ETH Domain to focus on digitalization

At its meeting of 22/23 May, the ETH Board took decisions with regard to financial and investment planning for 2020. It concentrated on strategic focus areas to strengthen digitalization, as detailed in a press release. The ETH Domain will have to contend with a decrease in federal funding in 2020. However, operating revenue will rise by a total of 56.5 million Swiss francs, as many teaching and research projects, for which the institutions of the ETH Domain successfully raised competitive funds, will be conducted over the coming year.

In its press release, the ETH Council highlighted that several measures have already been implemented with the aim of strengthening digitalization. One such example from the field of teaching is the new Master’s degree in Cyber Security, which is offered jointly by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH) and EPFL, based in Lausanne. Furthermore, nearly 10 percent of degree courses have been reconceptualized. For example, the machine building course has been fundamentally changed, with the focus switched from turbines to micro and nanorobotics for medical applications

In addition to ETH and EPFL, the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) and the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag) all form part of the ETH Domain.