SETI Institute and ETH Zurich partner

The SETI Institute and ETH Zurich said on September 1 they had signed a strategic partnership focused on research into how life began and whether it exists elsewhere in the universe. The agreement centers on a new assistant professorship at ETH Zurich and related research activity in Zurich, according to statements published by both institutions. The announcement, which also appeared in an Astrobiology social-media roundup the same day, places the collaboration inside a broader push across astrobiology to connect laboratory chemistry, planetary science and biosignature research. ### What exactly did the two institutions agree to? ETH Zurich said the two organizations agreed to a strategic partnership and signed a formal agreement. The U.S.-based SETI Institute will provide start-up funding for a new assistant professorship and associated research activities at ETH, the university said. (seti.org) The new post will be called “Earth and Planetary Evolution” and will be housed in ETH Zurich’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. ETH said the professorship will play a central role in its Centre for Origin and Prevalence of Life, known as COPL. ### Why are SETI and ETH Zurich pairing up on this topic? (ethz.ch) ETH Zurich said both institutions are already working on related questions: how life originates and how common it may be in the universe. The university said the goal of the partnership is to strengthen that research, open new perspectives and deepen collaboration across complementary scientific disciplines. (ethz.ch) The SETI Institute said its astrobiology work spans origins, evolution, distribution and possible futures of life in the universe. COPL, which ETH says was established in 2022, brings together more than 40 research groups from seven departments at ETH Zurich and the Paul Scherrer Institute around questions including how life began on Earth and whether life exists on other planets. ### What does the new professorship tell us about the research agenda? (ethz.ch) COPL says its research programs include work on molecular building blocks for life, the transition from chemistry to biological systems, planetary environments that could sustain life, and life in extreme environments. That makes the new professorship notable less as a standalone hire than as an anchor inside an existing interdisciplinary structure at ETH. That is an inference from COPL’s published research agenda and ETH’s description of the role. (seti.org) ETH Zurich’s space research portfolio also includes the LIFE Mission, a concept for a space telescope interferometer aimed at studying exoplanet atmospheres for signs of life. The new partnership announcement did not tie the professorship directly to that mission, but it shows ETH already has multiple life-detection efforts under one institutional umbrella. ### Who are the named participants behind the deal? (copl.ethz.ch) ETH Zurich identified Bill Diamond, chief executive of the SETI Institute, and ETH President Joël Mesot in a photograph accompanying the announcement of the signed agreement in Zurich. The institutions did not, in the materials reviewed, name the future professor or give a hiring timetable. (space.ethz.ch) The SETI Institute has also worked previously with ETH-linked researchers on life-detection questions. In April 2025, the institute highlighted a study led by ETH Zurich researchers, including SETI Institute affiliate Daniel Angerhausen, on what scientists can learn even if future searches do not detect signs of life. ### How did this surface publicly? (ethz.ch) The Astrobiology account on X included the partnership in a September 1 roundup of recent astrobiology items, alongside posts about Antarctic microbes and peptide formation under Venus-like conditions. The formal details, however, came from the September 1 statements issued by ETH Zurich and the SETI Institute. ETH Zurich said the next concrete step is the new assistant professorship in Earth and Planetary Evolution, based in Zurich and tied closely to COPL. (seti.org) The institutions have announced the partnership and funding structure; the remaining public milestone is the appointment itself and the launch of the associated research activities. (ethz.ch) (seti.org)