Compliance and Scientific integrity

ETH Zurich promotes a culture of autonomy combined with personal responsibility. This environment requires all ETH Zurich members to be aware of and adhere to both statutory requirements and internal directives. It is important that every member of the ETH Zurich community familiarizes themselves with these rules.

An overview of important topics, such as scientific integrity, research involving animals, information security, and data protection, can be found on the Compliance website of ETH Zurich.

Scientific integrity is foundational to the production of reliable scientific knowledge. Researchers, as well as industry and society, rely on this knowledge. To maintain trust, scientific research must follow acknowledged standards and be conducted in a transparent manner. Scientific collaboration thrives only when all parties act with integrity.  

At ETH Zurich, scientific integrity is guided by the Guidelines on scientific integrity, which detail how research integrity and good scientific practice are defined. The Office of Scientific Integrity is available to answer your questions related to this topic. For more information, visit Scientific integrity | ETH Zurich.

ETH Zurich also offers an external page e-learning module on scientific integrity to help you familiarize yourself with these principles.

Scientific misconduct is any violation of scientific integrity, and researchers at ETH Zurich are required to report any suspected misconduct.  If you witness such misconduct, you can find more information and file a report here on the Scientific misconduct | ETH Zurich website.  

Postdocs often supervise Bachelor, Master or doctoral students. This responsibility is an excellent opportunity to gain valuable leadership experience and further the career towards becoming an independent scientist. When supervising junior colleagues, it is important to:

• manage and communicate expectations clearly
• train and guide students with patience and respect
• set achievable goals and monitor progress.

Supervision also provides a good opportunity for postdocs to reflect on their leadership skills and identify areas for improvement. It can be helpful to seek advice from more experienced colleagues or specialized teaching experts within the department.

ETH Zurich is committed to disseminating research results as widely as possible, in line with the principles of Open Access. The ETH Open Access Policy calls upon all researchers at ETH Zurich, including postdocs, to actively contribute to the implementation of open access practices.

ETH Zurich also expects researchers to share data and key materials underlying their publications, in accordance with the FAIR Data principles. These principles aim to enhance the Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability and Reusability of research data.

Researchers at ETH Zurich have multiple options for publishing data and articles and reports. To explore the available support services and infrastructure, please visit the Open Science website of ETH Zurich.

ETH Zurich has stipulated the data management requirements outlined in the ”Guidelines for Research Data Management”. These guidelines apply for all researchers and cover key aspects such as data management planning, storage, annotation and backup of data, data publication and long-term preservation.

The principles of data management are further explained in a series of short videos.

For personalized support and consulting on data management, you can contact the ETH library at data-management@library.ethz.ch.