Professor Eftychia Vayena to join the Executive Board of ETH Zurich
Upon application of the President of ETH Zurich, Professor Joël Mesot, the ETH Board has appointed Professor Eftychia (Effy) Vayena as the new Member of the Executive Board of ETH Zurich. She is to succeed Professor Vanessa Wood as Vice President for Knowledge Transfer and Corporate Relations as of 1 January 2026.
Effy Vayena is one of the world’s leading experts on the digitalisation of healthcare as well as on data governance and the governance of new technologies generally. She has received numerous awards for her work. Effy Vayena has been a Full Professor of Bioethics at ETH Zurich since 2017. She has had extensive experience of national and international collaborations and has already held various university and non-university positions, in addition to serving on a number of committees, both in Switzerland and abroad.
Organisational development of the ETH Domain: the ETH Board is having further options drawn up
The ETH Board is seeking to achieve closer cooperation and enhanced coordination in the ETH Domain. In future, the ETH Domain is expected to consist of three strong strategic pillars: ETH Zurich, EPFL, and the four research institutes under one roof. Whereas the establishment of this third pillar enjoys widespread support in terms of its content, the research institutes have expressed certain reservations about the intention of setting up a joint legal entity as an umbrella organisation.
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 having an alternative drawn up. This is intended to show how the jointly decided objective can be achieved and the collaboration between the research institutes enhanced without necessarily merging them into a single legal entity. The ETH Board has now discussed a first alternative proposal by the directors of the four research institutes. It has requested them to develop this further and flesh out the specifics. The ETH Board is expected to decide at the end of the year which option or options it wishes to include in the consultation within the ETH Domain. It also confirmed the intention of strengthening the presence in the French-speaking part of Switzerland with a digital unit while retaining the locations and brands of the research institutes, which are of considerable value and very well known amongst the body of stakeholders.
The ETH Board supports the Bilaterals III
The ETH Board supports the Federal Council’s goal of continuing to pursue the bilateral approach by means of the negotiated package of agreements. It expressed itself to this effect during the consultation (see statement dated 10 September). The overall Bilaterals III package will strengthen scientific and economic cooperation with the EU. Stable and regulated relationships with the EU are essential to preserve scientific excellence, stimulate innovation and further enhance Switzerland’s international competitiveness. The Bilaterals III package offers a harmonised legal framework that is indispensable for academic cooperation, talent mobility and investment in cross-border research.
Equal pay analysis in the ETH Domain
In 2025, an external consultancy firm conducted an equal pay analysis for the institutions of the ETH Domain. The results indicate that there are no statistically relevant differences in salary between the sexes, thus confirming the findings of the equal pay analysis carried out in the year 2020/2021. This pleasing outcome shows that equal opportunities and the principle of “equal pay for equal work” are being implemented in the ETH Domain. The institutions of the ETH Domain ensure that an equal pay analysis is carried out periodically.
