Department of Environmental Systems Science (D-USYS), ETH Zürich

Name

Department of Environmental Systems Science (D-USYS), ETH Zürich

Legal name

Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETH Zürich)

Website

https://usys.ethz.ch

Company type

Public

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education and Environmental Research

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417), Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (54171), Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) (541715), Environmental Consulting Services (54162)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Science, Technology & Innovation Administration (National R&D Policy) (BPAIAAAK)

Keywords

• Environmental systems science
• Climate change research
• Agricultural sciences education
• Biodiversity conservation research
• Transdisciplinary environmental research

Headquarters

HQ city

Zürich

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Government Core Funding: As a department of ETH Zürich (a Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), D-USYS receives core institutional funding from the Swiss Confederation government. This funding covers faculty salaries, infrastructure, and basic operations.
2. Research Grants and Project Funding: D-USYS researchers secure competitive research funding from Swiss agencies (e.g., Swiss National Science Foundation/SNSF, Swiss Federal Office for the Environment/BAFU) and international bodies (EU Horizon programs, ERC, Global Carbon Project). Funding supports specific research projects, personnel, equipment, and international collaborations.
3. Tuition and Student Fees: Tuition fees from students enrolled in the department's Master programs (Environmental Sciences, Agricultural Sciences) contribute to departmental revenue, though this represents a small fraction of total funding.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

D-USYS is an academic department at ETH Zürich that conducts interdisciplinary research and offers graduate-level education across environmental systems science and agricultural sciences. The department spans six institutes, a transdisciplinary laboratory (TdLab), and multiple research platforms and stations, covering climate, hydrology, biogeochemistry, ecosystem ecology, biodiversity, and agricultural sustainability. Its outputs include scientific research, Master's and doctoral degree programs, evidence-based policy advisory, and public science communication.

Product overview

D-USYS is an academic research department at ETH Zürich offering educational programs in Agricultural Sciences and Environmental Natural Sciences at the Master's level, along with interdisciplinary research across six institutes. The department's activities focus on research and teaching rather than commercial product offerings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Transdisziplinäres Labor (TdLab): Transdisciplinary laboratory within D-USYS that develops and applies transdisciplinary research methods for environmental and sustainability challenges.
• WaldLab Forest Experimental Site
• Grüne Bibliothek (Green Library)

Products and services

• Master of Science in Environmental Natural Sciences Master's degree program at ETH Zürich providing interdisciplinary training in environmental sciences, including the 'Umweltproblemlösen' (Environmental Problem-Solving) course taken by approximately 150 students annually; designed for students pursuing careers in environmental science, policy, or academia.
• Master of Science in Agricultural Sciences Master's degree program covering agricultural sustainability, food systems, and agronomy, offered as one of two primary Master's programs in the department.
• Doctoral Research Programs Doctoral training and research positions within D-USYS institutes and labs, supporting original research across climate, hydrology, biogeochemistry, agricultural science, and environmental policy.
• Research and Policy Advisory Services Commissioned environmental and climate research, including hydrological flood modeling for BAFU, climate risk assessment, carbon budget analysis, and evidence-based policy guidance for government and international bodies.
• WaldLab Forest Experimental Site Research station for studying forest water cycles, stable water isotopes in soils and trees, and transpiration patterns; supports field-based research including continuous water isotope measurements since 2020.

