Support Departments
Eawag is dedicated to providing its employees with a working environment that stimulates excellent scientific work. The various support departments serve to allow the operational aspects of research to run as efficiently as possible. They also ensure that Eawag is properly connected up to its partners within the ETH Domain as well as outside the academic world.
The support departments at Eawag provide services in the areas of IT, personnel, finance, communications, knowledge and technology transfer, continuing professional education and development, technical services and apprenticeships. The joint library for the Research Institutes of the ETH Domain is also now located at Eawag, and there is a nursery on the Dübendorf campus, run jointly with Empa.
Communications
The Communications department is responsible for Eawag’s communications strategy. It carries out Eawag’s central communications activities and supports researchers in their PR and communications taks.
It has the following responsibilities:
- Online communication activities
- Communication consulting
- Media relations
- Editing information materials
- Fact sheets
- Managing social media channels
- Graphic design projects
IT Services
The IT Services department is responsible for maintaining the central servers, network and workstations. It supports all internal IT users and offers comprehensive application support.
It has the following specific functions:
- Operation, maintenance and development of the central infrastructure: servers and server applications, storage, network and backup
- Purchasing of software and hardware
- Installation and maintenance of workstation computers
- User support
- Webmastering and web publishing
- Multimedia support
- Apprentice training
Personnel
The Personnel department is on hand to provide expert support and advice to line managers in areas of recruitment, staff retention and staff development. Eawag employees are encouraged to contact the Personnel department with questions on employment, social security, development opportunities or other personal issues. The department complements and enhances its services with tools and instruments specially tailored to its requirements.
The functions of the Personnel department are as follows:
- Counselling and advising employees and line managers in all personnel matters, from recruitment to exit
- Internal staff training
- Payroll management, incl. social insurance
- Point of contact for all employees in questions of recruitment, exit and personnel management
Finances
The role of the Finance department is to manage Eawag’s budget efficiently and prudently, and to manage the accounting in compliance with the law. The department supports the research staff in the management of third-party funds, and is the point of contact for questions relating to purchasing and procurement, VAT and accounting.
The specific functions of the department are:
- Responsibility for budget and third-party funds
- Purchasing & procurement
- Operation of the payroll system
Technical Services
The Technical Services department incorporates a buildings and operations section, reception and a workshop. These areas form the backbone of Eawag’s infrastructure.
The individual functions of the department are as follows:
- Maintenance and repairs of the infrastructure
- Supervision of the reception area in the main building
- Monitoring of construction and renovation projects
- Support of research staff in erecting and maintaining technical equipment
- Operation of in-house workshop
Apprenticeships
Eawag is committed to making a meaningful contribution to the education mandate of the apprenticeship system, and offers several apprenticeship places each year (Link to Jobs and Careers).
Technology transfer
Eawag operates a Technology Transfer Office jointly with Empa.
The Eawag-Empa Technology Transfer Team provides an advisory service to research staff and is the point of contact for all questions concerning technology transfer.
The particular functions of the department are:
- Checking of contracts in the context of research projects
- Providing advice relating to inventions, patents and licensing
- Point of contact for spin-off companies
- Representing Eawag in technology transfer committees
Lib4Ri Library
As the joint library for the four research institutes within the ETH Domain (Eawag, Empa, PSI & WSL), Lib4RI provides an extensive range of electronic and printed materials. Around 20,000 electronic periodicals and over 100,000 e-books are available for use by employees. In addition, the library team provides comprehensive services relating to information resources and the publication process, and offers training in these areas. Almost the entire bibliography of Eawag is also produced by the library.
