We are in this togETHer

Last week, as we moved the university on-line and instructed students and staff to stay at home, I wrote an internal email emphasising our duty to contain the spread of the virus, and protect the health of our families and fellow citizens.

Today, I want to address all of the colleagues, students, researchers, teaching staff, employees, alumni, friends, and members of ETH at home and abroad, with this blog post. The situation is still evolving and we are only at the beginning of a journey that demands a lot from each of us. And we can’t fully comprehend yet what challenges are still to come.

But I am confident that we will manage the situation together. I have been overwhelmed by the positive, can-do attitude and solidarity expressed by so many in the ETH community. I have been impressed by the wealth of initiatives that students and ETH members have taken these days to help where help is most urgently needed. I would also like to mention the many hours worked by many colleagues to maintain emergency operations and make online teaching possible.

Let me say again, how proud I am of how the school in its entirety has reacted to this situation. A huge thank you to each of you, from the bottom of my heart!

From today on, this space will now become a curated collection of inspirational stories coming from you, the ETH community, on how you are dealing with this unprecedented time. These can be about little things that you are doing to make a difference in the current situation, something that you are working on as a response to the crisis, or even something that you have seen another member of ETH do.

Do you have some tips for making your daily routine efficient? Are you engaging in local support projects? How is staying at home changing your outlook on life? – As you can easily imagine, my routine has drastically changed as well. I have swapped my spacious office at ETH with a room in which I work and exchange information with my colleagues from the Executive Board on a daily basis. At the same time, my office is my fitness room, where I get on my bike and ride over passes in the French Alps – while the scenery is virtual, the muscle effort is very real. In between I also find time to hang up laundry or mow the lawn (the rest of the family of course also helps me with the household chores).

The coming weeks and months will challenge us as individuals as well as citizens. The Corona crisis is a test for the whole of society. Although we are currently forced to work and live spatially separated, we can break our isolation and create some closeness through common stories.

Therefore I would like to encourage you to share your stories here on the ETH Ambassadors Blog. Help inspire us, so that we may continue to learn from each other, and become the best version of ETH that we can be. TogETHer, we can weather this storm, and look forward to returning in the future with a new sense of community and togetherness.

Yours, Joël Mesot

PS: You can submit your story here: