ETH-Rat | News

11 December 2009 - ETH Board appoints new vice president and members of the Directorates in the ETH Domain

On December 9/10, 2009, the ETH Board elected a vice-president of Research and Corporate Relations at ETH Zurich and a new vice-president of Academic Affairs at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL). Furthermore, it appointed four new members of the Directorates of the three research institutes WSL (Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research), Empa (Materials Science and Technology Research Institution) and Eawag (Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology). The ETH Board also made fundamental decisions for the strategic planning for 2012-2016.

At its meeting on December 9/10, 2009, the ETH Board – the strategic management body and employer of the ETH Domain – at the request of the respective presidents of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology, as well as the heads of the Swiss Federal Research Institutes, appointed a total of six new executives in the institutions.

ETH Zurich: robotics pioneer elected vice president

Professor Roland Yves Siegwart (*1959) is to become the new Vice President of Research and Corporate Relations at ETH Zurich. The ETH Board elected the Swiss national at the request of the president of ETH Zurich, Professor Ralph Eichler. Roland Siegwart is a pioneer of robotics research with an exceptional track-record in teaching, research and technology transfer. He represents the engineering sciences on the executive board.

With his research, Roland Siegwart has laid important scientific foundations for the development of autonomous mobile robots. These robots are able to adapt to new situations and interact. Possible applications include robots in service and space travel or micro-aircraft. As director of studies in the Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, Siegwart developed new teaching approaches for engineering since 2007, and in particular he boosted the growing popularity of engineering studies at ETH Zurich with innovation-oriented focus projects. Roland Siegwart’s research gained a wider audience in the summer of 2009, when students from his Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems teamed up with students from the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) to develop the helicopter-like flying film reel "Reely," the autonomous sailboat "AVALON" and the robotic fish "Naro."

Roland Siegwart has been a full professor of autonomous systems at ETH Zurich since July 2006. Prior to that, he also was professor of autonomous microsystems at EPF Lausanne from 1996 to 2006, and founding chairman of the EPFL’s Space Center. Roland Siegwart has represented Swiss engineering technology in numerous prestigious national and international research promotion organizations; he is currently a member of the research council of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and works as an expert at the International Foundation of Robotics Research (IFRR). The numerous prizes for innovation, patents and his involvement in the foundation of five spin-offs in the field of autonomous robots and navigation systems emphasize Siegwart’s dedication to science, technology and the transfer of knowledge. Siegwart especially cultivates the intensive exchange of ideas with highly innovative small and medium-sized enterprises in Switzerland.

The ETH Board elected Roland Siegwart as of January 1, 2010. He succeeds the scientist Peter Chen, who resigned from his office as Vice-President of Research and Corporate Relations at ETH Zurich at the end of September 2009.

Further information:

"Film reel flying high in the USA." Report in the online magazine ETH Life from August 27, 2009:http://www.ethlife.ethz.ch/archive_articles/090827_reely_ava/index_EN/0

"Avalon Focus Project – successful dress rehearsal." Report in the online magazine ETH Life from July 24, 2009: http://www.ethlife.ethz.ch/archive_articles/090724_Avalon_Portugal_ch/index_EN

"Like a fish in water." Report in the online magazine ETH Life from July 20, 2009:

http://www.ethlife.ethz.ch/archive_articles/090720_Naro_Computerfisch_mas/index/1

"Back to physicality." Interview in ETH Life from August 6, 2009, with the professors Roland Siegwart and Lino Guzzella from the Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering at ETH Zurich:http://www.ethlife.ethz.ch/archive_articles/090806_guzzella_siegwart_ch/index_EN/2

EPF Lausanne: the chief of staff of the French Ministry of Research joins the Executive Board

Professor Philippe Gillet (*1958) is to become the new Vice President of Academic Affairs (Provost) at EPF Lausanne. The ETH Board elected the French national at the request of the President of EPF Lausanne, Professor Patrick Aebischer, and appointed him as a full professor of physics at the EPFL.

