The Department

In it's present form, D-GESS has been created in 1999. It forms one of the 16 departments of ETH Zurich. Overall, 31 professors, around 100 doctoral students, and over 200 other academic staff ensure that research and teaching meets the highest standards.

Four core areas

Both in its research and its teaching, D-GESS focuses on the four core areas of Behavior (behavioral science), Governance (political science), Knowledge (humanities) and Law & Economics. All professorships are independent teaching and research units that have a clear methodological and topical relevance for ETH Zurich’s focus on the natural sciences and technology.

15'000 students enrolled in Science in Perspective

In the field of teaching D-GESS is responsible for the courses Science in Persepctive. More than 15'000 students sign up every year for one of the courses offered within this programme. Furthermore, D-GESS offers a BA in Public Policy for regular officers of the Swiss Army, two Master's programmes as well as two Master's of Advanced Studies courses. In addition, it is also responsible for didactic training at ETH Zurich.

Acknowledged record of achievement

D-GESS has a successful academic track record. This can be seen in the approximately 500 publications it generates every year as well as in the roughly 40 percent share of third-party funding in its overall expenditures. For many years, D-GESS has thus procured the highest share of third-party funding among all ETH departments.