Delegates
Delegates, normally chosen from among the full and associate professors, can be assigned to assist members of the Executive Board with special tasks.
Associate Vice President for Digital Transformation and Governance
The Delegate for Digital Transformation and Governance furthers the development and implementation of new initiatives and projects in matters of digital transformation and governance and supports the ETH Executive Board in this area.
Prof. Effy Vayena a Professor of Bioethics at the Swiss Institute of Technology (ETH) and renowned expert at the intersection of medicine, data, and ethics. Her work focuses on important societal issues of data and technology as they relate to scientific progress and how it is or should be applied to public and personal health. She has been involved in global debates about AI governance and she co-chaired the expert group on Health AI Ethics and Governance set up by the World Health Organisation.
Contact
Deputy head of Institute of Translational Medicine
Dep. Gesundheitswiss. und Technol.
Hottingerstrasse 10
8032
Zürich
Switzerland
Further information
chevron_right AI Ethics and Policy NetworkAssociate Vice President for IP Policy
As Associate Vice President of IP Policy, Stefan Bechtold, Professor of Intellectual Property, tackles topics such as guidelines for open-source software at ETH, training and awareness-raising measures for researchers regarding IP issues, and strategic matters in the Office of Corporate Relations and Knowledge Transfer.
Every year at ETH Zurich, we record around 200 inventions, file 80 to 100 patents and issue roughly 40 new licences. Because of technological progress and the internationalisation of the research landscape, the intellectual property (IP) underlying all of these advancements has become a highly dynamic area fraught with complexity. This raises new questions for ETH in terms of Swiss and international law and also offers opportunities for strategic decision-making.
The Executive Board plans to dedicate more resources to the strategic development of intellectual property issues. One point of emphasis will be protecting the intellectual property created at ETH Zurich so that researchers can use their knowledge for spin-off companies. The university would also like to focus on training scientists to understand the fundamentals of IP and to strategically deploy it in their research.
Stefan Bechtold has been part of ETH Zurich since 2008. From 2018 to 2021 he served as Head of Department for D-GESS, and he contributed to the organisational development project rETHink as part of Workstream 2, which was dedicated to improving and developing professorships at the university. His research interests include IP, technology and antitrust law as well as law and economics.
Contact
Professur f. Intellectual Property
Haldeneggsteig 4
8092
Zürich
Switzerland
Associate Vice President for ETH Zürich Campus Heilbronn
As the Associate Vice President for ETH Zürich Campus Heilbronn, Boris Zürcher is strategically responsible for the planning, management and further development of this important future project of ETH Zürich. In collaboration with the Dieter Schwarz Foundation and the management of ETH Zürich Campus Heilbronn gGmbH, he defines the strategic direction and ensures that the ETH Zürich Campus Heilbronn is well known – both within ETH Zürich and in Switzerland and internationally. In fulfilling his role, Boris Zürcher is supported by the staff of ETH Zürich Campus Heilbronn, which he leads.
Boris Zürcher was Director of Labour at the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) from 2013 until the end of 2024 and Chairman of the Supervisory Commission of the Unemployment Insurance Fund, the Federal Labour Commission, the Federal Tripartite Commission and the Tripartite Commission for International Labour Issues. Previously, he was Director and Chief Economist at BAKeconomics, Deputy Director and Chief Economist at Avenir Suisse, Economic Policy Advisor to Federal Councillors Pascal Couchepin, Joseph Deiss and Doris Leuthard, and Head of Labour Market Policy at SECO.
Boris Zürcher studied economics and sociology at the University of Berne and holds a PhD in economics. He completed an apprenticeship as a mechanical draughtsman with a Federal Certificate of Aptitude and obtained his Federal Baccalaureate while working. He has been a lecturer in economics at the University of Berne since 2003.
Contact
Bereich Präsident der ETH Zürich
Rämistrasse 101
8092
Zürich
Switzerland