Global Research PartnershipsCreate free account
Industry Collaboration Index

Industry Collaboration Index 2026 · University profile

ETH Zurich

Switzerland · Europe · Platinum

★ Sector Awards 2026. Finalist: the Software, Cloud and Data Award (with Microsoft; Kim Philipp Jablonski and Andreas Wilm); the Biotechnology and Advanced Therapies Award (with Roche; Barbara Treutlein and J. Gray Camp).

#23World rank of 1,038
83.7ICI scoreout of 100
#1National rank, of 8 in Switzerland
#8Regional rank, of 388 in Europe
2,079Verified industry works, 2021 to 2025
939Company groups worked with (321 on two or more works)

ETH Zurich is ranked #23 of 1,038, with Platinum standing. Its strongest pillar is scale (93): a network of 321 company groups on two or more joint works. All four pillars are above the middle of the ranked universities; the lowest is durability (67).

Research Collaboration Index 2026: #48 of 1,195, Platinum standing · View the RCI profile →

Why this position

Four pillars, as percentiles

Co-creation30% of the score
81

How often it co-authors with companies, compared with what its own mix of research fields would predict; size makes no difference. 2,079 verified works against about 1,511 expected for its fields (1.38 times the expected rate).

Durability20% of the score
67

How much of its industry work sits in sustained partnerships with the same company group. 82 sustained partnerships: five or more joint works in three or more of the five years.

Scale30% of the score
93

The size of its industry network: company groups on two or more works, sustained partnerships, and its place in the worldwide network of universities and companies. 321 company groups on two or more joint works; 82 sustained partnerships.

Breadth20% of the score
91

How varied its partners are, judged by each company's main research field. Measured across the main research fields of all the company groups it worked with.

Each pillar is a percentile among the 1,038 ranked universities: a value of 80 means a higher value than about 80 in every 100 of them. The ICI score (83.7) is the weighted average of the four percentiles. Rank 23 of 1,038 overall; 1 of 8 in Switzerland; 8 of 388 in Europe. Standing bands: Platinum for ranks 1 to 100, Gold 101 to 300, Silver 301 to 600. How the index is built →

In numbers

The evidence behind the position

5.3%of its 39,309 research works in 2021 to 2025 were co-authored with a verified company
1.38Industry co-authorship rate: 1.38 times what its mix of research fields would predict (2,079 verified works; about 1,511 expected)
82sustained partnerships: the same company group on five or more joint works in three or more of the five years

In Switzerland

1 of 8 ranked universities in Switzerland

  1. #1 ETH Zurich world #23, score 83.7
  2. #2 École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne world #49, score 79.4
  3. #3 University of Basel world #163, score 71.0
  4. #4 University of Bern world #193, score 69.4
  5. #5 University of Zurich world #247, score 66.0

All ranked universities →   Europe: 8 of 388 →

Where it works with industry

Sector strengths

Verified industry works by sector, with its position in each sector ranking. A university is ranked in a sector once it has at least 20 verified works there; sectors with fewer than 50 eligible universities are provisional.

Strongest sector positions

#15 of 373Climate, Environment and Sustainability132 verified works in the sector
#14 of 167Software, Cloud and Data80 verified works in the sector
#59 of 292Artificial Intelligence99 verified works in the sector
Climate, Environment and Sustainability
132#15 of 373
Artificial Intelligence
99#59 of 292
Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology
83.5#145 of 481
Built Environment and Infrastructure
81.5#49 of 215
Pharmaceuticals and Therapeutics
81.5#286 of 638
Software, Cloud and Data
80#14 of 167
Biotechnology and Advanced Therapies
71#53 of 220
Chemicals, Process and Resources
59.5#51 of 237
Medical Technology and Digital Health
53#108 of 323
Clean Energy Transition
50#125 of 295
Agriculture and Food Technology
40.5#83 of 194
Advanced Manufacturing and Industry 4.0
33.5#145 of 201
Quantum Technologies
27.5#27 of 40 provisional
Next-Generation Communications
17under 20 works
Semiconductors and Microelectronics
17under 20 works
Automotive and Mobility
14under 20 works
Space and Satellite Technology
12under 20 works
Robotics and Autonomous Systems
10ranking withheld (under 10 eligible)
Aerospace and Aviation
6under 20 works
Cybersecurity and Digital Trust
5under 20 works
Batteries and Energy Storage
4under 20 works
Not in any of the 21 sectors
1,091.5counted in the overall index

987.5 of its 2,079 verified industry works fall within the 21 sectors. The rest have research topics that belong to no industry sector (basic science, for example) or are consortium papers with 100 or more authors, which the sector indices leave out; all of them count fully in the overall index.

Who it works with

Company partners, 2021 to 2025

ETH Zurich co-authored verified work with 939 company groups, consortium papers aside: 321 of them on two or more works, and 82 as sustained partners.

