Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich

The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich (ETH Zürich) was founded in 1854 by the Swiss Federation as a polytechnic and opened in 1855 in Zürich. Until 1969, it was the only federal university in Switzerland. Research and teaching at the ETH Zürich are carried out in 83 institutes and laboratories by 330 professors and around 840 teachers per semester. More than 7500 members of staff, around 25% of them women, are engaged in research, teaching and administration. The statistics of the ETH Zürich show that it currently has about 11,700 students. Spending amounts to 1 billion francs per year. The institutes or laboratories, professors and facilities of the ETH Zürich are integrated in 17 departments. These departments are the teaching and research units. In its guiding principles, the ETH Zürich declares its commitment to the promotion and fostering of quality both in teaching and in research at the highest international level; the promotion of associative and systems-oriented thinking and activities; the maintenance of technical and cultural diversity, as well as academic freedom in teaching and research; the provision of both structural and infrastructural innovation; and the optimization of central scientific services in information technology and communications, as well as a range of central administrative services to meet the needs of teaching and research.