To be one of the world's top ten players and one of Europe's three best technical universities – this is the aim of ETH Zurich, according to its President Olaf Kübler. Kübler, ETH's representative head, sees indications that ETH will achieve this aim in the fact that members of direction are called to sit on international panels for university development or to take part in Germany's on-going higher education debate, where ETH is held up as a role model. But in order to continue to be one of the best universities, and one that takes its role to serve sustainable growth seriously, many steps were still necessary, he said. One such step, according to Kübler, is the Bachelor/Master diploma system. Another was to expand ETH's "internationality". With the realisation of Science City, the high-tech campus at Hönggerberg, which, simultaneously, is destined to become "an open city district for thinker's culture", ETH promises to become more attractive in this respect.

A first part of Science City, at least, seems to have met with enthusiasm outside of ETH, as well. The entrepreneur, Branco Weiss, well known at ETH for his engagement with the Collegium Helveticum, has donated 23 million CHF to ETH for the construction of a new research and teaching laboratory for information sciences (1) . The generous donation means that work can begin on the 46-million-franc construction next year. A year later it will provide space and workplaces to 480 scientists and 750 students.

Kübler said that by nurturing contact with far-seeing entrepreneurs visions can be implemented, as this example proves. At the signing ceremony of the donation charter, Branco Weiss himself had said, "I've had very close ties to ETH Zurich for more than 50 years and wanted to contribute something substantial there where it can be most useful. The new laboratory is a particularly worthy start."

Gerhard Schmitt, Vice-president Planning and Logistics explained why ETH Zurich also considers information science to be such a strategically important area. For him, he said, information was to the 21st century what steam power had been to the 19th and electricity to the 20th, namely the motor of great economic and social change.

Pleased to be able to announce the donation of 23 million francs: ETH President Olaf Kübler.

This made it imperative that ETH carry out this scientific debate, he went on to say. Schmitt hopes for the further development of simulations from the information science to replace expensive and risky trials.

Not only did the Vice-president talk about the new laboratory but about Science City as a whole. He said that the call for tenders for the sports centre had been published at the end of March and that a master plan should be ready by the end of September 2004. At this stage of the development he was not yet able to give any details as to where, for example, the planned 1,000 living facilities would be located or what the learning and congress centre would look like. But Schmitt was able to pass on more specific details of the cost. 400 million was budgeted for Science City in its entirety. 150 million of this was reserved for core ETH business and 250 million to transform and extend Hönggerberg to a live-in campus.

Even though third-party funding had grown by 10 per cent over the past year, the lion's share of the money needed for Science City is to come directly from the federal budget. But money for the transformation to a "City" should come from the private sector. Schmitt was optimistic that this financing model could be put into place. He also rejected fears that Science City would lead to a confinement or isolation of scientists. One of the main ideas behind the project was that people who wanted to live on-campus could do so. On the whole the impression prevailed that the Executive Board is facing the future with self-confidence and optimism. The high level of praise that the Board has received for the project ETH Basle fits well with this impression.