Research environment
Eawag offers a remarkable environment for research in aquatic science and technology. Researchers enjoy an academic environment in which much of the research is driven "bottom-up" by the interests of the researchers themselves.
Eawag has a 5-year tenure-track process in which successful tenure-track researchers are granted a permanent position after an evaluation based on their professional accomplishments. Students at all levels, including doctoral students and postdocs, are engaged in many projects.
Eawag is supported by the Swiss federal government which allows for long-term continuity in research, excellent technical and administrative support and world-class instrumentation and facilities. Approximately 25 per cent of Eawag's total budget is provided by external funding which is primarily used for research projects.
Find more detailed information in the brochure Eawag’s Research Environment - A Guide for New and Prospective Tenure-Track and Tenured Researchers (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5707833, Dec. 2021)
Scientific Integrity
The capacity of our society to place its trust in the research community depends to a large degree on the willingness of the researchers at Eawag themselves to assume responsibility for their actions. In order to maintain sustainable high-quality research, it is the responsibility of all staff to implement and follow the Research Integrity Guidelines at Eawag.
Open Science
Research facilities
Eawag provides researchers with a broad range of instruments and world-class infrastructure, including advanced analytical instrumentation and pilot- and mesocosm facilities, with excellent technical support. Major infrastructure and instrumentation are coordinated with other institutions within the ETH Domain.
Dübendorf and Kastanienbaum
| Major Instrumentation | Eawag provides researchers with a broad range of instruments. |
Dübendorf
| Experimental ponds | A facility with 36 identical experimental ponds enables experiments to be conducted under natural environmental conditions all year round on Eawag’s grounds. |
| Aquatikum | The Aquatikum research building offers space to realise complex projects in the fields of drinking water and aquatic ecology. |
| Experimental facility | The experimental facility is used for wastewater research and houses a wastewater treatment plant, the Eawag WWTP. |
| Sensor Lab | The Sensor Lab serves as a contact point for matters relating to sensor technology, automation and electronics. |
| Tracer Lab | The Tracer Lab provides advanced methods and techniques utilising environmental tracers to examine and quantify the dynamics within aquatic systems. |
| MassSpec Facility | The MassSpec Facility enables the use and development of state-of-the-art environmental and biological analyses by mass spectrometry. |
| Scientific Dive Unit | The Eawag Scientific Dive Unit was established as a support unit for scientific underwater work. |
Kastanienbaum
| Research boats | Two boats on Lake Lucerne and one boat on Lake Zug support fieldwork on aquatic systems. |
| Cold water aquaria system | The aquarium system for cold-water fish consists of 122 aquariums. |
| The aquarium system for tropical fish consists of 385 aquariums. | |
| Laboratories | Several laboratories support research work in the fields of analytical chemistry, organic geochemistry and isotope geochemistry. |
The molecular genetics laboratory provides infrastructure for a wide range of research work in the fields of molecular population genetics and evolutionary ecology. | |
| The mesocosm garden enables experimental work with plankton, invertebrates and fish. | |
| Outdoor fish tanks with glass walls | Two large outdoor fish tanks are used for behavioural research on large fish. |
Further links
National Academies Press: On being a scientist - A Guide to Responsible Conduct in Research: Third Edition (2009)