Michael O. Hengartner presents the next steps in the FIT for the Future project
A lot has happened in the FIT for the Future project since the last newsletter: in workshops, the institutions of the ETH Domain have further refined the planned third strong pillar of the ETH Domain. The ETH Board is having variants with different degrees of integration of the research institutes worked out. Michael O. Hengartner answers three questions on this topic.
The last newsletter was issued nearly six months ago. What has been going on with the FIT for the Future project since then?
Michael O. Hengartner: The ETH Board is seeking to achieve closer cooperation and enhanced coordination in the ETH Domain, which in future is expected to consist of three strong strategic pillars: ETH Zurich, EPFL, and the four research institutes under one roof (working title Swiss National Lab, SNL).
Since March 2025, five workshops have been held with the senior management teams of the two Federal Institutes of Technology and the four research institutes. Together, they worked on the possible composition and competences of a future executive board for the SNL, the embedding of the large-scale research facilities, and the funding and creation of joint support units such as IT, HR and Finance.
Some voices from the research institutes have expressed reservations about a merger under one legal personality. Politicians and other stakeholders also have various questions and concerns. What is the ETH Board’s response?
The ETH Board takes this feedback very seriously and takes account of it in its strategic deliberations and conceptual work. In order to respond to the reservations expressed by the research institutes, the ETH Board is currently formulating a number of options that integrate the research institutes to differing degrees. The ETH Board expressly confirms that a merger into one legal personality does not necessarily have to take place.
All the ETH Domain institutions agree that we need to cooperate more closely, coordinate better between ourselves, and integrate new themes and units into the ETH Domain more easily. There is also a consensus that we wish to create a third strong strategic pillar within the ETH Domain, in addition to ETH Zurich and EPFL.
What’s happening now?
At the end of August, the directors of the research institutes presented an initial proposal. This will now be worked out further prior to the ETH Board meeting in mid-September. The ETH Board will discuss the various options and is expected to decide by the end of the year which option(s) will be used to conduct the consultation within the ETH Domain.
