New member of the Empa Directorate and preparatory phase for appointment of the President of ETH Zurich
Bern, 22.05.2025 — At its meeting of 21/22 May, the ETH Board appointed Matthias Sulzer as a new Member of the Directorate at Empa and launched the procedure for appointing a new President of ETH Zurich as of 2027.
Matthias Sulzer becomes new Member of the Directorate at Empa
Upon application by the Director of Empa, Tanja Zimmermann, the ETH Board has appointed Matthias Sulzer as a new Member of the Empa Directorate. Matthias Sulzer has enjoyed a long and successful career in the field of building technologies and energy. He recently took over the “Built Environment” research focus area from Peter Richner, who retired in March. Matthias Sulzer and two partners founded a company in the energy and building technology sector; this went public in 2018. Since 2017 he has been a senior scientist at Empa and has a research position at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the USA.
Launch of the procedure for appointing a new President of ETH Zurich
As already communicated in March, the second term of office of the President of ETH Zurich, Joël Mesot, who was appointed in January 2019, expires at the end of 2026. Joël Mesot has decided, after many successful years in the ETH Domain, to pass the baton to a new President rather than stand for a third term of office. The ETH Board has launched the procedure for filling the position and has decided on the composition of the appointment committee. First of all, the requirements profile will be defined. Then there will be a national and international call for applications in the second half of 2025. The Federal Council will appoint Joël Mesot's successor upon application by the ETH Board.