Annual report 2018 ETH Zurich – Where the future begins Freedom and individual responsibility, entrepreneurial spirit and open-mindedness: ETH Zurich stands on a bedrock of true Swiss values. Our university for science and technology dates back to the year 1855, when the founders of modern-day Switzerland created it as a place of innovation and knowledge. At ETH Zurich, students discover an ideal environment for independent thought, researchers a climate which inspires top performance. Situated in the heart of Europe, yet connected all over the world, ETH Zurich is developing sophisticated solutions to the global challenges of today and tomorrow. CHF 1.8 billion, including CHF 1.3 billion total contribution from the federal government and CHF 0.5 billion third-party funding 21 109 Nobel Prize winners patent (including Albert Einstein applications and Wolfgang Pauli) Fields Turing 205 2 Medal Award winners 1 invention winner Pritzker disclosures 11th in the Prize 87 THE ranking licences 2 winners 7th in the QS ranking 19th in the 407 ARWU ranking spin-offs since 1996 1 2 3 21,400 530 6,090 2,770 students, including professors scientific staff * technical and administrative staff * 4,180 and also doctoral students, from 170 120 apprentices countries * full-time equivalents (FTEs), annual average Foreword from the President 3 Highlights 2018 4 Teaching 8 Research 18 Industry and society 28 Photo series: Thinking – and acting – creatively 38 Honours and awards 48 Human resources and infrastructure 54 Governance and sustainability 64 Finance 76 Consolidated financial statements 82 Report of the statutory auditor 122 Donations 126 Cover image: thinking – and acting – creatively ETH Zurich provides a wide range of measures designed to encour- age critical, independent thought and action. This year’s annual report photo series features some prominent examples, including the Student Project House (SPH). At the SPH, the name says it all: here students find the space they need to work on their own projects. The Swiss academic aerospace initiative (ARIS) got its start here, for example. Today ARIS comprises an interdisciplinary team of around 50 students from ETH, the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, and the Zurich University of Applied Sciences. Uniting research, education and industrial expertise in the field of aerospace technology, ARIS makes rockets that can hold their own at international competitions. The cover image shows ARIS President Oliver Kirchhoff (left) and team members Andrea Schorn and Aleksandar Totev, together with SPH staff member Bianca Curcio (right). https://sph.ethz.ch/aris 2 Thema Foreword from the President 3 “ETH needs to constantly reinvent itself.” From its inception, ETH Zurich has stood out through its desire to explore undiscovered fields and pass on ground-breaking knowledge to the next generation of engineers and scientists. Behind the stories and numbers set out in this annual report are real people. They are what makes ETH so special: an institution renowned for the quality of its thinking, intellectual discourse and scientific discoveries. Our university questions, challenges and comes up with answers. After all, one of our core tasks is to make knowledge available in ways that give Switzerland a competitive edge in a world increasingly dominated by digital technologies. By transferring knowledge and technology, we are deepening existing links with Swiss industry and building new partner- ships. And our pipeline for new business ideas is fuller than ever, with 27 spin-offs founded in the past year alone. ETH is on a good path. Over 21,000 young people now study with us. We have generated an impressive amount of highly promising research, and this is reflected in the prestigious awards that ETH members have won over the past year. From the Fields Medal to the European Inventor Award, from the Golden Lion award at the International Architecture Exhibition to the Marcel Benoist Swiss Science Prize: many ETH researchers have been honoured for their original thinking and scientific excellence. And yet the university cannot rest on its laurels, but needs to constantly reinvent itself. A prime example is the ETH+ initiative, set up to support ETH in exploring promising new areas of interdisciplinary research. ETH provides not only an education, but an entire skill set. The type of qualifications that our graduates will need in 20 years’ time will in some cases be very different from today. This presents us with real challenges, not only in teaching, but also in recruiting new talent and leading large research teams. In all these areas, we have set the course for the future. And because lifelong learning is becoming increasingly important, we have unveiled a more systematic continuing education programme that we are continuously expanding. I would like to thank every member of the ETH community, and especially my predecessor and the members of the Executive Board, for their hard work and dedication. Lastly, my thanks go to everyone who supports ETH – taxpayers and politicians, as well as