The two Federal Institutes of Technology in Lausanne and Zurich are booming
ETH and EPFL met the strategic goals set for 2017-2020 in teaching, research, and knowledge and technology transfer
On March 19, 2021, the Federal Council approved the reports on the achievement of the strategic objectives of the Federal Institutes of Technology sector in 2020 and the ETH Board’s management report.
The excellent scientific level of the sector’s institutions was reconfirmed last year. Their scientists also contributed decisively to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
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In 2020, the ETH Domain again met the strategic goals set for 2017-2020 in the key areas of teaching, research, and knowledge and technology transfer.
More than 35,200 students and doctoral candidates enrolled in 2020
The upward trend in the number of students at the ETH Zurich and Lausanne has continued: the two federal universities have enrolled more than 35,200 students and doctoral candidates in 2020, an increase of 4.7 percent over the previous year.
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As in the past, the fastest growing sector is that of information and communication technology.
Various international rankings regularly attest to the excellent quality of research conducted in the ETH Domain.
European Research Council: 40 grants
In 2020, researchers from its institutes won several major awards, such as the Swiss Marcel Benoist and Latsis science prizes, and won 40 European Research Council grants (ERC grants), most of which feature substantial amounts and enjoy great scientific prestige at the international level.
In the year under review, ETH scientists made a vital contribution to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The institutes in this field also make a substantial contribution to strengthening the Swiss research cluster, for example by operating very expensive research infrastructures (in particular at the Paul Scherrer Institute), by integrating energy research into their programs on a long-term basis, or by promoting various initiatives in the field of digitization.
Thanks to numerous collaborations with other Swiss universities, the ETH institutes are well integrated into the national academic landscape.
Lausanne and Zürich at the forefront for hospitals
In 2020, the two Federal Institutes of Technology further intensified their cooperation with medical faculties and university hospitals, primarily through joint projects.
The ETH institutes are also key players in the transfer of knowledge and technology and play a decisive role in Switzerland’s competitiveness and innovative strength.
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In 2020, this sector set a new record for the third consecutive year with the establishment of 66 spin-offs and concluded 600 new cooperation contracts with the private sector.
Its institutes continued their efforts to increase the interest of school-age youth in MINT disciplines (mathematics, computer science, natural sciences, and technology) and participated in teacher training, especially in computer science.
ETH institutions continue to be viewed as attractive places to work.
Against bullying, sexual harassment and discrimination
However, the Federal Council noted that the measures taken to date against bullying, sexual harassment and discrimination have not yet had the desired effects, as have efforts to increase the proportion of women.
The various measures will have to be adapted in a targeted manner.
The ETH Domain comprises the two Federal Institutes of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ) and Lausanne (EPFL) as well as the four associated research institutes: the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (Empa) and the Swiss Federal Institute for Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag).
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The strategic and governing body is the ETH Board. Since 2017, the Federal Council has managed this area by formulating strategic objectives according to the management principles for the hived-off Federal units and reports annually to the Federal Assembly on whether and to what extent they have been achieved.
The Swiss Confederation is the responsible body and the main source of funding for the ETH Domain: in the strategic period ending at the end of 2020, it directly or indirectly allocated 90 percent of the available funds.
