Three Questions for President Michael Hengartner

Michael Hengartner, what’s in store for the nearly 4,000 students starting their studies at UZH this Fall Semester?

Michael Hengartner:  The new students can look forward to the next months and years, as they’ll explore worlds which they’ve been largely unaware of.  Knowledge teaches us to marvel. At the same time it is the key to shaping the future. Whenever problems arise – whether they’re environmental, political, social, economic, medical or cultural in nature – people always turn to academia full of expectation. Never before has science played a greater role for the people living together on this planet, and with this comes great responsibility. At UZH top researchers with international networks in over 100 disciplines are searching for solutions to the challenges of the future. The air at UZH is alive with curiosity and the spirit of discovery. I would like to extend a warm welcome to our new students and hope that they’ll soon feel at home in our large and diverse UZH family.

In this issue of the UZH Journal, we present five students who have enthusiastically embraced their roles as tutors. Is the tutorial system a good way of better getting to know academic life?

Yes, it provides deep insights into the university, and as a tutor, you quickly get to know members of the teaching staff, researchers or fellow students, which can be very interesting. By making an effort to teach other people, you always learn a lot yourself. And this I know from my experience as a professor. Learning and teaching go hand in hand at university. Tutors who are committed to getting more out of their studies will see that it’s well worth their while. But you should also consider that being a tutor costs time and effort, so time management is crucial.

You said that science can change the world. Is science itself changing, too?

And how it’s changing! The methodological approaches, the questions, the technological possibilities – all of this is developing rapidly. This dynamic is created by the many creative individual endeavors that are being pursued. Science isn’t only about precision, but also boldly breaking out of old molds. It’s here where its ties to the world of art become apparent. The science festival 100 Ways of Thinking, which UZH is currently staging in the Kunsthalle Zürich, showcases some of these ties in fascinating ways. It’s definitely worth a visit, if you haven’t already been.

Interview David Werner; translated by Philip Isler