Example measures

Launch quarterly inclusive leadership roundtables that bring together leaders from diverse backgrounds and experience levels.

• Focus on key aspects of inclusive leadership, such as inclusive recruitment, reducing bias in decision-making, and building a sense of belonging within teams.
• Share and discuss successful strategies and promote the wider adoption of effective practices across the department.
• After each session, collect feedback from participants to assess how relevant and useful they found the discussions, and how these insights influence their leadership. 

Introduce a tailored mentoring programme that supports individuals from underrepresented groups and promotes fair academic and career progression.

• Use departmental demographic data to identify underrepresented groups such as women, neurodiverse staff, or first generation academics and design the programme to address their specific needs.
• As a practical reference point, draw on the existing mentoring programme in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering (D BAUG), which pairs doctoral researchers with mentors outside their supervision team to support their professional development. Build on this model by establishing clear matching processes, setting defined mentoring goals, and offering complementary workshops on academic skills, career planning, networking, and navigating systemic barriers.
• Collect regular feedback from mentors and mentees to evaluate the programme¡¯s impact and make iterative improvements.

Create a department specific wellbeing space that brings together key resources and support services to help staff and students manage their work, study, and personal lives more effectively.

• Draw on existing ETH Zurich offers, including resources from the Lifelong Learning Hub (L3H) such as the external page Mindfulness@ETH online course, and make these materials easily accessible through the department.
• Complement these with department level activities such as short wellbeing sessions, informal peer support groups, and occasional seminars on work life balance.
• Each year, gather feedback to evaluate the usefulness of the initiative and adapt the activities to emerging needs.

Create a support network for staff and students with caregiving responsibilities, including parents and those who care for elderly relatives.

• Draw on existing ETH Zurich resources, such as the event series "We do care ¨C Insights for university members with caregiving responsibilities", to provide reliable information and practical guidance.
• Within your department, hold regular support meetings, offer sessions on available caregiving resources, such as childcare and elder care, and share advice on balancing caregiving with work and study.
• Promote flexible scheduling and options for remote work or study so caregivers can manage their responsibilities more effectively.
• Monitor success through participation levels, feedback from caregivers, and evaluations of how these actions improve work, study, and life balance.

Identify staff who already use inclusive teaching techniques and make them visible role models within the department. This will help create a teaching and learning environment that offers equal access and removes barriers for the diverse ETH student community. 

• Highlight staff who apply inclusive methods to consolidate existing knowledge and practical experience, and show how these approaches work in practice.
• Draw on the diversity of ETH teaching staff, many with international experience in equity-focused teaching, to act as resources for others.
• Encourage these colleagues to share their methods, priorities, challenges, and solutions through structured sessions or informal exchanges.
• Collect feedback from participants to assess the usefulness of shared practices and identify areas for further support.

Use the existing ETH resources that support the development of a more inclusive and accessible teaching and learning environment.

• Create a resource bank that gathers reference documents from teaching staff who already use inclusive methods, giving other staff clear starting points.
• Integrate the resources already available at ETH, such as the booklet on inclusive teaching methods from the ETH Lecturers Conference and the Unit for Teaching and Learning videos on students with different learning needs and preferences, including neurodiverse and dyslexic students.

Encourage staff to take part in the four hour ¡°Strategies for Inclusive Teaching¡± workshop offered by the Unit for Teaching and Learning.

• The workshop recognises the diversity of ETH faculty and the wide range of teaching methods already in use, and helps staff identify the inclusive practices they already apply.
• The workshop introduces techniques that support the increasing diversity of student groups.
• Participants learn the key ideas that underpin inclusive teaching, test different teaching methods, work through a case study, and use practical exercises to design an inclusive approach for an imaginary masters course.

Raise awareness among teaching staff so students with sensory or motor impairments can study in the department independently and on equal terms, without needing significant extra effort.

• Encourage staff to use the Unit for Teaching and Learning booster course ¡°Accessible Learning Materials: understand, assess and create¡±, and to seek individual advice when specific challenges arise.
• The booster course shows staff how small changes in the way they create learning materials can make these materials accessible to most disabled students in the future without requiring additional measures.

Monitor the representation of female senior scientists within the department to ensure their presence is proportional to that of their male colleagues. If imbalances are found, introduce targeted measures to support the advancement of women into senior scientist roles. Take one or more of the following actions:

• Run awareness programs for professors and staff to highlight gender disparities and hold collaborative problem-solving sessions where academic and administrative staff can develop practical strategies to promote female scientists. 
• Set clear and consistent criteria for promotion to senior scientist roles, specifying the qualifications, achievements, and performance standards required. Ensure fair evaluations by standardising application forms and documentation. Actively support female postdoctoral scientists through structured career development programmes, mentorship, and access to professional networks that aid their progression into leadership roles.
• Require professorships to provide clear descriptions of their DEI initiatives in applications for permanent senior scientist positions. This should include current DEI practices, the professorship`s existing diversity status, and the strategic rationale for these efforts.
• Introduce a quota to reserve a specific percentage of senior scientist roles for women, establishing a concrete benchmark for gender representation within the department.
  

