News from the Executive Board 2024/4
At its last meeting, the Executive Board of ETH Zurich elected members for the new Integrity Commission and confirmed new members for the Teaching Commission and the ombuds office.
Members of the new Integrity Commission elected
The Executive Board has elected five members of the newly introduced, permanent Integrity Commission (IC) of ETH Zurich:
- Prof Dr Andreas Hierlemann, Professor of Biosystems Engineering at the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering (D-BSSE, ETH Zurich)
- Prof Dr James Kirchner, Professor of Physics of Environmental Systems (D-USYS, ETH Zurich), former Director of the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research external page (WSL)
- Prof Dr Monika Kurath, Dean Research & Faculty (external page University of St. Gallen)
- Prof Dr Matthias Mahlmann, Philosophy and Theory of Law, Legal Sociology and International Public Law (external page University of Zurich)
- Prof Dr Dominique Soldati-Favre, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Professor at the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Medicine (external page University of Geneva)
The Executive Board followed the request of the Election Committee of the Integrity Commission. It had already elected the lawyer and patent law specialist Mark Schweizer as Chairman of the IC on an earlier occasion: Schweizer has been external page President of the Federal Patent Court in St. Gallen since 1 January 2018 (see News from the Executive Board, 08.02.2024). The term of office of all IC members and the Chairman runs from 1 June 2024 to 31 May 2028.
The Integrity Commission plays an important role in connection with the new Procedure in the event of scientific misconduct, which also comes into force on 1 June 2024. From this date, the IC will conduct the necessary investigations in the event of suspected scientific misconduct. It will be supported by the newly created newly created Scientific Integrity Office (SIO), which will take delivery of the reports regarding scientific misconduct (see New rules of procedure to address scientific misconduct are adopted, Internal News, 08.02.2024).
New election to the Teaching Commission
After two terms of office of four years each, Urs Lang, Full Professor of Mathematics, stepped down from the Teaching Commission of ETH Zurich on 31.12.2023. The Executive Board elected Dennis Komm, Associate Professor and Head of the Algorithms and Didactics Group at the Institute of Theoretical Computer Science (D-INFK), as his successor with effect from 1.3.2024.
The Executive Board would like to thank Urs Lang for his valuable services and wishes Dennis Komm every success in his new role.
The Teaching Commission is an advisory body to the Executive Board. The focus of the Teaching Commission is to support teaching innovation and projects in the framework of Innovedum.
Election of a replacement at the ombuds office
The Executive Board has elected Ulrike Schlachter, former Department Coordinator at D-MAVT, as ombudsperson for ETH Zurich as of September 1, 2024. She succeeds Margrit Leuthold, who will step down as ombudsperson at the end of August. The Executive Board would like to thank Margrit Leuthold for her great and much appreciated commitment to ETH Zurich and its members, and wishes Ulrike Schlachter every success in her new role.
The ombudspersons are a general contact point for conflicts that cannot be solved by direct communication and for reporting suspected illegal actions.
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