Awarding of a professor title
Adjunct professors
In recognition of outstanding performances in teaching and research, the ETH Board – upon a proposal by the President – may award the title of Professor to Senior Scientists of ETH Zurich. In terms of personnel policy, the corresponding professors maintain their employee status according to the Personnel Ordinance for the ETH Domain (PVO-ETH).
In exceptional cases, this honour may also be bestowed upon external persons who have rendered outstanding services to ETH Zurich by means of longstanding, regular teaching accomplishments.
The title expires once the valid relationship with ETH Zurich as defined at the time of the awarding is no longer maintained over a period of two years, for example due to a termination of employment or a discontinuation of the teaching activities. Senior Scientists who are regularly retired at ETH Zurich may keep their professorial title after their retirement (with the title suffix "retired").
The principles regarding the awarding of a professor title are stated in the Richtlinien des Präsidenten über die Titularprofessoren und -professorinnen an der ETH Zürich (German version only).
Contact: Dr. Birgit Kessler
Professors of Practice (PoP)
At the request of the President, the ETH Board may award the title of Professor of Practice to experts who have broad professional experience and are recruited for a targeted practice-oriented expansion of the teaching programs. The selection criteria include in particular, in addition to proven practical experience at management level and, if applicable, expertise in research and development, interest in the education of students and involvement in academic initiatives as well as knowledge and technology transfer between the university and practice.
PoP are lecturers, employed at a low level and with a fixed term private law employment contract for a maximum of 5 years. The title is awarded by the ETH Board for the duration of the activity at ETH and may not be continued after leaving ETH or upon retirement.
The departments are requested to contact the Office for Faculty Affairs at the beginning of the process. A detailed process description and sample documents are available on request.
Contact: Dr. Larissa Schefer
In addition, the department's HR partners will be happy to assist with questions relating to the job description and the employment conditions at ETH Zurich.
News: Professor of Practice
PoP job description (form)
Download - save on PC - fill out in Adobe Acrobat:
- Open the protected page PoP job description form in the Firefox internet browser. The form appears either in a new tab of your browser (do not edit here!) or directly in Adobe Acrobat Reader or Pro.
- First, download the form to your PC and then open it in Adobe Acrobat.
- Fill out and save the form in Adobe Acrobat and never in the internet browser. This is the only way to use the form completely and correctly.
External professor titles
The use of external professor titles is subject to special regulations. Further information can be found in the Download “Guidelines of the President on the use of external professor titles at ETH Zurich” (German only).