
In its Strategic Plan 2025–2028, the ETH Board accords strategic priority to selected largescale research infrastructures that were submitted to the Swiss Roadmap 2023 process66.
Following the scientific evaluation of the proposed projects by the Swiss National Science
Foundation (SNSF) and the evaluation of their feasibility and financing, the ETH Board prioritised the research infrastructures for the period 2025–2028 as follows.
The six research infrastructure projects rated “A” (high scientific quality/excellence) by the
SNSF’s scientific evaluation are selected for inclusion in the Swiss Roadmap for Research Infrastructures 202367.

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65

For more detailed information on the Roadmap process see Swiss Roadmap for Research
Infrastructures

66

Strategic Plan 2025-2028 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain, pages 33-36

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The eight research infrastructure projects submitted by the ETH Domain institutions to theRoadmap process were rated highly by SNSF’s scientific evaluation (six A- and two Bratings).

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Substantial upgrades of existing research infrastructures– Swiss Data Science Center (SDSC+), EPFL, ETH Zurich, PSI– Sustained Scientific User Laboratory for Simulation and Data-based Science at CSCS
(HPCN-28), ETH Zurich– Swiss Fusion Hub, EPFL
– Isotope and Muon Production using Advanced Cyclotron and Target Technologies(IMPACT), PSI in collaboration with University of Zurich
New research infrastructures– EM-Frontiers, EPFL, ETH Zurich, PSI, Empa in collaboration with Universities of Lausanne,
Basel, Bern and Geneva– Swiss Biosites for Sustainable Agriculture and Agroecology (SISAL), ETH Zurich, WSL, Empa,
Eawag, EPFL
Substantial upgrades of existing research infrastructures are given higher priority than investments in new research infrastructure projects. The implementation and the financing of theresearch infrastructure projects will be commensurate with the budget granted by the Swiss
Confederation to the ETH Domain for the period 2025–2028. The ETH Board foresees earmarking 3-5% of the requested financial contribution 2025–2028 for Joint Initiatives within
the Strategic Areas and large-scale research infrastructures68. Thus, different financial scenarios69 are considered and the ETH Board will decide on the implementation and financing of
the research infrastructures in March 2024, i.e. when the payment framework 2025–2028
for the ETH Domain, as per the Federal Council’s request to Parliament in the ERI Dispatch
2025–2028, will be known.
Compliance of the Strategic Plan 2025–2028 with the mandate
The Strategic Plan 2025–2028 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain informs, among otherdocuments, the elaboration of the dispatch for the promotion of Education, Research andInnovation (ERI Dispatch) and the strategic objectives of the Federal Council for the ETH
Domain for the same period. In this context, the ETH Board has been mandated by the State
Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) to take into account the four transversal themes that are foreseen for the ERI Dispatch 2025–2028 (digitalisation/sustainable
development/equity/national and international cooperation) when elaborating its Strategic
Plan 2025–2028 for the ETH Domain. The ETH Board was also requested to prepare its Strategic Plan according to three financial scenarios and address three core challenges identified forthe entire ERI sector (long-term consequences and lessons of the COVID-19 crisis/improving
effectiveness and efficiency/taking account of the findings of the intermediated evaluation of
the ETH Domain).
The details of how this mandate was fulfilled are outlined in the Strategic Plan 2025–2028 of
the ETH Board for the ETH Domain70.

68

Strategic Plan 2025–2028 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain, page 49

69

Strategic Plan 2025–2028 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain, pages 53-54

70

Strategic Plan 2025–2028 of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain, pages 55-58

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Positioning of the ETH Domain in relation to future challenges

Key points– For the period 2025–2028, the ETH Board identified five Strategic Areas of particularsocietal importance: “Human Health”, “Energy, Climate and Environmental Sustainability”,“Responsible Digital Transformation”, “Advanced Materials and Key Technologies”,“Engagement and Dialogue with Society”.
– The identification of the Strategic Areas was supported by two parallel processes:– A foresight process to identify “Global Challenges” involving stakeholders external andinternal to the ETH Domain– A bottom-up process to identify current and future activities of strategic importance in
the institutions of the ETH Domain– Through the Joint initiatives within and between the Strategic Areas, the ETH Board
has adopted a system that allows agile and appropriate responses to future issues andchallenges for Switzerland.
– Large-scale research infrastructures are an important focus of the Strategic Plan
2025–2028 of the ETH Board. Based on strategic considerations and the evaluation of
the scientific quality as well as the evaluation of the feasibility and the financial scheme,
the ETH Board decided to support six large-scale research infrastructures for the period
2025–2028.
– The implementation of the mandate given by SERI to the ETH Board to develop its strategicplan is described in detail in the Strategic Plan 2025–2028 for the ETH Domain, pages 5558.

Annex: List of persons interviewed
in the context of the Foresight Process
Karl-Heinz Bauer (Chief Technological Officer, Schindler Group), Katja Becker (President,
German Research Foundation), Stefanie Bosshard (Director, Dachverband Schweizer Jugendparlament), Martin Bosshardt (Chief Executive Officer, Anapaya Systems), Martin Dahinden(former Ambassador of Switzerland to the United States), Mauro Dell’Ambrogio (former State
Secretary for Education, Research and Innovation), Karin Frick (Head, Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute), Peter Grünenfelder (Director, Avenir Suisse), Servan Grüninger (President, Reatch!),Hans Gut (former President, Careum Stiftung), Cynthia Hansen (Head, Adecco Group Foundation), Fabienne Hoelzel (Founder/Head, Fabulous Urban), Urs Hölzle (Senior VP for Technology Infrastructure, Google), Jennifer Jordan (Professor, IMD), Beat Kappeler (economics commentator), Kenneth Lee (Senior Partner, VisVire New Protein), Felix Meier (Executive Director,
PUSCH), Rudolf Minsch (Head Economist, Economiesuisse), Bruno Oberle (Director General,
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)), Andrea Pfeiffer (Founder/CEO, AC
Immune SA), Jeannine Pilloud (Chief Executive Officer, Ascom Holding AG), Georg Polzer(Head of Strategy, Teralytics AG), Philipp Rösler (Chief Executive Officer Concessor AG, Former
Managing Director at WEF, Former Minister for Economy and Technology and Vice-Chancellorof Germany), Ursula Schneider Schüttel (parliamentarian, Swiss National Council), Stephan
Sigrist (Founder/Head, W.I.R.E), Thomas Stocker (Professor of Climate and Environmental
Physics, University of Bern), Sabine Süsstrunk (President, Swiss Science Council)(Affiliations at the time of the interviews)

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B.3
The potential of diversity andrespectful working conditions

Excerpt from the Mandate“Diversity, with particular regard to the international aspect, is one of the ETH
Domain’s strengths, as well as a challenge. Is the potential of diversity used in
the best way while ensuring that individuals are treated respectfully and without discrimination at all times?
The specific matter of the proportion of women in teaching and research andparticularly in management positions and decision-making bodies, is addressed specifically by the Federal Council in its Strategic Objectives for the
ETH Domain 2021–2024. Is the ETH Domain applying the right strategies to increase the proportion of women in line with what is expected of it? Is there
potential for improvement and are there international best practices that
could be adopted?”Positioning of the ETH Domain in relation to future challenges

Assessment by and considerations of the ETH Board
Assessment: The ETH Board welcomes the efforts of the institutions to constantly
improve their offering with respect to learning, teaching and working conditions thatenable their students and employees to achieve their full potential. Furthermore, theETH Board encourages the institutions to further strengthen their initiatives to improveand promote diversity and inclusion. These initiatives have started bearing fruit. The
institutions have in some cases already met their targets in respect of female appointments to leadership positions. However, success is unevenly distributed and continued
efforts are still needed.

Considerations: The ETH Domain institutions strive to foster diversity among students andemployees by applying appropriate strategies and measures. Inclusion is recognised as key tofully realising the diversity potential of the students and employees to the benefit of the individuals, the institutions and society.
– The ETH Board decided to develop a Diversity Strategy for 2025–2028 based on the current
Gender Strategy for the ETH Domain, but integrating a broader concept of diversity.
– The ETH Board wants to stress that much has already been achieved in terms of diversity
due to the various measures established by the ETH Domain institutions, the ETH Domainwide initiatives and strategy, and participation in national programmes. However, further
efforts are needed – specifically to increase the proportion of women in education, research and leadership positions and to ensure the inclusion of minorities.
– The internationalisation of the ETH Domain – as one dimension of diversity – has advanced
to a high level, reflecting the attractiveness of its institutions. Attracting and retaining international students and researchers is of great importance for the Swiss society and the
Swiss labour market.
– The ETH Domain has made continuous efforts to increase the proportion of women ineducation, research and in leadership positions as well as decision-making bodies. These
efforts are showing positive effects. In particular, the share of women among newly
appointed professors at ETH Zurich and EPFL has increased steadily in recent years.
– A salary-equality analysis in 2020 showed that women and men in the ETH Domain institutions receive equal pay. The ETH Board welcomes this result and expects the institutions tocontinue their efforts to ensure equal opportunities and guarantee equal pay irrespectiveof gender.
– An important element of inclusion is to make sure that individuals experience respectfultreatment and a discrimination-free learning and working environment. The ETH Board
encourages the institutions to continue their efforts in terms of inclusion and respectfultreatment of all their members.

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Evidence
Diversity and inclusion
The ETH Domain institutions strive to foster diversity among their students and employees.
Internationalisation is one dimension of diversity and is seen as key to excellence. Foreign
nationals make up about two thirds of the professors of ETH Zurich and EPFL (a figure thathas been stable over the years), while the proportion of foreign-educated foreign doctoral
students is about 77%. The share of foreign-educated foreign Bachelor’s and Master’s students increased slightly but steadily over the last decade and is now 34% (cf. figure 15). The
ETH Domain institutions also focus on gender as a transversal dimension of diversity. The
proportion of women is increasing, especially for female professors and women in leadership
positions71, but was still low in some areas (20-34%) in 2021 (cf. figure 16). Thus, the ETH
Domain institutions are continuing to put major efforts into increasing these numbers. Moreover, the ETH Domain institutions are now monitoring the diversity dimensions of age andmother tongue. For example, in 2019/2020, ETH Zurich developed its yearly “Gender Monitoring” into an “Equality Monitoring” which encompasses quantitative data not only on
gender aspects, but also on internationality, age and language. Furthermore, Empa is planning to compile a sustainability report including social aspects. This report would contain
indicators of gender ratio, workload ratio or age. Factors such as gender identity and sexual
orientation (LGBTQIA+), impairments and disabilities, ethnicity, religion as well as cultural andsocio-economic background are assessed purely on the basis of voluntary surveys. Available
data on these other diversity dimensions are scarce, as they are not monitored within the
ETH Domain. However, these diversity dimensions remain central to the ETH Domain institutions, which have developed various measures to foster an inclusive culture.
The ETH Board decided at its meeting of 03/04 March 2021 to elaborate a strategy on diversity for the years 2025–2028 on the basis of the current Gender Strategy for the ETH Domain(2021–2024)72 but integrating a broader concept of diversity. The individual equal opportunities/gender action plans73, which define the goals and specific measures for implementing
the ETH Domain-wide Gender Strategy at each institution, are regularly updated. They
increasingly include not only gender aspects but also elements for fostering other diversity
dimensions. For example, the 2021–2024 action plans of EPFL, PSI and Empa include
measures to support members of the LGBTQIA+ community and to improve accessibility andjob offers for people with impairments and disabilities. In addition, Empa has anchored multicultural diversity in its new action plan for 2021–2024. In November 2021, ETH Zurich began aprocess to develop a new and comprehensive diversity strategy that will be devised by many
stakeholders from both the departments and the central administration. It will function as anumbrella for all current and future initiatives and measures to promote diversity and ensure
an inclusive culture.

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71

In the following, the term “leadership position” refers to women in leadership positions
and decision-making bodies.

72

Gender Strategy 2021–2024. Strategy for Gender Balance and Equal Opportunities for
Women and Men

73

ETH Zürich Gender Action Plan 2014; EPFL Equal Opportunity & Diversity Action Plan
2021–2024; PSI Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Action Plan 2021–2024; WSL Gender Action
Plan 2022–2024; WSL Equity Strategy 2022–2024, Equal opportunities and Diversity at
Empa Action Plan 2021–2024.

Positioning of the ETH Domain in relation to future challenges

One of the main aims of the ETH Domain is to ensure that diversity is accompanied by inclusion so that people in the institutions are appreciated for their uniqueness, experience asense of belonging and are treated fairly. The ETH Domain institutions have establishedvarious measures to promote inclusion. For example, ETH Zurich has developed a concept foraccessible digital learning materials that can be used efficiently and effectively by all students,
regardless of any sensory or motor disabilities or any special needs due to neurological characteristics (“ETH Zurich e-Accessibility”). In addition, the “Barrier-Free at ETH Zurich” programme – designed to make the university as accessible as possible in the coming years – got
under way at the beginning of 2021. The Equal Opportunity & Diversity Action Plan 2021–
2024 of EPFL has set action items that include making the campuses more accessible andinclusive to people with disabilities and updating facilities so as to better serve the diverse
community of EPFL.
The ETH Domain is convinced that attracting international students and researchers is necessary to maintain excellence in education and research. International graduates and scientists
bring knowledge and skills to Swiss society and help combat the shortage of skilled employees in technical, engineering and related fields in Switzerland. The successful inclusion ofthese students both on campuses and in Swiss society would not only enable them to thrive
during their studies but would also encourage them to remain in Switzerland after their graduation, and hence fully participate in the Swiss labour market and society. This aspect is also
addressed in the strategy regarding the development of student and doctoral student numbers in the ETH Domain (cf. chapter A.1). ETH Zurich and EPFL are already operating international student support facilities, which help students coming from abroad with immigration
formalities, accommodation searches or insurance questions. They also provide scholarshipprogrammes, offer language courses – which are vital for inclusion – and conduct surveys on
student satisfaction (e.g. EPFL’s Culture of Respect survey 2021).
An important element of inclusion is to make sure that individuals experience respectfultreatment and a discrimination-free learning and working environment. Achieving these goals
is dependent on cultural change, and thus the ETH Domain institutions focus on creating an
inclusive culture. They have directives and code of conducts in place74, which are regularly
updated, to promote mutual respect and prevent all forms of inappropriate behaviour, suchas discrimination, bullying, mobbing, threats, violence and sexual harassment. Furthermore,in the ongoing ERI period 2021–2024, the institutions have conducted “respect campaigns”
that are directed at all of their members and aim to foster mutual respect and raise awareness of inappropriate behaviour, also giving advice on where to seek help when inappropriate
behaviour occurs and how to combat it. On a national level, ETH Zurich and WSL (as representative of the four research institutes) are also participating in the swissuniversities cooperation project “National campaign against sexual harassment at Higher Education Institutions”(University of Lucerne as lead university)75. EPFL is not directly involved in the project (yet),74

ETH Zurich Respect Code of Conduct (2021); EPFL Compliance Guide (2022); PSI Code of
Conduct "Respect"; PSI Mission Statement on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; WSL Code of
Conduct Respect (2021); The following documents are not available online but onlyinternally: Empa Code of Conduct; Eawag Directive concerning protection from sexual
harassment, stalking, mobbing and discrimination at the workplace (2018); Eawag
Guidelines for Search Committees: Increasing Diversity (2021).

75

Project description on the website of the University of Luzern only available in German
and partly in French

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Positioning of the ETH Domain in relation to future challenges

but is kept informed on its development. The project envisages having a prevention, sensitisation and awareness campaign in March 2023 in cross-media form. Raising awareness forstereotypes and unconscious biases is also at the heart of various training courses for employees in leadership functions. For example, WSL introduced mandatory manager training on the
topic of equal opportunities and diversity in 2021. Moreover, in 2022, the Diversity Manager
and Ombudsperson of WSL gave online courses to all 330 employees in leadership functions
at PSI in order to further sensitise them to the topics of respect, inclusive working environment and their duty of care as managers. Eawag also provides training courses for new employees in leadership functions for strengthening diversity and gender competencies, e.g. in
the context of the CAS Leadership in Science76, in which PSI, Empa and WSL are participating
as well. At ETH Zurich, “living inclusivity” has been defined as one of six social and leadershipcompetencies that will contribute to leadership development. In June 2022, the four research
institutes organised an online event open to all their employees to sensitise them to
LGBTQIA+ topics at the workplace and thus help to create a more inclusive work environment.
The ETH Domain institutions are also working on their overall processes to promote inclusion.
For example, EPFL set up the “Task Force Harassment A-Z & Promoting a Culture of Respect”
with several sub working groups in 2021. This aims to ensure that existing and future
measures cover the entire spectrum of actions (prevention, support, case management, sanctions) and that these actions are consistent. For example, the task force engaged in the “EPFL
Culture of Respect Survey 2021” (see also chapter A.1), which among other things investigated whether members of EPFL witnessed or experienced discrimination, (sexual) violenceand psychological or sexual harassment. Similarly, at ETH Zurich a new “Diversity and Cooperation” unit has been formed within the Vice Presidency for Personnel Development and Leadership, which is currently reviewing and improving the grievance procedures for inappropriate behaviour as well as the structures for help that are in place for those affected. Finally,
inclusion starts with knowledge. To sensitise people to diversity & inclusion topics, PSI, WSL
and Empa have launched a joint monthly “Newsletter for Equity” covering a broad range ofsubjects relevant to the ETH Domain, including information on events or campaigns.
Gender equality and proportion of women in education, research and leadership positions
With regard to the gender dimension of diversity, the ETH Domain aims at ensuring equal
opportunities for women and men as well as improving the gender balance among its member institutions. The institutions seek to increase the share of women in education and inresearch, as well as in leadership positions in areas where they are underrepresented. Notethat Eawag has already reached a good gender balance with 49% women (2021) among its
members. For ensuring equal opportunities and improving the gender balance in the ETH
Domain good strategic framework conditions are in place. The Gender Strategy for the
ETH Domain 2021–202477 defines five different focus areas which address these issues comprehensively and from different angles. Compared to the Gender Strategy of the previous period (2017–2020), several improvements have been implemented, including setting a higher
target value for funds to be spent for measures supporting the promotion of equal opportunities/gender balance (0.5% of the overall annual Federal financial contribution as compared to