Philippe Gillet is an internationally renowned geophysicist and geochemist, who has an impressive track record in teaching and research, university management and scientific policy. With his research on the pressure and temperature conditions in the earth’s interior, Phillippe Gillet has given an important impetus to the geosciences – and especially provided new insights into orogeny in the alpine region. Philippe Gillet is one of the most frequently cited scientists in the geo-sciences and has over 100 relevant publications. His numerous honors and appointments on scientific committees distinguish Gillet as an extraordinary researcher. Furthermore, he has also successfully headed major research projects – as the president of the French light source "Synchrotron SOLEIL" for instance.

Previously, as from 2007, Philippe Gillet was the chief of staff in the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research. In this position, Gillet oversaw forward-looking reforms of the French university system, including the Autonomy Act of French universities and the formulation of a new national strategy for research and innovation. Prior to that, Philippe Gillet was director of the École Normale Supérieure in Lyon from 2003 to 2007, one of the prestigious French schools. With his election, the ETH Board is strengthening EPF Lausanne in terms of its global position and scientific and political relations with France and Europe.

The ETH Board appointed Philippe Gillet as of April 1, 2010, when he succeeds Professor Giorgio Margaritondo, who is to return to his research activities in the field of spectromicroscopy and biomedical imaging-procedures after six years on EPF Lausanne’s governing body. The ETH Board owes thanks Giorgio Margaritondo for his remarkable services to teaching and research at EPF Lausanne ("Priorité 1ère année" project). The ETH Board especially pays tribute to his dedication to forward-looking, large-scale infrastructures and initiatives across the institutions for top-level research in Switzerland. For example, Giorgio Margaritondo represented Switzerland as president of the European network of the Synchrotron Light Sources (ELISA) and made a significant contribution to the formulation of the national strategy on high-performance computing (HPCN).

Further information:

EPFL website with press releases, résumés and press articles on Philippe Gillet:

http://actualites.epfl.ch/

Website of the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research (cabinet):

http://www.enseignementsup-recherche.gouv.fr/cid20075/cabinet-valerie-pecresse.html

WSL: new member of the Directorate with research focus on forest dynamics

At the request of Professor James Kirchner, Director of the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), the ETH Board has appointed Swiss national Dr Andreas Rigling (*1964) as a member of the WSL Board as of November 1, 2009. Andreas Rigling is a qualified forest manager and has a doctorate in forestry science. He has been running the WSL forest dynamics research unit, which comprises five research groups, extremely successfully since July 1, 2006. The unit studies the dynamics of forest ecosystems and develops concepts for sustainable forest management.

Andreas Rigling is a well-known expert on the ecology of mountain forests, dendroecology, forest dynamics and climate change. His research projects in the field of forest ecology provide new insights into the development of biodiversity in forests that have to adapt to changed climate conditions. These insights are highly regarded in international forest research and by partners in Swiss politics and society alike. In his previous function, Andreas Rigling especially fostered and strengthened the important bridging function of forest research at the WSL for forestry practice and the timber industry.

Rigling replaces Dr Norbert Kräuchi, appointed by the governing council of Aargau as the new head of the Landscape and Waters Division of the Department of Construction, Transport and Environment (BVU) as of November 1, 2009. The ETH Board thanks Dr Norbert Kräuchi for his achievements. Since joining the institute in 1994, he has profoundly shaped the research activ-ities of the WSL in the field of forest ecosystems, and performed important tasks both as the head of the WSL research unit on ecosystem boundaries, and as a member of the WSL Board in contact with the partners from Swiss forestry and pan-European forest research.

Further information:

Website of the WSL research unit on forest dynamics:

http://www.wsl.ch/forschung/forschungsunits/walddynamik/index_EN?-C=&

Dr Andreas Rigling’s personal homepage:

http://www.wsl.ch/personal_homepages/riglinga/index_EN?redir=1&

Empa: two new members of the Directorate to boost nanosciences

At the request of Professor Gian-Luca Bona, the director of the research and service institution Empa, the ETH Board has appointed the two nanoscientists Dr Pierangelo Gröning (*1958) and Professor Harald Krug (*1952) as members of the Directorate.

