Research and Innovation
UZH promotes diversity in research, making the most of its potential both strategically and creatively by establishing interdisciplinary specializations.
UZH is committed to embracing diverse and equitable research cultures based on the values of independence and freedom, interdisciplinarity, and close cooperation at the national and international levels. At the same time, UZH’s research funding strategy is to further reinforce its strengths in order to maintain and expand its leading position in the international research community.
Together with the University of Geneva and, since 2024, the University of Neuchâtel, UZH is the home of the National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) Evolving Language, which was launched in 2019. The NCCR, which entered its second funding phase in 2024, investigates the emergence and development of language. It brings together research groups from the humanities and social sciences, as well as computer and natural sciences. The Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) is supporting this NCCR with CHF 20.4 million over the next four years. UZH is also involved in 10 other NCCRs.
The University Research Priority Programs (URPPs) have been a central instrument of priority and network funding at UZH since 2005. They are competitively tendered with a maximum term of 12 years and combine research expertise from various disciplines to solve scientific issues in socially relevant areas.
The eight URPPs of the second series expired in 2024, with very pleasing results. Altogether, 36 new professorships with new denominations were created, third-party funds amounting to over CHF 270 million were raised and 473 early-career researchers were trained, some of whom were appointed to internationally renowned chairs.
Thanks to their research results, the URPPs have contributed to the reform of financial market regulation, expanded the understanding of biodiversity, built bridges between cancer research and cancer treatments, shed light on the dynamics of social networks, advanced the development of artificial photosynthesis for energy production, analyzed the adaptation of pathogens to changing environmental conditions, and set standards in spatial interdisciplinary language research and the understanding of healthy aging. The URPPs also achieved success in policy making. The WHO, for example, adopted the definition of healthy aging formulated by the URPP Dynamics of Healthy Aging.
UZH’s funding strategy aims to make a lasting impact, meaning that many of the skills, networks, methodologies and technologies developed as part of the URPPs will benefit UZH and society in the long term. The URPPs in the second series gave rise to the Center for Financial Market Regulation, the Comprehensive Cancer Center Zurich, the Healthy Longevity Center, the national technology platform Linguistic Research Infrastructure (LiRI) and the UZH Blockchain Center, among others.
UZH provides a total of around CHF 16 million per year to the URPPs. The second of three four-year funding phases for the five URPPs in the third series began in 2024. These URPPs focus on the biology of learning, digital religions, equality and inequality, human reproduction and rare diseases.
The TRANSFORM funding stream, launched at UZH in 2021, has become established as an important long-term instrument for promoting research concentrations and networks. For example, the Vetsuisse Faculty, the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Science jointly founded the first One Health Institute at a European university with the help of seed funding from TRANSFORM in 2022. The One Health approach to research combines the expertise of different fields in order to investigate the interrelations between human, animal and environmental health, with the aim of tackling global health problems more effectively. The first of three planned professorships was filled in 2024.
The One Health Institute was founded with the strategic intention of strengthening international cooperation between the involved disciplines. In 2022, UZH joined the Una Europa university alliance, which also promotes One Health as one of its focus areas. A positive consequence of this is that UZH is now part of the most important European One Health network. This opens up many opportunities for it to capitalize on cross-border synergies and leverage its potential internationally. At the Una Europa General Assembly, which was held in Zurich in June 2024, the topic of One Health was the focus of mutual exchange at the initiative of UZH.
At a meeting organized along with Swissnex in Bangalore, India, in December 2024, delegations from the Indian Institute of Science, Makerere University in Uganda and UZH deepened their relationships and paved the way for closer global collaboration in the fields of One Health and Planetary Health. Switzerland and India have maintained good relations in the fields of education, research and innovation for many years, and this formed the basis for the meeting, which will be followed by concrete collaborations (joint doctoral training and research projects) in various disciplines.
Three new TRANSFORM projects
In 2024, UZH approved seed funding in the context of TRANSFORM for three projects aimed to bring about long-term structural changes to the research landscape at UZH:
UZH creates essential foundations for an innovative economy and society. Its aim is to further reinforce the impact of these efforts. The UZH Innovation Hub has a central role to play here. It provides targeted support to individuals and networks in order to transfer research results and creative ideas to practical application.