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76

CAS Leadership in Science of FHNW University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern
Switzerland

77

Gender Strategy 2021–2024. Strategy for Gender Balance and Equal Opportunities for
Women and Men

Positioning of the ETH Domain in relation to future challenges

0.4% in the previous period). Moreover, following a recommendation formulated in the context of the Intermediate Evaluation 2019 of the ETH Domain, each institution has set quantitative targets for increasing the proportion of women in academia, administration and technical professions, depending on the institution’s particular situation (cf. figure 18).
A wide range of measures are in place for ensuring equal opportunities for women and men
and for increasing the proportion of women. In 2020–2021 the institutions reorganised theirstructures significantly so that they are better equipped to address equal opportunity issues.
ETH Zurich established a new Vice Presidency for Personnel Development and Leadership,
to which the ETH Diversity office reports, thus taking better account of equal opportunities
aspects in the field of leadership. At EPFL, the equality office is now the responsibility of the
newly founded Vice Presidency for Responsible Transformation. In the new organisationalsetting, equal opportunity issues are more firmly positioned within the EPFL directorate,
generating new synergies with other vice presidencies and faculties. Moreover, the four
research institutes have joined forces by establishing the “Center of Competences for Diversity & Inclusion PSI - Empa - Eawag”78, which works closely together with the Diversity
Manager of WSL and ensures a regular exchange between the research institutes. The
different equal opportunity offices are required every two years to report in detail on allmeasures implemented at the institutions and on the funds spent on these measures.79
Following up on a survey conducted in 2019, ETH Zurich and EPFL have each created a commission to investigate the status of women faculty. Their findings are expected to result inrecommendations for the attention of the schools’ management and executive bodies.
For fostering the career development of women, the six ETH Domain institutions have since2007 jointly organised the programme “Fix the leaky pipeline!”80. Supported by the
ETH Board since its creation, the programme offers courses, coaching and mentoring toyoung female scientists who wish to pursue an academic career (it is aimed at doctoral students and postdocs). For the period 2021–2024, the offering has been extended considerably
due to almost a doubling of the budget (60% provided by the institutions and 40% by the
ETH Board). To support the career planning of young female scientists and to better link themwith industry and the public sector, all ETH Domain institutions participate in the cooperation
project CONNECT (lead PSI).81 PSI also has a mentoring programme for women with ambitions to reach leadership positions. The pilot phase was given a positive rating, so it has now
been extended to Empa and WSL. ETH Zurich and EPFL offer a wide range of mentoring programmes addressed to women as well. At EPFL, the majority of the programmes are organised in collaboration with other universities and are aimed at doctoral students and postdocs.
ETH Zurich provides various programmes at the level of the departments, such as the mentoring programme offered by the Department of Management, Technology and Economics andthe mentoring programme for doctoral candidates organised by the Gender and Diversity
Commission (GDK) at the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering.
These programmes are inclusive of all genders.

78

Fachstelle Diversität und Inklusion (D&I) PSI - Empa – Eawag.

79

The reporting is not available online; it is brought to the attention of the ETH Board every
two years at its meeting of May.

80

Fix the leaky pipeline! A career-building program for women in science.

81

CONNECT. Connecting Women`s Careers in Academia and Industry.

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Positioning of the ETH Domain in relation to future challenges

Dual career solutions are a very important element in the range of career development
measures. As these solutions need common and cooperative efforts, the topic was taken
up at the 2021 dialogue meetings between the institutions and the ETH Board, and is being
pursued, especially with regard to developing an ETH Domain-wide approach if possible. To
establish the right conditions for a good ‘life domain balance’, the institutions provide childcare services. Additional measures include Eawag`s Tailwind Program and Empa’s Restart Support (financial support for young mothers). Fair recruitment and promotion processes arealso important for increasing the proportion of women. In this regard, ETH Zurich and EPFL
have established gender-sensitive processes for the appointment of new professors. The Ordinance for Professors at the Federal Institutes of Technology82 also provides for a one-year
extension of the contract period (normally max. 8 years) for assistant professors for each caseof maternity. The four research institutes have taken similar measures for hiring procedures,
e.g. Eawag has a systematic 8-step process for all searches for tenured and tenure track positions.
The ETH Domain institutions have a regular dialogue with different national and international
networks and participate in conferences relating to gender equality. The Equal Opportunities
Working Group, consisting of the gender/equal opportunities delegates of the six institutions,is the central platform for exchange between the six institutions. On a national level, the institutions (with a representative of the research institutes as guest) are affiliated to the IDEAS
network, which links up the equal opportunities delegates of the ten cantonal universities
and the two Federal Institutes of Technology. Furthermore, WSL is in regular exchange with
the University of St. Gallen, while Empa is part of Advance, a business network for genderequality in Switzerland. On an international level, EPFL is member of the CESAER Equality,
Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) working group and has contacts with Equal Opportunities Delegates of the EuroTech Alliance Universities. PSI has contributed to a toolbox of good practices
published by LEAPS IDEA, a taskforce of the League of Accelerator-based Photon Sources dedicated to inclusion, diversity, equity and anti-discrimination. With its "EQUAL! tools", ETH
Zurich has also compiled a toolbox of measures for the promotion of equal opportunities at(technical) universities. These various forms of exchange help the institutions to implement
good practices.
Equal pay for the employees –regardless of their gender– is a key aspect of equal opportunities. In 2020, PricewaterhouseCoopers carried out an equal pay analysis for the institutions of
the ETH Domain using the scientifically and legally endorsed EQUAL-SALARY method. The
analysis confirmed the good results of the 2015 equal pay analysis. At the different institutions, the pay gap between men and women varied from 2.0% in favour of men to 1.4% in favour of women. All these figures are well within the tolerance level of 5% set by the Confederation.

82

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Verordnung des ETH-Rates über die Professorinnen und Professoren der Eidgenössischen
Technischen Hochschulen (Professorenverordnung ETH) (German) / Ordonnance duConseil des EPF sur le corps professoral des écoles polytechniques fédérales (Ordonnancesur le corps professoral des EPF) (French)Positioning of the ETH Domain in relation to future challenges

Facts & Figures
The internationalisation of the ETH Domain is increasing (cf. figure 15). This reflects the strong
appeal of its institutions as well as recruitment policies based on merit and performance,
regardless of the candidate’s country of origin.
Figure 15: Proportion of international students, doctoral students and professors at
ETH Zurich and EPFL (based on headcounts)

Source: Annual Report of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain 2021 and internal data
The strategies and measures applied in the ETH Domain to improve gender balance areproducing positive results. The proportion of women among students, doctoral students,
professors and employees in leadership positions over the last ten years has been increasing(especially for professorial and leadership positions – cf. figure 16). One of the reasons forthe positive trend in the proportion of women among professors is the success of bothETH Zurich and EPFL in recruiting more women for new positions (cf. figure 17).
Women are very well represented on the ETH Board; in 2021, the eleven-member body(president and ten members) included six women. For further information regarding themembers of the management bodies of the ETH Domain institutions, i.e. the Executive
Boards of ETH Zurich and EPFL and the directorates of the research institutes, please see
the governance section of the annual report of the ETH Board on the ETH Domain 202183.

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Annual report of the ETH Board on the ETH Domain 2021, page 40

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Positioning of the ETH Domain in relation to future challenges

Figure 16: Proportion of women at ETH Zurich, EPFL and the research institutes at different
academic levels and positions (based on headcounts)

Note that employees counted in leadership positions include professors. Professors include
full, associate and assistant professors of ETH Zurich and EPFL. Leadership positions encompass the entire ETH Domain (six institutions and the ETH Board)
Source: Annual Report of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain 2021 and internal data

Figure 17: Proportion of women among newly appointed professors at ETH Zurich and EPFL

The proportion of women is stated per four-year period to take into account the variation observed annually due to the relatively low number of new appointments per year.
Source: Annual Report of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain 2021 and internal data

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Positioning of the ETH Domain in relation to future challenges

Figure 18: Targets set by the individual institutions for increasing the proportion of women1

Eawag has not set targets in this regard yet. Since it is the ETH Domain institution with thehighest proportion of women (49% overall in 2021), the research institute has postponed
the establishment of targets until the arrival of its new director in 2023. Current values(2021) are given based on headcounts.

