A New Chapter for UZH in London

More than 40 members of the UZH community came together at the Swiss Embassy in London on September 10 for an evening of exchange, new connections and discussion. Following UZH Alumni and Friends events held in Washington, D.C. in 2024 and in Seoul in 2025, this year's gathering was brought to London.

Moderated by science journalist and presenter Eveline van Rijswijk, the evening combined the reactivation of the UZH Alumni London Chapter with a conversation about the role of science and universities in society.

Founded in 2012, the UZH Alumni London Chapter has brought together graduates living and working in and around the British capital for more than a decade. At the event, it was announced that Celine Yeung (MAS European and Asian Business Management, ’20) will join Samuel Lang (BSc Accounting and Finance, ’10) and Stefan Wey (Master’s in Business Administration and Management, ’04) as co-chairs of the chapter.

Together, they aim to bring new momentum to the chapter as a platform for exchange, connection and new friendships. A live poll gave the audience a direct say in what should come next, with suggestions ranging from social gatherings and raclette evenings to talks, panel discussions, and encounters with UZH professors.

Beth Singler, Assistant Professor of Digital Religion(s), and Johannes Reich, Professor of Public Law, Environmental Law and Energy Law, then joined van Rijswijk for a fireside chat spanning topics including artificial intelligence, law, climate change, public trust and science communication.

Singler, who spent many years in Cambridge before joining UZH, highlighted UZH's University Research Priority Program on Digital Religion(s), which brings together around 50 researchers from different disciplines: “There is nothing like that anywhere else.”

Her own research explores how people make meaning around technology and the growing relationship between religion and artificial intelligence – from established religions adopting new technologies to people having religious or spiritual experiences with AI and chatbots.

Reich, a UZH alumnus who previously lived in London for four years, described returning to the city as a homecoming. From a legal perspective, he emphasized the connection between abstract academic questions and their practical consequences for society. Scholars, he argued, also have a role as translators: making complex principles accessible and connecting them to real-world questions.

Both speakers stressed that academic work should reach audiences beyond fellow researchers – whether through engagement with policymakers, the media, young people or local communities.

The discussion also turned to the role of universities as artificial intelligence changes how information is produced and shared. Singler described universities as important nodes in our “epistemic networks”, where knowledge is created, scrutinised and verified and where students develop the skills to critically assess information.

Looking ahead, both speakers emphasized the transformative role of education. Singler also cautioned against removing all “friction” from learning through AI: thinking and writing, she argued, can be valuable precisely because they are difficult and take time.

UZH has strong connections with universities across the United Kingdom and across all academic fields. In the past five years alone, UZH researchers have co-authored more than 10,000 publications with colleagues at UK institutions.

Institutional ties are reinforced through UZH's university networks. Its UK partners include the University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, University College London and the University of Oxford through LERU, and the universities of Birmingham, Glasgow and Nottingham through U21. The University of Edinburgh has particularly close ties with UZH, with both universities sharing membership in LERU, U21 and Una Europa.

With both Switzerland and the United Kingdom associated to Horizon Europe, these long-standing relationships are supported by renewed opportunities for research collaboration – while the London Alumni Chapter provides a more personal connection between Zurich and the UK.