Locations

Our research and teaching take place in the laboratories, lecture halls and offices on Irchel Campus UZH, in the center of Zurich, at the Botanical Garden and in Kilchberg, as well as at numerous research stations around the world – from the shores of Lake Zurich to the vast expanses of the Mongolian steppe, the unique Galapagos Islands, the icy wilderness of Greenland and the dense rainforest of West Africa.

Most institutes of the Faculty of Science are located on the Irchel campus, the Science campus of the UZH. The Office of the Dean and the Office of Student Affairs are also located here.   

The campus is embedded in Irchel Park, and the Irchel Nature Trail connects nature and science, the public and researchers. On 20 knowledge boards questions around the Irchel Park are answered. Starting with which animals and plants are found in the park, to what is being researched in and around the park.  

A detailed insight into our research is provided by the Science Pavilion UZH, the window to the research at the Faculty of Science. The Science Pavilion UZH is located directly at the entrance of the Irchel campus and shares its space with the Museum of Anthropology.  

Institutes belonging to the faculty are also located in the center of Zurich. The Department of Plant and Microbial Biology and the Department of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, which also runs the Botanical Garden. The Department of Plant and Microbial Biology also maintains the Limnological Station in Kilchberg. In addition, the Zoological Museum and the Department of Paleontology are located in the center. 

International field stations of our faculty are the Kalahari Research Centre, the Monkey Mia Shark Bay, and the Nimba Chimpanzee Field Station. Field stations provide researchers with natural and protected research conditions and long-term access to research infrastructure and resources.

Kalahari Research Centre

For over 25 years we have been conducting field research and have been studying meerkats as well as other species in their natural habitat at the South African Kalahari Research Centre. Prof. Marta Manser has been involved in the long-term studies from the very beginning and has been the head of the field research station since 2017. More than 10 international research teams from the fields of animal behavior, ecology, physiology, or genetics totaling to over 400 researchers are and have been involved in the research projects over the years.

Monkey Mia · Useless Loop · Western Australia

Shark Bay, the huge ocean bay off Western Australia, is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site and, among other things, the habitat of dolphins. They have been observed and researched there since 1982 – as part of the longest-running dolphin research project in the world. Together with researchers from the USA and UK, Prof. Michael Krützen is leading this research effort. 

Nimba Chimpanzee Field Station

The Nimba Mountains in Guinea (West Africa) are home to wild chimpanzees. In this UNESCO World Heritage Site, our faculty maintains the only truly mountainous chimpanzee research station in Africa. The Nimba Chimpanzee Project was founded in 2003 byProf. Kathelijne Koops and her research group (Ape Behaviour & Ecology Group) studies the behavior and ecology of wild apes here.