Collegium Helveticum
Collegium Helveticum
Schmelzbergstrasse 25
8092 Zurich
Switzerland
Contact person: Martin Schmid
The Collegium Helveticum considers itself as a laboratory for transdisciplinary research. Founded in 1997, its central purpose and vision is to promote knowledge exchange between the natural sciences, the humanities, art, technology and medicine. During their 10-month fellowship EURIAS Fellows join a community of long-term Internal Senior Fellows (for the most part professors from the University of Zurich and the ETH Zurich), who cooperate on a five-year research topic. By focusing on a shared topic of interest the Collegium seeks to establish a framework for knowledge exchange in transdisciplinary project partnerships and to demonstrate how academic dialogue can lead to the development of new interdisciplinary concepts and processes. The Collegium frequently hosts international symposia, lectures and workshops, which are all interdisciplinary and often public.
As a joint initiative of the University of Zurich, ETH Zurich and Zurich University of the Arts, the Collegium is in a unique position to exploit the potential of three of Zurich’s most renowned academic institutions. As a joint initiative of the University of Zurich and the ETH Zurich, the Collegium is in a unique position to exploit the potential of two of Zurich’s most renowned academic institutions. It is centrally located in the “Semper-Sternwarte”, a former observatory, nearby both academies and the University Hospital of Zurich. The historic building offers various offices and conference rooms for research work, project meetings, workshops and public events, however housing is not provided on the campus. Joint lunches and informal coffee breaks are considered as fruitful sources for interdisciplinary collaboration.
The Collegium Helveticum perceives inter- and transdisciplinarity as an indispensable element of its research projects. Concomitantly, disciplinary excellence of the researchers is always a pre-requisite. EURIAS Fellows will have the opportunity to pursue their own research in a fruitful interdisciplinary community. They can broaden their research interest, collaborate with peers of their own disciplines at the University of Zurich or ETH Zurich and engage actively in the interdisciplinary discussions on the main research topic of the Collegium. From 2016 to 2021 the main research topic is «Digital Societies».
The Collegium Helveticum welcomes applications from the fields of humanities and social sciences, as well as natural, technical and medical sciences. Criteria for selection are besides scientific excellence, novelty of the research proposal and a broad interest in different disciplinary frameworks. EURIAS fellows at the Collegium Helveticum are coming to the ETH Zurich as Academic Guests. Applicants must therefore fulfill the criteria and agree to the terms for Academic Guests at the ETH Zurich (as listed on our webpage).