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Positioning of the ETH Domain in relation to future challenges

Key points– The ETH Domain institutions strive to foster diversity among their students and employees,with appropriate strategies, action plans and measures. These are regularly evaluated andupdated if required.
– The ETH Board has decided to formulate an ETH Domain strategy regarding diversity forthe period 2025–2028.
– Inclusion is recognised as key to fully realising the diversity potential at the institutions, toensure fairness for students and employees and to enable them to thrive in their uniqueness. Measures in this area are being continuously developed.
– The dimensions of nationality, gender, age and language are monitored. Other aspects ofdiversity are not monitored, but also assessed through voluntary surveys – to identify appropriate measures to foster inclusion.
– The internationalisation of the ETH Domain is increasing, and reflects the appeal of its institutions. It also results from recruitment policies based on openness, transparency, meritand performance regardless of the candidate’s country of origin – a key aspect for achieving excellence in education and in research.
– The ETH Domain institutions are continuing their efforts to improve gender balance. Equal
opportunities measures are being developed and expanded. In this context, good practices
are considered within the ETH Domain as well as on a national and international level.
Trends (share of women in educational, professorship and leadership positions) are
positive but need to be maintained – and, where possible, improved.

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B.4
Future requirements in
education and research

Excerpt from the Mandate“Measuring the quality of education (cf. A.1) and research in national and international comparison is of fundamental importance to universities and research institutes, yet at the same time it presents a major methodologicalchallenge. Does the ETH Domain systematically use tools that permit it toevaluate its positioning on the one hand and achieve steady development
and improvement with ambitious target values on the other? In which direction will the requirements for excellence in teaching and research move, andwhat might the future benchmarks be?”Positioning of the ETH Domain in relation to future challenges

Assessment by and considerations of the ETH Board
Assessment: The ETH Board and the institutions of the ETH Domain have well-functioning instruments both for strategic development and for quality assurance and development. While the current processes ensure high standards of education and research,
they must continuously be challenged and developed further, so that they also meet
future requirements. The ETH Board appreciates the progress made by ETH Domain
institutions both in their strategic development as well as in teaching and in staff
recruitment and development.

Considerations: Excellence in education and research does not only comprise academic criteria but also personal development, entrepreneurial mindset, societal engagement and leadership skills.
– Educating students and doctoral students must involve giving them knowledge and skills
that will optimally prepare them for their future tasks in business, the public sector andacademia (e.g. interdisciplinarity, creativity, critical thinking, teamwork, responsibility,
independence).
– The ETH Domain institutions are working on the further development of the criteria for
staff recruitment in order to recruit and employ people with a greater diversity of backgrounds, skills and knowledge.
– Strategic planning processes of the ETH Domain institutions include considerations of
excellence in education and research. Planning tools must remain flexible to adapt quickly
to changing circumstances, and they must be open and responsive to changes in practices
and culture.
– The ETH Board appreciates the regular external evaluations of the ETH Domain institutions
or of their individual departments and divisions as an important quality assurance tool.
These provide an important external view and support the institutions in maintaining andimproving the quality of education and research.

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119Positioning of the ETH Domain in relation to future challenges

Evidence
Tools to evaluate the ETH Domain’s positioning in education and research
The ETH Domain institutions use a wide set of tools to evaluate their positioning in education
and research, including evaluations by external experts, institutional accreditation according
to the Higher Education Act (HEdA) and study programme accreditation, surveys of graduates,
availability and use of research infrastructures, bibliometric studies and university rankings.
The tools primarily serve the organisational development of the institutions and in certain
cases the monitoring of performance. The qualitative findings in particular are useful for further developing the institutions in terms of scientific excellence.
The ETH Domain institutions are periodically evaluated in accordance with the “Procedure of
Evaluations in the ETH Domain” manual (updated in 2019). Each unit of ETH Zurich, EPFL and
PSI (departments, schools, research divisions) and the research institutes WSL, Empa andEawag as a whole are evaluated at least once within an 8-year period. The institutions informthe ETH Board about the main results, recommendations and measures to be taken derivingfrom these evaluations. As part of the strategic controlling process, the institutions inform theETH Board about the implementation status of the measures at the Dialog Meetings (yearlymeeting of the ETH Board with each institution).
According to the HEdA, institutional accreditation is a requirement for an institution to beeligible to use the designation “University”. The institutional accreditation procedure inspects
the internal quality assurance system in a Higher Education Institution and must take place
every seven years. In 2021, ETH Zurich received its accreditation from the Swiss Accreditation
Council and its quality standards were rated as fully satisfactory. In 2022, EPFL received
accreditation from the Swiss Accreditation Council subject to one condition relating to thecommunication of the quality assurance processes and outcomes. The fulfilment of thiscondition will be examined in 2024. In addition to the institutional accreditation, EPFL’s study
programmes are accredited by the French “commission des titres d’ingénieur” (CTI); therecurring accreditation procedure is in progress (as at 2022).
The intermediate evaluation of the ETH Domain, which takes place every four years in the
middle of each ERI period, complements the institutional evaluations and accreditations aswell as the reporting and controlling measures, and primarily focuses on forward-looking
strategic questions. Every four years – in the context of this intermediate evaluation – theETH Board commissions a bibliometric study of the ETH Domain institutions (cf. chapter C:
Bibliometric Study). This study measures the bibliometric performance of the institutions
over at least a decade with a variety of bibliometric indicators, which include some benchmarking. Bibliometric indicators provide objective evidence about production, collaborationand impact, though only for the research that has been published in (international) journals
and proceedings. Therefore, quantitative evaluations should always be complemented withqualitative information (e.g. the mission and the research goals of an institution/departmentetc.) and expert assessments.
Third-party rankings at international level are another indicator for improving the understanding of the positioning of ETH Zurich and EPFL in education and research. The good andstable positions of ETH Zurich and EPFL over the years according to the Times Higher Education (THE), the QS, the ARWU, and the CWTS Leiden rankings are shown in figures 19 and 20.
While such university rankings provide a quick impression of where a university stands on a120

Positioning of the ETH Domain in relation to future challenges

global comparison, their informative value is limited and they do not adequately reflect thediverse and wide-ranging qualities of the universities.
Regular benchmarking with other education and research entities at the international level is
one important element in the process of evaluating education and research. For example, PSI– as a developer and operator of large research infrastructures in Switzerland – compares theexcellence of its facilities with peer institutions such as ESRF in Grenoble or DESY in Hamburgusing benchmarks such as: number of instrument days, number of experiments and user visits, distribution of users by institution, publications, etc.
In terms of education and training, one important measure of excellence is the ETH Domain’s
contribution to alleviating the skills shortage in Switzerland. Alumni and employer surveys will
therefore remain an important tool (cf. chapter A.1).
Processes for developing and improving excellence in education and research
The strategic planning processes of the ETH Domain institutions and of the ETH Board for the
ETH Domain comprise a mix of bottom-up and top-down approaches. These approaches wereapplied in the “Strategic planning process of the ETH Board for the ETH Domain 2025–2028”
for identifying the five Strategic Areas, as described in chapter B.2. In its Strategy and Development Plan, ETH Zurich (for example) sets out strategic priorities for the respective planning
period and identifies measures for realising them. This is a tool to help ETH Zurich chart its
course in respect of education, research, and knowledge and technology transfer. Similarly,
the EPFL Strategic Plan outlines objectives and initiatives aimed at transforming EPFL over the
four-year period and beyond. It seeks to offer robust academic programmes that are strategically important, to promote excellence within these programmes and to forge stronger ties
among schools and colleges.
Annual strategy retreats and regular strategic reviews of divisions in consultation with otherinternal divisions and external advisory bodies are other means of promoting excellence. At
PSI, e.g., this process has recently led to the establishment of a new Research Division for
Scientific Computing, Theory and Data (SCD)84 as well as new laboratories and researchgroups in nano- and quantum technologies and materials science. Similarly, at ETH Zurichvarious processes – strategic planning of the departments, planning of professorships, regular
evaluations of the departments and units by international expert commissions and dialogues
between the Executive Board and the departments – serve to assess and determine categories of excellence. Advisory boards with external experts are another way to acquire external
strategic advice. This is in particular relevant with large-scale research infrastructures (e.g. theScientific Advisory Committee of SINQ at PSI).
In recruitment, the focus is placed on the careful selection of employees and – specifically forpermanent positions – support is provided by evaluation committees and criteria that not
only consider past achievements but also assess the candidates’ future scientific potential.
WSL, for example, applies multiple criteria relating not only to output and performance but
also to leadership skills, team-working ability, experience in outreach, etc. At Empa, a judicious mix of permanent and non-permanent scientists ensures “institutional memory” andhelps to maintain high standards of research and education to fully meet the needs of industry and society.

