ETH Zurich in Heilbronn: A New Chapter Begins

It was none other than ETH Zurich alumnus Albert Einstein who cut the red ribbon marking the inauguration of the ETH Zurich Campus Heilbronn. As President Joël Mesot jokingly said, “for good reason: he is ETH Zurich’s most famous alumnus named Albert, the second most famous being Federal Councillor Albert Rösti.” Rösti was sitting in the front row and represented the Swiss government at the inauguration event.

ETH Zurich looks forward to its collaboration at the Bildungscampus Heilbronn, marking the beginning of a shared journey towards responsible digital transformation.

I have had the privilege to be involved from the very beginning and to play my part in the Heilbronn endeavour in the background. For me personally, the official opening of the ETH Zurich Campus Heilbronn was deeply emotional, satisfying, and rewarding. For ETH Zurich, it marks a milestone in the institution’s history and will have a lasting impact in the coming decades—primarily on ETH Zurich, but also on Switzerland and Europe.

We have come a long way in a very short time. I vividly remember the day in early 2023 when Joël Mesot mentioned to me that he was close to signing a letter of intent with the Dieter Schwarz Foundation (DSS). Not only had I never heard of Heilbronn or of the Bildungscampus that has been developed there since 2010, but I also had no idea what this would mean for the future of ETH Zurich. I only sensed that a physical presence of ETH Zurich on the Bildungscampus Heilbronn—including professorships, research, education, and knowledge transfer, generously funded by the DSS—would have a profound impact on almost every aspect of ETH Zurich, both strategically and operationally.

As a first step, I assembled a working group with the aim of developing a detailed conceptual and operational plan for an ETH Zurich branch in Heilbronn, taking into account all strategic, legal, and communication-related aspects. Our priority was, on the one hand, to identify the issues that needed to be addressed in the short, medium, and long term, with a particular focus on governance and legal matters. On the other hand, knowing that the Bildungscampus Heilbronn was eagerly awaiting ETH Zurich’s arrival, we also identified measures to establish ETH Zurich’s presence in Heilbronn and raise its visibility there as quickly as possible.

Taking the moment of the inauguration of the ETH Zurich Campus Heilbronn as an opportunity to pause and reflect, I admire the courage ETH Zurich has shown in embarking on this journey. Almost everything we are doing, we are doing for the first time, or at least in such a context. There is no prior experience or blueprint we could draw from. And this is exactly what I see as the biggest opportunity for ETH Zurich in Heilbronn: we are not bound by preconceptions; instead, ETH Zurich has the opportunity and privilege to use Heilbronn as a sandbox—a place where we can try out new things and formats, explore, and play.

I am immensely proud of what ETH Zurich has achieved in Heilbronn—now and in the future.