Pierangelo Gröning has successfully been running the department "nanotech@surfaces" since 2003 and the department "Advanced Materials and Surfaces," which comprises nine scientific departments in Thun and Dübendorf since 2006. Pierangelo Gröning has been a member of the Empa Board ad interim since 2006. In this function, he gave a lot of impetus to the nanotechnological orientation of materials research at the Empa. The ETH Board now confirms Pierangelo Gröning as a member of the Board as of January 1, 2010.

With over 100 scientific publications in prestigious journals, Pierangelo Gröning is highly regarded all over the world for his research in surface and interface physics. As head of the laboratory, Gröning successfully focuses on the transfer of technology from application-oriented basic research in the field of carbon nanotubes and molecular electronics in industry. This is reflected in numerous industrial cooperations, patents and product applications. Furthermore, Gröning is personally dedicated to communicating attractive research activities from nano- and materials science to prospective students. Gröning is widely known for his research on carbon nanotubes, which can be used, among other things, as an electron source for ultra-brilliant flat screens or x-ray tubes, and through organic thin films and nanowires that can be used in electronic and opto-electronic components as well as optic gas sensors.

Harald Krug (*1952), a German national who has been at the Empa since January 1, 2007, is one of the world’s leading toxicologists. Within a short time, he established the internationally acclaimed Department of Materials Biology-Interactions at the Empa location in St. Gallen. His appointment to the Board embeds the fields of nanotoxicology and biotechnology even more firmly in materials research at the Empa.

Harald Krug’s research focuses on the effects of nanoparticles on the human immune system, on cells and tissues, and the possible immune reactions of the human body to nanomaterials. Over the last few months, Harald Krug has distinguished himself in the public media as an objective and differentiating expert on the opportunities and risks of nanoparticles. As a world-renowned expert on nanosciences, Harald Krug is involved in prestigious international research and technology organizations, and has been teaching as a titular professor at the Institute of Anatomy in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Berne since 2008.

Harald Krug joins the Empa Directorate on January 1, 2010, and replaces Markus Rüedi, who is retiring at the end of 2009. The ETH Board thanks Markus Rüedi for his services in transforming the Empa from a material-testing institute into a modern material research and service institution. As head of the Department of Materials and Systems for the Protection and Well-Being of the Human Body, Markus Rüedi led the way in implementing the paradigm shift in the Empa’s research strategy. Under Rüedi’s departmental leadership, the Empa made a sustainable contribution towards boosting the textile industry and top-level sport in Switzerland in the field of materials with special characteristics and functional textiles. For example, the competition horses in the Swiss national team were equipped with high-tech blankets from the Empa at the 2008 Olympic Games in China.

Further information:

"Ein Nanoteppich als Gassensor" (A nanocarpet as a gas sensor). Report in the EmpaNews, the Empa’s research magazine, number 25, May 2009: http://www.empa.ch/plugin/template/empa/*/89948

"Immunreaktion auf Nanomaterialien?" (Immune reactions to nanomaterials?). Report in the EmpaNews, the Empa’s research magazine, number 27, October 2009: http://www.empa.ch/plugin/template/empa/*/89246

Eawag: new member of the Directorate with a research focus on aquatic evolutionary biology

At the request of Professor Janet Hering, the Director of the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag) and member of the ETH Board, the ETH Board has appointed Professor Jukka Jokela (*1963) as a member of the Board as of January 1, 2010.

Jukka Jokela (*1963), a Finnish national, has been Head of the Department of Water Ecology at the Eawag since 2005 and is a full professor of Aquatic Ecology at ETH Zurich. He is an inter-nationally renowned expert on the evolution of aquatic organisms and questions about the co-evolution of parasites and their carrier species. With Jukka Jokela’s appointment as a member of the Board, the ETH Board confirms that the interdisciplinary research field of ecology and evolution is being strengthened as a focus of water research at the Eawag.

The preservation of biodiversity in bodies of water, and the environmentally-friendly handling of imported, invasive, non-native animal and plant species highlights perfectly how the topic-oriented research as stipulated by the federal council of Switzerland in its performance mandate is implemented in the service of society. Jukka Jokela achieved wide public recognition in the summer of 2009 with a publication that used the example of New Zealand’s spire snails to show that sexual reproduction in an environment with many parasites has key long-term advantages for the snail population. Jukka Jokela completes the Eawag Board.

Further information:

"Sex keeps parasites at bay". Eawag press release from July 31, 2009: http://www.eawag.ch/medien/bulletin/20090731/index_EN

Professor Jukka Jokela’s personal homepage:

http://www.eawag.ch/about/personen/homepages/jokelaju/index_EN

Large-scale projects and competence centers important for 2012-2016 strategy

The ETH Board has also reformed its strategic planning for the period 2012-2016 for the internal consultative procedure at the six institutions (ETH Zurich, EPFL, PSI, WSL, Empa and Eawag). The ETH Board had previously recorded the priority areas in which the portfolios of the two universities and four research institutes are to be developed further.

At the meeting on December 9/10, the ETH Board decided to incorporate the competence centers of the ETH Domain in the strategic planning for 2012-2016. This concerns the Energy and Mobility CCEM-CH, Environment and Sustainability CCES, Materials Science and Technology CCMX centers, as well as – providing the pending evaluation turns out positively - Biomedical Imaging NCCBI. These centers for topic-oriented research, which were brought into being in 2006 with start-up funding from the ETH Board, have achieved visible successes and boosted the cooperation in the ETH Domain. The ETH Board is looking to gradually reduce the direct funding from its own budget, but encourages the centers to continue their work and thereby to strengthen their external funding. The Board then incorporated the further implementation of the national strategy for high-performance computing (HPCN) with the national supercomputer at the Swiss National High Performance Computing Center (CSCS) in Ticino, the construction of the free-electron x-ray laser "SwissFEL" at the PSI as well as the neuroinformation project "Blue Brain" at the EPFL in its strategy.

Furthermore, the ETH Board declared itself in favor of continuing the two national initiatives for systems biology, SystemsX.ch, and for information and nanotechnologies, Nano-Tera.ch. The two research initiatives launched throughout Switzerland in 2008 each make a considerable contribution towards a focus area of the ETH Domain and combine the research efforts of all Swiss universities.

With regard to a flexibilization of the real estate management in the ETH Domain, the President is instructed by the ETH Board to prepare further steps and introduce them in discussions with the federal authorities and enter into negotiations accordingly. Which effects and advantages a transfer of the property to the ETH Domain real estate would have will be examined intensively by the ETH Board, in order to decide whether such a transfer could be declared a medium-term goal.

Prerequisites and successes for Switzerland as nation of "education and innovation"

The ETH Board regards the collaboration between outstanding experts from all levels of education, the commitment to international excellence in teaching and research, and the long-term readiness to invest in large-scale research facilities as crucial prerequisites for the long-term success of Switzerland as a nation of research and innovation.

The ETH Board – the strategic body of the ETH Domain – kicked off its fourth meeting this year on September 23 2009 by lauding the launching of the picosatellite "Swiss Cube" by the European Space Agency (ESA) as a great success of Swiss space research. "Swiss Cube" is a joint project between students from EPF Lausanne and various universities. "Student initiatives that gain international acceptance are the best example of how research- and project-oriented teaching is the most sustainable contribution the institutions in the ETH Domain can make to Switzerland’s innovative strength and competitiveness", said Fritz Schiesser, the president of the ETH Board, as he congratulated the students and scientists from EPF Lausanne and the universities of applied sciences involved. The ETH Board also congratulated the Swiss National Supercomputing Center (CSCS) on the successful activation of the new supercomputer "Monte Rosa" in Manno TI. Thanks to "Monte Rosa", the CSCS has been catapulted into the top five fastest computer centers in Europe. "As the national supercomputing center, the CSCS, which is based at ETH Zurich, deserves out and out support from science, the economy and politics", says Fritz Schiesser.

