About Us

Our aim is to understand the ongoing merge of the digital and physical world in the dimensions of technology, applications, and implications. We leverage this understanding in the design of new technologies and applications for the benefit of the economy and society.

We are convinced that rigor and relevance are complementary, and in our field of work even mutually dependent. Therefore, we strive for the highest scientific standard while being deeply rooted in entrepreneurial and societal practice.

The problems for our research projects originate from practice. In order to achieve meaningfulness and personal satisfaction, we want the findings we develop to have an impact in practice.

Our projects are therefore fundamentally interdisciplinary in nature. In our research at the Center for Digital Health Interventions, the fields of medicine, machine learning, computer science, psychology and economics meet. In our Bits to Energy-​Lab we combine machine learning, computer science, psychology and economics to foster sustainable behaviour.

Because we are interested not only in the technical solution but also in the impact in the real world, we usually use a "full-stack" approach, which at the highest stage includes work on theoretical foundations, prototype construction, laboratory and field experiments, data analysis and business model. In individual cases, we also do not shy away from spin-offs in order to carry an idea from research into society.

We focus all our activities on improving digital health and sustainability interventions.

We are happy to share our knowledge in the form of open access publications, open source software, and open scientific data with all interested parties, provided there are no legal, ethical, or other relevant restrictions, and are proud to work with the best in the respective fields.

The Chair of Information Management at D-MTEC at ETH Zürich is a sister-chair to the external page Chair of Operations Management at the Institute of Technology Management at the University of St. Gallen. Prof. Elgar Fleisch, who has a double appointment at both universities as a full professor, splits his time equally among Zürich and St. Gallen. Also, all research activities are split across the two chairs.

The Bits to Energy Lab (B2E) is a research lab with the aim to leverage technology to foster sustainability. Our focus is on energy applications for which we develop machine learning techniques that uncover information and explore behavioural interventions that lead to the desired motivation and interaction with the users. Ultimately, our mission is to help our partner institutions and companies to excel in their fields, to advance theory in the academic community, and provide insights that fuel a sustainable development.

In the Centre for Digital Health Interventions (CDHI), our interdisciplinary team of computer and social scientists partners with medical experts to design behavioural, scalable and self-improving digital health interventions (“digital pills”) that are effective and cost-efficient. We conduct digital biomarker and intervention research and use wearable sensors, mobile applications, social media, and other technologies to prevent and manage non-communicable diseases.

We conduct our research with leading colleagues in the context of long-term partnerships within and outside ETH, e.g. Inselspital Bern, Cantonal Hospital of St.Gallen, Dartmouth’s Center for Technology and Behavioral Health (USA), School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore etc.