Enhance support for female scientists, including doctoral students, during maternity leave by introducing a programme that provides research assistants to maintain research projects while the main researchers are away.

• Begin with a detailed assessment to understand the needs of female scientists on maternity leave and how their work is affected.
• Assign research assistants to manage day-to-day project tasks, ensuring steady progress.
• Where possible, bring in assistants before maternity leave starts to allow a smooth transition and familiarise them with the projects so they can take over responsibilities without disruption.
• Set up a system to monitor the effectiveness of this support and its impact on the scientists and their research.

Enable researchers to customise their work schedules to support personal needs, including care responsibilities, and promote a better integration of professional and personal life. For example:

• Allow researchers to work at times that maximise their individual productivity, recognising that this may not align with standard working hours, while accommodating care duties.
• Establish core hours, for example from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., to maintain essential collaborative work. Give researchers the freedom to adjust their schedules flexibly outside these hours. 
• Offer the option to work remotely, allowing researchers to choose environments that improve efficiency and make managing care responsibilities easier.
• Schedule meetings so that they do not take place after 5 p.m., supporting researchers with care duties in fulfilling personal responsibilities without conflict.

Identify, develop, and implement specific measures to support and promote diversity and inclusivity in research and innovation partnerships, following international standards and recommendations such as external page the Cape Town Statement on Fostering Research Integrity through Fairness and Equity, external page the Swiss KPFE Guide for Transboundary Research Partnerships, external page the TRUST Code, or the external page BRIDGE Guidelines for good epidemiological practice. For example:

• Develop a resource allocation plan that ensures fair distribution of funding, equipment, and personnel among all partners.
• Define specific metrics to track progress.
• Implement this plan within the first three months of the project and review it quarterly to assess outcomes and make adjustments as needed.

Encourage young people to explore STEM subjects and demonstrate that STEM studies are open to everyone.

• Organise annual events where students from diverse backgrounds can visit the department and learn about potential study opportunities.
• Develop an inclusive programme that considers different genders, socioeconomic backgrounds, and cultures, and highlights role models.
• Collaborate with, or seek support from, initiatives such as ETH unterwegs, Educ ETH, and similar programmes.

Launch a department-wide campaign to encourage and incentivise staff to complete the unconscious bias training available at ETH Zurich.

• Use targeted communications to highlight the importance of understanding and addressing unconscious biases in creating an inclusive environment.
• Encourage departmental leaders to promote the training and emphasise its role in fostering inclusive behaviours.
• Organise a departmental activity, such as a facilitated discussion or workshop, after staff complete the training, to reinforce key concepts, share insights, and encourage dialogue about unconscious bias and its impact on departmental culture.
• Assess the impact by tracking participation rates before and after the campaign and gathering feedback from participants on the effectiveness of the training and follow-up activity in promoting inclusive mindsets.

Use the new guides for sustainable, inclusive, and accessible events at ETH Zurich to ensure all departmental events follow these standards.

• Launch a campaign within the department to raise awareness and encourage adoption of the guides, highlighting key points such as selecting diverse speakers, providing accessible communication and infrastructure, and using inclusive language.
• Deliver this campaign through informational sessions, emails, and visual reminders.
• Encourage department leaders to actively promote the guidelines and provide clear examples of how to apply them to different events, from seminars to social gatherings.
• Offer regular training sessions or briefings to help event organisers understand and implement the guidelines effectively.

Implement a department-wide initiative to encourage all communications, documents, and publications to follow ETH Zurich¡¯s tips for inclusive and non-discriminatory language.

• Run awareness campaigns to explain why these tips matter and how they promote respect and inclusion.
• Ask departmental leaders and communication specialists to apply the tips in correspondence, policies, and teaching materials.
• Offer workshops to help staff and academic staff understand and use the tips in daily interactions.
• Monitor the use of inclusive language across communication channels and collect feedback from staff and students on how the tips contribute to a more respectful and inclusive departmental culture.

Launch a department-wide initiative to raise awareness and reinforce commitment to a discrimination-free environment.

• Promote ETH Zurich¡¯s values of zero tolerance for discrimination by embedding these principles into daily departmental activities and interactions.
• Offer workshops and seminars that explore different forms of discrimination, provide real-life examples, and encourage dialogue on how to identify and challenge discriminatory behaviours.
• Highlight proactive strategies such as allyship, inclusive leadership, and fostering a culture where all staff and students feel able to call out discrimination.
• Encourage leadership and staff to model these behaviours, creating a positive feedback loop that supports an inclusive culture.
• Measure success through engagement in workshops and surveys assessing increased awareness and actions taken against discriminatory practices.