For the ETH Board, these projects and many more are evidence of the importance of the sciences and engineering for Switzerland. It is clear that the continued target-oriented development of the dual education system and the contribution from all levels of education – from vocational training to the universities of applied sciences, the universities and research institutions – are vital for Switzerland’s long-term success as a "nation of innovation".

With an eye towards politics, the ETH Board congratulates Didier Burkhalter on his election as Head of the Swiss Federal Department of Home Affairs (EDI) and is looking forward to working with him. Administratively speaking, the autonomous ETH Domain is assigned to the EDI.

Large-scale research facilities give crucial impetus

Within the scope of its strategic planning for 2012 - 16, the ETH Board has stressed the strategic importance of large-scale research institutions. On account of the Swiss Federal Council’s performance mandate and its international importance, the ETH Board includes the SwissFEL X-ray free electron laser at the PSI and a nationwide supercomputing network with the central petaflop supercomputer at the CSCS in these research infrastructures. The ETH Board also supports the EPFL project "Bluebrain", which is aimed at modeling the human brain. The ambitious international enterprise is set to strengthen Switzerland’s already excellent position in neuroscience even further. Having considered that costly, nationally important research infrastructures as a rule cannot be funded by the global budget of individual universities and research facilities, the ETH Board has decided to accumulate a separate fund that one day will total 70 million CHF for the renaturation of the accelerator facilities at the PSI, which is due in about 2040, directly in the ETH Domain’s balance sheet.

Appointment of 21 professors – Peter Chen’s resignation

In appointing three professors with dual tasks at ETH Zurich and the Paul Scherrer Insitute (PSI), the ETH Board is promoting additional synergies between the institutions in the ETH Domain. The research areas associated with these professors of molecular biology, structural biology and radiopharmacy demonstrate the high research demand for the PSI accelerator facilities and the planned SwissFEL X-ray laser, which can be used to visualize ultrafast biological processes dynamically. In all, the ETH Board appointed 21 professors on September 24.

At its meeting, the ETH Board registered the resignation of Prof. Dr. Peter Chen as Vice President of Research & Corporate Relations. The management of ETH Zurich is losing an important, nationally and internationally respected researcher and leader. "My personal thanks go to Peter Chen for his achievements on ETH Zurich’s executive board and his strong sense of responsibility, for which I have the utmost respect. The case shows that the scientific and university control mechanisms work", says Dr. Fritz Schiesser, President of the ETH Board.

For the ETH Board and the institutions in the ETH Domain, the search for truth, ethical behavior and integrity in research are essential values in science. The ETH Board considered a report on ethics in research back in 2004 and, after discussing it on May 12 2004, instructed the two ETHs to incorporate control mechanisms and procedures for honest, ethical behavior and research (cf. in particular http://www.rechtssammlung.ethz.ch/pdf/414_Integrit%C3%A4t_Forschung.pdf and http://ethique.epfl.ch/). Ethics in science has to be close to and lived by the researchers. Both of the universities and the four research facilities subsequently presented their solutions to the ETH Board and convinced it that they implement generally recognized international benchmarks. In addition, the ETH Board established an independent reporting office (whistleblowing office). The ETH Board thanks ETH Zurich and all those affected for their consistent behavior based on the rules in force and to protect the reputation.

Use foreign graduates for Swiss economy

Moreover, the ETH Board discussed the objectives of the parliamentary initiative "Simplified Admission and Integration of Foreigners with a Swiss Degree" (08.407) and welcomed the thrust of the initiative. The desired revision of the aliens act would especially simplify the admission onto the Swiss job market for highly qualified graduates from countries outside the European Union or the EFTA who have a degree from a Swiss university. The ETH Board supports the amendment because it helps alleviate the "lack of engineers" in industry and promotes the integration of foreigners with a Swiss degree.

Furthermore, based upon talks between the ETH Board’s Executive committee and the staff committee, the ETH Board mandated its President to conduct salary negotiations for the 2010 salary measures.