ETH Zurich

ETH Zurich   (University)
Formation	1855
Headquarters	Zurich, Switzerland
Type	Public
ETH Zurich is among other things sponsored by Big Ag Syngenta

ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich; Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich) is a public research university in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. Founded by the Swiss Federal Government in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the school focuses exclusively on science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

As of November 2019, 21 Nobel laureates, 2 Fields Medalists, 2 Pritzker Prize winners, and 1 Turing Award winner have been affiliated with the Institute, including Albert Einstein. Other notable alumni include John von Neumann and Santiago Calatrava It is a founding member of the IDEA League and the International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU) and a member of the CESAER network.

History

Polytechnikum in 1865

Main building and surrounding campus.

ETH Zurich was founded on 7 February 1854 by the Swiss Confederation and began giving its first lectures on 16 October 1855 as a polytechnic institute (eidgenössische polytechnische Schule) at various sites throughout the city of Zurich. It was initially composed of six faculties: architecture, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, chemistry, forestry, and an integrated department for the fields of mathematics, natural sciences, literature, and social and political sciences.

It is locally still known as Polytechnikum, or simply as Poly, derived from the original name eidgenössische polytechnische Schule, which translates to "federal polytechnic school".

ETH Zurich is a federal institute (i.e., under direct administration by the Swiss government), whereas the University of Zurich is a cantonal institution. The decision for a new federal university was heavily disputed at the time; the liberals pressed for a "federal university", while the conservative forces wanted all universities to remain under cantonal control, worried that the liberals would gain more political power than they already had. In the beginning, both universities were co-located in the buildings of the University of Zurich.

From 1905 to 1908, under the presidency of Jérôme Franel, the course program of ETH Zurich was restructured to that of a real university and ETH Zurich was granted the right to award doctorates. In 1909 the first doctorates were awarded. In 1911, it was given its current name, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule. In 1924, another reorganization structured the university in 12 departments. However, it now has 16 departments.

File:ETH Interior.jpg

Interior skylights in the main building

ETH Zurich, the EPFL, and four associated research institutes form the "ETH Domain" with the aim of collaborating on scientific projects.

Big Ag financing

A "partnership agreement" was signed between the Big Ag Syngenta Group and ETH Zurich in 2010. For CHF 10 million, the Syngenta Group paid for a professorship for "Sustainable Agroecosystems" in the "Department of Environmental Systems Sciences" at ETH. Clauses in the contract reveal how the corporation buys influence:

• Syngenta will pay one million Swiss francs immediately after signing the contract. A second million only after the appointment of the professor.
• A "World Food System Advisory Board" was established, in which sponsors and the ETH professors concerned regularly "exchange ideas".
• Syngenta is represented by one person on the 10- to 15-member election committee that proposes the professor.
• Before proposing a candidate to the ETH Board, the President of ETH Zurich must "take into account any reasonable reservations that Syngenta may have in relation to the candidates"

 

Alumni on Wikispooks

Person	Born	Died	Nationality	Summary	Description
Albert Einstein	14 March 1879	18 April 1955		Scientist	Theoretical physicist best known to the general public for his mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc2
Felix Graf	1967		Switzerland	Editor Businessperson	WEF/Young Global Leaders 2007. CEO of the NZZ Media Group since June 2018.
Martina Hirayama	1970		German Switzerland	Politician Chemist	Swiss up-and-coming politician with a Bilderberg wind since 2019
Stephanos Manos	20 December 1939		Greece	Politician	Greek politician who went to the 1986, 1993 and 2001 Bilderbergs
Paul H. Müller	19 January 1918	2 December 2005	Switzerland	Businessperson	Swiss business executive who attended the 1981 Bilderberg meeting.
Dimitrios Papalexopoulos	1962		Greece	Businessperson	Greek business leader and member of the Bilderberg steering committee.
Johann Schneider-Ammann	18 February 1952		Switzerland	Politician Businessperson	Double Bilderberg Swiss President
Klaus Schwab	30 March 1938		German	Academic Economist Deep state actor	German economist, Bilderberg Steering committee, World Economic Forum Board of Trustees
Martin Vetterli	4 October 1957		Switzerland	Academic Engineer	Swiss academic who attended the 2016 Bilderberg and several WEF AGMs
Hansjörg Wyss	19 September 1935		US Switzerland	Billionaire	Swiss/US Big Pharma billionaire. His company conducted illegal human experiments. Interested in keeping huge swathes of land free of people. Leading source of dark money to the Democratic Party

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