Günther Dissertori to become the new president of ETH Zurich
Berne, 24.06.2026 — On 24 June, the Federal Council appointed Günther Dissertori as the new president of ETH Zurich, following a proposal by the ETH Board. The 56-year-old is currently the rector of ETH Zurich and a professor of particle physics. He will take up his post on 1 January 2027, succeeding Joël Mesot.
Elected as the new president of ETH Zurich for a full four-year term, Günther Dissertori has been a professor of particle physics since 2001. He has headed the Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics at ETH Zurich for many years and has served as rector of the university since February 2022. In his function as rector and deputy to the current president, Professor Dissertori is responsible for teaching and continuing education programmes, playing a pivotal role in shaping the strategic development of academic education at ETH Zurich. Among other things, he initiated the most significant academic reform at the university since the introduction of the Bologna Process, as well as strengthening project-based training formats and the strategic integration of artificial intelligence into teaching. A key aspect of his work as a professor is also the promotion of young researchers, including supporting numerous students and young researchers throughout their academic careers. His commitment to excellence in teaching has been recognised on several occasions through various awards from students.
In his role as researcher, Professor Dissertori specialises in experimental particle physics using accelerators. Among other things, he made significant contributions to the discovery of the Higgs boson at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider in 2012. Alongside his work in basic research, he has also played a key role in advancing the application of detector technologies in medicine. This work led to the establishment of the ETH spin-off Positrigo AG.
Professor Dissertori was born in Merano, South Tyrol, and is an Italian national. He studied physics at the University of Innsbruck, graduating summa cum laude with a PhD in 1997.
During his eight-year term in office, the current president of ETH Zurich, Joël Mesot, has succeeded in establishing ETH Zurich as one of the world’s leading universities and ensuring that it is rightly regarded as a driving force for innovation in Switzerland.
Under the ETH Act, the presidents of the two federal institutes of technology (ETH Zurich and EPFL) are elected by the Federal Council on the recommendation of the ETH Board. The term of office is four years, with re-election possible.