15.05.2023Europe’s Top Research Universities Gather at UZH

Leaders from over 20 of Europe's most influential research-intensive universities convened at UZH on 12 and 13 May 2023, for the Rectors' Assembly of the League of European Research Universities (LERU). The Assembly provided a platform to discuss the state and future of European research and to strengthen collaborations. 

One of the highlights of the assembly was a public event featuring Pavel Kabat, Secretary-General of the International Human Frontier Science Program Organization (HFSP) and former Chief Scientist and Research Director of the Geneva-based World Meteorological Organization (WMO) of the United Nations. 

In his lecture, titled “Global Challenges, Global Solutions: the role of international scientific collaboration”, Professor Pavel Kabat discussed the pivotal role that international scientific collaboration plays in driving progress and innovation in the 21st century. He highlighted the success of the International Human Frontier Science Program Organization (HFSPO) in driving fundamental scientific discoveries through bottom-up, curiosity-driven research. He further urged European academic and science funding spaces to embrace a similar approach, encouraging bottom-up thinking and interdisciplinary collaboration. Kabat also brought up the proposal to consider fast-tracking innovation by bringing fundamental science and discovery directly, at an early stage, into the knowledge valorization cycle. 

As a member of the LERU network, UZH has access to a network of top European research universities, facilitating its engagement in collaborative research projects with other top European universities, share knowledge and resources, and participate in joint initiatives aimed at advancing research excellence. The next biannual Rectors’ Assembly will take place in November at Trinity College in Dublin. 

Anne Nuria Boekhout