Their names are Marianne Liebi Adrian Wanner. Two young researchers who make the nanostructure of macroscopic samples, such as bones or brain tissue, visible in three dimensions using high-resolution images.

Empa researchers have developed novel materials made of carbon that exploit quantum effects to exhibit previously unattainable electronic and magnetic properties.

Professor of number theory Maryna Viazovska has solved a mathematical problem that has stumped researchers for centuries. This achievement brought her recognition with the Fields Medal, which is something like a “Nobel Prize for Mathematics”.

The institutions of the ETH Domain produce around 60 spin-offs each year. Among them, five are valued at over one billion dollars. Here is an introduction to these five “unicorns”.

The Swiss energy system is expected to be climate-neutral by 2050. The key to this is science: CO2 can be converted by electrolysis into raw materials for chemicals or synthetic fuels and the cost of a fossil-free energy system can be calculated using modelling.

Matthias Saurer is a physicist and heads the WSL isotope laboratory where complex measuring procedures are used to determine plants’ isotope ratios. These provide answers to questions about the nutrient and water balance in forests, for example, and provide important foundations for environmental and climate research.

Anna Kiesenhofer has a doctorate in mathematics and was doing research as a postdoc at EPFL on partial differential equations when she qualified for the cycling road race at the Olympic Games in Tokyo and won the gold medal in sensational fashion. She sees parallels between mathematics and cycling which were instrumental in her success.   

Cyanobacteria are ancient organisms. The most varied types of shells without a core, which, at high density in warm waters, can secrete complex substances and also toxins. Some are toxic to both humans and animals. Elisabeth Janssen is on the trail of these natural toxins: applied research, the results of which can be incorporated into water protection or water management.

Quantum physics has a long tradition at ETH Zurich. Now it is further expanding its teaching and research activities. Around 150 students are completing the novel Master’s degree programme in Quantum Engineering, there is a “Quantum Center” and quantum computers are to be built in the ETHZ-PSI Quantum Computing Hub.

Failing to perform an experiment, considering the wrong hypothesis, having a paper rejected: failure is not only normal in science, it is also essential for cutting-edge research. What is the experience of researchers in the ETH Domain with this sensitive topic?

A pan-European initiative launched at the behest of the Swiss and British research communities calls for the two countries to be rapidly reintegrated into European science.

What are the institutions of the ETH Domain doing to reduce the CO2 emissions of their buildings? An overview shows: quite a lot, from anergy and waste heat to district heating and photovoltaics.

The ETH Board has launched FIT for the Future, an organisational development project aimed at adapting the structure of the ETH Domain to tomorrow's challenges. Its goal: to strengthen collaboration between the institutions and improve administrative efficiency.

On this page, you will find an archive of the newsletters sent as part of the organisational development project FIT for the Future.

The President of the ETH Board, Michael O. Hengartner, answers three key questions about the organisational development that will shape the future of the ETH Domain.

The FIT for the Future project is now in its second phase – the design phase – following the ETH Board’s decision in principle in December 2024.

During the internal preliminary consultation, the ETH Board received a great deal of feedback and questions about the project. Some of the most relevant questions, and the associated answers, are given below.

Improving strategic coordination, promoting collaboration, simplifying administrative processes: with the FIT for the Future project, the ETH Board intends to develop the organisation of the ETH Domain.

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The ETH Domain is committed to ensuring equal opportunities and creating a culture of inclusion and belonging for all its members.

At the start of 2024, the ETH Board and the six institutions of the ETH Domain defined eight objectives to be achieved in the “FIT for the Future” organisational development project, and developed corresponding sub-projects.

Fit for the future – from industrialisation to the digitalisation age

The ETH Board is currently working on the organisational development of the ETH Domain in order to make it fit for the future and to identify its optimal organisation and structure. This should ensure that the ETH Domain is better equipped to meet the urgent challenges it faces now and in the future. The aim is to create a system in which the outstanding capacities of the ETH Domain’s institutions can be harnessed to address the major societal challenges of our time.

Strategy for Diversity, Equality and Inclusion 2025–2028

Spin-offs: Common licensing principles within the ETH Domain

List of public contracts in 2023 (only in German)

ETH Domain Factsheet on the ERI Message (in German)

University rankings 2023/2024

Financial Report 2023

Annual Report 2023

Strategic Plan 2025–2028

Report of the Expert Committee

Self-Assessment Report of the ETH Board

Response of the ETH Board

ERI Dispatch 2025–2028: Joint press release of the ERI Partners