ETH Domain depends on stable and sufficient funding by the Confederation
Berne/Zurich, 27.05.2016 - One of the items on the agenda of the ETH Board’s meeting of 25/26 May 2016 was the ETH Domain’s financial and investment planning for 2017. In addition, it took note of the evaluations of Eawag and EPFL’s IT and Communication Faculty. Furthermore, EPFL reported on initial progress with the implementation of the necessary organisational improvement measures as a consequence of the additional costs incurred with the ME Building.
In the context of the debate on the ETH Domain’s financial and investment planning for 2017, the ETH Board again emphasised that stable and sufficient funding by the Confederation was an indispensable prerequisite for the attainment of the ambitious objectives which the Confederation assigned to the ETH Domain for 2017–2020. The federal funds are vital for the ETH Domain since they account for almost 90% of its budget. However, the ETH Board regards such stable and sufficient funding by the Confederation as being in jeopardy. Thus the Confederation’s 2017–2019 stabilisation programme provides that the budget originally earmarked for education, research and innovation should be cut by almost half a billion francs.
The adoption of the so-called “Milk Cow Initiative” (Milchkuh-Initiative / Initiative vache à lait) on 5 June 2016 would entail further annual cuts of 350 million francs in the field of education. It is clear to the ETH Board that such cuts endanger the high quality of education and research and weaken knowledge and technology transfer. Instead, Switzerland requires additional investments in education, research and innovation. Thus the institutions of the ETH Domain are planning to make additional investments in Switzerland’s innovative power and to advance four future-oriented fields of research in the next few years. “In this way we intend, for instance, to make an important contribution towards the implementation of Industry 4.0 and retain jobs in Switzerland with SMEs and industry”, says Fritz Schiesser. “To give these projects the necessary impetus and provide Switzerland as a location for industry, education and research with new impulses, the 2017–2020 ERI Dispatch will have to include additional funds for the ETH Domain.”
ETH Board favours the presence of RTS on EPFL Campus
Radio Télévision Suisse Romande (RTS) intends to construct a building on the EPFL campus. For EPFL, the strategic alliance with RTS will open up new and highly promising perspectives, for instance in the field of digital archiving issues and the development of media technologies, but also in the area of digital teaching and learning. The ETH Board obtained a clear picture of the medium- and long-term strategic development perspectives of the EPFL campus resulting from this and expressed its pleasure over this cooperation project between EPFL and RTS. The ETH Board will apply to the Confederation for the construction rights on the relevant plot of land to be ceded to RTS.
Cost overrun for EPFL’s ME Building: improvement measures initiated
EPFL reported on the improvement measures implemented in the field of real estate management, as had been announced late last April in the wake of the audits of the ME Building. The measures that were taken in this context concern a clarification of the use of the various construction cost plans, an improvement in the management of real estate projects in the IT systems and in procedures, the replacement of the Argus IT system by SAP and the integration of the real estate and infrastructure finance team into EPFL’s Financial Services. All these measures will be realised or started this year. In addition, the job of a CFO will be created as from 1 January 2017 by the new designated President of EPFL.
Eawag and EPFL’s IT and Communication Faculty evaluated
For the purposes of quality assurance and organisational development, the institutions of the ETH Domain have their units evaluated by international expert groups on a regular basis. The ETH Board took note of the evaluations of Eawag and EPFL’s IT and Communication Faculty and was able to convince itself that the two institutions would take the experts’ recommendations into account in their strategy processes. The experts described Eawag as one of the world’s leading aquatic research institutes. With its strongly interdisciplinary research and intensive cooperation with practically oriented partners, it fulfils an important bridging function between basic research and application. EPFL’s IT and Communication Faculty was attested an outstanding international position in research and teaching by the experts. Its excellent research, its encouragement of new initiatives such as data sciences, as well as an interesting range of courses, constitute an attraction for highly qualified researchers and students.
ETH Board planning to create a new category of “affiliated professorships”
To promote the opportunities for the ETH Zurich’s and EPFL’s cooperation with research institutions both at home and abroad, the ETH Board is planning to create the new category of “affiliated professorships”. The aim is to enable selected personalities from a Swiss or foreign research institution to work, within the framework of an institutional collaboration,at one of the two Federal Institutes of Technology as “affiliated professors” with a small workload. In return, professors of ETH Zurich and EPFL should work as fellows in the corresponding research institutions. This requires a new legal basis in the ETH’s ordinance concerning professors. The ETH Board will initiate the official consultation process and a hearing of the institutions of the ETH Domain in summer 2016.
Percentage of women to be further increased in the ETH Domain
The ETH Board and the institutions of the ETH Domain are aiming to increase of the proportion of women in teaching and research and, in particular, in executive positions and decision-making bodies. The ETH Domain has been spending at least 0.4% of the Confederation’s funding contribution on the promotion of equal opportunities.
At the two Federal Institutes of Technology, the proportion of women amounts to just under 30% at the Bachelor's/Master’s level and to 14% among the professors. The difference between the percentages of women at the various academic levels in the ETH Domain may now be smaller than before – in 2004, the proportion of women among the professors was 7% – but it is still substantial. The ETH Board therefore took various measures. Among other things, it has offered the “Fix the leaky pipeline!” career development programme ever since 2007. This programme aims to encourage the science careers of women doctoral students and postdocs. In the last four years, more than 650 young women scientists have participated in events, courses and coaching sessions. Owing to the great demand and success of the programme, the institutions of the ETH Domain and the ETH Board will also fund it in 2017-2020.
ETH Board takes note of the 2015 report of the ETH Appeals Commission
The ETH Appeals Commission is the first-instance special administrative court which rules on appeals against decisions or decrees of an ETH Domain body. The complaints predominantly involve personnel and university law issues. The rulings of the ETH Appeals Committee can be appealed against at the Swiss Federal Administrative Court. According to the Commission’s report, 69 appeals were lodged last year (2014: 64), of which 68 cases were dealt with within 12 months. The report has been published on the website of the ETH Board (in German and French).
Address for enquiries
Michael Käppeli
Executive Director
Häldeliweg 15, CH-8092 Zurich
michael.kaeppeli@ethrat.ch
+41 44 632 47 60
Publisher
Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology
https://www.ethrat.ch/en