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Division for Scientific Computing, Theory and Data

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Positioning of the ETH Domain in relation to future challenges

The development of future excellence in education hinges in particular on guidance in newteaching techniques. In the case of ETH Zurich this is done by the Educational Developers –contact persons in the departments who play a key role in stimulating, coordinating and disseminating innovation in teaching. They are embedded in the department and provide a subject-specific view and understanding of didactics. A similar role is carried out at EPFL by Pedagogical Advisers, who work with lecturers to improve teaching methodologies, providing a
combination of classroom and project-based learning opportunities. The newly created “Centre Propédeutique”85 at EPFL coordinates courses and assures their homogeneous quality.
Throughout the ETH Domain, processes are in place to continuously develop and improveexcellence in education and research (among other things) by adapting human resources procedures. HR-related quality development procedures include detailed processes for recruiting
faculty members, researcher assessment with clear tenure processes for senior scientists,training and support for management and supervision skills (specifically for supervising doctoral students and postdocs), mentoring programmes for early-career researchers and female
leadership candidates, continuous exchange with peers in Switzerland and abroad, exchangeof good practices, and sabbaticals.
Processes to develop excellence in education also include specific support for innovative
teaching projects and degree programme initiatives. For example, the ´Innovedum´ fund at
ETH Zurich promotes initiatives which contribute to the long-term development of the qualityof education at ETH Zurich. At EPFL, the ‘DRILL’ fund supports projects for developing digital
resources for teaching, such course-specific Jupyter Notebooks. EPFL has also launched the
LEARN center, which drives translational research within and around EPFL. ETH Zurich and
EPFL have developed a joint doctoral programme in learning sciences. This will produce generations of scientists who master the sciences and engineering disciplines taught in the
ETH Domain and have expertise in education research.
It is important to provide students with learning opportunities that go beyond the classroom,taking their aspirations and needs into account. Working on an interdisciplinary project orbeing part of an association or a coaching programme develops skills beyond what students
learn in the classroom. Providing students with these opportunities helps them to diversify
their skills. At EPFL the MAKE programme86 facilitates the structuring of interdisciplinary
projects. Students learn how to structure and conduct a project with teams of up to 100
students, to interact with external partners, or to collaborate among researchers from different disciplines. Through the MAKE initiative, EPFL provides competitive funding for new
student-driven projects. Close contact with the business world (e.g. via internships) helps
students to develop specific competencies and transversal skills. To coordinate and develop
activities aimed at strengthening transversal skills, EPFL launches the “Centre de Compétences Transverses et de Carrière“ in 2023.
At Empa, as at other ETH Domain institutions, the Research Management Office supports all
applicants in applying for external funding with the aim of increasing the quality of research
applications. Another important measure to promote quality is the evaluation of more than
70 project applications annually by a Research Commission.

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85

Centre Propédeutique

86

MAKE programmePositioning of the ETH Domain in relation to future challenges

Future requirements and benchmarks for excellence in education and research
One important challenge for the ETH Domain in terms of its place among the centres of
excellence in research is Switzerland’s non-association to the EU Framework Programme for
Research and Innovation Horizon Europe. While the current and planned transition measuresby SNSF and SERI alleviate the most immediate negative effects, maintaining the country’s attractiveness as one of the best places to do research in Europe will remain challenging (cf.
chapter A.2).
The ETH Domain offers an inclusive working and academic environment. Its institutions
strive to recruit the best talent from around the globe, independently of gender, culture orsocial origin, and to create an excellent framework for their development. It is important topromote the motivation of employees by trusting them and giving them room for manoeuvre. Collaboration with alumni and partners across the world are key elements of global
engagement in education and research. Innovative approaches, modern technology, up-todate infrastructure and resources are necessary to create an efficient, flexible and safe working environment.
As important players in the national and international higher education and research landscape, the ETH Domain institutions are guided by international standards and good scientificpractices and contribute to their further development. Easier and more meaningful than determining future requirements and benchmarks in education and research is identifying processes and instruments for developing and improving education and research. The concept of
excellence in research comprises a variety of dimensions with different possible indicatorsand benchmarks. Excellence can focus on a topic (research assessment) as well as on a person
or career (researcher assessment). Excellence in education and research does not happen in
isolation but is embedded in a societal and political context. The research environment andculture, with a focus on inclusivity and scientific integrity, also play a vital role. Seamless
transfer of knowledge into society and the economy is another dimension of excellence thatshould be taken into account.
Recruitment and promotion practices should value cooperation and collaboration outside therestraints of a single research field. They must also take account of research careers (trackrecords) and focus on content rather than output quantity, considering achievements inteaching, outreach, innovation and service to the public as well as research. Moves towards
such new measures of excellence can already be seen in the advent of the new CV structure
introduced by SNSF in 2022 in application of the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA)87, and in project evaluations where the identity of the applicant is not disclosed to the evaluators (e.g. the SNSF Spark Pilot).
Scientific integrity is an inherent dimension of excellence in research and education, and pertains to reliability, honesty, respect and accountability as fundamental principles. Generalguidance on implementing integrity is provided at the European level by the “European Codeof Conduct for Research Integrity”88 and at the Swiss national level by the “Code of conduct
for scientific integrity” of the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences89.

87

San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA)

88

The European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity - ALLEA

89

Code of conduct for scientific integrity by the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences

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123Positioning of the ETH Domain in relation to future challenges

In 2021, the Domain Meeting90 decided to set up a working group within the ETH Domain
to review and assess the need for adjustments of existing guidelines and procedural rules onscientific integrity at the institutions. In addition, the working group is mandated to examine
whether uniform or at least harmonised regulations can be created within the ETH Domain.
Further information on this ETH Domain-wide approach will be available in March 2023. The
following examples (non-exhaustive) show current activities at the institutional level. ETH
Zurich revised its guidelines on scientific integrity91, developed a research integrity promotion
plan and implemented a new course, “Ethics and Scientific Integrity for Doctoral Students”.
EPFL revised its relevant directive92” and developed a dedicated online course.
The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the importance of direct contributions by research
to solving societal challenges. Thus the notion of impact and outreach across and beyond different research communities is likely to become even more important. One result may be ahigher regard for intersectional mobility or the number of transdisciplinary research or direct
collaborations. The pandemic has shown that strategies may be challenged by unforeseen
events. Processes and strategic plans must therefore remain flexible and adapt quickly tochanging circumstances, letting go of what has become obsolete and seizing new opportunities.

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90

Members of the Domain Meeting: President ETH Board, Presidents ETH Zurich and EPFL,
Directors Research Institutes (German: Art. 13 Geschäftsordnung ETH-Rat), (French: art.
13 Règlement du Conseil des EPF)91

ETH Zurich Guidelines on scientific integrity

92

Directive concerning research integrity and good scientific practice at EPFL

Positioning of the ETH Domain in relation to future challenges

Facts & Figures
Figure 19: Ranking of ETH Zurich in the World Rankings of THE, QS, ARWU and CWTS Leiden
2013–2022

Figure 20: Ranking of EPFL in the World Rankings of THE, QS, ARWU and CWTS Leiden 2013–2022

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125Positioning of the ETH Domain in relation to future challenges

University Rankings
The universities are assessed and ranked by institutions and businesses using various
methods. THE93 uses 13 key performance indicators for teaching (30% weighting), research (30%), citations (30%), international outlook (7.5%) and industry income (2.5%).
QS94 focuses mainly on reputation (with a 40% weighting on academic reputation and
10% on employer reputation), followed by faculty/student ratio (20%), citations per
faculty (20%) and international faculty ratio/international student ratio (5% each).
ARWU95 makes use of performance indicators based on the academic performance or
research output – in particular Nobel Prizes or Fields Medals – of graduates, staff andhighly cited researchers from the institutions assessed. The publication activity of an institution is also judged based on the number of articles that have been published in a
select group of the most respected journals, and the ratio between the number of publications and the number of researchers employed at an institution. CWTS Leiden96 isbased solely on the publication activity of the universities, using this to calculate the indicators to assess research performance. One commonly used indicator for ranking theuniversities in the CWTS Leiden ranking is the number and proportion of publications
each university has among the top 10% of the most-cited publications in the relevant
field (PP (top 10%)). The CWTS Leiden ranking of both Federal Institutes of Technology(cf. figures 19 and 20) are based on this indicator.

Key points– The ETH Domain institutions use a wide range of tools to evaluate their positioning in
education and research and are periodically evaluated according to the “Procedure of
Evaluations in the ETH Domain” manual.
– Third-party rankings at international level, regular benchmarking, and alumni and employer surveys will remain important tools for evaluating the ETH Domain’s positioningin education and research.
– Special importance for the development of future excellence in education is attributed
to guidance in new teaching techniques.
– To develop and improve excellence it is important to adapt HR procedures, implementing
criteria that consider not only the achievements of candidates but also their future scientific potential.
– Excellence refers not only to academic criteria but also to a personal development vision,an entrepreneurial state of mind, societal engagement and leadership skills.
– Scientific integrity is an inherent dimension of excellence in research and education.
– Planning tools must remain flexible to adapt quickly to changing circumstances.

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93

Times Higher Education World University Rankings

94

QS World University Rankings

95

Academic Ranking of World Universities of Shanghai Ranking Consultancy

96

Centre for Science and Technology Studies Leiden Ranking

C
Bibliometric Study 2009–2020 of
the Institutions of theETH Domain

Introduction
Indicators and methodology
Main results

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Introduction
As set out in the mandate for the present intermediate evaluation of the ETH Domain, theETH Board has commissioned a bibliometric study of the institutions of the ETH Domain. For
the fifth time in a row, the analysis has been carried out by the Center for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) at Leiden University, the Netherlands. This chapter summarises themain results of this study by institutions and presents the main findings of CWTS for the
ETH Domain as a whole. The full reports are made available to the members of the expert
committee.
CWTS measured the bibliometric performance of the six institutions of the ETH Domain byanalysing articles and reviews that were published between 2009 and 2020 and that are indexed in the Web of Science (WoS) database97. Citations up to and including 2021 were taken
into account98. Compared to previous studies performed by CWTS, conference proceedings
have also been included in the current study, as this type of publication represents an important form of output in certain fields of science. Due to this methodological improvement,
the results may differ substantially from the previous studies conducted by CWTS, especiallyfor institutions for which this type of publication represents a significant part of their output.
Self-citations are excluded from the analysis.
While bibliometric measures provide objective evidence about production, collaborationand impact, they only do so for the research that is published in (international) journals andproceedings and therefore only give an incomplete picture of the research quality. Such aquantitative assessment should always be complemented with qualitative information (e.g.
the mission and the research goals of an institution/department, etc.) and expert assessments.

