Critical Thinking
The challenges of the future in today's complex and highly networked world are uncertain. In order to cope with this uncertainty, university members must be able to critically reflect on the knowledge they have acquired as well as on their own views. This enables a knowledge transfer to society and the economy in a responsible manner and to act responsibly on this basis.
Critical thinking is the ability to differentiate between different positions, views, actions or aspirations, to question them critically (and self-critically), to eliminate the inadequate ones and to be able to choose the most suitable one currently available from the various remaining positions. Critical Thinking ETH is about education in the sense of enabling and facilitating critical reflection in order to cope with unknown challenges of the future. This also includes the promotion of an academic and corporate culture that actively supports in the above-mentioned sense critical thinking, questioning and action.
Essentially, this involves enabling students and staff to pass on knowledge and technical know-how to society and the economy, to inform about current challenges and approaches to solutions, and to ensure responsible science and technology transfer.
In order to achieve these goals, Critical Thinking ETH concentrates on the individual, institution/academy and thematic priority topics. Then as well as on the three contact groups of young academics (students/doctoral candidates), academic staff (lecturers/research managers) and the entire institution (management committees, staff, personnel, infrastructure, governance). The aim is to focus on content, while at the same time enabling the culture of critical thinking to be introduced into all relevant areas of activity at ETH Zurich.
