ETH Zurich is boosting its medical research and establishing a new site in Schlieren. It is leasing a new building (SSA) right next to the Bio-Technopark in Schlieren; the site is currently being set up as a laboratory building for medical research.
The building is in the immediate vicinity of the Wagi site in Schlieren, and thus also the Bio-Technopark. This proximity will promote networking among the various research and industrial operations at the site (including University Hospital Zurich USZ, the University of Zurich UZH, Roche) while also fostering existing collaborations, resulting in an optimal research environment.
Schlieren is also notable for the numerous medicine spin-offs from ETH in the vicinity, such as anavo medical, Acytronix and SURI BioTech. The research platform NEXUS, which specialises in personalised health technologies, is also establishing its headquarters in the SSA building.
“ETH Zurich is not just committed to basic biomedical research, it also helps ensure that findings from research find rapid application in clinics and in patient care,” says Christian Wolfrum, Vice President for Research, “and as such, it also invests in translational research.” “The Schlieren site is well suited for this purpose, because the physical proximity to our medical partners such as UZH, USZ and KS Baden will promote rapid transfer of our research results to practical application,” says Wolfrum.
“Excellent research requires the right framework conditions,” confirms Ulrich Weidmann, Vice President for Infrastructure, “so I am very pleased that we are enabling the expansion of medical research capacities with the new site in Schlieren. The lease of the site means we don’t have to invest in a new building, and instead we can focus on rapidly expanding our research opportunities and setting up flexible laboratories that meet our researchers’ infrastructure needs.”
Modern infrastructure for modern research
With a main usable area of around 7,000m2, the SSA offers space for around 8 to 10 professorships and/or research groups in the life sciences field. Other buildings in the Bio-Technopark Schlieren will host highly flexible laboratory and office space equipped to the accustomed high standard.
A key objective of ETH Zurich is to enable highly efficient and flexible use of the building. Costly infrastructures will be consolidated and shared by the various users in the building. In particular, expensive scientific equipment will be shared in accordance with the technology platforms principle.
Construction work is currently under way, with handover to ETH Zurich scheduled for January 2025.
This article was first published on 5 April by ETH Zurich.
Receive the Funding Newswire [full access requires a subscription] each Tuesday, our Policy Bulletin each Thursday, and news about bridging Europe’s east-west innovation gap twice a month in The Widening. 
A unique international forum for public research organisations and companies to connect their external engagement with strategic interests around their R&D system.