In 2024, the success of the UZH Entrepreneur Fellowship Program was supplemented by the new Sustainable Society funding stream, which supports researchers from all disciplines when it comes to implementing promising ideas for sustainable development. At the same time, the program to support entrepreneurial skills for postdoctoral researchers was introduced in 2024. This means that suitable opportunities are now available for all academic career stages at UZH.
The new DRIVE (Drive Research-Based Innovation Ecosystems) program was also launched in 2024. Building on UZH members’ own initiatives, it supports the formation of high-power networks with the aim of creating links between science, economy and society – thus accelerating the transfer of ideas and technology.
The Healthy Longevity Center and the UZH Space Hub are two examples of successful network structures that were created thanks to seed funding from UZH. Both are now providing effective impetus in the canton of Zurich and beyond. A promising environment for collaboration between research and industry in the aerospace sector is currently being created at the Switzerland Innovation Park Zurich (IPZ) in Dübendorf, for example. The UZH Space Hub, with its strong interdisciplinary research and its wide international network, is a driving factor in this endeavor. In 2024, it moved to a new location at Hangar 4, joining the IPZ on site. In addition, the UZH Space Hub entered into a strategic partnership with the newly founded Center for Space & Aviation, a hub that brings together research and the emerging new space economy. In December 2024, a joint memorandum of understanding paved the way for the international space consortium Starlab Space to set up at the IPZ, making it Starlab’s future European site. The company plans to build its third-ever science park in Dübendorf. A large part of the logistics for the planned Starlab space station will also take place here.
UZH has joined the Cultural Heritage doctoral program of the Una Europa university alliance. This means it now participates in developing a varied transnational research ecosystem combining cultural studies, archaeology and historical studies. The program offers PhD candidates from UZH and the 10 partner universities the opportunity to conduct research in a multilingual and interdisciplinary environment. The PhD candidates benefit from the broad expertise of renowned universities and a correspondingly wide range of opportunities for exchange and supervision. Those who successfully complete the program receive a doctorate from two universities in the alliance.
Bespoke medical therapies increase long-term efficacy and reduce side effects. This is why UZH specifically promotes the development of precision medicine. Large amounts of data from research and clinical facilities are required for more accurate diagnoses, more reliable prognoses and treatments that are better adapted to individual patients’ needs. In addition, advances in precision medicine require strong institutional networks. The LOOP Zurich, the Tumor Profiler Center and the Comprehensive Cancer Center Zurich are bringing together their expertise under the umbrella of University Medicine Zurich (UMZH), which includes UZH, ETHZ and the university’s four hospitals. Since 2024, UMZH has also been working with the Bellinzona regional hospital and the cantonal hospital of Lucerne on the topic of precision medicine.
The Biomedical Informatics Platform (BMIP), the first beta version of which will be launched at the beginning of 2025, plays a key role. It follows the same strict data protection requirements as hospitals when managing patient and research data. In the future, the hospitals’ biobanks will also be linked to the BMIP. Biobanks store bodily tissues and fluids, as well as associated data. Access to biobanks with molecular information promises a further boost in the development of precision medicine.
A close connection between research, teaching and clinical care is crucial for the growth of Zurich as a medical hub. In 2024, the University Medicine Zurich (UMZH) network launched the Advanced Clinician Scientist Program as part of its umbrella strategy. This program is de
The Translational Medicine Accelerator (TMA) supports researchers bringing medical innovations to market, and in doing so allows them to become entrepreneurs. The program analyzes ideas for medical diagnostics, products, therapies and digital health services. It then provides assistance for their further development, up to and including successfully financing a spin-off. Over the past three years, more than 100 projects at various stages of development have been supported. In 2024, the TMA expanded its offerings: it now also supports researchers collaborating with the private sector. The aim is for UZH medical researchers and industrial partners to mutually benefit from each other’s expertise, so they can collaborate to forge new paths for the benefit of patients.
