Knowledge and Technology Transfer (KTT) Officer, NCCR Automation

100%, Zurich, temporary

The Automatic Control Laboratory (IfA, control.ee.ethz.ch/) of the Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering (D-ITET, ee.ethz.ch/) is recruiting a Knowledge and Technology Transfer (KTT) Officer for the new National Centre of Competence in Research “Dependable Ubiquitous Automation” (NCCR Automation), funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation.

Project background

NCCR Automation conducts research on methods and computational tools for automatic control and automation, as well as their applications to energy management, mobility and industrial processes. Topics of interest include data driven decision making and machine learning, decision making under uncertainty, distributed control, embedded systems, optimisation, and cyber-security. In addition, the project foresees a large-scale deployment of the resulting methods to energy management at a neighbourhood scale. The Centre comprises 18 principal investigators in 4 research institutions across Switzerland; ETH Zurich serves at the Home Institution. The long-term support of the NCCR provides a unique opportunity for exploring novel concepts in innovation and technology transfer.

Job description

You will join the Project Management team comprising the Director, co-Director, Manager, Scientific Coordinator, Scientific Officer and the Officer for Equal Opportunity.

You will play a central role in developing the knowledge and technology transfer activities of NCCR Automation, and lead the effort towards establishing a pilot deployment and a start-up in the energy management system domain. Your main duties will be:

• Lead the effort in developing the pilot project in energy management at a neighbourhood scale.


• Lead the effort in establishing a start-up in the energy management system domain. The start-up will conduct the development necessary to realise the pilot project and subsequently commercialise the results.


• Identify, support, and promote the commercialisation of NCCR Automation research results (e.g. start-up creation) through the internal “sabbatical” scheme for researchers (KTT Fellows).


• Identify industrial avenues and KTT opportunities and coordinate the interaction between industry and NCCR Automation.

Your profile

Along with a strong interest in innovation and technology, you should ideally have experience in KTT or entrepreneurship, be familiar with different models of innovation and business development, and have knowledge of how to transfer research into relevant applications and industries. Solid command of English and German is highly desirable, an engineering degree in automatic control or related field is a plus. Experience in intellectual property rights, setup of research spinoff businesses and negotiation of contracts with industry are also highly valued.

ETH Zurich

ETH Zurich is one of the world’s leading universities specialising in science and technology. We are renowned for our excellent education, cutting-edge fundamental research and direct transfer of new knowledge into society. Over 30,000 people from more than 120 countries find our university to be a place that promotes independent thinking and an environment that inspires excellence. Located in the heart of Europe, yet forging connections all over the world, we work together to develop solutions for the global challenges of today and tomorrow. Working, teaching and research at ETH Zurich