With its new Heilbronn Campus, ETH Zurich is building a long-term strategic bridge to Germany and the European Research and Innovation Area. In collaboration with the Dieter Schwarz Foundation, it is establishing a new centre for teaching and research focused on artificial intelligence, data science and responsible digitalisation. The objective is to create a European centre of competence that closely links research, innovation and knowledge transfer, thereby enhancing and consolidating ETH Zurich’s international networking in digital technologies.
Today, in the presence of Federal Councillor Albert Rösti, State Secretary for Education, Research and Innovation Martina Hirayama, German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Katherina Reiche, and Baden-Württemberg’s Minister of Science, Research and Arts Petra Olschowski, ETH President Joël Mesot and Reinhold R. Geilsdörfer, Chairman of the Dieter Schwarz Foundation, officially inaugurated the ETH Zurich Heilbronn Campus after around two years of development. The ETH President stated: “We aim to establish a hub for responsible digital transformation – ETH is here to stay.” Reinhold R. Geilsdörfer added: “Our local innovation ecosystem has gained in ETH Zurich an additional partner of international standing, which will help us position Heilbronn even more prominently at the global level as a centre of research in the field of artificial intelligence and digitalisation. Today’s inauguration marks a very important milestone for both the campus and the region.”
Centre of technology of international importance
Federal Councillor Albert Rösti paid tribute in his address to the work of ETH Zurich and the Dieter Schwarz Foundation: “It is already becoming apparent that the research areas of the new campus are set to shape and even revolutionise the years to come.” This will establish Heilbronn as a centre of science and technology of international standing. The Head of the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC) added that the new ETH campus stood for confidence and the belief that knowledge and innovation were the best answers to the challenges of our time.
State Secretary Martina Hirayama, who was born in Munich and is very familiar with Southern Germany, emphasised in her welcoming speech: “The ETH Heilbronn Campus is a key element of Switzerland’s education, research and innovation strategy. We depend on institutions such as ETH Zurich that aim for excellence within their broad autonomy and consistently deliver results.”
“This is where things that go together really come together.”
In addition to research priorities, technology transfer will play a major role in Heilbronn. German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Katherina Reiche underlined that not only the local economy but also the whole of Germany and even Europe is set to benefit from this: “There are soils in which individual seeds take root and others in which an entire garden suddenly flourishes. Heilbronn is becoming just such a place. Together with ETH Zurich, the Technical University of Munich, the Dieter Schwarz Foundation and the region’s strong business community, an environment is emerging in which scientific excellence, entrepreneurial spirit and talent reinforce one another. This is creating momentum that attracts new ideas, investment and bright minds – far beyond Heilbronn itself.”
Heilbronn is evolving into an internationally networked centre of science and innovation, with partners including the Technical University of Munich and the Max-Planck and Fraunhofer Institutes. Baden-Württemberg Minister Petra Olschowski is particularly pleased about this: “This is where things that go together really come together. Successful science transcends national and institutional boundaries, as well as those between science, business and society. This is all the more important because it is the only way to shape the future. The fact that we are now bringing together two of Europe’s most important and vibrant innovation ecosystems – Zurich and Heilbronn – at a single location marks the next chapter in a long-standing success story of collaboration between Switzerland and Baden-Württemberg – particularly in terms of our universities and research institutions. We expect even greater synergies through the collaboration with our state research centre, connAIx, here on site. Welcome aboard.”