97

More precisely, the analysis focuses on publications in journals processed for the Web of
Science’s (WoS) database produced by Clarivate Analytics. The indexes used are the
Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE), Social Science Citation Index (SSCI), and the Arts &Humanities Citation Index (AHCI) and the Conference Proceedings Citation Index (CPCI).

98

In this study, a fixed-length citation window of 4 years (if available) was used for theoverall period of the analysis (2009–2020). This has the advantage of setting the samecitation criteria for all publications, independently of the publication year. The most recent
year for receiving citations is 2021.

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Indicators and methodology
CWTS’s methodology offers a variety of indicators aimed at measuring the scientific output of
the institutions, as well as the impact of the publications they produce.
Output indicators take into account the total number of publications that were publishedduring a given period and that are indexed in the reference database. Each publication is fully
assigned to the institution, regardless of the number of authors and affiliations (P[full], i.e.
“full counting”). Indicators of output are size-dependent, meaning they will scale with the sizeof the institution under consideration. Impact indicators are used to measure the impact ofpublications based on the number of citations they received. Two impact indicators are highlighted here: the “Mean Normalised Citation Score” (MNCS) and the proportion of the top
10% most cited publications (PP[top 10%]). MNCS is obtained by averaging the normalised
citation scores of the institution’s publications. The normalised citation score corresponds tothe number of times a publication is cited, divided by the average number of citations for
similar publications (in terms of research area99, publication year and document type). This
normalisation allows for a valid comparison between scientific fields, which all have very different citation characteristics. An MNCS score of 2 indicates that the institution’s publications
have been cited twice as often as the average in the database (1 would equal to the average).
PP[top 10%] corresponds to the proportion of publications that, compared with other publications in the same research area and in the same year, belong to the top 10% most frequently cited. A PP[top 10%] of 20% indicates that the institution has twice as many publications in the top 10% (within their respective research area) as the average. MNCS is based on
average citations and is sensitive to “outliers” (i.e. extreme values), whereas PP[top 10%] is
not influenced by outliers but creates an arbitrary separation between what are considered“top publications” and the others. Thus, MNCS and PP[top 10%] have opposite strengths andweaknesses and are used in combination for assessing the impact of an institution.
In addition, CWTS has analysed whether the institution’s research is positioned in researchareas with an increasing or decreasing interest worldwide, by determining whether theseareas have exhibited an average increase (or decrease) in number of publications in recent
years. The indicator “field growth” is meant to understand this worldwide interest and is
calculated based on the share of publications in recent years (2019–2020) in a given researcharea compared to the total number of publications in the same area during the period understudy (2009–2020), normalised by a reference value.
Scientific collaborations are also assessed in this chapter based on the affiliation of coauthors. Three types of collaboration, which are mutually exclusive, are identified: (i) “no collaboration” refers to publications authored by a single institution; (ii) “national collaboration”
to publications that are produced by different institutions in Switzerland exclusively; and (iii)“international collaboration” to publications that are co-authored by institutions from different countries. If publications involve both national and international research organisations,they are classified as international collaborations. Collaborations with industry were also analysed and correspond to publications for which at least one co-author is affiliated with a company.

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The research area to which a publication belongs is defined by a publication-levelclassification developed by CWTS. For more details, see Annex B of the full reportof the Bibliometric Study of the ETH Domain.

Bibliometric Study 2009–2020 of the Institutions of the ETH Domain

The accessibility of publication was assessed using the Open Access (OA)/Closed Accessnature of publications100. In this study, CWTS distinguishes three types of OA models: (i) Gold(the journal publisher makes all articles and related content available for free, immediately on
the journal’s website); (ii) Hybrid (publication freely available under an open licence in a paidaccess journal); (iii) Green (published in paid-access journals, self-archived by authors in repositories or researchers’ websites, independently from publication by a publisher). OA publications are counted only as one type at the same time. If a paper is both Green and Gold, it iscounted as Gold. Bronze OA publications are free to read only on the publisher page withouta licence. As such, they were disregarded as OA and identified as Closed Access publications.
CWTS also introduced an indicator related to gender diversity of authors. For each publication, CWTS counted the number of female and male authors from the institution understudy101,102 as well as the number of female and male authors overall (i.e. from all co-authoring institutions). For a given publication, the indicator of gender diversity (RPA(F)) corresponds to the ratio female/male (“share” of female authors) from the institution under study
compared to the ratio female/male considering all co-authors in the publication (the benchmark). A value above 1 means that the institution under study has a higher share of female
authors than all institutions involved in the same publication (or set of publications).

100

The statistics concerning OA publications only include publications for which the
open/closed access nature could be determined based on the Unpaywall database.

101

The gender analysis is limited to these two categories due to methodological limitations.
This categorisation does not imply any judgement on the issue of gender diversity.

102

See section “Summary of method” of the full report of the Bibliometric Study of the ETH
Domain and https://www.leidenranking.com/information/indicators#gender-indicators

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Main results
ETH Domain
Overall output and impact of publications
Overall, researchers from the institutions of the ETH Domain were involved in 136,535
publications between 2009 and 2020. The impact of the ETH Domain publications hasremained high over the years (MNCS>1.59, PP[top10%]>18%) although a slight decrease in
MNCS values can be observed since 2015 (cf. figure 21). The fact that MNCS and PP[top10%]
do not show the same trend may be explained by a few very highly cited publications in thefirst years of the analysis (as MNCS is influenced by “outliers”).
Collaboration and partners
During the period 2009–2020, 79% of the ETH Domain publications were published in collaboration with other organisations. In the same period, the share of publications performed ininternational collaboration increased from 60% to 72%. Overall, 67% of all publications involved international partners during this period. The share of publications performed incollaboration with industry increased from 8% to 10%. Figure 22 lists the countries in which
the main institutions collaborating with the ETH Domain are based (with the USA, Switzerland
and Germany on top).
The collaboration pattern within the ETH Domain (cf. figure 23) indicates that the highest
number of co-publications is between PSI and ETH Zurich (4,294 co-publications). Output
indicators being size-dependent figures, the absolute number of co-publications are thus
dominated by ETH Zurich and EPFL. In terms of impact, all collaborations within the ETH
Domain exhibit an MNCS higher than the world average (i.e. MNCS>1). Co-publications between ETH Zurich and EPFL show the highest impact on average (MNCS: 2.02) followed bypublications between ETH Zurich and WSL (MNCS: 1.76).
Research accessibility
Most of ETH Domain research is published in OA (59%) and shows an increasing pattern overtime towards more openness (cf. figure 24). The number (and share) of all three types of OA
publications (Green, Bronze and Gold) grew steadily during the period 2009 up to 2020. Overall the impact of OA publications is higher (PP[Top10%]>20%) than Closed Access publications(PP[Top10%]<18%) over the entire period under consideration.
Gender diversity of authors
According to CWTS’ analysis, the share of female authors affiliated with the ETH Domain is 9%
higher (RPA(F): 1.09) than the share of female authors involved in all ETH Domain publications(i.e. taking into account all the authors from the ETH Domain but also all the co-authoring institutions). The trend analysis shows a slight increase in the share of female authors in the
ETH Domain over the years, from 18% (2009-2012) to 22% (2017–2020).