Quantifiable outcome

• Hourly flood modeling shows the 100-year flood will become 5–15% more intense and occur every 45–80 years instead of every 100 years in Alpine regions.
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature9 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• University of Bern (for NCCR CLIM+)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2026NCCR CLIM+ (National Centre for Climate Research on 'Climate Extremes and Society') is co-led by D-USYS researchers and the University of Bern. The center combines physical climate models with socio-economic impact assessments to develop robust climate adaptation strategies for Switzerland.
• Integrated Carbon Observation System (ICOS)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Switzerland became a full member of ICOS, a European research infrastructure for greenhouse gas observations, after 10 years as an observer. D-USYS researchers (including Nicolas Gruber) contribute carbon cycle data and analysis to the ICOS network, which provides standardized observations of carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases across Europe.
• WSL Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape ResearchcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWSL is a closely integrated partner with D-USYS. Researchers at WSL (including SLF in Davos) collaborate with D-USYS faculty on flood hydrology (Manuela Brunner, Paul Astagneau), biodiversity (Giacomo Delgado ecoacoustics), wildfire research, and climate adaptation. D-USYS and WSL share the WaldLab research station and co-publish extensively.
• Eawag Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and TechnologycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEawag is a major research partner of D-USYS, hosting joint research groups and professors. D-USYS professors Barbora Trubenová (Pathogen Evolution), Lily Twining (Food Web Ecophysiology), and others hold joint appointments at Eawag and D-USYS. Eawag also co-hosts the NCCR CLIM+ climate extremes initiative.
• EU Horizon Projects — SPARCCLE and PROVIDEcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerD-USYS research on tropical cyclone risk for global ecosystems (Kropf et al.) was supported by EU Horizon 2020 projects SPARCCLE and PROVIDE, which fund climate impact and adaptation research across European institutions.
• Global Carbon ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Global Carbon Project is a global research initiative under Future Earth and the World Climate Research Programme. D-USYS researchers Nicolas Gruber and Luke Gregor are contributors to the annual Global Carbon Budget report, providing estimates of ocean carbon sinks and supporting the carbon budget analysis.
• Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (BAFU)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBAFU commissions D-USYS researchers for applied environmental research, including commissioning the SLF hydrologist Paul Astagneau to develop improved hourly-resolution flood projections for Alpine regions.
• Future EarthminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Global Carbon Project is jointly sponsored by Future Earth. D-USYS participation in GCP activities is facilitated through this international research organization.
• Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich (ETH Zürich)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerD-USYS is a department of ETH Zürich and collaborates across the institution with other departments including D-BAUG (Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering), D-EAPS (Earth and Planetary Sciences), D-HEST (Health Sciences), and D-CHAB (Chemistry). Cross-departmental initiatives include the Waldlabor Zürich and NCCR CLIM+.
• SLF WSL-Institut für Schnee- und Lawinenforschung DavoscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF) in Davos operates under WSL and is closely integrated with D-USYS research. SLF researchers including Paul Astagneau, Manuela Brunner, and Delia Landolt collaborate with D-USYS on hydrology, flood modeling, and climate adaptation research.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR): US federally funded research and development centre for atmospheric and Earth system science. Directly comparable in atmospheric/climate modelling, community modelling infrastructure, and university-linked research mission.
• Met Office Hadley Centre: UK national climate modelling centre producing headline IPCC climate projections. Directly comparable in climate and hydrological modelling expertise and in supplying policy-relevant projections to governments.
• International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA): International research institute based in Austria conducting systems analysis on environment, energy, and sustainability. Comparable in transdisciplinary scope, public-sector funding model, and applied environmental research mission.
• Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK): German research institute specialising in climate impact modelling, attribution science, and sustainability research. Comparable in scale, topic mix (climate extremes, land-use, biodiversity), and funding model (public + competitive grants).
• Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences (D-EAPS), ETH Zürich: Sister ETH department covering earth and planetary sciences with overlapping climate, atmospheric, and geoscience research. Comparable as an academic unit at the same institution with similar scale, funding sources, and student profile.
• Eawag Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology: Swiss federal aquatic science institute that hosts joint research groups with D-USYS (e.g., Pathogen Evolution, Food Web Ecophysiology) and co-hosts the NCCR CLIM+ programme. Directly comparable as a peer federal research entity in environmental science.
• Max Planck Institute for Meteorology: Leading European climate and atmospheric modelling institute with comparable scope in climate modelling, ocean-atmosphere dynamics, and carbon cycle research. D-USYS faculty (e.g., Reto Knutti, Nicolas Gruber) collaborate regularly with MPI-M scientists on IPCC and CMIP work.
• Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research: UK multi-university climate research centre covering climate science, impacts, and policy. Comparable in combining natural and social climate research with strong policy advisory output, similar in transdisciplinary orientation to D-USYS.
• Stockholm Resilience Centre: Stockholm University research centre on sustainability and resilience science. Comparable in combining ecosystem science, sustainability research, and transdisciplinary methods aimed at policy and societal transformation.
• WSL Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research: Closely integrated Swiss federal research partner covering forest, snow, landscape, and hydrology. Operates the SLF in Davos and shares the WaldLab research station with D-USYS; it is the most direct peer given joint faculty, co-publications, and overlapping climate/hydrology portfolio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/usys_ethzh
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• Facebookfacebook.com/usys_ethzh
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/usys-ethz
• Instagraminstagram.com/ethz_dusys
• TikToktiktok.com/@eth_dusys

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Department of Environmental Systems Science (D-USYS), ETH Zürich