Participation at ETH

Participation report

The Download report on anchoring participation at ETH Zurich (German only) (PDF, 671 KB) was prepared in 2016 and fundamentally revised in 2023. The report is published by the University Assembly. The document provides an insight into the following topics:

  • Basics of participation
  • The university groups
  • Committees at university level
  • Committees at departmental level

Participation is a central component of the culture at ETH. The involvement of all university groups at institutional level ensures that the Executive Board's decisions are widely accepted and supported - and can be influenced or corrected if necessary. Broad-based participation is a key feature of ETH Zurich's presidential system, in which the President bears overall responsibility. In particular, he is responsible for strategy, the appointment of professors and finances. The President also proposes the Vice-Presidents (members of the Executive Board) and professors to the ETH Board for appointment.

The interaction of the presidential system with institutionally anchored participation brings many advantages. Thanks to the careful design of opinion-forming processes, it facilitates the solution of organisational problems, ensures consensus, promotes institutional identity and increases the quality of decisions. The basis for this interaction is the mutual trust of the university groups and decision-makers as well as the feeling of being part of the ETH community.

Legal anchoring of participation in the ETH Domain

Representation on the ETH Board
According to the external page ETH Act, the University Assemblies of ETH Zurich and EPF Lausanne (EPFL) can nominate a person with full voting rights for the ETH Board. The current representative of the two university assemblies on the ETH Board is external page Dr Kristin Becker.

Legal basis
external page ETH Act (SR 414.110) & external page ETHZ-ETHL Ordinance (SR 414.110.37, German only)

Participation at ETH Zurich: Art. 32 ETH Act in conjunction with Art. 19 ETHZ-ETHL Ordinance

Participation of the University Assembly: Art. 31 ETH Act in conjunction with Art. 17 and Art. 19 ETHZ-ETHL Ordinance

The Executive Board shall provide comprehensive information to ensure that the groups of university members can exercise their participation rights. If a group is not represented by one or more organisations, the Executive Board shall regulate their participation in cooperation with the University Assembly.

The Download Memorandum of Understanding (PDF, 1017 KB) (2020 version) describes the role of the University Assembly and in particular the communication and exchange of information between the Executive Board and the University Assembly.

The ETH Board consults the groups of university members and the university assemblies via the Executive Boards. The latter submit their opinions to the ETH Board.

At a glance: Participation of the University Assembly

The University Assembly has the right to submit motions

  • on all legislative enactments of the ETH Board and its subordinate bodies relating to ETH;
  • on the budget and planning of ETH Zurich and on the creation and cancellation of teaching and research units;
  • on structural and participation issues.

It submits an opinion to the ETH Board on the annual report of the President of the ETH Board, monitors participation and adopts rules of procedure. The ETH Board may grant it further powers by ordinance (Art. 31 (2) and (3) ETH Act).

The ETH Zurich University Assembly maintains close contact with the EPFL University Assembly and coordinates joint activities and proposals where necessary. It invites guests from the entire ETH Domain as well as parliamentarians to its meetings on special topics or occasions.

No duty of confidentiality

The members of the University Assembly are not subject to a duty of confidentiality. The discussions and decisions of the University Assembly are not secret. However, the individual voters are not named in the minutes.

Contact: Secretariat of the University Assembly

Daniela Stark
  • HIL D 12.2
  • +41 44 633 31 82
  • dstark@ethz.ch

Institut für Geotechnik
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