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Figure 21: Evolution of impact indicators MNCS and PP[top10%] for the ETH Domain. The
dashed line represents the world average (MNCS:1; PP[Top10%]:10%)

Figure 22: Main partner countries of institutions of the ETH Domain in terms of copublications (co-publications between institutions of the ETH Domain are excluded)

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133Bibliometric Study 2009–2020 of the Institutions of the ETH Domain

Figure 23: Number and impact of co-publications between institutions of the ETH Domain

Figure 24: Evolution of Open Access and Closed Access publication output of the ETH Domain
between 2009–2020

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ETH Zurich
Overall output and impact of publications
The overall output of ETH Zurich between 2009 and 2020 amounts to 74,190 publications.
Over this period, ETH Zurich exhibits an overall high citation impact, with field-normalised
impact substantially above the international reference values (MNCS>1.67, PP[top10%]>19%,
cf. figure 25).
Research profile
The most important subjects for ETH Zurich in terms of output (cf. figure 26) include Multidisciplinary Sciences (MNCS: 2.86); Engineering, Electrical & Electronic (MNCS: 2.10); Chemistry,
Multidisciplinary (MNCS: 1.80); Astronomy & Astrophysics (MNCS: 1.40); Geochemistry & Geophysics (MNCS: 1.55); Geosciences, Multidisciplinary (MNCS: 1.72); Materials Science, Multidisciplinary (MNCS: 1.48); and Environmental Sciences and Physics, Applied (MNCS: 1.63). The
impact of these subject categories of activity is high. Most of these categories have shownworldwide growth in terms of output during the last two years, except for Astronomy &Astrophysics.
Collaboration and partners
ETH Zurich’s publications are predominantly performed in collaboration (79%), with an important role played by international collaboration (65%). Collaboration with industry represents about 9% of ETH Zurich’s output. Between 2009 and 2020, the proportion of publications performed in collaboration increased from 72% (2009-2012) to 84% (2017–2020). The
proportion of international collaboration increased from 58% to 70% over the same period.
There is also a slight upward trend for industry collaboration. Besides Switzerland, ETH
Zurich’s main partners are located in the USA and the EU (Germany, Italy, France). The UK andChina are also important partners (cf. figure 27). Out of all the ETH institutions, ETH Zurichcollaborates most with PSI (4,294 co-publications), yet has the highest impact with EPFL
(MNCS: 2.02).
Research accessibility
The scientific production of ETH Zurich is mostly published Open Access (57%), showing an
increasing pattern over time towards more openness (cf. figure 28). The number (and share)of all three types of OA publications (Green, Bronze and Gold) grew steadily during the period
2009 up to 2020. Overall, over the period 2009–2020, the impact of OA publications washigher (PP[Top10%]>20%) than the impact of Closed Access publications. Moreover, theimpact of the latter subsequently decreased to 16% in 2017–2020.
Gender diversity of authors
Overall, the share of female authors at ETH Zurich is 15% more (RPA(F): 1.15) than the shareof female authors involved in all of ETH Zurich’s publications, i.e. including all co-authors(benchmark). Compared to the benchmark, the share of female authors is highest in Astronomy & Astrophysics (RPA(F): 1.42), while in other subject categories, it is close to the benchmark or slightly below.

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135Bibliometric Study 2009–2020 of the Institutions of the ETH Domain

Figure 25: Evolution of ETH Zurich's impact indicators MNCS and PP[top10%]. The dashed line
represents the world average (MNCS:1; PP[Top10%]:10%)

Figure 26: Research profile of ETH Zurich. The numbers adjacent to the blue bars correspondto the mean normalised citation score (MNCS).

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Bibliometric Study 2009–2020 of the Institutions of the ETH Domain

Figure 27: ETH Zurich's main partner countries in terms of co-publications (co-publications
between institutions of the ETH Domain are excluded)

Figure 28: Evolution of ETH Zurich's Open Access and Closed Access publication output
between 2009–2020

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137Bibliometric Study 2009–2020 of the Institutions of the ETH Domain

EPFL
Overall output and impact of publications
The overall output of EPFL between 2009 and 2020 amounts to 45,073 publications. Over thisperiod, EPFL exhibits an overall high citation impact, with field-normalised impact substantially above the international reference values (MNCS>1.56, PP[top10%]>18%, cf. figure 29).
Research profile
The most important subjects for EPFL in terms of output (cf. figure 30) include Engineering,Electrical & Electronics (MNCS: 1.50); Physics, Applied (MNCS: 1.41); Materials Science, Multidisciplinary (MNCS: 1.68); Chemistry, Multidisciplinary (MNCS: 2.22); Multidisciplinary Science(MNCS: 2.95); Optics (MNCS: 1.40); Chemistry, Physical (MNCS: 1.49); and Physics, Multidisciplinary (MNCS: 1.95). The impact of these subject categories of activity is high. Most of thesecategories have shown worldwide growth in terms of output during the last two years.
Collaboration and partners
EPFL’s publications are primarily performed in collaboration (76%), with a prevailing role
played by international collaboration (65%). Collaboration with industry represents about
10% of EPFL’s output. Between 2009 and 2020, the proportion of publications performed incollaboration increased from 71% (2009-2012) to 81% (2017–2020). The proportion of international collaboration increased from 59% to 70% over the same period. There is also a slight
upward trend for industry collaboration. Besides Switzerland, EPFL’s main partners are located in the USA and the EU (Germany, Italy, France). The UK and China are also importantpartners (cf. figure 31). Out of all the ETH institutions, EPFL collaborates most with ETH Zurich(1,894 co-publications) with an overall MNCS of 2.02.
Research accessibility
The scientific production of EPFL is mostly published Open Access (64%), showing an increasing pattern over time towards more openness (cf. figure 32). The number (and share) of all
three types of OA publications (Green, Bronze and Gold) grew steadily during the period 2009
up to 2020. The number of top 10% most cited publications of all three types grew steadily.
Moreover, the impact of OA publications remained at a high level throughout the whole
period while that of Closed Access publications decreased in the most recent years.
Gender diversity of authors
Overall, the share of female authors is just above (RPA(F): 1.03) the share of female authors
involved in all of EPFL’s publications, i.e. including all co-authors (benchmark). Compared tothe benchmark, the share of female authors is highest in Mathematics (RPA(F): 1.30), while inother subject categories it is close to or below the benchmark.

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Bibliometric Study 2009–2020 of the Institutions of the ETH Domain

Figure 29: Evolution of EPFL's impact indicators MNCS and PP[top10%]. The dashed line
represents the world average (MNCS:1; PP[Top10%]:10%)

Figure 30: Research profile of EPFL. The numbers adjacent to the blue bars correspond to themean normalised citation score (MNCS).

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139Bibliometric Study 2009–2020 of the Institutions of the ETH Domain

Figure 31: EPFL's main partner countries in terms of co-publications (co-publications between
institutions of the ETH Domain are excluded)

Figure 32: Evolution of EPFL's Open Access and Closed Access publication output between
2009-2020140

Bibliometric Study 2009–2020 of the Institutions of the ETH Domain

PSI
Overall output and impact of publications
The overall output of PSI between 2009 and 2020 amounts to 14,191 publications. Over thisperiod, PSI exhibits an overall high citation impact, with field-normalised impact substantiallyabove the international reference values (MNCS>1.22, PP[top10%]>13%, cf. figure 33).
Research profile
The most important subjects for PSI in terms of output (cf. figure 34) include Physics, Applied(MNCS: 1.33); Materials Science, Multidisciplinary (MNCS: 1.15); Physics, Particles & Fields(MNCS: 1.32); Physics, Multidisciplinary (MNCS: 2.31); Physics, Condensed Matter (MNCS:
1.32); Chemistry, Physical (MNCS: 1.05); Nuclear Science & Technology (MNCS: 0.98); andMultidisciplinary Sciences (MNCS: 2.97). The impact of these subject categories of activity ishigh or around average. Most of these categories have shown worldwide growth in terms of
output during the last two years.
Collaboration and partners
PSI’s publications are predominantly performed in collaboration (90%), with a prevailing role
played by international collaboration (76%). Collaboration with industry represents about 9%
of PSI’s output. Between 2009 and 2020, the proportion of publications performed in collaboration increased from 85% (2009-2012) to 94% (2017–2020). The proportion of international
collaboration increased from 71% to 80% over the same period, whereas collaboration withindustry remained stable (around 9%). Outside of Switzerland, PSI’s main partners are locatedin the EU (Germany, France, Italy), in the USA and in the UK. China and the Russian Federation
are also important partners (cf. figure 35). Out of all the ETH Domain institutions, PSI collaborates most with ETH Zurich (4,294 co-publications) with an overall MNCS of 1.54. It is interesting to note that publications co-authored in collaboration with Empa have the highest impact(MNCS: 1.64).
Research accessibility
The scientific production of PSI is mostly published Open Access (63%), with an increasing
pattern over time towards more openness (cf. figure 36). The number (and share) of all three
types of OA publications (Green, Bronze and Gold) grew steadily during the period 2009 up to
2020. In particular, Gold OA publications are now the preferred type, meaning that most publications are now published in OA journals. The number of top 10% most cited publications ofGold OA publications increased significantly (about 3-fold) between 2010 and 2018.
Gender diversity of authors
Overall, the share of female authors at PSI is 45% above (RPA(F): 1.45) the share of female
authors involved in all of PSI’s publications, i.e. including all co-authors (benchmark). Compared to the benchmark, the share of female authors is highest in Physics, Nuclear (RPA(F):1.77), Physics, Particles & Fields (RPA(F): 1.47) and Astronomy & Astrophysics (RPA(F): 1.47)
while in other subject categories it is closer to or below the benchmark.

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Figure 33: Evolution of PSI 's impact indicators MNCS and PP[top10%]. The dashed line
represents the world average (MNCS:1; PP[Top10%]:10%)

Figure 34: Research profile of PSI. The numbers adjacent to the blue bars correspond to themean normalised citation score (MNCS).

