Norbert Staub

Against a background of snowy monotony hardly evocative of spring, they are eye-catching: since Thursday beds of glowing daffodils have greeted ETH members at ten locations on the central campus and the Hönggerberg(1). Like these dashes of colour in the ETH landscape, the ideas of ETH members should also blossom within the strategy process launched by Ernst Hafen in January and now accessible to all on weblog "ETH 2020"(2), (3).

"Much has been learned"

The five focal points defined by the new president as strategic are familiar: teaching, promotion of young talent, financing, technology transfer and communication; the category of "organisation" joins them. Basing its deliberations on these points the ETH Executive Board has in two conclaves derived goals and potential measures, and is now putting them up for debate: on the weblog and via the heads of the respective departments and areas. He will soon have been in office for 100 days, began Hafen: a time during which he learned a great deal about ETH, much of which pleased him. The high quality of ETH research borne out by numerous publications in Nature and Science, for example; the Olympic Gold of the snowboarder and ETH student Daniela Meuli; or the engagement with which the officer in charge of parking defended the ETH chief's bike-stand.

A cooperative undertaking

It was only right to expect strategy from the president of ETH, according to Hafen. But here he considered the experience of those supporting the system to be indispensable. Hence the shaping of the next 15 years was a major, mutual undertaking. It had to be clear: "Also in 2020 the core business of ETH will be to offer teaching and research of the highest quality" . As to the direction via which this goal might be reached, the concern now was to create a consensus. For the challenges that would require solutions were already showing themselves today: confrontation with global competitors not only in research, but also in teaching, for instance; the trend towards interdisciplinarity; or the stagnation of public funding.

A selection of the goals and potential measures presented by Ernst Hafen is as follows. In its focus on teaching the Executive Board wishes to instil not only excellent specialist qualifications in its students but also good business capabilities. "Increasingly, students require not only the know-how to found a company, but also the courage to actually do it," feels the President. The corresponding course offering therefore belonged in the curriculum. In addition, the creation of more scope for independent work and teamwork has been proposed. There should be new career possibilities for instructors (the Anglo-Saxon lecturer model was cited as an example). And English, at least at Master’s degree level, should become compulsory.

Ambitious goals

Regarding the promotion of young research talent, Ernst Hafen believes that for Ph.D. students in particular the concept’s full potential has not yet been exhausted. It might, for example, be better served by integrating them into an international "ETH Graduate School". Further ambitious milestones include creating an additional 100 professorships, and increasing the proportion of women at ETH to 50 percent overall (and to 30 percent of professors).

A new basis for the ETH 2020 planning discussion: ETH President Ernst Hafen presents a range of goals and potential measures. large

This should be made possible by "scouting" and/or an increase in the number of cr?che places in Science City. To strengthen young people's interest in science and technology and reduce the education gap at gymnasium level, further Learning Centers for the training of gymnasium teachers should be set up (4).

Much more third-party funding

With regard to financing, the Executive Board has set itself the goal of doubling third-party funding by 2011. To achieve this aim it has been suggested, for example, to reward successful third-party fundraising in the distribution of budgeted funds,and to promote co-operation with industry.

This measure is linked, of course, to the focal point of technology transfer. "ETH has recently been unjustly criticised by the press as doing too little in this area," said Ernst Hafen. Nevertheless efforts here should be intensified: "By the year 2011 we want to double the average number of yearly company-founding spin-offs." As to the intellectual capacity for this, the "vaccination" of ETH students with entrepreneurial spirit was already a theme. "We want to examine the teaching programmes to find out how far they fulfil this requirement," said Hafen. And incubators should be set up in the "beehive" of Science City to stimulate and support science-to-business processes.

Focal point 5 is "ETH culture and communication". Its aim is on the one hand to strengthen ETH members’ identification with their institution, and on the other to intensify contacts with Switzerland’s population, political sphere and industry, as well as with relevant target groups abroad – the latter in association with institutions in the ETH domain, for "competition lies not within Switzerland, but abroad". Elements of the catalogue of measures presented to achieve this include a discussion of "ETH culture", and stronger articulation of ETH's concerns in political bodies locally and nationally. Internationally it would be a question of defining regions where ETH might wish to approach potential students or opinion leaders.

Organisational changes

Such fundamental developments require institutional adaptation. Thus the Executive Board is considering taking a more active strategic role, and further increasing the competences of teaching and research units. A point of discussion is also whether there could in future be fewer of the latter. In ETH infrastructure better mutual co-ordination of services is sought, via common IT strategies, simplified processes or standardised offers. "I am aware that our goals are bold," concluded Ernst Hafen. He was already looking forward to an engaged and also certainly controversial discussion. Initial reactions indicated possible conflicts, e.g. between the pressure on researchers to publish and the aim to strengthen teaching.

Work in progress

It was not the intention of the Executive Board to offer ready-made solutions today. Now Ernst Hafen was inviting all ETH members to form and express their opinions by the end of the summer semester. He shared his vision with the audience: "In the year 2020 ETH Zurich will have mastered the challenges. In Switzerland's revolutionary change from an industrial to a knowledge society it will have played a key role and will still be the flagship of a science- and technology-friendly, urbane Switzerland. ETH is aware of its responsibility for sustainable and socially equitable development; and it will with confidence show what it is capable of and stand up to global competition."