Committed to innovation
Innovation Ambassadors sind Forschende der UZH, die Innovation aktiv fördern und über Erfahrung in Unternehmertum, Kommerzialisierung oder Wissenstransfer verfügen. In den Instituten der UZH nehmen sie eine Vorbild-Rolle ein, sind als Berater:innen für Science Entrepreneur:innen tätig und leisten damit einen wichtigen Beitrag zum Innovationsökosystem der UZH. Die Innovation Ambassadors sind eingebunden in die Auswahl von Projekten, die Unterstützung durch dieUZH Innovation Grants, dieEntrepreneur Fellowships und das DRIVE | transfer Program erhalten können.
Thorsten Buch
Institute Director and Vice Dean for Innovation and Digitalization
Institute of Laboratory Animal Science
UMZH Profile LinkedIn
UMZH Profile LinkedIn
My motivation is straightforward: too much excellent biomedical science never reaches patients because the path from bench to product is opaque to most researchers. Through ZH3D, three spin-offs (Innunity Therapeutics, InCephalo, Clemedi), and grant work at the academia-industry interface (Innosuisse, Venture Kick, Swiss MS Society), I have learned where this path breaks and how to navigate it, and I want to make that knowledge available to colleagues earlier in their translation process.
Sarah Ebling
Full professor ad personam of Language, Technology and Accessibility
Department of Computational Linguistics
UZH Profile LinkedIn
Department of Computational Linguistics
UZH Profile LinkedIn
I want to help innovative projects in the digital accessibility space achieve sustainable impact.
Philipp Fürnstahl
Professor of Orthopedic Computer Science
University Hospital Balgrist
DSI Profile
LinkedIn
My research is driven by the ambition to translate cutting-edge surgical technology into solutions that improve patient care, surgical precision, and training. As an Innovation Ambassador, I am motivated to help bridge clinical needs with engineering excellence and entrepreneurial thinking. I am contributing my experience in translational research and guiding development of technologies from the lab toward real-world implementation.
Harald Gall
Dean of the Faculty of Business, Economics and Informatics and Professor for Software Engineering
LinkedIn
UZH Profile
Digital Innovation embedded in responsibility for business and society is a USP of UZH and a driver for innovation to address societal challenges of today and tomorrow. I am happy to link potential innovators to the Innovation Hub of UZH to help them achieve their best.
Lauren Howe
Assistant Professor in Management
Department of Business Administration
UZH Profile LinkedIn
Department of Business Administration
UZH Profile LinkedIn
Having spent time at Stanford in Silicon Valley, I've been inspired by the difference that innovations can make when they are well-designed with a human perspective in mind. With my research and activities as an Innovation Ambassador, I aim to support efforts that work to make the future better for people amid technological and other changes.
Tim Joda
Titular-Professor
Center for Dental Medicine, Clinic of Reconstructive Dentistry
UZH Profile
LinkedIn
My motivation is to bridge clinical dentistry, research, and innovation. Working at the interface of digital health, AI, clinical research, and medtech industry has taught me that innovation thrives on interdisciplinary exchange and strong connections. As an Innovation Ambassador, I would like to foster these connections at UZH and help translate scientific ideas into meaningful clinical impact.
Thomas Puschmann
Director Swiss FinTech Innovation Lab
Department of Finance
UZH Profile LinkedIn
UZH Profile LinkedIn
Over the past two decades universities have been urged to become more accountable to the wider public and to contribute directly to the local, regional and national economic development. Thus today’s universities’ mission has witnessed a paradigm shift from teaching- and researching-only to economic growth in terms of innovation and entrepreneurship. To reach the level of leading innovation hubs like Silicon Valley, we need to redefine what successful research means - which is not only about publications anymore, but increasingly about research that allows the development of novel products and services. This also requires researchers that think as entrepreneurs and create novel innovation ecosystems.
Claudia Röösli
Group Leader for Earth Observation Application and Services
Department of Geography
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Department of Geography
UZH Profile LinkedIn
My research motivation is to produce outputs that can be used in applications and transferred to everyday life. We have so much technology and data available and making it useful and accessible drives my interest. Fostering innovative and entrepreneurial thinking in the domains of satellite observations and remote sensing is thus my contribution to bring UZH's research output to society.
Anja Schulze
Professor of Mobility and Digital Innovation Management
Department of Business Administration
UZH Profile
LinkedIn
Stefan Seeger
Professor of Chemistry, Founder and Director of Business Chemistry Program
Department of Chemistry
UZH Profile LinkedIn
UZH Profile LinkedIn
Claudio Tessone
Professor of Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies
Department of Informatics
UZH Profile LinkedIn
UZH Profile LinkedIn
Florent Thouvenin
Professor for Information and Communications Law
Faculty of Law
UZH Profile
UZH Profile
Exploring and utilising the space for innovation within the existing legal framework is essential for research and development. The innovation hub can help UZH researchers to better understand this space and its limitations.
Viktor von Wyl
Professor for Digital and Mobile Health
Epidemiology, Biostatistics & Prevention Institute
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Epidemiology, Biostatistics & Prevention Institute
UZH Profile LinkedIn
To innovate is to transcend disciplinary boundaries and to rethink established paradigms. Embedded within Switzerland’s largest comprehensive university, the UZH Innovation Hub provides an ideal environment for developing technologies and ventures with meaningful societal impact.
Ning Wang
Research Group Lead in Ethics and Value Sensitive Innovation
Digital Society Initiative
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Digital Society Initiative
UZH Profile LinkedIn
I am passionate about shaping innovation that is not only cutting-edge, but also ethical, inclusive, and socially meaningful. As an Innovation Ambassador of the UZH Innovation Hub, I aim to bridge technology, responsibility, and societal impact by promoting value-based innovation, as well as social innovation and entrepreneurship that are driven by purpose. I believe innovation reaches its full potential when it empowers people, strengthens communities, and contributes to a more sustainable and equitable future.
Fabian Winiger
Senior Research Fellow
Professorship for Spiritual Care
Faculty of Theology and the Study of Religions
UZH Profile
LinkedIn
I took the Innovation Ambassador role because my research sits at the intersection of fields that don't normally talk to each other: healthcare, spirituality and digitalisation. Interdisciplinary work like this requires translating what one needs into terms the other can understand. This is a challenging, but fun part of research. It develops creativity and adaptability — qualities which are very valuable for anyone engaged in innovation and entrepreneurship and who wants to translate their ideas across the boundaries of their own field.
Möchten Sie sich als Innovation Ambassador:in engagieren?
Ein Engagement als Innovationsbotschafter an der UZH ist die Gelegenheit, sich in der Translation von Wissenschaft einzubringen. Unterstützen Sie die Evaluation von Startup-Projekten im Frühstadium und teilen Sie Ihre Erfahrungen mit Nachwuchswissenschaftlern in Ihrem Fachgebiet.
Sofern Sie Senior Researcher oder Professor:in sind, wenden Sie sich an uns, um mehr über diese Rolle zu erfahren.