Archive internal news

What do junior scientists at ETH think about the proposed cultural values? AVETH has developed an exercise that depicts each value as a fictive team member. This blogpost explains the results from the 66 participating groups and the meaning of the formula in the headline.

Since the start of the year, the Workstream 4 of the rETHink project has focused intensively on the organisation of our academic departments. Jan Vermant and Zeljko Medved, the operative co-leads of Workstream 4, talk about the most important findings of the analysis phase and the next steps.

At the beginning of February, I participated in a virtual retreat together with my colleagues from the Executive Board. For me, this retreat reinforced how important it is – particularly in these COVID times – to put extra effort into learning about each other and creating opportunities to communicate.

Professorships are one of the focal points of the rETHink project. But what does the professorship of the future look like? Workstream 2 of rETHink is responsible for finding out, and they completed a comprehensive analysis of this question last year. Project focus groups drew attention to autonomy – both on an academic and an organisational level – as a vitally important aspect of professorships at the university.

The deadline for the survey of ETH values has been extended. All members of ETH now have until the end of January to contribute their views and play a role in the cultural development of the university.

We’re asking members of the ETH community to express their opinions in a short survey on the values that shape – or should shape – the work we do together. The results will form the basis for a wide-ranging examination of ETH’s culture in the coming year.

Faculty members at ETH tend to stay in their in-groups. Knowledge, however, has smooth transitions. To tackle interdisciplinary research questions and to boost team spirit and diversity, I envision a lunch meeting platform.

“We are capable of reacting quickly and adapting”: ETH President Joël Mesot blogs about what he has learned from looking back on the corona lockdown and reflecting on the values this brought to the fore.

The ETH discussion on values has been launched – and the new rETHink blog gives all ETH members a voice. Take part in the discussion, and make a contribution to shaping the future of our university.