ETH Board President Encourages Faster, More Courageous Innovation Culture

(NZZ, August 19, 2020)

In a recent interview with the newspaper NZZ am Sonntag, ETH board president Michael Hengartner discussed his ambitions to create a faster, more courageous Swiss innovation culture. Although Switzerland invests a lot in education and basic research, and excels at experiments and pilot projects, Hengartner contends that it “often lacks the courage to think big,” and as a result, misses opportunities. Therefore, Hengartner believes that a kind of Marshall Plan is needed to bring solutions to market quicker and to scale them, particularly in areas such as climate and digitization. Finally, Hengartner underlined the importance of strengthening collaborations with other academic institutions in order to address pressing global challenges.