(cm) The next president at ETH Zurich is Ernst Hafen. Federal Councillor Pascal Couchepin announced the appointment Wednesday last and introduced Hafen to the waiting media at the Parliament Building in Berne. In appointing Hafen the Federal Council had followed the unanimous recommendation of the ETH Board and its President, Alexander Zehnder. The magistrate called the election of the developmental biologist–who was only recently appointed head of the Zoological Institute of the University of Zurich–an ideal appointee. Not only was Hafen an outstanding scientist but he also had experience in the private sector and was a good communicator. Minister Couchepin took the occasion to honour the current president, Olaf Kübler, who will be stepping down at the beginning of December 2005. Under his aegis ETH Zurich had introduced a Bachelor/Master system of degrees and the idea of Science City had grown.

Ernst Hafen then explained where he considered his main tasks would lie at ETH Zurich. It was very important for him, he said, to create new, highly qualified jobs. This meant that the transfer of technology had to be strengthened even more. As a successful university, ETH had to continue to foster and promote international exchange. Not only here, however–stronger collaboration also had to be achieved in a national context. That this was possible had been clearly demonstrated by the project SystemsX, the national network for systems biology that unites scientists from ETH Zurich and the universities of Basle and Zurich. But the biologist Hafen also wants to strengthen the engineering sciences at ETH, especially in their interfaces with other disciplines. This was the best way to find solutions to energy and environmental problems.

He did not want to go into further details at the moment, said the new appointee. He first needed to get to know ETH in more detail. As a first step towards this talks with ETH representatives were scheduled for the immediate future. With regard to his participation in "The Genetics Company“ Hafen informed the media that he had resigned from the board of directors but that he would continue to serve on its advisory board. In order not to lose his contact to his home-base, he would also continue to head his research group, which will move from the University to ETH Zurich.

From "Lord of the Flies" to ETH president

Ernst Hafen, (1956), citizen of St. Gallen, commenced his studies in 1979 at the University of Basle from where he graduated with a PhD in cell biology in 1983. His academic career then took him to the University of California in Berkeley USA. In 1987 Hafen was appointed Associate Professor at the University of Zurich and was elected Full Professor of Developmental Genetics there in 1997. The main focus of his research has been directed at the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. He has been head of the Institute of Zoology at the University of Zurich since 1 January 2004 (1).

Pascal Couchepin introducing the next ETH president, Ernst Hafen, to the media. Hafen will take up office on 1st December 2005. large

Ernst Hafen has received numerous scientific awards in his career, including the Friedrich-Miescher Prize in 1991, the University of Geneva's Prix Mondial Nessim-Habif in 1999, and the Otto Nägeli Prize for Medicine in 2004. He is a member of various scientific bodies, such as the Research Council of the Swiss National Science Foundation (Division III) and he represents Switzerland in the international organisation, "Human Frontiers". In 1998, together with Michel Aguet and Konrad Basler, Hafen founded The Genetics Company Inc., which produces tools for the diagnosis and therapy of illnesses, such as Alzheimer's. The company currently employs a staff of over 35 in Zurich. Hafen was also a co-initiator of Life Science Zurich (2) and the driving force behind the exhibition "Der gespiegelte Mensch“ in the Swiss National Museum.

First reactions

"I am very pleased with the appointment of Ernst Hafen“, says Hauke Hennecke, Head of the ETH Department of Biology. He was a person with balanced views and determination. Hennecke also believes that Hafen will grow into the top-level job even though he had not yet had the opportunity to gain all the necessary leadership experience that this job required. "As Life Science is destined to grow in importance at ETH, it is an advantage to have someone from this field taking over the top position."

The reaction to Hafen's appointment is positive at the University of Zurich, too. As Rector Hans Weder told "unipublic“, it was quite apparent that the people from his university were in demand. Hugo Stocker, Hafen's senior lecturer at the Zoological Institute considers his boss to be a dynamic man with a great thirst for action. "I also find it important that the new ETH president comes from outside the ETH but is someone who still knows Switzerland as well as the country's research landscape." Stocker hopes that the appointment will lead to even closer collaboration with ETH in the area of Life Science, although he adds that the departure of Ernst Hafen will be a sharp loss to the institute.