Guzzella became ETH President in 2015, having served as the university’s Rector since 2012 with responsibility for education. During Guzzella’s tenure, ETH Zurich further strengthened its international reputation as a leading university with an extremely high standard of research, outstanding study programmes and innovative technology transfer.

“In my role as ETH President, my priority has been to advance the university’s development. International competition is steadily intensifying. If we are to maintain our leading position and continue to attract the best professors, we must be committed to continuous improvement at ETH Zurich. During my term of office, I worked closely with the Executive Board to launch many initiatives that will underpin the university’s long-term development. These include the ETH+ programme, for which the first projects are currently being evaluated, and the Bachelor’s degree in medicine that ETH launched successfully in Autumn Semester 2017.

I have found this task extremely rewarding, but also very demanding,” Guzzella says. “After serving a total of seven years as ETH Rector and President, I’d like to spend the rest of my academic career as a professor, actively engaged in teaching and research once again. I am looking forward to the change, and would like to thank the ETH Board for the trust they have placed in me.”

After a six-month sabbatical, Guzzella will resume his post as Professor of Thermotronics in the summer of 2019. The Swiss Federal Council will appoint a new president of ETH Zurich at the request of the ETH Board.