Organizational Development

Not only do mid-level faculty members work at almost all UZH locations, they also represent their interests in all seven faculties and their affiliated institutes as part of the university's self-administration.
Faculty of Theology and the Study of Religion | University of Zurich | UZH
JAZ | Faculty of Law | UZH
Faculty of Business, Economics and Informatics | University of Zurich | UZH
Faculty of Medicine | University of Zurich | UZH
Vetsuisse Faculty | University of Zurich | UZH
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences | University of Zurich | UZH
Faculty of Science | University of Zurich | UZH
In VAUZ all delegates from the academic mid-level faculty of all faculties unite.

The delegates in the faculties have an enormously important task for the academic mid-level faculty in the faculties. Not only do delegates represent the entire mid-level faculty of the faculties and affiliated institutes, they also take care of the self-organized networks in an agile and innovative manner, communicate regularly, and keep members informed about relevant information and innovations.

The university-wide mid-level faculty representative body VAUZ supports and coordinates the delegates in performing these demanding tasks. In the spirit of a learning organization, knowledge, expertise, and tips are exchanged at VAUZ board meetings attended by all delegates, so that ultimately the entire UZH mid-level faculty benefits from best practices. Learning from each other on an equal footing and supporting one another is the core task of VAUZ.

The academic mid-level faculty is a volatile UZH representative body, constantly on the move. Therefore, it is  essential to have a well-organized academic mid-level faculty so that when PhD students or postdocs complete their studies and leave UZH, the university's self-administration can be continued seamlessly and professionally by newly elected delegates.
At VAUZ, a regular bonding is important in order to unite and strengthen the mid-level faculty and ensure contributions to university self-administration.

Dear Faculty Representatives

Dear Colleagues
 

Between 2016 and 2020, the representative bodies at UZH underwent important reforms. The aim of these developments was to organise all staff groups (excluding professorial staff) into distinct bodies, to clarify responsibilities, and to further refine both the role of these bodies and the mutual expectations. Since 2017, an agreement between the representative bodies and UZH has also regulated their funding and responsibilities. These reforms reflect the ongoing evolution of the university’s organisational structure: increasing professionalisation and rising expectations shape the environment in which we work.

In recent years, the Co-Presidency and Board have observed that VAUZ, as the institutional representative body of early-career researchers, can fulfil its role effectively under the current conditions only to a limited extent.

On the one hand, expectations have grown that our body should be able to represent the concerns of early-career researchers coherently, with focus, and across all levels of the university. On the other hand, developments in recent years have shown that high turnover, limited resources, and at times unclear responsibilities are increasingly affecting our visibility and impact. When individual members leave, a great deal of knowledge is lost, processes repeatedly have to be restarted, and onboarding often takes longer than the actual period of involvement within VAUZ.

These structural challenges do not affect individuals alone; they influence the overall functioning of VAUZ. Current procedures rely heavily on the commitment of a small number of people—an inherent vulnerability that risks central tasks not being fulfilled with the required quality when personnel changes occur. At the same time, many early-career researchers are insufficiently familiar with VAUZ, its mandate, and its benefits. This makes recruiting new delegates difficult and results in a small group of dedicated individuals working at full capacity on a long-term basis.

We are convinced that we must address these challenges together—in the interest of future generations of representatives as well. To strengthen VAUZ in the long term, we are therefore launching an organisational development process supported by internal and external expertise. This process aims to sharpen our profile, define roles and responsibilities more clearly, make decision-making pathways more transparent, secure institutional knowledge sustainably, and establish forms of collaboration that remain stable despite staff turnover. At the same time, we aim to improve our representation, reduce barriers, and ensure that colleagues from all faculties, backgrounds, and levels of experience feel welcome to contribute. In the future, VAUZ should not only be more capable of action, but also more visible, more comprehensible, and more accessible—both to early-career researchers and to the university’s decision-making bodies.

For this endeavour, we need your support. To ensure that the process is realistic, broadly supported, and viable across faculties, we depend on your participation. We therefore ask you to nominate two to three individuals from your faculty who are willing to share their perspectives and actively contribute to the further development of our structures. Previous experience with university committees is not required; openness, a realistic view of current challenges, and an interest in shaping a future-ready VAUZ are far more important.

The work within this process will take place through several workshops. We are confident that this approach will allow us to strengthen VAUZ organisationally, anchor responsibilities in robust structures rather than individuals, and enhance the effectiveness, visibility, and sustainability of early-career researcher representation.

We thank you in advance for your support and trust. Please send us the names of your representatives for this organisational development process by 23. December 2025 to praesidium@vauz.uzh.ch

Philip Zimmermann – Jessy Duran Ramirez
Co-Presidency VAUZ