The Executive Board reports 2018 / 1
Good scientific practice, management of ETH’s finances, setting up the new School for Continuing Education, information security, procurement, catering and the salary system for doctoral students: ETH Zurich’s Executive Board passed resolutions on all these topics during its most recent sessions. Another matter that was discussed was the annual report from the Associate Vice President for Sustainability.
The report on the past year from Reto Knutti, the Associate Vice President for Sustainability, was positive. The highlight was ETH Week last September. The event was planned around the theme of “Manufacturing the future” and attracted about 200 participating students and some 100 experts from industry, research, government and NGOs. The topic of ETH Week 2018 will be “Energy matters” to focus on issues surrounding the energy supply. Another important topic in the area of sustainability and mobility is the reduction of CO2 emissions from air travel by members of the ETH community. So it made sense to organise the first entirely virtual academic conference together with other universities. There are even a few solutions that can be used in small-talk situations, such as over an apéritif.
New commission for good scientific practice
To further promote integrity in research, the Executive Board has established a new commission for good scientific practice. It is made up of 16 members, one from each department, and is tasked with coordinating work in this area throughout the university, promoting awareness of proper scientific conduct, recommending relevant teaching content and courses, and providing expert support to the Executive Board in this area.
“ETH researchers not only have to meet both the highest scientific as well as integrity standards, errors must be reported and corrected immediately. There’s no other way.”Detlef Günther
The goal is to further cultivate a basic understanding of good scientific practice on the part of all researchers at ETH Zurich. The independent commission works in various capacities, including the proposal of candidates to the Executive Board to serve as trusted intermediaries, who remain the first point of contact in all matters relating to good scientific practice.
refine: managing ETH’s finances in the future
The management of ETH’s finances will undergo structural changes in early 2019 as part of the refine project. The new system, which will abolish the ETH Zurich’s traditional accounting component, the Fund, is designed to offer the various academic divisions greater flexibility and ensure that the departments can put their funds to better use autonomously. The regulatory basis for the new accounting system (particularly the Financial Regulations 2019) is currently in internal consultation proceedings. All organisational units at ETH have until the end of June to comment on the changes to the regulations.
“In future, departments will have even greater flexibility in how they manage their funds. Reserves are to be managed independently – and hopefully also put to good use in many great ETH+ projects.” Robert Perich
Various changes have been planned. For instance, available research reserves will be transferred in full to the respective units on 1 January 2019. At the beginning of next year, the balances that frequently accumulate over several years for professorships’ operating resources will be transferred to department reserves as a one-off lump sum. The departments will then have three years to invest these reserves at their discretion in new projects. The Executive Board anticipates that the pooling of departmental reserves will enable various further development projects, including within the framework of ETH+. The goal is to reduce ETH Zurich’s reserves, which have been steadily accumulating in recent years, and mobilise them for teaching and research.
Legal basis for the School for Continuing Education
In recent sessions, the Executive Board has adopted the underlying legal framework that will form the basis for the programmes offered by the newly founded School for Continuing Education. For example, the regulations for the continuing education programme CAS ETH in Advanced Materials and Processes were approved. The programme offers personalised continuing education in the fields of materials and process technologies in collaboration with various departments and under the direction of D-MATL. CAS participants receive tailored study plans that take into account both their practical experience and the interests of their employers.
“Continuing education requires flexibility and a dynamic approach in order to react more quickly to future challenges. We welcome all suggestions from outside academia, as they help us to continually improve our range of programmes.”Sarah Springman
In addition, the Executive Board passed regulations for DAS and CAS degrees in the field of cybersecurity. These programmes will also begin with the opening of the new School for Continuing Education.
New information security officer
The handling of personnel and student data, applications, research data, exam grades and other sensitive data requires a diligent, all-encompassing approach. For this reason, on 1 May 2018 the Executive Board adopted the new Information Security at ETH Zurich[AU1] directive, which details how digital and analogue information is to be handled and classified. Examination grades, for example, fall into the category of “confidential” and therefore require special security protection with mandatory two-factor authentication.
To ensure the coherence of information security, the Executive Board approved the new function of Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). In close cooperation with the Chief IT Security Officer in ID, the ISO of the departments and divisions, the CISO’s responsibilities include the correct protection of information at ETH and management of the information security unit, as well as conduct of the relevant investigations in cases of suspected abuse. Due to its overarching role and its necessary autonomy, the CISO is part of the General Secretariat. The CISO therefore also benefits from proximity to the Legal Office and works closely with IT Services (responsible for IT security) and SSHE (responsible for physical security) departments.
Catering Commission votes in new members
The Catering Commission advises the Executive Board in all matters relating to catering and retail business on both ETH Zurich campuses. The members have now been voted in for the next term of office from 2018 to 2022. Isabelle Herter-Aeberli (D-HEST, Laboratory of Human Nutrition), as an expert in nutrition, and Johannes Hruza (D-MATH), as representative of student interests, now occupy seats on the Catering Commission. Last year, the four companies that offer on-campus catering services reported CHF 37 million in turnover from their more than 20 locations (+4% compared with 2016). In 2017, ETH Zurich subsidised them with funding in the amount of CHF 4.6 million. This contribution has been halved since 2010, not least thanks to the work of the Catering Commission.
Updated procurement strategy
As one of the Swiss Confederation’s major institutions, ETH also undertakes to minimise its expenditures for procurement within its legal parameters. Five years after its launch, the ETH Zurich procurement strategy has now been evaluated and adjustments made. A new, fourth field of action has been defined: “Strengthening procurement competencies and reducing procurement risks”. Thanks to its conscientious procurement strategy, ETH has managed to save CHF 60 million since 2012. ETH’s procurement organisation is divided into 14 material groups, including scientific goods, laboratory supplies, information media, and maintenance/operation of buildings.
Salaries for doctoral students
ETH will maintain its well-established salary system for doctoral students. After the Swiss National Science Foundation decided to make its funding system for doctoral salaries more flexible, the Executive Board discussed ETH’s salary structure, which has been in place for a good three years. Ultimately, the Board decided to retain it. It is transparent, offers adequate flexibility to meet the needs of the departments and the various conditions of the labour market, and is now very well integrated throughout the university. Thus, ETH Zurich’s annual salary ranges for each level and the annual fixed increases continue to be binding. ETH doctoral students are generally employed with a 100% workload, which is standard practice throughout the university (except for those with actual part-time workloads).
Regular updates from the Executive Board
The ETH Zurich Executive Board meets every two weeks for its usual session. In future, brief summaries of the major decisions passed during these meetings will be found in this section. The plan is for a publication cycle of every four to six weeks, with the results from at least two Executive Board sessions covered in each summary.