Latest news Swiss universities want to strengthen protection against knowledge espionage
According to "NZZ am Sonntag", Swiss universities want to strengthen protection against knowledge espionage. It would be naive to believe that Switzerland is not affected by espionage, ETH Zurich Rector Günther Dissertori told the newspaper.
30.11.2025, 06:25
SDA
A Swissuniversities working group is therefore proposing that a contact point and a national coordination office for knowledge security be set up at each university in order to prevent certain state actors from accessing knowledge and technologies. "We also need improved coordination when it comes to data exchange between universities," said Dissertori in the interview.
An exchange of critical dossiers is also being considered in order to prevent applicants from entering the Swiss system in a roundabout way; this would avoid duplication and ensure that all universities operate according to the same criteria. According to Dissertori, there is no risk of discrimination: "The analysis is based on risk and not on nationality. Origin merely triggers a closer examination."
ETH Zurich has been carrying out a security screening of applications from countries such as Russia, China, Iran and Afghanistan for a year now, which has resulted in 80 applications being rejected during this period. According to Dissertori, people are assessed according to criteria such as origin, previous education, source of funding and the intended course of study or field of work. "If we find a critical combination, we do not accept them at ETH," said the Rector.