The largest 12 of its 939 company groups, by joint works

Company groupBased inCompany's main research fieldJoint worksYears with a joint work
RocheSwitzerlandMedicine1105 of 5
MicrosoftUnited StatesComputer Science67.55 of 5
NovartisSwitzerlandMedicine575 of 5
GoogleUnited StatesComputer Science565 of 5
PhilochemSwitzerlandMedicine49.55 of 5
NestléSwitzerlandMedicine34.55 of 5
BASFGermanyMaterials Science305 of 5
Nagra (National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste)SwitzerlandEngineering265 of 5
AstraZenecaUnited KingdomMedicine255 of 5
BrukerUnited StatesChemistry245 of 5
Boehringer IngelheimGermanyMedicine22.55 of 5
HoribaJapanEngineering225 of 5

A company group brings together a company's subsidiaries and research labs under one name. A work counts half when its only company author also holds a post at this university. Consortium papers with 100 or more authors are left out of this table.

Examples of its work with industry

Most-cited verified joint works

Its most-cited verified works with 30 or fewer authors, leaving out guidelines and consensus statements. Citation counts are those of the open scholarly record at harvest. Each title links to the work.

Over time

Verified industry works by year

484.52021
415.52022
4262023
3792024
3742025

2025 is not yet complete: papers published late in the year are still being added to the open record, and coverage may not be equally complete for every university, so compare years with care. A work counts half when its only company author also holds a post at the university, so some totals end in .5.

Funded partnerships (reported, not scored)

Publicly funded research projects with companies

European Union: 228 Horizon projects with company partners

Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe projects starting 2021-2025 in which this university and at least one company take part (1,116 distinct companies). Most frequent: STMicroelectronics Srl, Robert Bosch GmbH, Basf SE, Infineon Technologies AG, STMicroelectronics Crolles 2 SAS, Acp Advanced Circuit Pursuit AG.

  • PARC Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals 2022, 1 company
  • HYDEA HYdrogen DEmonstrator for Aviation 2023, 24 companies
  • EBRAINS 2.0 EBRAINS 2.0: A Research Infrastructure to Advance Neuroscience and Brain Health 2024, 3 companies

Shown for context from the public grant registries; they do not enter the score in Edition 1. Comparable open registries of company partners exist for the European Union and the United Kingdom but not yet for most other research systems, and in some countries national research organisations take part on behalf of university laboratories, so these counts are not comparable between countries.

Funded and co-publishing. Of the funded company partners that match an ICI company group, 82 also appear in this university's verified co-authorship record (STMicroelectronics, Robert Bosch, Thales, BASF [group I4210107087], Nokia, Infineon Technologies) and 182 are funded partners not yet visible in it. About 27% of funded company names could be matched to a company group; the rest are counted, not guessed. Sources: UKRI Gateway to Research harvested 4 Oct 2026; CORDIS bulk files of 2026-10-12 (latest record update 2026-06-10). Funded partnerships cover UK (UKRI Gateway to Research) and EU (Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe, CORDIS) projects starting 2021 to 2025 only. They are reported, never scored, and a funder record outside these two sources is not visible here.

Evidence checked

2,808 verified company links

Each counted link (one work, this university and one company) was confirmed against the affiliation text its author wrote; 3,226 of 6,034 candidate links were set aside.

Why links were set aside
  • 1,605 company name not written in the author's affiliation
  • 480 ordinary-word name without a company suffix
  • 406 excluded after hand audit: Matched from street names (Ernst-Otto-Fischer-Strasse)
  • 207 excluded after hand audit: A publicly supported innovation centre
  • 113 part of a university or public institute's own unit
  • 106 a place or common word that failed its stricter rule
  • 309 for other reasons: smaller hand-audit findings, and links the current open record no longer supports

If a partner is missing or should not be here, send the evidence; corrections are free and reviewed against the public record.

For your communications

Badges you can use

Platinum standing badgeSector Awards finalist badge

Use the badge with a link to this page.

GRP Partnership Intelligence Platform

Where ETH Zurich's collaboration could go next

This profile is free and public, and it stays that way. Beyond it, the GRP Partnership Intelligence Platform, a partner service arranged with each university, sets your record in both GRP indices beside the peers you choose: the universities and companies your peers work with that you do not, live funding calls matched to your strengths, the EU projects your peers have won, and a brief ready for your executive. It opens to partner universities on Monday 19 October 2026: enquire, and the GRP team will confirm availability and pricing for your university.

Request first access →  See what is inside →

The platform cannot move any university's position, band or score.

The other GRP index

Research Collaboration Index

In the Research Collaboration Index 2026, ETH Zurich ranks #48 of 1,195, with Platinum standing. It measures the whole research network, not only industry.

View the RCI profile →

Something wrong? Every figure comes from the public record and can be checked. If a partner is missing or should not be there, tell us and we will review it with the evidence. The 2027 edition will be calculated with the same published methodology. The window for universities to submit data for it is open now: submit data for the 2027 edition. The index is free, public and independent. No commercial relationship with any university or company changes any position, and no one can pay to be included, excluded or moved.