ETH seeks to benefit more strongly from partnership with Microsoft

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was a guest at ETH Zurich, where he answered questions posed by ETH Zurich President Lino Guzzella. Guzella praised the research partnership between ETH Zurich and Microsoft, though he pointed out that Microsoft is a partner that is both “fascinating” and a bit of a threat.

“We enjoy the research cooperation, but from time to time we lose our most brilliant minds to Microsoft,” Guzzella said. “I am afraid that if you attract too many of our talents, it damages the pipeline for eventual new breakthroughs.”

Nadella accepted the criticism, agreeing that strong university research is also in Microsoft’s own interests. “We therefore want to create an environment in which people can move as easily as possible between industry and education institutions,” Nadella said. He called for research partnerships that benefit both sides.

Marc Pollefeys, Director of Science at Microsoft as well as a professor and head of the Institute for Visual Computing at ETH Zurich, is proof that this kind of exchange works. He also believes that the exchange is currently weighted towards industry, though progress is being made: “I’ve already recruited a few people from Microsoft for my institute.”

Nadella and Guzzella also discussed the increasing importance of artificial intelligence as well as the declining proportion of women in computer science. The two men agreed that more efforts need to be made to recruit women.