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Figure 35: PSI’s main partner countries in terms of co-publications (co-publications within the
ETH Domain are excluded)

Figure 36: Evolution of PSI's Open Access and Closed Access publication output between
2009–2020

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WSL
Overall output and impact of publications
The overall output of WSL between 2009 and 2020 amounts to 4,936 publications. Over thisperiod, WSL exhibits an overall high citation impact, with field-normalised impact above theinternational reference values (MNCS>1.37, PP[top10%]>14%, cf. figure 37).
Research profile
The most important subjects for WSL in terms of output (cf. figure 38) include Ecology (MNCS:
1.52); Forestry (MNCS: 1.27); Geosciences, Multidisciplinary (MNCS: 1.39); Environmental Sciences (MNCS: 1.29); Plant Sciences (MNCS: 1.78); Multidisciplinary Sciences (MNCS: 2.55); Geography, Physical (MNCS: 1.39); and Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences (MNCS: 1.36). The
impact of these subject categories of activity is high. These categories have shown worldwide
growth in terms of output during the last two years.
Collaboration and partners
WSL’s publications are primarily performed in collaboration (91%), with a prevailing role
played by international collaboration (74%). Collaboration with industry represents about 5%
of WSL’s output. Between 2009 and 2020, the proportion of publications performed in collaboration increased from 83% (2009-2012) to 94% (2017–2020). The proportion of international
collaboration increased from 61% to 81% over the same period, whereas collaboration withindustry remained stable (around 4-5%). Outside of Switzerland, WSL’s main partners are located in the EU (Germany, France, Italy), in the USA and in the UK (cf. figure 39). Out of all theETH Domain institutions, WSL has both the highest output and impact for co-publications
with ETH Zurich (1,107 co-publications, MNCS: 1.76).
Research accessibility
The scientific production of WSL is mostly published Open Access (61%), with an increasing
pattern over time towards more openness (cf. figure 40). The number (and share) of all three
types of OA publications (Green, Bronze and Gold) grew steadily during the period 2009 up to2020, especially Gold OA.
Gender diversity of authors
Overall, the share of female authors at WSL is below (RPA(F): 0.90) the share of female
authors involved in all of WSL’s publications, i.e. including all co-authors (benchmark).
Compared to the benchmark, the share of female authors is highest in Mycology (RPA(F):1.36), while in other subject categories it is close to or below the benchmark.

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Figure 37: Evolution of WSL's impact indicators MNCS and PP[top10%]. The dashed line
represents the world average (MNCS:1; PP[Top10%]:10%)

Figure 38: Research profile of WSL. The numbers adjacent to the blue bars correspond themean normalised citation score (MNCS).

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Figure 39: WSL's main partner countries in terms of co-publications (co-publications within
the ETH Domain are excluded)

Figure 40: Evolution of WSL's Open Access and Closed Access publication output between
2009–2020146

Bibliometric Study 2009–2020 of the Institutions of the ETH Domain

Empa
Overall output and impact of publications
The overall output of Empa between 2009 and 2020 amounts to 7,575 publications. Over thisperiod, Empa exhibits an overall high citation impact, with field-normalised impact substantially above the international reference values (MNCS>1.35, PP[top10%]>16%, cf. figure 41).
Research profile
The most important subjects for Empa in terms of output (cf. figure 42) include Materials
Science, Multidisciplinary (MNCS: 1.46); Chemistry, Multidisciplinary (MNCS: 1.56); Physics,
Applied (MNCS: 1.32); Chemistry, Physical (MNCS: 1.50); and Environmental Sciences (MNCS:
1.64). The impact of these subject categories of activity is high. All of these categories haveshown worldwide growth in terms of output during the last two years.
Collaboration and partners
Empa’s publications are primarily performed in collaboration (87%), with a prevailing role
played by international collaboration (62%). Collaboration with industry represents about
11% of Empa’s output. Between 2009 and 2020, the proportion of publications performed incollaboration increased from 80% (2009-2012) to 91% (2017–2020). The proportion of international collaboration increased from 56% to 65% over the same period, whereas collaboration with industry has remained stable (around 10-11%). Besides Switzerland, Empa’s main
partners are located in the EU (in particular Germany), in the USA and in the UK. China is also
a significant partner (cf. figure 43). Out of all the ETH Domain institutions, Empa collaborates
most with ETH Zurich (2,264 co-publications) with an overall MNCS of 1.57. It is interesting tonote that publications co-authored in collaboration with PSI have the highest impact (MNCS:
1.64).
Research accessibility
About 49% of Empa’s output is published in Open Access, showing an increasing pattern overtime towards more openness (cf. figure 44). The number (and share) of all three types of OA
publications (Green, Bronze and Gold) grew steadily during the period 2009 up to 2020. The
number of top 10% most cited publications of all three types of OA publications has increased
steeply since 2015, while that of Closed Access publications has decreased dramatically.
Gender diversity of authors
Overall, the share of female authors at Empa is just below (RPA(F): 0.97) the share of female
authors involved in all of Empa’s publications, i.e. including all co-authors (benchmark). Compared to the benchmark, the share of female authors at Empa is highest in Engineering,
Chemical (RPA(F): 1.13), while in other subject categories it is closer to or below the benchmark.

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Figure 41: Evolution of Empa's impact indicators MNCS and PP[top10%]. The dashed line
represents the world average (MNCS:1; PP[Top10%]:10%)

Figure 42: Research profile of Empa. The numbers adjacent to the blue bars correspond tothe mean normalised citation score (MNCS).

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Figure 43: Empa's main partner countries in terms of co-publications (co-publications within
the ETH Domain are excluded)

Figure 44: Evolution of Empa's Open Access and Closed Access publication output between
2009–2020

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Eawag
Overall output and impact of publications
The overall output of Eawag between 2009 and 2020 amounts to 4,497 publications. Over
this period, Eawag exhibits a high citation impact overall, with field-normalised impact substantially above the international reference values (MNCS>1.50, PP[top10%]>16%, cf. figure45). A steady decrease of Eawag’s MNCS during most of the period under consideration canbe observed. A potential explanation for this decrease is the very high impact of Eawag during the earliest years of the period, which may have made it difficult for Eawag to sustain theincrease in its impact. In a worldwide comparison, however, Eawag’s MNCS is still high (>1.4
over the whole period 2009–2020). A similar observation can be made for the indicator
PP[top10%], which also shows a decline over time. However, as for MNCS, Eawag presents avery high level of production of highly cited publications, with about 20% of such publicationsin the period 2009-2012 and still with over 16% of highly cited publications in the last period,
2017–2020.
Research profile
The most important subjects for Eawag in terms of output (cf. figure 46) include Environmental Sciences (MNCS: 1.57); Ecology (MNCS: 1.75); Engineering, Environmental (MNCS: 1.92);
Water Resources (MNCS: 1.37), and Multidisciplinary Sciences (MNCS: 2.69). The impact ofthese subject categories is high, and all of them have shown worldwide growth in terms of
output during the last two years.
Collaboration and partners
Eawag’s publications are primarily performed in collaboration (95%), with a prevailing role
played by international collaboration (72%). Collaboration with industry represents about 6%
of Eawag’s output. Between 2009 and 2020, the proportion of publications performed in collaboration increased from 91% (2009-2012) to 97% (2017–2020). The proportion of international collaboration increased from 66% to 76% over the same period while collaboration
with industry remained stable (around 6%). Besides Switzerland, Eawag’s main partners arelocated in the USA and EU (in particular in Germany, the Netherlands and France) and in the
UK. China is also an important partner (cf. figure 47). Out of all the ETH Domain institutions,
Eawag collaborates most with ETH Zurich (1,832 co-publications) with an overall MNCS of
1.54.
Research accessibility
The scientific production of Eawag is mostly published Open Access (61%), showing an increasing pattern over time towards more openness (cf. figure 48). The number (and share) of
all three types of OA publications (Green, Bronze and Gold) grew steadily during the period
2009 up to 2020, with a preference for Green OA. The number of top 10% most cited publications of Green OA publications increased significantly (over 2-fold) between 2009 and 2020.
Gender diversity of authors
Overall, the share of female authors at Eawag is very close (RPA(F): 0.99) to the share of female authors involved in all of Eawag’s publications, i.e. including all co-authors (benchmark).
Compared to the benchmark, the share of female authors is highest in Toxicology(RPA(F)=1.25) while in other subject categories it is closer to or below the benchmark.

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Figure 45: Evolution of Eawag's impact indicators MNCS and PP[top10%]. The dashed line
represents the world average (MNCS:1; PP[Top10%]:10%)

Figure 46: Research profile of Eawag. The numbers adjacent to the blue bars correspond tothe mean normalised citation score (MNCS).

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Figure 47: Eawag's main partner countries in terms of co-publications (co-publications within
the ETH Domain are excluded)

Figure 48: Evolution of Eawag's Open Access and Closed Access publication output between
2009–2020

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Publication data

Publisher: ETH Board, Zurich and Bern, Switzerland, www.ethboard.ch
Project management, content and graphic realisations:
ETH Board staff, Science, Communications and Financein collaboration with the ETH Domain institutions
Picture credit: Daniel Kellenberger/ETH Board, p. 5
Translation and proofreading:
ETH Board translation services and BMP Translation AG, Basel, Switzerland
Layout and printing:atelier MUY, Zurich, mediaviso AG, Zurich and cube media AG, Zurich, Switzerland©ETH Board, January 2023

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