Five years ago today, on April 1, 2020, DIZH began operations.
The Management Board has been meeting regularly since 2019, including on April 1, 2020 for the operational launch of DIZH and now, exactly five years later, once again. A fitting occasion to draw a positive interim balance.
DIZH has continued to develop over the past few years. The areas of Research cluster, Innovation program and Education program have been established and are constantly being optimized.
Research
The DIZH promotes interdisciplinary and cross-university research in the field of digital transformation. Since 2022, the professorship of Mobility and Digital Innovation Management has linked the UZH with the ZHAW. In 2024, the professorships of Digital Cultures and Arts (UZH/ZHdK) and Digital Higher Education (UZH/PHZH) were added.
Professors, lecturers and senior researchers can take part in the DIZH research cluster in a variety of ways: by holding a DIZH-funded position, as fellows, as members of the plenary meeting or other advisory bodies, or by acting as an external project partner.
DIZH offers a framework for partner universities to establish bridge professorships. These professorships are interdisciplinary and contribute to connecting the partner universities on an academic level. The professorships are tasked with bringing together relevant activities from DIZH partner universities in a particular field and creating synergies between them.
Prof. Dr. Anja Schulze, Professorship for Mobility & Digital Innovation Management (DIZH Bridge Professor cooperating with the Department of Business Administration, UZH, and School of Management and Law and the School of Engineering at ZHAW)
Prof. Dr. Roland Meyer, Professorship for Digital Cultures and Arts / DIZH Bridge Professorship at Zentrum Künste und Kulturtheorie (ZKK) / Arts and Culture Theory (UZH & ZHdK)
Prof. Dr. Joshua Weidlich, Professorship for Digital Higher Education / DIZH Bridge Professorship at PH Zürich and UZH.
In addition to bridge professorships, DIZH partner institutions can also create temporary positions for bridge postdocs. These postdoc positions are intended to strengthen collaboration and create synergies between partner universities in particular fields.
The doctoral program promotes and connects junior researchers in the Zurich area who focus on digitalization issues.
DSI Infrastruktur & Lab / Digital Society Initiative, UZH
DSI Strategy Lab / Digital Society Initiative, UZH
CLAIRE: Confederation of Laboratories for Artificial Intelligence Research in Europe, ZHAW
The Immersive Arts Space team conducts practice-based research in the interaction field between art, design and digital technology. The team members have their professional roots in film, game design, interaction design, music, computer science and engineering.
Zurich Centre for Creative Economies, ZHdK
The Zurich Centre for Creative Economies (ZCCE) publishes the website “Creative Economies“. It presents annual data on cultural participation from the “Creative Economies Reports”. It also offers research articles, information articles and reviews of books, essays and academic papers.
Centre for Education and Digital Transformation, PHZH
The group researches digital transformation and its effects on education, teaching, and learning, and it considers how digital developments shape education.
Innovation
DIZH supports the development of new technologies and promotes collaboration between universities and external partners to bring research into practice. 10 calls were announced, 90 research projects were approved – a clear sign of the great interest and active participation in the DIZH.
Education
The Education program strengthen digital skills and the networking of universities.
DIZH is well positioned to continue actively shaping the digital future of Zurich’s higher education institutions in the second half of its term.
