New guidelines for assistant professorships
These guidelines came into force on 1 January 2025. Following a complete overhaul, they are now consistent with the current framework conditions once again. Assistant professors can choose whether they wish in future to be governed by the new guidelines or by the previous ones, which date from 2015.
Assistant professorships are a way for ETH Zurich to support early-career academics, offering them the opportunity to continue gaining qualifications during the course of their academic careers. After nearly ten years, the guidelines on the assistant professorship system at ETH Zurich have been completely overhauled in order to be consistent with the current framework conditions and to close loopholes. The Executive Board signed off the new guidelines on 3 December 2024 and they came into force on 1 January 2025.
The most important changes at a glance
While a major part of the rework was intended to improve clarity, there have been a few more substantial changes to the guidelines:
Net academic age: There is no longer a strict age limit, but instead, the net academic age is decisive. This allows ETH to be more flexible when considering CVs when filling assistant professorships.
Leadership development: There are new guidelines concerning leadership development, to give assistant professors a better idea of how they will be supported in this respect. A separate document on the evaluation criteria makes it clear that leadership is also taken into account during evaluations. The departments are requested to consider leadership skills and development accordingly. It is expected that assistant professors actively work on their leadership qualities and continue to develop their social and leadership competencies in accordance with the requirements of ETH Zurich.
Evaluation criteria and self-reporting requirements for evaluations: A separate document sets out the evaluation criteria together with the requirements for self-reporting for evaluations and clearly underlines the focus on qualitative evaluation. It also emphasises that at the beginning of the term as an assistant professor, a common understanding needs to be established between the new professor and the department as to the desired level of performance. This understanding includes – depending on the focus of the professorship and individual strategic planning – the criteria that are relevant to the evaluation.
Information on adhering to the requirements of ETH Zurich: The new guidelines explicitly set out what has already been standard practice for some time. Assistant professors – like all professors at ETH Zurich – must adhere to the provisions of labour law, the Financial Regulations and other compliance requirements; they must also actively embody and promote academic integrity and be committed to a high-quality mentoring culture.
All set for the future
Assistant professorships are a central strategic element of ETH Zurich. The new guidelines are intended to keep the assistant professorship system going into the future and ensure it is continually scrutinised and developed further.
“I am convinced that the new guidelines give us an excellent basis for future success in supporting talented early-career academics.”Jo?l Mesot, President of ETH Zurich.
The departments play a significant role in the success of assistant professors. In the first place, the appointment itself must naturally be made with the greatest care. It is also of central importance that assistant professors integrate as well as possible into ETH Zurich and the Swiss research landscape – supported, especially at first, by effective mentoring. Last but not least, critical but fair evaluation procedures within the departments, with their subject-matter expertise, are a prerequisite for the ability to give good, well-founded recommendations and make decisions accordingly.
The assistant professors can choose for themselves whether they wish in future to be governed by the previous guidelines of 1 February 2015 or by the new ones of 3 December 2024. Evaluations that are already underway will be carried out in accordance with the previous guidelines. For new assistant professors, the completely overhauled guidelines will apply automatically.
If you have any questions, please ask at the Office for Faculty Affairs.
All the documents at a glance
- Guidelines on the assistant professorship system at ETH Zurich (RSETHZ 510.21)
- Download Principles for calculating the net academic age (PDF, 99 KB)
- Download Guidelines to mentoring (PDF, 105 KB)
- Download Guidelines on leadership development (PDF, 119 KB)
- Download Bewertungskriterien und Inhalt des Selbstberichts der Kandidatin / des Kandidaten (nur in Englisch verfügbar) (PDF, 136 KB)
- Download Evaluation criteria and content of the candidate’s self-report (PDF, 136 KB)
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