Review 2025
Great responsibility in the face of global challenges
Following the start of the new ERI period 2025–2028, the institutions of the ETH Domain focused more closely on the Strategic Areas defined by the ETH Board. Research and communication relating to a responsible digital transformation and a forward-looking approach to research and knowledge security also played an important role in the reporting year. An even stronger emphasis was placed on engaging in dialogue with society and providing scientific advisory services for authorities and policymakers in the light of the current global challenges.
Teaching: quality of teaching and tuition fees
Maintaining the quality of teaching is a top priority, despite rising cost-cutting pressure. Consequently, a change was introduced in the 2025 autumn semester. For the time being, up to and including the 2028 autumn semester, foreign students with foreign educational qualifications will be admitted to Bachelor’s programmes at EPFL only until the total number of 3,000 places for Bachelor’s students in the first year of study is reached. This restriction on the total number of places in the first year has led to a significant drop in the number of new foreign students. Since the autumn semester of 2025, tuition fees for foreign Bachelor’s and Master’s students who move to Switzerland to study at ETH Zurich or EPFL have also tripled. However, it is still too early to assess the impact of this measure on the number of foreign students.
Research: Strategic Areas
The new strategic objectives set by the Federal Council for the ETH Domain for the years 2025–2028 are based on the core tasks of the institutions of the ETH Domain – teaching, research and knowledge and technology transfer (KTT). By establishing these objectives, the Federal Council is ensuring continuity while at the same time incorporating new developments and topics. Objective 2, “Research”, for example, refers to the five Strategic Areas defined by the ETH Board in its Strategic Plan for the ERI period 2025–2028 with a view to pressing global challenges: “Human Health”, “Energy, Climate and Environmental Sustainability”, “Responsible Digital Transformation”, “Advanced Materials and Key Technologies” and “Engagement and Dialogue with Society”. Researchers from the ETH Domain discussed these Strategic Areas and their further development at the first ETH Domain Conference held in December 2025. The Strategic Areas stand for successful cooperation – not only within the ETH Domain and with other Swiss ERI stakeholders, but also with the public sector, industry and hospitals.
This multifaceted collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders in Switzerland is supplemented by international scientific cooperation. Participation in the European Framework Programmes for Research and Innovation is fundamental in order to compete at the highest level worldwide and attract the best talent. As part of the conclusion of negotiations on the Switzerland-EU package at the end of 2024 and with a view to the signing of the EU Programmes Agreement (EUPA) in 2025, Switzerland was admitted to almost all the calls for tenders for Horizon Europe, Digital Europe and the Euratom programme issued in 2025. The ETH Board and the institutions of the ETH Domain fully support the Federal Council’s goal of pursuing the bilateral path and see the Switzerland–EU package as a harmonised legal framework that is extremely valuable for academic cooperation, talent mobility and investment in cross-border research.
Responsible digital transformation
Several of the Federal Council’s strategic objectives place responsibility on the ETH Domain for incorporating current developments in digitalisation and artificial intelligence and focussing its research activities on disruptive technologies and related societal challenges. In late summer 2025, the Swiss National AI Institute, which was jointly founded by ETH Zurich and EPFL in 2024 and is supported by the ETH Board as part of the Swiss AI Initiative, launched “Apertus”, the first fully open Large Language Model for generative AI in Switzerland. The model is based on values such as trustworthiness, open source and transparency, thereby strengthening Switzerland’s digital sovereignty, and can be tailored to the specific needs of Swiss reference groups.
The education campus in Heilbronn, where ETH Zurich is currently establishing a centre thanks to a generous donation, is also geared towards achieving a responsible digital transformation. 15 professorships are to be gradually established at the ETH Zurich Campus Heilbronn, where ETH researchers will teach and conduct research in areas such as artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. The institutions of the ETH Domain also make important contributions to Switzerland’s sovereignty and security with their energy science research and work on data science, which involves close cooperation with the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).
These research and innovation areas are facing new challenges in a global situation marked by geopolitical tensions. It is crucial to adopt a forward-looking approach to research and knowledge security, particularly with regard to cooperation with international and industrial partners. As in other countries, Swiss ERI stakeholders must take appropriate security precautions to protect scientific assets, sensitive knowledge, data and technologies. The ETH Domain is also involved in the ongoing work of the Swiss University Council on national coordination in relation to knowledge security.
Dialogue with society
One of the key tasks of the institutions of the ETH Domain is to engage in direct dialogue with the public on research topics that are relevant to society. This includes providing scientific advisory services for public authorities and political decision-makers on current issues. In autumn 2025, the institutions of the Swiss ERI sector jointly launched the National Science Advice Network on behalf of the Confederation, which is tasked with quickly mobilising independent, interdisciplinary scientific expertise in order to advise policymakers and authorities on managing crises, as well as on preparing for crisis situations. The network aims to foster continuous close dialogue between science and politics, and is currently working on four thematic clusters that are considered to be of the highest strategic importance for Switzerland’s security and resilience: Public Health, Cybersecurity, Disinformation and International Challenges.
In this context, it is of particular interest to find out what the Swiss people think about science, how they obtain information and whether they trust science and scientists. These questions are the focus of the long-term project Science Barometer Switzerland. The fourth regular survey wave, co-financed by the ETH Board, was conducted in Switzerland in 2025.
One of the most important findings is that the Swiss population’s trust in science is relatively high and stable. Many people consider research to be necessary, are in favour of state funding and believe that political decisions should be based on scientific findings. From the combined results for interest, attitude and trust, it emerges that around a third of respondents are either extremely well informed and very interested in science, or at least have a critical interest in scientific issues, while almost half the Swiss population is less informed but still passively supportive of science. A certain polarisation can be seen – the numbers of both supporters and sceptics who are completely opposed to science (17%) have increased slightly.
Organisational development in the ETH Domain
The ETH Domain is committed to making its own organisation effective and flexible to make sure it is properly equipped for the challenges mentioned above and those that lie ahead. Over the course of the reporting year, the ETH Board and the institutions of the ETH Domain worked intensively on the “FIT for the Future” organisational development project. The plan is to create an ETH Domain with three strong strategic pillars: ETH Zurich, EPFL and the four federal research institutes. The ETH Board is expected to launch an internal consultation on this matter in spring 2026.