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Michael Schaepman is the new rector of the University of Zurich. On Monday, Michael Hengartner’s successor will also welcome students to the site. Because despite Corona, the courses are taking place at Switzerland’s largest university this semester. In an interview, Schaepman emphasizes how important it is to him that face-to-face lessons can be offered to everyone soon again.
Michael Schaepman
Rector of the University of Zurich
SRF News: In the atrium of the university building, the tables are separated, masks are required in the hallways. Have you gotten used to this image?
Michael Schaepman: Not yet. We found that students adhere to it very well. But it is still a strange feeling because you are still waiting for normal operations to be restored as soon as possible.
The new semester starts on Monday. Then thousands of students return to the University of Zurich. In the current situation, this implies a risk. The number of corona cases is increasing. Does this concern you?
We are primarily concerned with the space requirement. Because we comply with the distance rules in conference rooms, we need approximately four times more space than in normal operation. That’s why we had to introduce hybrid operation: some of the events are offered digitally, others with presence.
The goal, of course, is that we return to classroom teaching as soon as possible.
We hope and we are convinced that our ways of teaching lead to students having the same opportunities to learn a lot digitally and with presence. But of course the goal is for us to get back to classroom teaching as soon as possible.
The social aspect is very important for the students. Does this get in the way with distance learning?
The so-called community building is one of our great advantages. We have a very nice infrastructure. Students like to come to our facilities and therefore socialize very well with each other. There is no way we can make up for that with digital events. That is why we place so much importance on our hybrid model, where we give first semester students in particular the opportunity to get to know each other in person.
Currently, many young people are infected with the coronavirus. Are you worried that the university could become a hotspot for the spread of viruses?
Students have a high degree of personal responsibility. We count on you to comply with all measures, including contact tracing. So I have the feeling that we don’t risk becoming the Superspreader place.
Change of subject: What can we expect from you as the new rector? Where is the University of Zurich headed with you at the top?
Most important to me is a cooperative management style in which everyone involved at the university, including students and all employees, tries to provide the training and research that future employees need.
When it comes to cooperation, I attach great importance to collaboration between faculties and departments.
I chose three themes: complexity, creativity, and cooperation. We have to recognize increasingly difficult connections. We have to make them understandable and communicable. When it comes to cooperation, I attach great importance to collaboration between faculties and departments.
His predecessor, Michael Hengartner, was known for his closeness to the media and people. He was very transparent about it. How are you going to handle that?
On the one hand, of course, I want to continue that. Transparency is a very important property of a university. At the same time, we want to ensure to Open Science, for example, that the results of our research are accessible to the widest possible audience. I am not referring only to the population, but also to the scientists themselves, who are prepared from the beginning to make their scientific results available to the widest possible community.
At the beginning of the semester next Monday. When you remember your first time as a student at a university, what was that day for you?
I remember my first day of study very well. I was in a math class where the teacher wrote six or seven blackboards. After two boards he cleaned the first and wrote the third on it, and so on. We students were a bit overwhelmed copying everything so quickly.
The interview was conducted by Damian Grunow.
