How are professors appointed?

Before we delve into the actual core issue of what the appointment process at ETH Zurich looks like in detail, another fundamental question must first be answered:

What types of professorships are there at ETH Zurich?

ETH Zurich distinguishes between two basic types of professorships: assistant professorships ¨C with and without tenure track ¨C and permanent professorships, which are not limited in duration. Specifically, these two differ in the following ways:

Assistant professorships: Assistant professorships are intended to promote young scientists who are usually no more than 35 years old when they take up their position. However, it is not so much their biological age that matters, but their academic age. This means that an assistant professor can be a little older than 35 when they start ¨C for example, if they had to pause their academic career because of parenthood or military service.

All assistant professorships are temporary. After their first four-year term, assistant professors may be reappointed for a maximum of four more years. Then their assistant professorship ends, and they either have to leave ETH Zurich or they are appointed to a permanent professorship.

Assistant professors with tenure track have a special advantage in this regard: if they have excelled in their previous term, they can obtain a permanent professorship through a direct, multi-stage tenure process. It¡¯s up to the respective department to decide whether to initiate such a process. As a next step, the candidate¡¯s performance record is evaluated in an international peer review process. The ETH Tenure Commission reviews all tenure applications and makes a recommendation to the President.

Permanent professorships: The next academic career stage is usually an appointment as associate professor. It¡¯s mostly younger scientists with less professional experience who are appointed to this position. Two years later at the earliest, the respective department may request the initiation of a promotion procedure to full professor. Those professors with many years of professional experience can also be appointed to a full professorship directly.

The amount of space and financial resources provided to a permanent professor does not depend on their level of employment (full or associate professor). Only their personal salary is an indication that they have few years of experience and, consequently, another stage of development still lies ahead of them.

Emeritus status marks the end of an academic career. This takes place usually at the end of the semester during which they turn 65. This applies to men and women alike.

How does the appointment process work?

Now that the different types of professorships have been outlined, the question arises of how someone is appointed in the first place.

The recruitment of professors at every level ¨C assistant, full and associate professors ¨C is a well-established, transparent core process at ETH Zurich. It is the responsibility of the Office for Faculty Affairs, which reports directly to the President.

A detailed description of the entire procedure can be found on the appointment process web page. Here is a brief overview of the different phases:

1. Basic decision: When a professorship is about to become vacant, the department concerned makes a basic decision about the refilling, reorientation or recreation of a professorship. Next, the department draws up a profile paper that includes a description of the perfect applicant¡¯s scientific profile as well as an initial list of potential candidates. The ETH President has the final say in approving the professorship.
2. Advertisement of the professorship; constitution and implementation of the selection committee: The professorship is advertised in the relevant international journals. It is also made known via the respective department¡¯s network. A selection committee comprising a diverse group of experts that also includes master and doctoral students is appointed by the ETH President and tasked with the search for specific candidates.
3. Evaluation of the candidates and recommendation for appointment: The selection committee reviews the applications and decides which candidates to invite and examine more closely. Usually, four to six people are shortlisted, including ¨C if possible ¨C at least two women. Following public presentations, confidential interviews and a subsequent in-depth discussion, the committee provides the ETH President with a recommendation for appointment, ranking its preferred candidates. This list should include, whenever possible, at least one female candidate.
4. Decision for a candidate: The ETH President decides whether he wants to accept the selection committee¡¯s recommendation or wishes to gather further information on the candidates. The President may also want to meet the persons shortlisted prior to entering into negotiations.
5. Appointment negotiation: The Office for Faculty Affairs and the department concerned clarify the space and equipment needs of the top candidate. The ETH President then negotiates the terms for the final offer.
6. Acceptance of the final offer and application for appointment: Once the candidate has accepted the final offer, the application for appointment is handed in to the ETH Board.

What can be distilled into these six steps is actually a longer process: on average, it takes two years from drafting the profile paper until the new professor takes up the position.

What about direct appointments?

According to the Professors Ordinance, it is possible ¨C in well-founded exceptional cases ¨C to depart from the standard appointment procedure outlined above and forego public advertisement of the professorship. In such cases, the department presents a proposal directly to the ETH President, asking him to enter into negotiations with an outstanding scientist.

Direct appointments of this kind are rare, however, and occur only about two to three times a year. But they are an effective way to specifically appoint qualified women.

What role does the ETH Board play?

As the supervisory body of the ETH Domain, the ETH Board examines whether the appointments are justified, and the processes have been carried out correctly. If this is the case, it appoints the new professors at the ETH President¡¯s request and issues their employment contract.

Every year, ETH Zurich appoints some 35 new professors. An overview of the scientists recently appointed can be found here in ETH News.