Strong commitment to innovation and talent

27 March 2023

Researching the origins of life, supporting outstanding students and providing a boost for the new meeting place for students and the entrepreneurial community: the current Annual Report of the ETH Foundation provides an insight into what the great commitment of over 2,900 donors and partners made possible at ETH Zurich last year.

ETH Zurich Foundation, Strong commitment to innovation and talent
During her studies, Excellence Scholar Xenia Voellmy was working on the «Autonomous River Cleanup»-project.
© ETH Foundation / Daniel Winkler
During her studies, Excellence Scholar Xenia Voellmy was working on the «Autonomous River Cleanup»-project.
© ETH Foundation / Daniel Winkler

In 2022, over 2,900 individuals, foundations and companies supported ETH Zurich with more than 3,600 donations, bequests and legacies totalling CHF 111 million.

Driving innovation forward and spurring on talent

Giving back to ETH, driving new technologies forward, combatting the shortage of skilled professionals or spurring on professional careers: the Annual Report sheds light on the different reasons why donors back ETH Zurich and the impact of this funding. “Donations play a vital role in starting new initiatives, addressing pressing research questions and launching bold projects,” explains Donald Tillman, Managing Director of the ETH Foundation.

Strong push from valuable partnerships

Last year, the planned innovation centre on the Hönggerberg campus was one of the projects to receive an important boost.

The commitment from UBS together with support from Fondation Alcea, BKW, the SWF Stiftung für wissenschaftliche Forschung and many private individuals enabled the vision of a meeting place for science and business to come a huge step closer to becoming reality. This is a place where young talent can gain experience outside the curriculum, expand their network, develop original technological solutions and advance their own business idea.

The involvement of other foundations and companies, such as the NOMIS Foundation, the Schweizer Paraplegiker-Stiftung, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, the Foundation for the ICRC and the Dieter Schwarz Foundation as well as Maxon, Bayer, Givaudan, Bühler, Nestlé, Energi Simulation and Rolex, also provided important stimuli.

As a result of this backing, ETH Zurich was able to implement or initiate new projects in the fields of rehabilitation, education, agricultural systems, food technology, geothermal energy, emergency assistance, artificial intelligence and digitalisation.