Collaboration on Basic Research – The Partner Institutions / University Medicine Zurich

With more than 25,000 students, the University of Zurich (UZH) is the largest university in Switzerland. Founded in 1833 as the first university in Europe in a democratic state, today UZH ranks as one of the best universities in the German-speaking countries. Seven faculties offer a wide range of opportunities for studies at undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral level. With around 3,000 students and more than 700 lecturers, the UZH Medical Faculty is the largest of the six medical faculties in Switzerland. In addition, UZH has a wide-ranging training portfolio. UZH is one of the leading European research universities and is a member of the League of European Research Universities (LERU). Acknowledged internationally as an outstanding institution, UZH has received the highest honors in medicine, immunology, genetics, neurosciences, structural biology, and economics. Twelve scientists and scholars from the University of Zurich have received a Nobel Prize.

In international rankings, ETH Zurich scores as one of the world’s best universities and the leading university in continental Europe. The academy of science and technology was established by the founders of modern Switzerland back to 1855 as a center of innovation and knowledge. Today, 530 professors teach a total of 21,400 students, including 4,180 doctoral students, from more than 120 countries. ETH Zurich stands comparison with the world’s leading universities at all levels, from teaching and research to management. Among the 21 Nobel laureates who worked at ETHZ were Albert Einstein and Wolfgang Pauli. ETH’s main activities in the field of medicine are basic research, diagnostics, medical technology, and developing bioactive substances. An increasing focus is data analysis and machine learning in the context of personalized medicine.

The University Hospital Zurich (USZ) is one of the largest hospitals in Switzerland, with 43 clinics and institutes under one roof. It combines the treatment of more than 600,000 outpatients and over 40,000 inpatients per year with research and teaching.Scientists at the USZ do research on the latest treatment methods and apply them according to strict scientific criteria. The USZ is the sole provider of many therapies for complex and multiple health problems in Switzerland. The percentage of patients with complex diseases from all of Switzerland and abroad is therefore particularly high at the USZ. The USZ employs a total of more than 8,400 people from 92 nations. The University Hospital Zurich is in the center of Zurich, neighboring ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich.

The University Children’s Hospital Zurich is the largest center of pediatrics and pediatric surgery in Switzerland. It employs around 2,500 people, provides 230 beds, and looks after just under 8,500 inpatients and around 90,000 outpatients per year. It also trains doctors and nurses in pediatric medicine and pediatric surgery on behalf of the University of Zurich. The KiSpi is sponsored by the private Eleonore Foundation, a charity founded in 1868. An imminent milestone will be reached in 2022, when the new hospital building as well as the Institute for Teaching and Research in Zurich-Lengg will go into operation.

The Balgrist University Hospital specializes in the diagnosis, treatment, and after-care of musculoskeletal injuries in Zurich. It covers the medical disciplines of orthopedics, paraplegiology, radiology, anesthesiology, rheumatology and physical medicine, as well as chiropractic. On behalf of the University of Zurich, the Balgrist University Hospital trains physicians in orthopedics, paraplegiology and since 2008 in chiropractic. It is also in charge of for further education of doctors and medical staff in orthopedics, paraplegiology, rheumatology, anesthesiology, and radiology. The clinic also serves as a research center dedicated to improving the quality of healthcare. At the Balgrist Campus, which opened at the end of 2015, researchers, medical practitioners, developers and industry collaborate in order to alleviate and to resolve the problems of patients suffering from musculoskeletal conditions.

One of the main tasks of the University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich (PUK) is the treatment of mentally ill patients in the inpatient and outpatient clinic and in the day hospital. Since its foundation in 1870, psychiatry based in Zurich has fostered a modern and human view of the patient. One of the well-known psychiatrists who worked for a time at the clinic was Carl Gustav Jung. The PUK also assumes tasks in the university teaching and research in psychiatry as well as the further education within an international network.