decision-makers in industry and public office – for the trust they continue to place in our university. I hope you enjoy reading this year’s annual report. Joël Mesot, President of ETH Zurich Highlights 2018 1 1 Fields Medal The International Mathematical Union (IMU) awarded the Fields Medal – the most prestigious award in the field of mathematics – to Alessio Figalli, Profes- sor of Mathematics at ETH Zurich. Figalli received the award for his contributions 2 to the theory of optimal transport and its applications in partial differential equa- tions, metric geometry and probability. page 50 2 Climate scenarios CH2018 Switzerland is becoming drier and hotter with less snow, and will struggle with heavier rainfall in the future – these are the conclusions that climate researchers from MeteoSwiss and ETH Zurich have reached. They form the basis for the Swiss government’s climate change adaptation strategy. page 35 Highlights 2018 5 3 Better job opportunities Political scientists from ETH Zurich and the University of Stanford found that the chances of a refugee finding a job in Swit- zerland would improve if the cantonal allo- cation were better tailored towards the refugee’s integration into the labour mar- ket. The scientists’ approach is based on an algorithm that was developed using machine learning methods. page 23 4 Construction in Basel In September 2018, ETH Zurich laid the foundation stone for its new departmental building on the Schällemätteli campus in Basel. As of 2022, all research groups at the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering will be united under one roof, close to important partners such as the University of Basel. page 58 5 New antibiotics The aim of a project funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and ERC grants was to discover new anti- biotics in previously unexplored habitats. While studying bacteria, ETH researchers identified new substances with antibiotic effects. A wide variety of microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi, live on the leaves of plants. They develop substances with antibiotic properties which halt the growth and reproduction of other bacteria colonies on leaf surfaces. page 25 4 3 5 6 Highlights 2018 6 Golden Lion In 2018 – for the first time ever – a Swiss pavilion won the Golden Lion at the Inter- national Architecture Biennale in Venice. The Best National Contribution recipi- ent was the work of a team of four young ETH architects. Their idea was to height- en awareness of the architecture of one’s own home by exaggerating internal fea- tures, such as an oversize kitchen or doors that are distorted. page 31 7 ETH on Mars In November 2018, NASA’s InSight space probe landed on Mars. It carried a seismometer deploying sophisticated electronic instruments developed at ETH Zurich. The first test data are due to reach the Earth in early 2019, and ETH Zurich’s Marsquake Service will be the first to interpret them. The research- ers hope to gain new insights into the structure and composition of Mars, into comparable processes on Earth, and into the origins and development of the planets in our solar system. page 21 6 7 Highlights 2018 7 8 Quality plus To maintain the university’s pole position, ETH Zurich’s Executive Board launched the ETH+ initiative at the end of 2017. Amongst other things, this involves creat- ing professorships in promising areas of research. Based on the conviction that the ETH community itself best knows in which areas the greatest potential lies, the Ex- ecutive Board launched an ETH-wide ten- der. In total, 68 idea sketches were sub- mitted up to May 2018, nine of which have since been approved. page 71 8 9 Driving in Duckietown ETH researchers are experimenting with driverless vehicles using a fleet of small, self-driving taxis. In the Duckietown proj- ect, they work with colleagues from Mon- treal and Chicago on problems facing the developers of driverless vehicles world- wide. What looks like a kids’ game is actually based on highly complex systems requiring seamless interaction between hardware components, sensors and mo- tors. page 17 10 Continuing education Technological change is having a major impact on employment and demand for skills in industry and society. One of the effects of the rapid growth of information is hat continuing education becomes a lifelong task. This is the context in which ETH Zurich launched the School for Continuing Education in 2018, with new study courses offered in cybersecurity and 9 data science, as well as customised con- tinuing education programmes. page 13 10 Fostering innovation in education The Innovedum fund places 2 million Swiss francs annually at the disposal of the Rector to support initiatives that further develop education at ETH. Number of Innovedum projects submitted and approved (2004 – 2018) Teaching projects Focal point projects Small projects Degree programme initiatives Unsuccessful proposals Innovative projects Projects to promote Projects with simple approval Initiatives to adapt the Projects not supported that improve the quality specific topics (e.g.